How do you store your scrap?

[Glenn]

I guess the first question would be do you collect scraps of material such as steel, copper, brass, amuminum etc.

IF you do collect scraps, how do you store your scrap till you get enough to take to the scrap yard?

[Jose Gomez]

I keep a few 55 gallon drums in front of the shop for scrap steel. Whenever they get full I load them into the truck with an engine hoist and throw them off at the steel yard (drum and all). I have found this to be less labor intensive than letting it pile up, loading it into the truck one piece at a time going to the yard and unloading it piece by piece. Plus, if you keep the drum covered your scrap dose not get rusty (nice if you frequently find yourself rummaging around the bins for a small piece of "stock") and the drums keep the area around the shop from looking like a recycling center, which helps to keep area scrappers at bay. With the current price of scrap steel, copper, and brass more and more people are finding that any metal left unatended is "Liberated" by roving bands of urban miners. This problem has gotten so bad aroun here that plastic pluming is used instead of copper in new construction because the buildings were being destroyed by scrappers attempting to strip all metals (plumbing and wiring) during the night.

[ThomasPowers]

Take it to the scrap yard????????

Piles of steel on corrugated metal roofing to cut down on weeds, sorted by shape, (rectangular, round, pipe, etc)

Non-ferrous in 5 gal buckets for reuse, casting or rarely sold at the recycling center.

[HWooldridge]

High carbon in one crate - low carbon in another. I usually toss out mild steel that is less than about 5 inches long unless it's an odd shape (like oval section). Short bits of high carbon are very useful for a variety of tools so not much is wasted.

[Dodge]

I can't throw anything away. I have numerous 5 gallonish cat litter and laundry soap buckets and even a couple actual 5 gallon buckets that have a size and shape categorization that I cannot explain because I don't really understand it myself. When ever I cut a piece of material to size, the scrap that is less than 24 or so inches gets stuck in the appropriate bucket. If its less than 6", it generally can be found nearer the bottom of the bucket than longer pieces

[simmonds]

I dont have any scrap! The only time I visit the scrap yard is to get MORE scrap!

[dablacksmith]

it usually ends up in a pile somwhere.... ive got a few boxes layin around and i dig thru it once in a wile to make stuff (tools ect) as far as scrap yard I usually only haul in car parts (minus springs) there... never had enuf scrap to take to a yard and if I did ide probably bring back more than I took...

[LDW]

A fellow in our group says, the amount of scrap you have is controlled by the number of horizontal shelves you have in your shop.

[John McPherson]

Take...TO...the...scrap...yard???

I dumpster dive to get more stuff, and keep it FROM the scrap yard.

[MooseRidge]

I have a wire crate in one corner of the new shop... slowly filling it up with any scrap I make or can salvage....

[Awalker]

I hace about 6 55 gallon drums full right now, to me they are scrap and will go to the scrap yard. I generally use new steel for all projects as that is what my customers are paying for. I do keep usable lengths of new steel in some 8" pieces of cut off pipe. I will keep and use 2", and 4" pipe that is used on corral fence and use the odd used scap around the house.
On another note if there is any one in the north Phoenix area interested in the scrap in these barrels let me know before I haul it the the recycler in a week or so.

[pete46]

Scrap Is For People Who Can't Forge Weld !
WHEN I LEARN I'M GONN'A BEAT THE MOUNTAIN I GOT DOWN.:rolleyes:

[chyancarrek]

I only use reclaimed materials for my work (both metal and wood) so I've got a pretty good network o' folk who give me a heads-up if they're scrapping something out.

That being said, I still end up with a large amount of stuff I can't use or brought home that fell into the "I'm gonna use that someday" category so I keep a box under the bench in my shop for all the odds & ends then all my other metal is sorted onto pallets.When it's time for the scrap yard I call up my buddy with his dump-box truck, load it up with my forklift, and it's off we go. I cover gas and lunch and my buddy's a happy guy.

Anything non-ferrous goes into the furnace and cast into ingots for later use.

[Ten Hammers]

I have a system. It works fairly well for me. Short pieces ( and or in process parts) get stowed in bolt boxes or shelf boxes. I have boxes for high carbon etc and some drawers ( rivets etc ). Steel hangs on a rack ( bar/rod etc) and sheet gets put up against an old refrigerator. Sheet that is too small for anything ends up in a half barrel under the table ( another half barrel outside for when this one gets full). I MAY sell little pieces of stuff once-twice a year. BTW there is no scrap, only previously cut steel. I've been through the bucket brigade gig and I could never find what I wanted. Took long time to get where I am now but try and keep up. A few pegs to store plasma / mig consumables ( new gloves, JB weld etc). Plastic coffee cans to stow clear and shaded glasses ( safety and welding -CLEAN ones). Anyone that has visited my shop knows it is somewhat controlled chaos.

[Dutchmancreek]

I don't have a scrap pile....I have a learning pile. Shorter pieces from the pile go in wooden boxes that used to hold 120MM ammo. I go back into it frequently.

Steve

[hammerkid]

Well , I have a platic box i put stuff thats Works in Progresses in. Then under my metal rack I have a Pepsi rack to store short pieces of Tool steel , Then I have a 5 gallon Bucket I put short pices (under 3 foot ) in . Then in front of my shop I have a bucket i put scrap in (which goes to the scarp yard) that is short stock (under 2 inches) , and stuff that is no use to me . Am going to get a milk crate to put short pices in (under one foot)
Thanks,Chris

[Dave Leppo]

Throw it in a corner, behind the workbench

there's really not much there - only if theirs no chance of ever using it again. That little corner of steel cut off a bar could be used for a hammer handle wedge!

[Dan W]

Plastic buckets.
Round 2' and over in one. Under 2' in another. Same with square and angle iron. Anything over about 5' stands upright in the corner.

[civilwarblacksmith]

Boxes, crates, and buckets. unsorted and unorganized. I was real happy when I finally used up a bucket of scrap. Now it can be refilled.

[MRobb]

Scrap is what I have left after trying to make something and it didn't work. I'm a packrat by nature, so not much gets thrown out.

[larrynjr]

I purchase scrap from the steel yard at $.15 a pound. It's been awhile so it's probably more now. I keep all my steel in a pile near my work table and forge.

[Dave Hammer]

Larrynjr.... If you can still buy scrap for 15 cents a pound, you are doing a lot better than most of us. On the East coast, it's gone up to about 50 cents a pound where I go.

You might want to stockpile a bit.

[rthibeau]

hmmmmm..........."scrap".......still trying to grasp the meaning of that. That's not the same as "Stuff" is it??

[Finnr]

NaaaaaaaaaaaW! Stuff is good scrap is........................ Dunno?
Finnr

[JohnW]

Scrap could still be bought for $.15 a pound in Scottsburg, Indiana last week. I've got a thing going right now, where I pick up scrap from my mechanic (probably at least half of it's break rotors), sell it to the scrap yard, I think for $.08 / pound, then walk around and find scrap to add to my scrap piles, or to take to Iron-in-the hat, where I also get a little scrap for my piles. Scrap organization? I don't know how to organize it. Heck, I don't even know how to make good buying choices.