Stock questions

[Nathan Kraft]

I just realized that what I asked didn’t really cOnvey what I meant, though I thank you all for the detailed answers as I got a bunch of good ideas I wouldn’t have thought of otherwise more specifically, I meant how do I access the scraps, like do I just go in and ask or is there a better way to get them to say yes? Also would smaller places be better than large companies, since large companies (I think) would have specific rules for where the scrap goes?

[ThomasPowers]

I used to get scrap steel on a regular basis from an "Ornamental Iron" place.  They were a fab shop and did a lot of work for builders. As such they had a lot of "drops" that they had to pay to be hauled off.  As I recall I walked into the office and spoke to the secretary about what I did and asked about scrap---I also had a couple of "trinkets" I had forged as examples that I gave to her.  (Business card holders were a hit, especially if their design pertains to the business!)

I arranged to come by during lunch so I would not get in the way. Wore PPE and would "clean up" their scrap bin so it would hold a lot more---they paid by the pickup and dump so getting more scrap in the bid meant less $$ they had to pay. 

I ended up getting several tons of metal over several years, usually a couple hundred pounds at a time.  I would take in other examples of what I was doing with it each time.  For my smithing getting 60 2' lengths of new stock was very handy, or a sq block of pipe ends that had been tack welded so they could saw a bunch of them at the same time---made great tool holders. I even got real WI from time to time when they were commissioned to repair fences hit by cars in a historic district. (They replaced the damaged sections with mild steel and tossed the bent WI.)

One thing that helped was the size of the business: too large and liability and "bother" wasn't worth it.   Too small and they tend to keep all their scrap and use it.  Just right and they had too much to keep; yet were still small enough that I could talk with the entire staff.  Also the idea that I was a blacksmith and so "part" of the ornamental iron community; but NOT competing with them was a plus.

If they say no; do not be upset, leave the trinkets and your card---may generate business in the future! And go try somewhere else.