completely new to scrap

I have collected can and cashed them in when I was a child with my mom. I am on a lay off and need to make money. I have been reading about all the different kinds of scrap to make money with. Right now I have a large pile of wire copper and some alum..and a pile of alum siding from an old camper and tons of cans! But the area I live in full of metal...everywhere. Theres alot of rims that have been thrown down in the ravine on my property..I hope those pay out. Cant wait to learn about scrapping! :)

Rims without tires on them pay short iron price at my yard usualy better than shred.

I take in steel rims without tires for #1 iron. Re: that copper wire - Just in case you don't know, you need to strip off the insulation.

Thanks for the info...I have been devoring this site. I have an awesome wire stripper and a vice, and time to do it. There's alot of rims around here that are just laying around..also some semi rims.those fetch good? The only recycling place I found here is psc metals..are they legit?

Unless there is someone in your area on here who speaks up, the only way to find out about a yard is to try it. There should be others a little further out. Have you tried googling "scrap metal recyclers in TN" Sounds like you are off to a great start. Keep reading the archives...and best of luck.

THIS, is a proper newb, welcome to the forum, you have quite obviously done some research and study. Access to a bunch of bare rims is a good find. there are roughly 150 to 200 rims to a ton and they stack nicely in the trailer. they go as #1 prepaired steel, the highest price. usually #! prepaired is 1/4 in thick and prepaired is 3 ft by 18 inches. the semi rims I cut in half. the difference between prepaired steel and non prepaired per ton will usually cover your fuel cost. Good Luck.

As far as yards there are all kinds little ones big ones and every thing in between. use google search. call the yards, get prices. they will pay better prices to a productive frequent scrapper. vollum is key.

when you call for prices, get the name of the person you talked to and the time. there are low and high ballers out there just like any other business.

Indeed, welcome to the forum. And as the others have told you continue to read, very valuable information just for thc cost of reading, Mike.

well our our first trip out we just cruised and checked loctaions for stuff. We found 7 5 gal buckets of alum cans, 1 half of an oreck vacuum with the cord and the alum handle. Also found 4 busted up vcr bottoms and something that looks like stage lights 2 of the lights have the back to them with the copper on them and one is busted, its in a metal bracket. I don't think its alum b/c is a bit tougher then alum. My husband found a desktop printer, I think I am gonna take a hammer to it lol Also while we where out we found a "browns scrap yard" got the phone number and plan to call..but I don't want to sound like a newb when I call so I must do more research on the lingo :) So I will be lurking heavy on yalls posts!!

Good going TC. 7 buckets plus is great. Let us know if you have questions about identifying your metals. Keep huntin'.

Sounds like a great start especially considering that your will to research your finds to maximize payout. You'll get the hang of it with that attitude.

WELCOME!!!! This is definitely the place to learn about scrapping!!

Big fan here of you and your wife big hammer! Found a great way to make a jig for stripping wire from cmhrecyeling I hope got that right! Tomorrow I will proceed to make the jig. I have one five gal bucket left of small gauge copper and alum wire...did alot of single copper wire romex style. Piece of cake! I also have a microwave waiting...muhahaha. A reward for stripping small braid copper. I had a question about the cbm's, I got of a VCR, it was copper middle with a metal bracket that looked like graphite...but didn't mark paper. But when hit it shatters..what's this? ( always wear safety glasses)

Quote:

---

I had a question about the cbm's, I got of a VCR, it was copper middle with a metal bracket that looked like graphite...but didn't mark paper. But when hit it shatters..what's this?

---

Ferrite. From Wiki:
Ferrite (iron), iron or iron alloys with a body centred cubic crystal structure.
Ferrite (magnet) (e.g. Fe3O4 or BaFe12O19), ferrimagnetic ceramic materials used in magnetic applications.
Ferrite bead, components placed on the end of data cables to reduce interference.
Ferrite core, a structure on which the windings of electric transformers and other wound components are formed.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...ommon_mode.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...rite_beads.jpg

AHHHH so its an "elctro magnet" I thought of that..it looked like a magnet but it didn't stick by shards of it did stick to my pliers. So I just put that in my iron bucket then. That weird stage light thingie I took apart had like 4 big half circles they gotta weigh at least a 1 lb a piece. Theres alot of that stuff on the vcr's I found. Thank you!!

That blue ferrite thingy,
I just bash it with a hammer so the ferrite breaks up & I pull all of it out.

Then I slip it onto a screwdriver & grab the correct two copper wires & pull.

I get about 6 foot + off clean copper wire out of it.

I know ferrite is a sort of 'ceramic iron' sorta stuff, but I don't think it will break down back into iron in a iron smelter furnace, so I put it in the rubbish as I don't class it as iron.

I think putting it into the iron/steel is a pretty 'shady' thing to do.

I wouldn't piss on anybody from PSC if there theeth were on fire. I hope they go bankrupt again real soon. Carl icahn has been trying to sell them since 2007. His failed acquisition of CMC should tell you everything you need to know about how there yards are run. They wanted nothing to do with them. PSC owns 40 plus yards and made zero profit in the fourth quarter of 2011 what a joke. I worked for them as a contractor for for less then four months when they bought out a yard I was working in. Nothing but morons there IMO.

Thank you pistonescrap processing. I went there two days ago..it's a mess. I thought truck stops were dirty ( semi retired OTR driver ) the lady was less then helpful, she didn't have price lists? Only list ob what they don't take. She rolled her eyes at me when I asked her to give me prices. I found a smaller recycling place down the mountain from me to check prices. I don't have a good enough load yet. I think there's more morons nowadays then ever...it's all the Chemicals they put into the food. I hope I don't burst into flames around you lol

Make sure to check the rims to see if they are aluminum! my yard pays .67# for aluminum rims :)

Hey TroutsChicks,

I was gonna say you need to check for yards in Cookeville. Them folks up on the mountain is crazy, at least they were when I lived there! Good luck and get you a long rope for pulling the stuff out of the holes with your vehicle.