how to tell the difference?

I am completely new to this so bear with me here. What is the best way to sort all your metals and the best way to tell the difference between them all? Abviously i know that steel and iron are can be bdistinguishes using a magnet but what im looking for is how to tell stainless and the different kinds of steelriron and aluminum? thanks in advance

Start with - Ferrous which mean "magnetic" and Nonferrous which means " not magnetic". Then sort Ferrous material by type. Now do a search on here using terms you're interested in. You might start by looking over some posts and threads of mine and CAS come to mind right off. Particularly - look in "Tricks of the Trade" section. I think that's where I posted the list of Ferrous and Nonferrous metals and how to prepare them for sale.

(The first "Do a Search" post)

Here you go: http://www.scrapmetalforum.com/showt...-for-Beginners

Also - "Cast" (anything - Iron, Aluminum etc) means Breakable. So if it can be bent, it is not cast. Copper is "red-ish" and Brass is "Yellow-ish". For stainless steel, you'll need experience and study since stainless steel can be Ferrous or Nonferrous. Stainless steel is often confused with Aluminum. A simple test is to use a grinder - Aluminum will not throw sparks; stainless steel will. Extrusion (a form of aluminum) is manufactured thicker than sheet aluminum (a simple test I use is if I can tear it - it is Sheet. If it just bends and breaks without tearing, it's Extrusion. If the yard disputes it, "Oh well".)

thank you for the good info, now another question. how about electric motors and transformers strip or will they take them whole? worth the effort, also small insulated wire is it best to just leave it insulated (not worth the effort)?

I usually don't break down electric motors motors. I did break down them and alternators for awhile when I started, but didn't get the return for the time it took. Check with your scrap yard but mine won't take transformers. As far as copper wire, you'll have to decide if it's worth it. I strip solid core and large strand wire and leave small strand wire insulated. Aluminum wire is easily stripped. Here's a tip I wrote for copper wire and applies to aluminum wire:

http://www.scrapmetalforum.com/showt...ed-copper-wire