@@depthbrewedrollers.8793 Sure thing, if you were to try to sell day 5lbs of copper, in a solid bar, to a scrap yard, then they would be able to determine by the weight and volume ratio if it is copper or not.
@@depthbrewedrollers.8793 So it has to do with density. The volume a metal takes depends on that and copper and other's density is known. So gold, for example, is very very dense and very heavy for it's volume, you can't just paint steel gold color and pass it off. So it's SIZE to MASS ratio basically.
Hey I subscribe to you and I melt my scrap into ingots🤔. I know it’s not financially smart to melt what with time and fuel used but all my copper and brass I melt down into ingots I will keep for future casting projects. I love this hobby even if it is bloody dangerous 😲. I made a big 10 pound copper bar on me channel and I would never think about selling that as I love it 😁and all my other things I melted are all loved and will eventually become a 1 of a kind casting of some sort. Cool video mate you seem like the kinda guy I could crack a few cold ones with 🍻🍻. Catch ya next time my friend 👍🏻😉
Hey bigstack, I was actually going to give you a shout out in my video but I wasn't sure if you would care or not. I didn't want people to be confused and think I was doing a video that was knocking down the art of melting copper. I just wanted them to know why yards may, or may not buy melted copper! The thing I like best about the things you melt is how much you love them!!! Cheers from Bracken!
Bracken Recycling all good buddy you can give me a shout out anytime you want matey😁😉👍🏻. Im always happy to be associated with a cool funny and informative channel like yours 🍻
@bigstackD Casting Hey man, i figured I would find you in the comments!!!😬You are great man!!!👍I love your videos and cant wait to get back to casting this fall!!!! Cheers from Alaska☃️
Great video thank you for making it to help us know what to do take care and stay safe and keep up the great work God bless you and your family and friends peace be with you all.
You aren't gonna get mixed ingots, here's why... To make a new alloy, with a mixture of steel copper and brass would be more costly and time consuming than they would get out of selling it to you as copper.... If you put molten steel with molten aluminium they don't just mix like water. The heaviest will float on top. Getthing them to mix and all that would be way more difficult than it is worth in copper.
True about the mixed ingots. Definitely would be a stupid guy making bronze and selling for nothing hehehe. I will find out by our local scrap yards if they take ingots and how much they will pay. My main goal is to cast stuff.
How do you think they make multi coloured ice lollies? They pour different colour liquids at different stages after the previous colour gas frozen. Put 5mm copper in, let it cool and hardeb. Put cast iron tube in which has closed ends so it has the same buoyancy as copper. Then pour 10mm copper in, and let it cool and set, not too much so it doesn't make the cast iron tube float. Once the cast iron is set into the copper pour the rest if the molten copper in to fill the ingot.
i always got the smelting down of various things for gold and silver content, but i was wondering about the copper. thanks for answering that question for me, as i am a scrapper it was useful info. no ingots for me if there isnt any extra money in it.
Zorba I believe is the name. It’s aluminum brass an copper, that’s been shredded and combined some how. I learned about it yesterday. It’s cheap at the moment but it’s something to look into
I having a problem selling steel soup cans. I use to wash them and get low grade steal price for them. I know some are coated but I never thought it was that bad. Any advice. I know soup not big money but I like getting even a little than know it goes in a land fill.
I just stumbled on this channel I think because I watched a cody's lab video. This is hilarious . Love the lego explanations. I used to work at a metal recycling facility and this is pretty spot on. Most recycling centers already have enough issues dealing with copper thieves etc and thats only dealing with factory-made copper wire/etc. Asking us to then worry about what someone put in their copper ingots? Or wondering if they smelted it correctly and have the purity they claim? No thanks. I could see if you had no choice but to make an ingot due to having like..idk...copper shavings or tiny broken bits or something that had no other way to be collected, but its a pretty rare reason and usually you're better off leaving it as is and letting the recycling center figure out what its worth.
Watched like 3 vids so far & all i can say is I Finally found someone who knows wtf they're talking about! I been recyclin since I was 6 no s#!t and still never really completely understood alot of things but the 1 fact you Mentioned it changes all the time & if you don't ask tons of questions you might be throwing out stuff you never even imagined would be recycled for cash but don't always last forever do to the market for it. Goin to watch all your vids in time... Please keep doin what you do brother I definitely appreciate it & the time you take to do it. Btw Happy Bird Day Haha! Hope you & your family had some good eats
I keep my bare bright copper in order to melt down and use for projects. Same with brass and aluminum, I save my purest form for melting projects and take the other material to the yard. I don't take melted material in because of your reason. I'm not an expert. Great vid :)
I bought my metal tester for $150 and it tells me what element any piece of solid metal is or if it is plate. It gives me analysis for up to 23 different metal elements and up to a three part alloy showing the three highest percentage elements in a piece of metal. It also is accurate to within a quarter of a percentage. It is very handy though I keep a separate one for gold since being off by a quarter of a percentage with gold can be costly. I got mine a few years ago and I just found one online at $89. So prices have come down. I am not familiar with refining copper as I have only refined gold but a good tester will tell you what you have. I have an all purpose tester and a gold tester.
Realistically if you melted copper down to ingot and the scrap yard won't take them, suggest to cut it up for them. You'd be able to tell if there was different materials due to the color. Or if they still wont take it, recast it and lay it out and make sheets of it. Its be thin enough to tell what'd all be in there and if you brush it off a scrap yard should be able to tell what material it is bc they work around it all day.
Hey buddy! I love the vid! Even if I had copper ingots, I wouldn't scrap 'em because they are more valuable as ingots than scrap! LOL I make alotta metal projects, and I would love to have copper ingots! Especially at scrap price! :D I've told some folks "sell me yer ingots", but they always wanna keep 'em. Thanx for the vid!
Yes! When I get time I will probably make a video, I've always wanted to. I just wanted to get some street credit with my other videos first, so people didn't think I was just some crazy guy!
Some people do spike their sows and ingots with other metals . Lead and zinc in aluminum ingots and , brass and lead in copper ingots and other metals as well . We generally dont buy ingots or sows unless they are from a known source and we do use the niton to make sure .
Everything you said is so true. This is why sometimes the best route is to just stay away from it. Some people get it, some don't! I'm sure from all your other comments you know what a pain in the butt it is when someone you've never dealt with before brings you odd ball items and they want top dollar for it!
Yes sir I do know what a pain it can be . We always have to expect the unexpected as buyers . I once was approached by a trusted seller with a solid nickle plate ? It was one inch thick and about 2' x 2' . I had bought nickle from him before many times and all was good but I had never seen ni 200 that thick . Niton said ni 200 ..trusted customer ..$ 14 a lb at the time ? I went old school cause I never saw it that thick and took a grinder to it ...saw the spark after grinding an 1/8 '' into it ... ni plated steel ! I got a million stories like that . Thats why I enjoy your videos cause you teach people about our business .
Jackpot, great question! I have only had one customer ever who brought me shredded copper. I asked him how he did it and he told me with a wood chipper! I would not think this would be possible and I wouldn't recommend it for the sake of the wood chipper! But non the less that is what the guy told me. As far as selling it, you shouldn't have a problem. But before you do it is always a good idea to check with the yard you normally take it to and make sure they are good with it and they won't downgrade it. There shouldn't be any reason for a downgrade just because it is shredded but anytime you do something different, scummy yards try to find a reason to pay you less but still sell it for more. Some buyers pay a premium for copper chops out of a chopping line (mainly because it is more dense). Chops are the end product from processing insulated copper. But don't expect to get it from a scrapyard. I attached a video link that shows what the copper looks like after going through a chopping line. czcams.com/video/NTuSWlAmZg8/video.html
Lol its not that i dont trust anyone but i dont trust anyone. I feel ya there. Ive been screwed over by the yard too many times so now i melt and sell elsewhere. It isnt worth my time otherwise
Hey brother I love your video with the LEGO's and you make some valid points...... but most decent scrap yards should have a handheld spectrometer on hand it'll tell you exactly what is in it and if they have concerns what's in the middle they just drill it and hit it with the spectrometer once again. If those didn't exist I would agree with you 100%
Glad I watched this. You have some valid points about manufacturer specs being basically the proof that it's legit 100% copper. Another note I'd like to add is that you lose a small % of material when melting any metal so you are losing that much money in the process. Not to mention the time spent making the bars and the cost spent on materials to keep your foundry going. So yeah all in all I think it's more sufficient to just turn in the sorted scrap as is. That is of course unless you have trusting customers who will pay more per pound for ingots because they are just more efficient. I hope that makes sense. >.>
is there a way to make ingots more desirable everything is about presentation if the ingots are all grubby and pooris obviously they will pay less my question do they prefer large or small or a particular shape that could make a more favorable sale = (more money)??
You probably hear this a lot but what about Aluminium melted down ? Is it easier to except than cooper and brass cause aluminum is kinda all to its own
Back around 2005 i was scraping out old 3.25 disk drives - Part of them where Aluminum and part of them where what I thought was Aluminum this was back when there was Reynolds aluminum recycling trucks in my area (Mostly for can) they likes the cans crushed and paid $.01 more if crushed. I know people that would pick up cans on side of road and if they found wheel weights also would put them in the can before crushing them. On the disk drives the Reynolds driver took parts from me that we both thought where Aluminum. About 2 month later after the first trip we found out they where not Aluminum but Magnesium all i could think of the fire it must have caused
Do you ever see the day when the Government will allow turning in pre 82 copper cents for scrap? They did it with silver even though silver coins can still be used in stores today.
U.S. cents prior to 1909 are mostly 99% copper though some years vary slightly U.S. cents from 1909-1961 are 99+% copper and less than 1% tin (except 1943) U.S. cents from 1943 are made of steel U.S. cents from 1962 to mid 1982 are 95% copper and 5% zinc U.S. cents from mid 1982 to present are 97.5% zinc and 2.5% copper At no point in the history of any of the mints have U.S. cents every been 90% copper.
Not since the civil war has any U.S. coin been demonetized. This means they are all spendable and even pre civil war coins can for the most part be spent though that would be a stupid waste. Contrary to popular opinion, it is NOT illegal to melt U.S. coins and sell them for scrap. There is a law that prohibits altering coins for the purpose of passing them off as something more valuable than they are. for example you can't silver plate a one cent coin then pass it off as a silver coin. You cannot fraudulently claim a U.S. coin has more precious metal content than it does nor can you legally take a roll of 49 cents to a bank and ask for two quarters in exchange. While there is no law that states that you have a right to melt down coins, there are no laws on the books that says that you cannot. It only says you can't deface a coin for fraudulent purposes. But feel free to disprove my statement here by citing a law you feel prohibits doing so. My cousin who is a coin collector and an attorney informs me there is no such law and he has melted down thousands of pounds of copper coins since 1982. There is also a popular belief that scrap yards have the ability to detect if an ingot was made from melted copper cents. The answer to whether they can is yes and no. If you dump into a crucible a bunch of old cents of the right date and melt them down they will have about the same 95% copper and 5% zinc that copper cents have. But if you add a bunch of copper tubing and other scrap copper into the crucible that will throw off the assay and you may get a higher or lower percentage. That said, many scrap yards won't take ingots because they are not smart enough to employ a metal tester. Mine cost me $150. It will tell me what the primary metal is and then the secondary and tertiary metal as long as each is more than 1% of the total content. So mine just told me a piece of copper that I have is 98.75% copper, 1.0% lead and the remainder is blank because the last part is less than 1% other elements. Many scrap yards don't know the law so they won't buy ingots because they think they might contain cents and are afraid of getting into trouble.
While I've never tried to sell ingots I would imagine a lot of yards wouldn't take them here in California. California has some pretty strict laws on selling metal due to so many thieves stealing copper and other metals. If you bring in over (i think) $20 worth you have to wait something like 2 - 3 weeks for your money so they have time to tell if it's stolen or not. (not sure how they would figure that out in most cases though). This gives thieves incentive to melt down their own metals to hide the fact it's stolen. Melting your own metal like was mentioned in this video brings the percentage loss due to dross etc... Plus to do it efficiently it is going to cost money in power to melt it. I would think if someone wanted to get the most from their metal stash they would leave it as is. But I'm no expert and might be wrong.
@@brackenrecycling9505 dude I love the way you think! Just simple basic! And that's not an insult that the compliment brother. I love you videos man just found you last week and subscribed have laughed my butt off ever since. Love the beard by the way.
Funny thing about that! This guy has 73000 subscribers and this guy calls him all these stupid names shows the vast expanse of his intelligence... Keep up the good work dude I love the videos!
Thanks for the input as to the thinking from the other side of the counter. I use some copper for jewelry making and such but will keep in mind anything I might decide to scrap to keep it "As is" versus wasting time and fuel turning it into ingots that might or might not be sellable.
You have to call around to find a scrap yard that will take ingots. Most of the ones who won't don't have a metal tester to determine purity. Every element has a set electrical conductivity. One can calculate which element is tested by testing the conductivity and the density of the metal. A tester detects both and then extrapolates what the material is made from. Occasionally they cannot calculate because multiple combinations can achieve the same results so it will flash a red light indicating that the read out is the most likely assay but it is not full proof. A scrap yard under such a circumstance would only give you the value for the least valuable possible combination of metals that could result in that particular read out. Anyways that is how mine works. There are others as well. With gold you can also do something called a scratch test. I think there is a scratch test for copper as well. But I have not seen one in a while.
Good video but incorrect info. The different metals will separate and they melt at different temps by hundreds of degrees. That's why we melt gold. To separate impurities out from the product. Just a little FYI
We used to have a scrap yard that took copper ingots and other Ingots. but One person ruined it for everyone by putting other stuff with the copper. I mean the Scrap yard was taking in like tons of copper and other Ingots each Month. But one person ruined it for everyone else.
I'm not into it, just interested. I'd think that you would get a good price by stripping the copper wire and stacking it in bales instead of melting it down.
I think this dude is spot on (punny language ) in all seriousness he has explained it in a way even the most restarted people could understand. When people explain things in a way that everyone can understand it makes it easy for just about anyone speaking the language to understand. I smelt silver , gold , copper as well as aluminum . I do this for cast projects only. Reason why us because scrap yards are picky , and quite frankly they have a reason to becauseeople ate shady. I've scraped to MIM , newlons metals , I've scraped to ISB, and all sorts of places. Really they don't low ball for regular Grade , but ingots they do and I totally can see why they would do that . Honestly it's very understandable . people will be, welp people
I work in petrochemical dems most of my work is stainless tanks or carbon steel and we're a regular at local scrappies so we get a good price, but the dude running it tell us about gypsy squads around here that fill pipes up with concrete or shite and crush the pipe ends, and then take it to the weighbridge. thats why everyone round here ends up putting it down as "mixed metal" prices. I'd never grudge a scrapyard for being extremely skeptical because there is a lot of people out there who take the piss.
The only way to sell ingots half-way reliably is to get bloody good at casting them, making them presentable, stamping, and selling them to people rather than scrapyards. They can and do sell for 5-10x melt value
I'm actually going to start melting my aluminum just because it's alot easier to get broken screws out of molten aluminum than bent to shut, but I do want to make some brass and copper belt buckles so if I do ill make a design and donate one to you just for the knowledge you spread. Or I'll get pissed and scrap all my stock
Smelting copper into ingots will actually make you MORE money. Check the price that people buy hand smelted copper ingots for on Ebay. WAY more than the $X/lb you'll get for any type of copper at any scrap yard.
Yes and no ... It really boils down to costs for the foundry and the crucibles as well as energy costs be it electric, gas, propane to melt the materials along with what you consider your personal time is worth. At first your just working on covering your start up costs depending on how much you've spent but after so many ingots (when they do sell) is when you'll actually start making money.
u know the more and more i read posts , watch videos and then read comments, i see that most people have no civility online! why is that? why does everyone think they have to be mr. armchair internet warrior tough guy? in real conversations and interactions with people, you dont see this? you see friendliness and respect for the most part. so why do we show such a lack of respect to each other when we are talking online or responding to a video or comment/post?
Most scrap yards that I have visited have a collection of brass objects. Another point about making ingots is the cost and time. No such thing as a free lunch in this world.
Ha, I found myself collecting brass figurines as well. A few brass cannons and I'm trying to possibly make a brass or steel cannon. I have a couple steel pins from railroad couplers that would make nice signal cannons.
Don't get me wrong, I didn't find it these brass model cannons in the garbage, I bought them from Craigslist and the antique store. I do want to cast like a 3ft size that works, kinda like a deck gun.
I ment a guy years ago that would get paid to beryllium away from companies and melt it into the copper and then sell it to a scrapyard. After wards every yard has to have radiation sectors.
I test chem in a foundry. Chems can vary a lot and customers pay more for proper chems. to tell content you have to melt, pour to a sample and test. No, we do not want your mystery metal. When we buy we test, Then when we sell ingot, they are spectro analized certified by us, then also someone else of the customers choice. If chems are wrong, We lose million dollar contracts. This fellow is not blowing smoke.
The weight that's lost in melting is not copper its contaminants. So for example when your weighing copper pipe then your also weighing the crap inside the pipe and the paint on the pipe. When someone melts the pipe then the lost weight is all of that contamination being discarded. Also if you look at bare logistics, hop much straggly pipe in weight can you fit on a truck... Then think how much neat copper ingots in weight you can fit on a truck. Tbh you would likely do yourself a service by forming an arrangement with smelters that you trust.
I can understand the mixture thing, copper and brass melt at about the same temperature, but won't that make a funny color?, I never tried mixing my metals, steel melts at a way higher temperature, I melt mig welding tips, as soon as the copper is melted, I pour, and I have a wire debris left, I did mix copper and tin to make bronze, that came out to look like a darker than normal brass color, I make cool skulls with the copper I melt, why would I want to scrap them anyway? I guess my family will cuss me out in my grave when they find out the local scrapyard won't take my copper art after I kick the last stone, because somewhere, sometime, some ass is always trying to screw over even the scrap man.
No matter what it is there are people are going to try to cheat. The one HVAC company I worked for recycled our copper linesets. The scrape yard in the area would not take them if the ends were crushed because people had crimped the ends with water or sand in them.
duh whaat. I almost have a full set of brass confederate army men, just missing the General and first lieutenant. been collecting then for almost 16 years. I find most of them on a on site pickup.
There are advantages to melting copper into ingots. First it is often difficult to physically remove copper from for example, electronic components. So putting it all in the fire and letting the plastic and other non desirable materials burn off is a quicker way. As for trusting the purity of ingots, just use a metal tester. Mine tells me if it is gold, silver, copper, brass, bronze, tin, steel, lead etc. It can tell me 23 different metal elements and many alloys and purity of each. It only cost me $150 and it is very reliable. Any serious scrapper should have a metal tester. But I wouldn't melt already separated bare copper as it is a waste of time and you will lose or anyways I would lose around 0.75%.
Copper has a specific weight to volume. The density will be off if someone tries to sell you an alloy.
Tim price:
Can you elaborate more on your comment please. I’m only asking because I’m new at this and I got a furnace on the way. Thanks in advanced.
@@depthbrewedrollers.8793 Sure thing, if you were to try to sell day 5lbs of copper, in a solid bar, to a scrap yard, then they would be able to determine by the weight and volume ratio if it is copper or not.
Tim Price
Ok. But how are they able to determine that? I’m asking so I know how to verify for my own purchases.
Thanks.
@@depthbrewedrollers.8793 So it has to do with density. The volume a metal takes depends on that and copper and other's density is known. So gold, for example, is very very dense and very heavy for it's volume, you can't just paint steel gold color and pass it off. So it's SIZE to MASS ratio basically.
Sam Bauer
Thank you vm
Awesome VIDEO. You are my go to guy on all scrap questions. Thanks. !
Thank you Scrap King!
Hey I subscribe to you and I melt my scrap into ingots🤔. I know it’s not financially smart to melt what with time and fuel used but all my copper and brass I melt down into ingots I will keep for future casting projects. I love this hobby even if it is bloody dangerous 😲. I made a big 10 pound copper bar on me channel and I would never think about selling that as I love it 😁and all my other things I melted are all loved and will eventually become a 1 of a kind casting of some sort.
Cool video mate you seem like the kinda guy I could crack a few cold ones with 🍻🍻. Catch ya next time my friend 👍🏻😉
Hey bigstack, I was actually going to give you a shout out in my video but I wasn't sure if you would care or not. I didn't want people to be confused and think I was doing a video that was knocking down the art of melting copper. I just wanted them to know why yards may, or may not buy melted copper! The thing I like best about the things you melt is how much you love them!!! Cheers from Bracken!
Bracken Recycling all good buddy you can give me a shout out anytime you want matey😁😉👍🏻. Im always happy to be associated with a cool funny and informative channel like yours 🍻
bigstackD Casting
fuel is free
@bigstackD Casting Hey man, i figured I would find you in the comments!!!😬You are great man!!!👍I love your videos and cant wait to get back to casting this fall!!!! Cheers from Alaska☃️
I can hear it now... "Dad stop playing with my legos!"
You remind me of John C Riley. Your voice and your sense of humor.
Great video thank you for making it to help us know what to do take care and stay safe and keep up the great work God bless you and your family and friends peace be with you all.
Three years after, giving it a thumbz up👍.
Thanks for your service too HooRaah!
fantastick video bro, answered all my questions and i laughed a few times, THANKS
You're welcome Tarzaan! I appreciate you comment!
Thanks for the insight brother. I have been debating making ingots now I know.
Semper Fi Bro.
You aren't gonna get mixed ingots, here's why... To make a new alloy, with a mixture of steel copper and brass would be more costly and time consuming than they would get out of selling it to you as copper....
If you put molten steel with molten aluminium they don't just mix like water. The heaviest will float on top.
Getthing them to mix and all that would be way more difficult than it is worth in copper.
Point being its his yard his rules your copper your rubber
True about the mixed ingots. Definitely would be a stupid guy making bronze and selling for nothing hehehe. I will find out by our local scrap yards if they take ingots and how much they will pay. My main goal is to cast stuff.
How do you think they make multi coloured ice lollies? They pour different colour liquids at different stages after the previous colour gas frozen.
Put 5mm copper in, let it cool and hardeb. Put cast iron tube in which has closed ends so it has the same buoyancy as copper. Then pour 10mm copper in, and let it cool and set, not too much so it doesn't make the cast iron tube float.
Once the cast iron is set into the copper pour the rest if the molten copper in to fill the ingot.
@@keithbeane6279You got that right.
lol I was wondering if you were a marine then saw the tattoo lol. Great video brother!(Retired Navy here)
i always got the smelting down of various things for gold and silver content, but i was wondering about the copper. thanks for answering that question for me, as i am a scrapper it was useful info. no ingots for me if there isnt any extra money in it.
Solid advice.
This is like a grown up version of Mr. Rogers Neighborhood. :D
Haha, I subbed, your awesome man. Funny and helpful.
Thank you!
Zorba I believe is the name. It’s aluminum brass an copper, that’s been shredded and combined some how. I learned about it yesterday. It’s cheap at the moment but it’s something to look into
Outstanding video...
I having a problem selling steel soup cans. I use to wash them and get low grade steal price for them. I know some are coated but I never thought it was that bad. Any advice. I know soup not big money but I like getting even a little than know it goes in a land fill.
Bracken recycling:
How about a series on how to open up my own recycling business. I’m in Cali. Thanks.
Great advice!!!! Theres also time involved. The more time one takes melting ingots to sell the less they make when they do sell!!!!!
And fuel costs.
Nice videos! Hope one day i can visit your yard! Best regards from Germany
That would be so awesome! if you do, give me a heads up so we can put it on you tube!
7:36 best part of your whole video. Thanks, it made my day!
Thanks, I was hoping someone would think it was funny. I laughed when I was making it, my kids looked at me like you're such a dork!
@@brackenrecycling9505 that was the funny stuff about passed out I was not expecting that voice and the other voice to pop in there.
haha awesome video man! made me laugh with the lego, it was great!
I just stumbled on this channel I think because I watched a cody's lab video. This is hilarious . Love the lego explanations. I used to work at a metal recycling facility and this is pretty spot on. Most recycling centers already have enough issues dealing with copper thieves etc and thats only dealing with factory-made copper wire/etc. Asking us to then worry about what someone put in their copper ingots? Or wondering if they smelted it correctly and have the purity they claim? No thanks.
I could see if you had no choice but to make an ingot due to having like..idk...copper shavings or tiny broken bits or something that had no other way to be collected, but its a pretty rare reason and usually you're better off leaving it as is and letting the recycling center figure out what its worth.
Thank you Halsfield!
You couldn't pay me enough to sell my ingots to a scrap yard...I don't even see what the issue is..Scrap yards are too cheap!!
Watched like 3 vids so far & all i can say is I Finally found someone who knows wtf they're talking about! I been recyclin since I was 6 no s#!t and still never really completely understood alot of things but the 1 fact you Mentioned it changes all the time & if you don't ask tons of questions you might be throwing out stuff you never even imagined would be recycled for cash but don't always last forever do to the market for it. Goin to watch all your vids in time... Please keep doin what you do brother I definitely appreciate it & the time you take to do it. Btw Happy Bird Day Haha! Hope you & your family had some good eats
I keep my bare bright copper in order to melt down and use for projects. Same with brass and aluminum, I save my purest form for melting projects and take the other material to the yard. I don't take melted material in because of your reason. I'm not an expert. Great vid :)
I bought my metal tester for $150 and it tells me what element any piece of solid metal is or if it is plate. It gives me analysis for up to 23 different metal elements and up to a three part alloy showing the three highest percentage elements in a piece of metal. It also is accurate to within a quarter of a percentage. It is very handy though I keep a separate one for gold since being off by a quarter of a percentage with gold can be costly. I got mine a few years ago and I just found one online at $89. So prices have come down. I am not familiar with refining copper as I have only refined gold but a good tester will tell you what you have. I have an all purpose tester and a gold tester.
Realistically if you melted copper down to ingot and the scrap yard won't take them, suggest to cut it up for them. You'd be able to tell if there was different materials due to the color. Or if they still wont take it, recast it and lay it out and make sheets of it. Its be thin enough to tell what'd all be in there and if you brush it off a scrap yard should be able to tell what material it is bc they work around it all day.
Might be better to ask first.
Hey buddy!
I love the vid!
Even if I had copper ingots, I wouldn't scrap 'em because they are more valuable as ingots than scrap! LOL
I make alotta metal projects, and I would love to have copper ingots! Especially at scrap price! :D
I've told some folks "sell me yer ingots", but they always wanna keep 'em.
Thanx for the vid!
Can we get a photo of your brass figurines? Love the video BTW. These are the best out there.
Yes! When I get time I will probably make a video, I've always wanted to. I just wanted to get some street credit with my other videos first, so people didn't think I was just some crazy guy!
Bracken Recycling I think you look pretty effing crazy as it is. It’s a great selling point. Love the videos!
Some people do spike their sows and ingots with other metals . Lead and zinc in aluminum ingots and , brass and lead in copper ingots and other metals as well . We generally dont buy ingots or sows unless they are from a known source and we do use the niton to make sure .
Everything you said is so true. This is why sometimes the best route is to just stay away from it. Some people get it, some don't! I'm sure from all your other comments you know what a pain in the butt it is when someone you've never dealt with before brings you odd ball items and they want top dollar for it!
Yes sir I do know what a pain it can be . We always have to expect the unexpected as buyers . I once was approached by a trusted seller with a solid nickle plate ? It was one inch thick and about 2' x 2' . I had bought nickle from him before many times and all was good but I had never seen ni 200 that thick . Niton said ni 200 ..trusted customer ..$ 14 a lb at the time ? I went old school cause I never saw it that thick and took a grinder to it ...saw the spark after grinding an 1/8 '' into it ... ni plated steel ! I got a million stories like that . Thats why I enjoy your videos cause you teach people about our business .
Tanx for nice video
can copper ingets be as part of perfolio with gold and silver?
you are frigin hilarious
Thank you Jeff!
lol love the vid. ya i would not do it inless for projects or safe keeping. it defently takes a lil nudge of weight off!
Thank you Lawrence!
Watching this video is giving me mixed messages. I dont know if I should do it or shouldn't do it. Great video!
What about copper powder from lithium fire extinguishers? I have like 50 pounds of it I don't know what to do with lol.
Devil Dog. Great points, watched it all and learned a bunch. Who is your audience? Can the toys and silliness. Thanks for your service.
How can I make copper tubing?
crasy question what about shreded coper??? just looking to a way stacking it the less place possible
do you cross over shredded copper often??
Jackpot, great question! I have only had one customer ever who brought me shredded copper. I asked him how he did it and he told me with a wood chipper! I would not think this would be possible and I wouldn't recommend it for the sake of the wood chipper! But non the less that is what the guy told me. As far as selling it, you shouldn't have a problem. But before you do it is always a good idea to check with the yard you normally take it to and make sure they are good with it and they won't downgrade it. There shouldn't be any reason for a downgrade just because it is shredded but anytime you do something different, scummy yards try to find a reason to pay you less but still sell it for more. Some buyers pay a premium for copper chops out of a chopping line (mainly because it is more dense). Chops are the end product from processing insulated copper. But don't expect to get it from a scrapyard. I attached a video link that shows what the copper looks like after going through a chopping line.
czcams.com/video/NTuSWlAmZg8/video.html
Lol its not that i dont trust anyone but i dont trust anyone. I feel ya there. Ive been screwed over by the yard too many times so now i melt and sell elsewhere. It isnt worth my time otherwise
What kind of potato did you use to record the audio in this video?
Doesn’t the removal of slag increase the purity? What if they make a video of its formation?
Hey brother I love your video with the LEGO's and you make some valid points...... but most decent scrap yards should have a handheld spectrometer on hand it'll tell you exactly what is in it and if they have concerns what's in the middle they just drill it and hit it with the spectrometer once again. If those didn't exist I would agree with you 100%
Glad I watched this. You have some valid points about manufacturer specs being basically the proof that it's legit 100% copper. Another note I'd like to add is that you lose a small % of material when melting any metal so you are losing that much money in the process. Not to mention the time spent making the bars and the cost spent on materials to keep your foundry going. So yeah all in all I think it's more sufficient to just turn in the sorted scrap as is. That is of course unless you have trusting customers who will pay more per pound for ingots because they are just more efficient. I hope that makes sense. >.>
is there a way to make ingots more desirable everything is about presentation if the ingots are all grubby and pooris obviously they will pay less my question do they prefer large or small or a particular shape that could make a more favorable sale = (more money)??
You probably hear this a lot but what about Aluminium melted down ? Is it easier to except than cooper and brass cause aluminum is kinda all to its own
If you melt it...don't sell the ingot...make something out of it. For instance...brass figurines! Sand casting is fairly simple.
Back around 2005 i was scraping out old 3.25 disk drives - Part of them where Aluminum and part of them where what I thought was Aluminum this was back when there was Reynolds aluminum recycling trucks in my area (Mostly for can) they likes the cans crushed and paid $.01 more if crushed. I know people that would pick up cans on side of road and if they found wheel weights also would put them in the can before crushing them. On the disk drives the Reynolds driver took parts from me that we both thought where Aluminum. About 2 month later after the first trip we found out they where not Aluminum but Magnesium all i could think of the fire it must have caused
Do you ever see the day when the Government will allow turning in pre 82 copper cents for scrap? They did it with silver even though silver coins can still be used in stores today.
U.S. cents prior to 1909 are mostly 99% copper though some years vary slightly
U.S. cents from 1909-1961 are 99+% copper and less than 1% tin (except 1943)
U.S. cents from 1943 are made of steel
U.S. cents from 1962 to mid 1982 are 95% copper and 5% zinc
U.S. cents from mid 1982 to present are 97.5% zinc and 2.5% copper
At no point in the history of any of the mints have U.S. cents every been 90% copper.
Not since the civil war has any U.S. coin been demonetized. This means they are all spendable and even pre civil war coins can for the most part be spent though that would be a stupid waste. Contrary to popular opinion, it is NOT illegal to melt U.S. coins and sell them for scrap. There is a law that prohibits altering coins for the purpose of passing them off as something more valuable than they are. for example you can't silver plate a one cent coin then pass it off as a silver coin. You cannot fraudulently claim a U.S. coin has more precious metal content than it does nor can you legally take a roll of 49 cents to a bank and ask for two quarters in exchange. While there is no law that states that you have a right to melt down coins, there are no laws on the books that says that you cannot. It only says you can't deface a coin for fraudulent purposes. But feel free to disprove my statement here by citing a law you feel prohibits doing so. My cousin who is a coin collector and an attorney informs me there is no such law and he has melted down thousands of pounds of copper coins since 1982.
There is also a popular belief that scrap yards have the ability to detect if an ingot was made from melted copper cents. The answer to whether they can is yes and no. If you dump into a crucible a bunch of old cents of the right date and melt them down they will have about the same 95% copper and 5% zinc that copper cents have. But if you add a bunch of copper tubing and other scrap copper into the crucible that will throw off the assay and you may get a higher or lower percentage. That said, many scrap yards won't take ingots because they are not smart enough to employ a metal tester. Mine cost me $150. It will tell me what the primary metal is and then the secondary and tertiary metal as long as each is more than 1% of the total content. So mine just told me a piece of copper that I have is 98.75% copper, 1.0% lead and the remainder is blank because the last part is less than 1% other elements. Many scrap yards don't know the law so they won't buy ingots because they think they might contain cents and are afraid of getting into trouble.
Xtreme; All cents from 1863 through 1981 & some 1982's are 95% copper & %5 zinc. These new cents are 97.5% zinc & 2.5% copper.
nunya biz; All cents from 1863 through 1981 & some 1982's are 95%copper & 5%zinc. These new cents are 97.5% zinc & 2.5% copper.
If wreck it ralph didnt shave. Great vid most melt to remelt. Melting casting addiction
You just need an element gun, it’s an x-ray and it tells you exactly what elements are in the ingot, you can test it in so many ways
I feel like the teenager on his first day out of high school, his first job, and someone asked him to get the corner angle hammer.
You do realize he covered would he would not buy a $10-50k tool to verify copper that no one will buy off of him.
Never mind my question on your other vid.lol
I watch this guy that melts copper and other stuff into ingots always wondered if they do buy them.
Melting is a lot of fun. Try it. I pride myself in pouring the purest metals but I'm not selling. Doing sandcasting is my next step
Also started a few months ago. Already playing with sand casting. Lots of fun
If I were to go through the hassle of melting down my copper to make ingots why the heck would i turn around and sell it for scrap value?
While I've never tried to sell ingots I would imagine a lot of yards wouldn't take them here in California. California has some pretty strict laws on selling metal due to so many thieves stealing copper and other metals. If you bring in over (i think) $20 worth you have to wait something like 2 - 3 weeks for your money so they have time to tell if it's stolen or not. (not sure how they would figure that out in most cases though). This gives thieves incentive to melt down their own metals to hide the fact it's stolen. Melting your own metal like was mentioned in this video brings the percentage loss due to dross etc... Plus to do it efficiently it is going to cost money in power to melt it. I would think if someone wanted to get the most from their metal stash they would leave it as is. But I'm no expert and might be wrong.
its no wonder theres a Wreck it Ralph trailer in the suggested videos
Is there really? That would be so awesome!!!
@@brackenrecycling9505 dude I love the way you think! Just simple basic! And that's not an insult that the compliment brother. I love you videos man just found you last week and subscribed have laughed my butt off ever since. Love the beard by the way.
Funny thing about that! This guy has 73000 subscribers and this guy calls him all these stupid names shows the vast expanse of his intelligence...
Keep up the good work dude I love the videos!
Great video
I have to say you sound exactly like
John.C.Reilly
aka "Wreck it Ralph"
😎🤘
Thanks for the input as to the thinking from the other side of the counter. I use some copper for jewelry making and such but will keep in mind anything I might decide to scrap to keep it "As is" versus wasting time and fuel turning it into ingots that might or might not be sellable.
Thank you Mark!
You have to call around to find a scrap yard that will take ingots. Most of the ones who won't don't have a metal tester to determine purity. Every element has a set electrical conductivity. One can calculate which element is tested by testing the conductivity and the density of the metal. A tester detects both and then extrapolates what the material is made from. Occasionally they cannot calculate because multiple combinations can achieve the same results so it will flash a red light indicating that the read out is the most likely assay but it is not full proof. A scrap yard under such a circumstance would only give you the value for the least valuable possible combination of metals that could result in that particular read out. Anyways that is how mine works. There are others as well. With gold you can also do something called a scratch test. I think there is a scratch test for copper as well. But I have not seen one in a while.
Close your eyes and picture John c. Reilly from step brothers 😆 great vid thanks for the info
Good video but incorrect info. The different metals will separate and they melt at different temps by hundreds of degrees. That's why we melt gold. To separate impurities out from the product. Just a little FYI
We used to have a scrap yard that took copper ingots and other Ingots. but One person ruined it for everyone by putting other stuff with the copper. I mean the Scrap yard was taking in like tons of copper and other Ingots each Month. But one person ruined it for everyone else.
Who is this guy? Reminds me of all my marine friends ever! Also, I’m a marine and he reminds me of me...hahahahaha my man!
I'm not into it, just interested. I'd think that you would get a good price by stripping the copper wire and stacking it in bales instead of melting it down.
You look and sound ALOT like John C. Riley... thats pretty cool
I think this dude is spot on (punny language ) in all seriousness he has explained it in a way even the most restarted people could understand. When people explain things in a way that everyone can understand it makes it easy for just about anyone speaking the language to understand. I smelt silver , gold , copper as well as aluminum . I do this for cast projects only. Reason why us because scrap yards are picky , and quite frankly they have a reason to becauseeople ate shady. I've scraped to MIM , newlons metals , I've scraped to ISB, and all sorts of places. Really they don't low ball for regular Grade , but ingots they do and I totally can see why they would do that . Honestly it's very understandable . people will be, welp people
Awesome comment!
I work in petrochemical dems most of my work is stainless tanks or carbon steel and we're a regular at local scrappies so we get a good price, but the dude running it tell us about gypsy squads around here that fill pipes up with concrete or shite and crush the pipe ends, and then take it to the weighbridge.
thats why everyone round here ends up putting it down as "mixed metal" prices.
I'd never grudge a scrapyard for being extremely skeptical because there is a lot of people out there who take the piss.
The only way to sell ingots half-way reliably is to get bloody good at casting them, making them presentable, stamping, and selling them to people rather than scrapyards. They can and do sell for 5-10x melt value
If they did mix metals you would be able to tell by the color 🧠
I'm actually going to start melting my aluminum just because it's alot easier to get broken screws out of molten aluminum than bent to shut, but I do want to make some brass and copper belt buckles so if I do ill make a design and donate one to you just for the knowledge you spread. Or I'll get pissed and scrap all my stock
Never know how my brain is gonna work, I've scrapped good buildable engines because I got pissed off with them being in the way.
Smelting copper into ingots will actually make you MORE money. Check the price that people buy hand smelted copper ingots for on Ebay. WAY more than the $X/lb you'll get for any type of copper at any scrap yard.
Yes and no ... It really boils down to costs for the foundry and the crucibles as well as energy costs be it electric, gas, propane to melt the materials along with what you consider your personal time is worth.
At first your just working on covering your start up costs depending on how much you've spent but after so many ingots (when they do sell) is when you'll actually start making money.
I love brass too bro....
cant melt iron in copper in practicability But I guess you could hide a chunk of short into it wile melted , Copper & Zinc is brass still good money
Glad to meet someone with as much ADD as me.... Love the vids
I collect metal figurines too.
u know the more and more i read posts , watch videos and then read comments, i see that most people have no civility online! why is that? why does everyone think they have to be mr. armchair internet warrior tough guy? in real conversations and interactions with people, you dont see this? you see friendliness and respect for the most part. so why do we show such a lack of respect to each other when we are talking online or responding to a video or comment/post?
Most scrap yards that I have visited have a collection of brass objects.
Another point about making ingots is the cost and time. No such thing as a free lunch in this world.
Lol, great vid. I love ingots but I also love common sense.
So similar argument about vendors trying to sell machine shop pucker machines to press their chips into semisolid pucks.
Hello brother great video, I wonder if your company looking for partnership over sea?
Ha, I found myself collecting brass figurines as well. A few brass cannons and I'm trying to possibly make a brass or steel cannon. I have a couple steel pins from railroad couplers that would make nice signal cannons.
Bengt, I would flip out if I came across a brass cannon!!! That is one I have honestly never come across! Now I want one!
Don't get me wrong, I didn't find it these brass model cannons in the garbage, I bought them from Craigslist and the antique store. I do want to cast like a 3ft size that works, kinda like a deck gun.
New name for your channel.. Scrhappy scrap king
What are your thoughts about me putting my name and phone number right on the ingots??
I ment a guy years ago that would get paid to beryllium away from companies and melt it into the copper and then sell it to a scrapyard. After wards every yard has to have radiation sectors.
I test chem in a foundry. Chems can vary a lot and customers pay more for proper chems.
to tell content you have to melt, pour to a sample and test.
No, we do not want your mystery metal. When we buy we test, Then when we sell ingot, they are spectro analized certified by us, then also someone else of the customers choice.
If chems are wrong, We lose million dollar contracts. This fellow is not blowing smoke.
The weight that's lost in melting is not copper its contaminants. So for example when your weighing copper pipe then your also weighing the crap inside the pipe and the paint on the pipe. When someone melts the pipe then the lost weight is all of that contamination being discarded. Also if you look at bare logistics, hop much straggly pipe in weight can you fit on a truck... Then think how much neat copper ingots in weight you can fit on a truck. Tbh you would likely do yourself a service by forming an arrangement with smelters that you trust.
The visual aids helped.
I can understand the mixture thing, copper and brass melt at about the same temperature, but won't that make a funny color?, I never tried mixing my metals, steel melts at a way higher temperature, I melt mig welding tips, as soon as the copper is melted, I pour, and I have a wire debris left, I did mix copper and tin to make bronze, that came out to look like a darker than normal brass color, I make cool skulls with the copper I melt, why would I want to scrap them anyway? I guess my family will cuss me out in my grave when they find out the local scrapyard won't take my copper art after I kick the last stone, because somewhere, sometime, some ass is always trying to screw over even the scrap man.
Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc.
Semper Fi Marine
Oorah!!!
Im gonna form my copper / brass into some giant letters with my business name :)
That would be awesome!
Take a sample, test it
New subby from UK.
I like the way you think i will it the right way
I love grapes, that is all
No matter what it is there are people are going to try to cheat. The one HVAC company I worked for recycled our copper linesets. The scrape yard in the area would not take them if the ends were crushed because people had crimped the ends with water or sand in them.
Look at all the chemists in the comments, must have struck a nerve with the nerds!
duh whaat. I almost have a full set of brass confederate army men, just missing the General and first lieutenant. been collecting then for almost 16 years. I find most of them on a on site pickup.
oh and a question... How big is your magnet?
LEGO!
Also you can at least double your money on copper by making ingots and selling them on ebay.
Can u send me some copper refinery companies that you sale ur copper
There are advantages to melting copper into ingots. First it is often difficult to physically remove copper from for example, electronic components. So putting it all in the fire and letting the plastic and other non desirable materials burn off is a quicker way. As for trusting the purity of ingots, just use a metal tester. Mine tells me if it is gold, silver, copper, brass, bronze, tin, steel, lead etc. It can tell me 23 different metal elements and many alloys and purity of each. It only cost me $150 and it is very reliable. Any serious scrapper should have a metal tester. But I wouldn't melt already separated bare copper as it is a waste of time and you will lose or anyways I would lose around 0.75%.