I have been thinking about the large amount of aluminum cans we always have in our municipal recycle bin, and I remembered taking cans to the scrapyard in high school for extra cash. Has anyone done this recently? Google says the going rate is about 0.25 cents per pound, and I remember it takes a lot of cans to make a pound (excepting some of the heavier duty large cans that hold bulk items).
I think the decision point is will the payoff in taking them to a commercial scrapper vice municipal one outweigh the storage required to minimize trips down there. Anyone still do this? Thoughts / pitfalls?
Aluminum can recycling, recent experiences?
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Re: Aluminum can recycling, recent experiences?
I have been thinking of melting cans down for casting and machining low-quality parts (better than plastic) and things like name plates, handles, ... or anything where wood would be too cumbersome.
I'm still looking for a proper way to melt it. Cheap DIY foundries don't seem to last that long.
I'm still looking for a proper way to melt it. Cheap DIY foundries don't seem to last that long.
Re: Aluminum can recycling, recent experiences?
@jacob
check this guy out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2FuvKTyRMQ
Adding steel wool during the casting of foundries can extend the life tenfold
check this guy out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2FuvKTyRMQ
Adding steel wool during the casting of foundries can extend the life tenfold
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Re: Aluminum can recycling, recent experiences?
This was a short lived hobby of my son’s. He has a setup with concrete in a 5 gallon bucket.jacob wrote: ↑Wed Dec 13, 2017 1:57 pmI have been thinking of melting cans down for casting and machining low-quality parts (better than plastic) and things like name plates, handles, ... or anything where wood would be too cumbersome.
I'm still looking for a proper way to melt it. Cheap DIY foundries don't seem to last that long.
It frustrated me as we have a bottle deposit here and he was melting something I had thought of as money since childhood. I knew intellectual it was better than video games and just a tiny amount.
Re: Aluminum can recycling, recent experiences?
So when I got home I used my wife's kitchen scale and measured an empty soda can. 0.56 ounces per can, or 116 cans per 4 pounds, and at 0.25 cents a pound, 116 cans per dollar. If we were to scrounge 30 cans per week, that is 1560 cans a year, or $13.44.
So if the initial assumption of 0.25 cents per pound is correct, it probably would not be worth the hassle of collect, clean, crush, and store for a few months at a time and drive down to the scrap metal place 3-4 times a year.
So if the initial assumption of 0.25 cents per pound is correct, it probably would not be worth the hassle of collect, clean, crush, and store for a few months at a time and drive down to the scrap metal place 3-4 times a year.
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Re: Aluminum can recycling, recent experiences?
Why don't you scrap all your metal, and just go more often?
Lots of info at www.scrapmetaljunkie.com
Lots of info at www.scrapmetaljunkie.com