Thread: Cheap steel

Hi Dean,

The yard north of Arthur's with all the scrap cast iron is someone else (Smorgon steel ?). He used to own that block and the block south of the yard as well.

So he would have got a pretty penny for them. Note the big steel mesh shield between Arthur and the northern block with the crane. That's to stop lumps of cast iron flying through the air and crashing into Arthur when they drop that big steel ball on the cast to break it up. Arthur and the foundry have been hit several times.

Sheeeesh, glad I'm not around when they do that.

Here's a shot of some of the (mild) steel I got from him, in the size he still has, and there was also one length ( 2-3 X) larger diameter there last visit.

Prices vary wildly depending on what it is and what mood he's in, but these cost me $5 each - yes, that much.

oops - seem to have a double post on the image.

Rob

Originally Posted by nearnexus

Hi Dean,

The yard north of Arthur's with all the scrap cast iron is someone else (Smorgon steel ?). He used to own that block and the block south of the yard as well.

So he would have got a pretty penny for them. Note the big steel mesh shield between Arthur and the northern block with the crane. That's to stop lumps of cast iron flying through the air and crashing into Arthur when they drop that big steel ball on the cast to break it up. Arthur and the foundry have been hit several times.

Sheeeesh, glad I'm not around when they do that.

Here's a shot of some of the (mild) steel I got from him, in the size he still has, and there was also one length ( 2-3 X) larger diameter there last visit.

Prices vary wildly depending on what it is and what mood he's in, but these cost me $5 each - yes, that much.

oops - seem to have a double post on the image.

Rob

We did look at that mesh and wonder what it was for. I thought it must be for some type of protection but did not know what from.

Dean

I mused over this all week before deciding to add it to my "maybe useful one day collection" of scrap metal.
Blocks measure 405x225x60 and 405x455x52 and the I30 handled it well. Got the two of them for $65 which I thought was OK.

I had to carry them for a bit as I couldn't get the car real close so I was concerned the poopa valve would hold under the pressure. Not that I had a look or can get anyone else to look for that matter but everything seems to be in place.

Can anyone identify the metal or give me hints on what to look for. I have a feeling because of the size of the blocks that it is cast. It looks to have been machined with a shaper or perhaps just bandsawn to size. There is writing on the blocks that says plastic and I think they might be for a plastic injection mold. One block has blue paint on the end.

So any guesses or tests I can do to see if it is cast?


DCP_1417.jpg

Originally Posted by rodm

So any guesses or tests I can do to see if it is cast?

If it is cast and you drill a small hole in it I would expect you would get black graphite like small flakes/dust.

If it's steel you would get sharp shiny spirals or similar.

That's how I would test it.

Rob

I'll second Rob's method. Glad the ring piece held out young Rod.

Thanks Rob / Bob
Yep good test. Unfortunately it is steel but still good for something. Perhaps I might be able to tether SWMBO to it when we go shopping so she doesn't take off like a Jack Russell.

Ok I am showing off now but it is worth having a look at what you can get from scrap yards.
This is a lot of brass round bar 38mm and some brass 25mm hollow bar and behind it is some 2m lengths of solid 40 by 40 ally bar. I have a heap of brass plate and copper bar from previous assaults but the copper is expensive - well the brass it too and that lot in the photo cost about $60.
DCP_1419.JPG
Next lot is some fairly hefty steel hollow bar, chrome bar, cast steel bar and a chunk of 40mm ally plate. Steel is generally 40c to 50c kg but I have paid up to $1 kg as they quote figures off the top of their head if they don't weigh it. I have learnt to get bigger quantities at a time so they weigh it. It is a casual arrangement and you win and loose.
DCP_1420.JPG
Next is nearly a full sheet of 6mm ally checker plate and sundry ally sheet material and sheetmetal offcuts. All but the checker plate was carted in the I30 and if I was allowed to knock out the windscreen I would have tried that as well.
DCP_1421.JPG
Next is some 10, 20 and 25mm ally plate. Hard to see beyond the first 25mm plate but there is a stack of it behind that. Generally ally is $3 kg but I have paid between $2 and $5 kg over the years.
DCP_1422.JPG
Next is a heap (almost a metre deep) of heavy and light angle, bar and C channel most in excess of 2m long. There are a couple of 150mm C channels like the type used for truck bumpers about 2.3m long.
DCP_1423.JPG
That is the material I have got this year and yet to be properly sorted and stored and it is a small example of what I have hoarded over time. I share with local likely lads when I get a good score or know they are chasing something. I have been going to one yard for over ten years and while they do not now let the general public in they tolerate my ugly face when I go there. I also scrounge for acrylics and have a similar story from those adventures. I pay them in bottled goods and it has saved me heaps of money - you think steel is expensive try buying new acrylic material.
I like to save material from salvage and while I have more than I will ever use it is nice to know I can go make something without spending a day sourcing new material. About the only new steel I buy is SHS, angle and flats when I build new CNC machines.

Nice.

That brass stock is something I would dearly love to snaffle. Yards here just don't have any.

And it's expensive to buy new.

That thick alloy is also the goods Really handy size.

Great pick ups all round.

Cheers

Rob

Hi Rob,
We are lucky over here probably due to the mining and gas construction boom. I am seeing truck loads of new material at the yard and I wonder about shops closing down as more is made offshore. Seems to be in the last six months and items like large "I" and "C" beams and the racks for storing them have been turning up - not a good sign. I hate new material going to recycling. The transport costs and energy required to make it into something else doesn't bear thinking about.

Only one yard I go to has the brass and I snap it up as it arrives. It doesn't hang around long as the owners want to recover their buy price. I've got buckets of it now including some large diam stuff so I am good for this lifetime.

Hi Rodm , I see one of your chunks of mystery metal is marked "M200"
You are probably spot on about it being a mold steel:
http://www.buau.com.au/english/files/M200DE.pdf
I've been told pieces like yours are are bandsawed from big block, perhaps a meter cube or so.
I have used it for a few small clamps, worked well.
Neil

Thanks Neil,
I reckon you have hit the nail on the head there. It all falls in place reading the document even down to its use being for plastic injection molds.

These were heavy enough so would hate to have to shift around the parent block of this stuff.

IIRC the M200 is prehardened and cannot be welded. It is tough stuff and difficult to tap (nearly to the point of work hardening). It shows no mercy to sub standard tooling and will destroy it quickly. I have had my best results using the shaper with Bohler toolsteel. It has stood up to the abrasiveness quite well whereas cheaper tools wear severely within minutes. I have not tried polishing or grinding it.

Ken

I was able to drill into it with a 2mm drill easy enough and a light file on the corner before that didn't indicate hard steel.

I know that is not machining it but the file didn't skate so it might be OK to machine. My biggest problem is finding a way to break it down. I only have a BL7 bandsaw and will have to be inventive to cut it with that.
When I find a use for it I will work out how to cut it up.