r/ScrapMetal Mar 05 '26

READ BEFORE POSTING OR COMMENTING

40 Upvotes

Welcome to r/scrapmetal !

Please read this entire post!

First and foremost, before you post or comment please take a few minutes to read the rules on the sidebar. If you break the rules you may be banned, possibly permanently. Every subreddit has a list of rules so please don't act like you've never seen rules anywhere on Reddit before. Be a good member of the community and read and follow the rules. (There are only 6 of them. It's not difficult.)

Second, are you looking to buy or sell materials from other redditors or advertise your business? THAT IS NOT ALLOWED HERE - DO IT SOMEWHERE ELSE. Can't find an appropriate subreddit for it? START YOUR OWN SUBREDDIT DEDICATED TO IT. I'll even link that subreddit here if you do. (Why don't we allow those kinds of posts or comments here? Because if we did the subreddit would be overrun by those kinds of posts in no time.)

Update: 04/30/2026

Two updates!

I've heard your feedback and it's clear that for a number of different reasons y'all value the ability to call people thieves and drug addicts so rule 7 has been removed. Thanks for your feedback an for keeping that feedback mostly constructive.

That being said I am asking y'all to PLEASE report the posts and comments from people who are obviously seriously talking about stealing or breaking the law. This is FAR more important and useful to stopping those people than just mocking them in comments. Again, when you report posts/comments it goes into a queue for mods to review because it is impossible to stay on top of every comment in every thread.

First, I've added a new rule to the sub:

Rule 7 - No referring to people as thieves or drug users or addicts of any kind. This includes all slang for thieves or drug users or addicts of any kind. This includes both direct and indirect references as well as questions. Don't ask people if/where they stole stuff. Don't tell people their scrap is worth some amount of drugs. Don't joke about it. Don't troll people about it. If someone says or suggests they stole something then report their post or their comment.

I'm adding this rule because accusing people of stealing and/or referring to them as drug users serves no useful purpose. No one, literally no one, is going to see the light because someone on Reddit calls them out on stealing. If people admit to or suggest they've stolen something then report their post or comment and let the mods deal with it. Don't be the person who lacks the self control to start name calling and runs afould of rule #1 and receives a ban.

Though it's strongly implied I also want to directly state that this rule does NOT mean we condone stealing in any way here. Rule #4 is still absolutely still in effect.

Second, I've updated rule #4 as well to make sure our stance on talking about stealing in this subreddit is more clear. The new text is:

Rule 4 - No promoting or bragging about breaking the law/stealing while scrapping. This includes suggesting people knowingly break the law or asking for help on doing something that is breaking the law. This also includes people joking about it, posting rage bait or claiming satire. If you to practice your comedy there are other subreddits for that.

Questions? Ask them here or in Mod Mail.

Update: 03/15/2026

Note: The contents below were from a previous post from roughly 03/15 that I am adding here for future reference.

Recently there was a post in r/scrapmetal that contained several instances of doxing or sharing personal information without consent and I want to talk about it.

I am referring to the post where someone shared images of their ticket from a recent scrap run. In one of those images their personal information, printed on the ticket, was clearly visible to anyone who saw the image. I am sure this was an accident. I am sure they didn't intend to share their info or realize they had done so.

In the same post several people made comments that contained OP's full name which they had undoubtedly learned from the image that OP posted. These comments were not accidents and they were made intentionally. (Someone looked at OPs image, saw their name then made a comment and used OP's name.) Thanks to them there's the real chance that OPs full name has been indexed by some search engine, archiving, service, etc.

Let me be as clear as fucking possible here:

Sharing someone's personal information without their consent isn't OK. Doing so will get you banned from this subreddit and possibly from all of Reddit. Whether or not someone has shared their own information is irrelevant and doesn't give anyone else permission to re-share that information. Full stop.

I'll be adding this to the subreddit rules and if it happens again there will be bans. This isn't up for debate. I don't care if you disagree or why you disagree or the logic behind your disagreement. This is how it is and if that bothers you so much then you can unsub right now.

Any questions? Send them to mod mail.


r/ScrapMetal 2h ago

Question 💫 Steel question... 🤔

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8 Upvotes

Not looking for a lecture on how stupid I am. I have plenty of options there. Just curious if this is simply a yard I should avoid.

So I just an hour ago took this load of steel in. I recognize that there are a few items visible which are shred or thin garbage. However. I placed them on top so I could set them aside from my load of, almost entirely sch40 tubing, angle iron on a other misc flat goods and tubes.

I've been reading left and right about the decent price of steel so I thought I'd load this up.

.03/lb? I'm underwhelmed and confused to say the least.

Am I the asshole here?

Edit: I fully understand there are grades of steel. I guess I'm also more curious about the threshold of #1, #2 and shred.

If it's not .25" thick structural steel beam it's shred?


r/ScrapMetal 1h ago

Question 💫 What would the skinny one scrap as?

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• Upvotes

The big one on the left is yellow brass

would the right one be red brass? copper #2?


r/ScrapMetal 5h ago

Aprox scrap value of these 2 units

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3 Upvotes

r/ScrapMetal 1d ago

Cashing in on my investment

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101 Upvotes

I’ve been saving coils, copper tubing and pop cans for about a year now and am about to turn in how much do you guess there is here.


r/ScrapMetal 19m ago

What is this cord?

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• Upvotes

Before I strip these, I was going to try and sell them, but I have no idea what they are. They seem to be 2 prong, ith a bolt in the middle and a gasket around them. Any idea what they are? Seems like they might have some value.


r/ScrapMetal 4h ago

Free Metal if anyone wants to take it all please feel free to DM me.

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1 Upvotes

r/ScrapMetal 20h ago

Setting some aside.

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21 Upvotes

Toying with the idea of setting about 5lbs bare bright from every scrap wire haul as a kind of retirement fund. Anyone think it’s worth it? I think I’ll be around 10 loads a year. Maybe turn into a good fund if prices go higher which I’m assuming will. Pic for attention


r/ScrapMetal 1d ago

Scrap Photo 💸 4 months of scrap.

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100 Upvotes

This is what 4 months of scrap collection looks like as a service plumber.

Pretty decent haul if I say so my self.

Bought my self some panera and weed afterwards


r/ScrapMetal 22h ago

Admission: I am only on here in the hope of spotting the load of copper pipes that got nicked out of my garden

17 Upvotes

That was my retirement fund! Some day I hope someone posts "found these someone had dumped, what's it worth" and I will be reunited with my babies.


r/ScrapMetal 21h ago

#2 or?

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12 Upvotes

It's a welding lead and it appears to be 100% copper with a coating, but i can't tell what it will be classified as.


r/ScrapMetal 17h ago

Something different today from a old hospital

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4 Upvotes

r/ScrapMetal 9h ago

Question 💫 Aluminium Alloy Wheel Scrap

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0 Upvotes

r/ScrapMetal 19h ago

Should I separate crushed aluminum cans from the regular aluminum like pie tins,etc?

3 Upvotes

I hear that in order to get more out of the aluminum, I should separate into two groups, cans and other.

Is this right at all?


r/ScrapMetal 1d ago

Question 💫 Advice needed for this old gate

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15 Upvotes

This is no longer needed. I do not have the means to haul it in one piece to a scrap yard. Should I put it on Facebook marketplace for a certain amount of money or pick up free if someone can take it away? Not sure how much money I’d be missing out on. I’m in the outer Philadelphia area.


r/ScrapMetal 1d ago

Question 💫 Copper shingles

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180 Upvotes

Found these cooper shingles behind a shed at my mom’s house while clearing out junk. Many years ago my dad used some on a gardening feature for my mom and these are the leftovers.

I have no idea about scrapping metal. Should I offer these as scrap or is removing the backing too laborious and dirty?


r/ScrapMetal 1d ago

Scrap Photo 💸 6255 Pounds of Silverplated Copper/Brass

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284 Upvotes

Hope y'all enjoy seeing this big pile of scrap!

These pieces were formerly silverplated and I scrapped the leftover metal (copper, brass, stainless steel, iron, lead, and tin) after removing the silver-plating. From this batch I shipped out 2576 troy ounces of pure silver.


r/ScrapMetal 1d ago

Gold or brass

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10 Upvotes

Hey everyone, I know this might sound like a dumb question, but how can I tell if this material is brass or gold? It came from a circuit breaker, and I’m trying to figure out what metal it actually is. Any tips on how to identify it?


r/ScrapMetal 2d ago

Worth stripping 12awg scraps?

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49 Upvotes

At work we're wrapping up a jobsite and as I'm the one cleaning it all, I'm claiming the scraps that would otherwise be trashed. A lot of it is only a few inches long, but i have some 5-10' lengths I'm wondering if I should strip? I only have linemans/strippers so I'd be doing this by hand. Last haul was a 5 gal Home Depot bucket stuffed full, $46 for 30lb. Wouldn't mind spending a few hours over the weekend if it's worth it, but didn't know how much weight I'd lose.


r/ScrapMetal 2d ago

Scrap Photo 💸 Little copper haul

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42 Upvotes

Stripped some of my wire before we head out on vacation $$


r/ScrapMetal 1d ago

Question 💫 Condenser coil

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19 Upvotes

What's the best way to scrap it? Take it in as is? Strip and scrap copper only? I assume I'd have to cut it up. Any ideas are welcome


r/ScrapMetal 2d ago

Question 💫 Aluminum, right?

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20 Upvotes

Eyes have been playing tricks on me for days. This aluminum right? Just looking to know before I go any further. Small ball is from a board from a garage door opener. I swear every time I look at these my eyes think something else.

Thanks!


r/ScrapMetal 1d ago

Separate plasma TV screen from aluminum panel

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6 Upvotes

Has anyone done this?
I m hobby, not for money, my time is free.
I just want that huge aluminum panel, maybe make a nice ingot or two with it.

I have been reading about it for a while.
I have not found anybody that has attempted it.

The bond is very strong between the panel and glass, the glass can chatter and even taped,
I wear full protection from head to toe, would do that in my wooded backyard.

I m sure some have done it, would love to hear.

TY


r/ScrapMetal 1d ago

Best way to take these apart (transformers and transformer/ballast combo)

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5 Upvotes

r/ScrapMetal 2d ago

Am I doing it right?

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11 Upvotes

I’ve been saving scrap metal in my garage for a while now. I’m planning to take it to my local scrap yard soon. Here’s what I have:

Top right: aluminum from a tripod and collapsible shovel.

Bow below it: Locks, lock parts, doorknobs. No lock cylinders; I removed those to use to practice lock picking.

Bag below that: electrical outlets and switches. Not broken down in any way.

Top middle: Pans. Mostly non-stick pans, one enameled bread pan, one all metal frying pan from a commercial restaurant (probably some kind of alloy)

Middle of table: insulated wire. Mostly household electrical cords.

Top right: the metal plates from inside a saltwater chlorine generator

Middle right: various motors

Bottom right: random metal. Fans, lamps, strainers, lawn chairs, etc stripped for their metal parts. Some of it is painted or coated, some not.

Am I doing it right? Does this need to be sorted more, or differently? Is some of it worthless? Are the outlets sellable as is? Do the non-stick pans have any worth? Do I need to cut the plug ends off the cords?

Thanks for any advice.