Stopped by the local scrapyard yesterday to see if they had anything I
couldn't live without, and found out that they are stopping scrap sales.
The fellow said it was in the process of being removed, which explained the
big empty space where tons and tons of scrap used to exist to pick through,
but that while it was there, anything not banded was fair game.

Went back today with the trailer, my little red wagon all grown up, and
picked a couple hundred pounds of 1/8" angle, what I usually cook stuff up
out of, in a couple of different dimensions.

They'll still buy scrap, but won't have a yard to buy stuff from anymore, at
least not for little guys. Place had been there before my time, and it was
always comforting knowing you could go down there and find just what you
needed somewhere. Brush the rust off, and you were good to go.

And now it's no longer. Kind of gave me a bad feeling, like when a
backdraft sucks the air out of a room, and you know everything is about to
blow up, but that's just me. I couldn't get an answer as to "why," other
than the bigwigs decided to shut it down. I did notice a lot more "safety"
signage around, hard hats required, that kind of thing. Maybe it's
liability, maybe it wasn't profitable, maybe they want to cash in before
prices go down, maybe a combination, I dunno.

We've still got an outlet to buy metals from (not a scrapper), but their
"scrap" pile is downright puny, with not much "middle" sized object. Just
pretty much small chunks of really thick stuff and pieces thin stuff;
everything else is sold as new, and by the foot.

It's getting harder for an honest scrounger to find stuff to "make do" with,
but such is life.

Jon

On Fri, 14 Nov 2008 13:06:37 -0800, "Jon Danniken"
wrote:

Stopped by the local scrapyard yesterday to see if they had anything I
couldn't live without, and found out that they are stopping scrap sales.
The fellow said it was in the process of being removed, which explained the
big empty space where tons and tons of scrap used to exist to pick through,
but that while it was there, anything not banded was fair game.

Went back today with the trailer, my little red wagon all grown up, and
picked a couple hundred pounds of 1/8" angle, what I usually cook stuff up
out of, in a couple of different dimensions.

They'll still buy scrap, but won't have a yard to buy stuff from anymore, at
least not for little guys. Place had been there before my time, and it was
always comforting knowing you could go down there and find just what you
needed somewhere. Brush the rust off, and you were good to go.

And now it's no longer. Kind of gave me a bad feeling, like when a
backdraft sucks the air out of a room, and you know everything is about to
blow up, but that's just me. I couldn't get an answer as to "why," other
than the bigwigs decided to shut it down. I did notice a lot more "safety"
signage around, hard hats required, that kind of thing. Maybe it's
liability, maybe it wasn't profitable, maybe they want to cash in before
prices go down, maybe a combination, I dunno.

We've still got an outlet to buy metals from (not a scrapper), but their
"scrap" pile is downright puny, with not much "middle" sized object. Just
pretty much small chunks of really thick stuff and pieces thin stuff;
everything else is sold as new, and by the foot.

It's getting harder for an honest scrounger to find stuff to "make do" with,
but such is life.

Jon




Probably liability. They stopped that where I use to go cause someone
got killed, but I knew the owner's son so he would let me dig. Then
they had a falling out and it was all over.

The new place I hear, not too far from here has machines of all types,
now I'm afraid to go cause of the stuff that might follow me home.

Sunworshipper wrote :
Probably liability. They stopped that where I use to go cause someone
got killed, but I knew the owner's son so he would let me dig. Then
they had a falling out and it was all over.

The new place I hear, not too far from here has machines of all types,
now I'm afraid to go cause of the stuff that might follow me home.

Aye. They did have a large-ish bandsaw sitting under a covered outshed,
maybe a 15x25 or somewhere around there. I turned around and didn't ask
about it.

Jon

Jon Danniken wrote:
Stopped by the local scrapyard yesterday to see if they had anything I
couldn't live without, and found out that they are stopping scrap sales.
The fellow said it was in the process of being removed, which explained the
big empty space where tons and tons of scrap used to exist to pick through,
but that while it was there, anything not banded was fair game.

Be thankful that you had the scrapyard that long.
The two yards in my area are extremely proud of their stock.
Scrap sells for 2X the price of new from a local reputable yard (that delivers!)

--Winston

Sunworshipper wrote in message
...
On Fri, 14 Nov 2008 13:06:37 -0800, "Jon Danniken"
wrote:

Stopped by the local scrapyard yesterday to see if they had anything I
couldn't live without, and found out that they are stopping scrap sales.
The fellow said it was in the process of being removed, which explained
the
big empty space where tons and tons of scrap used to exist to pick
through,
but that while it was there, anything not banded was fair game.

Went back today with the trailer, my little red wagon all grown up, and
picked a couple hundred pounds of 1/8" angle, what I usually cook stuff up
out of, in a couple of different dimensions.

They'll still buy scrap, but won't have a yard to buy stuff from anymore,
at
least not for little guys. Place had been there before my time, and it
was
always comforting knowing you could go down there and find just what you
needed somewhere. Brush the rust off, and you were good to go.

And now it's no longer. Kind of gave me a bad feeling, like when a
backdraft sucks the air out of a room, and you know everything is about to
blow up, but that's just me. I couldn't get an answer as to "why," other
than the bigwigs decided to shut it down. I did notice a lot more
"safety"
signage around, hard hats required, that kind of thing. Maybe it's
liability, maybe it wasn't profitable, maybe they want to cash in before
prices go down, maybe a combination, I dunno.

We've still got an outlet to buy metals from (not a scrapper), but their
"scrap" pile is downright puny, with not much "middle" sized object. Just
pretty much small chunks of really thick stuff and pieces thin stuff;
everything else is sold as new, and by the foot.

It's getting harder for an honest scrounger to find stuff to "make do"
with,
but such is life.

Jon




Probably liability. They stopped that where I use to go cause someone
got killed, but I knew the owner's son so he would let me dig. Then
they had a falling out and it was all over.

The new place I hear, not too far from here has machines of all types,
now I'm afraid to go cause of the stuff that might follow me home.

Last time I went over to one of the local metal yards to buy scrap they
charged me regular retail as if they had cut it to those dimensions for me
from stock. Since their retail is a lot more than I can usually have stuff
trucked in for I'll just buy full size pieces and save them for my own
future projects from now on.

Jon Danniken wrote:
Stopped by the local scrapyard yesterday to see if they had anything I
couldn't live without, and found out that they are stopping scrap sales.
The fellow said it was in the process of being removed, which explained the
big empty space where tons and tons of scrap used to exist to pick through,
but that while it was there, anything not banded was fair game.

Went back today with the trailer, my little red wagon all grown up, and
picked a couple hundred pounds of 1/8" angle, what I usually cook stuff up
out of, in a couple of different dimensions.

They'll still buy scrap, but won't have a yard to buy stuff from anymore, at
least not for little guys. Place had been there before my time, and it was
always comforting knowing you could go down there and find just what you
needed somewhere. Brush the rust off, and you were good to go.

And now it's no longer. Kind of gave me a bad feeling, like when a
backdraft sucks the air out of a room, and you know everything is about to
blow up, but that's just me. I couldn't get an answer as to "why," other
than the bigwigs decided to shut it down. I did notice a lot more "safety"
signage around, hard hats required, that kind of thing. Maybe it's
liability, maybe it wasn't profitable, maybe they want to cash in before
prices go down, maybe a combination, I dunno.

That sucks. Around here, there are still places where you can buy items
from the yard. But it depends very much on the mentality of the owner.
Some enjoy buying and selling and are willing to take reasonable small
risks. Those are the ones it's good to do business with.

Chris

--Eeeeww creepy! That's why I left Santa Barbara.

--
"Steamboat Ed" Haas : Never thought I'd live to see
Hacking the Trailing Edge! : our "iron curtain" crumble...
www.nmpproducts.com
---Decks a-wash in a sea of words---

"Jon Danniken" wrote in message
...
Stopped by the local scrapyard yesterday to see if they had anything I
couldn't live without, and found out that they are stopping scrap sales.
The fellow said it was in the process of being removed, which explained
the big empty space where tons and tons of scrap used to exist to pick
through, but that while it was there, anything not banded was fair game.

Went back today with the trailer, my little red wagon all grown up, and
picked a couple hundred pounds of 1/8" angle, what I usually cook stuff up
out of, in a couple of different dimensions.

They'll still buy scrap, but won't have a yard to buy stuff from anymore,
at least not for little guys. Place had been there before my time, and it
was always comforting knowing you could go down there and find just what
you needed somewhere. Brush the rust off, and you were good to go.

And now it's no longer. Kind of gave me a bad feeling, like when a
backdraft sucks the air out of a room, and you know everything is about to
blow up, but that's just me. I couldn't get an answer as to "why," other
than the bigwigs decided to shut it down. I did notice a lot more
"safety" signage around, hard hats required, that kind of thing. Maybe
it's liability, maybe it wasn't profitable, maybe they want to cash in
before prices go down, maybe a combination, I dunno.

We've still got an outlet to buy metals from (not a scrapper), but their
"scrap" pile is downright puny, with not much "middle" sized object. Just
pretty much small chunks of really thick stuff and pieces thin stuff;
everything else is sold as new, and by the foot.

It's getting harder for an honest scrounger to find stuff to "make do"
with, but such is life.

Jon






Same sort of thing happened at a number of yards in the bigger cities here
in southern PA (Pure Appalachia), and they quoted both liability and the
expense and (especially) bother of dealing in little bits and pieces, as in
"less than truckload".

However, there is one yard that I can still go in and pick and carry, pretty
much what I want, and they charge me @ 1.5X what they buy the stuff for -
but only because I rode the same school-bus in the 40's with the owner (I
mean, we DO go back a ways). But when he goes to the Big Scrap Yard in the
Sky, I guess that will put "finish" on that.

I got a bunch of 1-1/4 x 1-1/4 x 1/8 angle pretty clean and straight last
time out, about 100# for $.35/lb.
Aluminum is scarce, there, though.

Flash

"Jon Danniken" writes:

Stopped by the local scrapyard yesterday to see if they had anything I
couldn't live without, and found out that they are stopping scrap sales.

I heard on NPR that the scrap metal problem is global.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/s...oryId=96901087

People shipping materials to oversees markets at material worth $600 a
ton, and when it arrives, the price they can GET is now $150 a ton.

And it costs too much to ship it back to the US.

On Fri, 14 Nov 2008 13:06:37 -0800, "Jon Danniken"
wrote:

Stopped by the local scrapyard yesterday to see if they had anything I
couldn't live without, and found out that they are stopping scrap sales.
The fellow said it was in the process of being removed, which explained the
big empty space where tons and tons of scrap used to exist to pick through,
but that while it was there, anything not banded was fair game.

Went back today with the trailer, my little red wagon all grown up, and
picked a couple hundred pounds of 1/8" angle, what I usually cook stuff up
out of, in a couple of different dimensions.

They'll still buy scrap, but won't have a yard to buy stuff from anymore, at
least not for little guys. Place had been there before my time, and it was
always comforting knowing you could go down there and find just what you
needed somewhere. Brush the rust off, and you were good to go.

And now it's no longer. Kind of gave me a bad feeling, like when a
backdraft sucks the air out of a room, and you know everything is about to
blow up, but that's just me. I couldn't get an answer as to "why," other
than the bigwigs decided to shut it down. I did notice a lot more "safety"
signage around, hard hats required, that kind of thing. Maybe it's
liability, maybe it wasn't profitable, maybe they want to cash in before
prices go down, maybe a combination, I dunno.

We've still got an outlet to buy metals from (not a scrapper), but their
"scrap" pile is downright puny, with not much "middle" sized object. Just
pretty much small chunks of really thick stuff and pieces thin stuff;
everything else is sold as new, and by the foot.

It's getting harder for an honest scrounger to find stuff to "make do" with,
but such is life.

I know what you mean. Locally we had an old Southern Railway
roundhouse that was used fro scrap steel collection. When I ran my
machine shop, I was able to score some really good deals.

Now, with all of the production gone overseas there is little usable
scrap, the roundhouse has been razed for a mall, and there are few
scroungers left.....

Sad.
--

Forté Agent 5.00 Build 1160

Grady-White Gulfstream, out of Oak Island, NC.

Homepage
http://pamandgene.tranquilrefuge.net...shop/index.htm

"Jon Danniken" writes:

Boeing Surplus used to be a wonderful place to browse in the Seattle
area - metal, tooling, machines, sometimes optics and computers. I
didn't get there often myself (I live 3 hours north across an
international border), but stuff that I knew was from there also showed
up for resale in local places. I didn't even get to make a "last trip";
it was closed before I noticed the announcement.

It closed in Dec 2007, truly the end of an era. There's some commentary
in http://www.saveboeingsurplus.com/ about why it's bad for the
community, and possibly shortsighted for Boeing itself.

Dave

"Jon Danniken" wrote in message
...
Stopped by the local scrapyard yesterday to see if they had anything I
couldn't live without, and found out that they are stopping scrap sales.
The fellow said it was in the process of being removed, which explained
the big empty space where tons and tons of scrap used to exist to pick
through, but that while it was there, anything not banded was fair game.

Went back today with the trailer, my little red wagon all grown up, and
picked a couple hundred pounds of 1/8" angle, what I usually cook stuff up
out of, in a couple of different dimensions.

They'll still buy scrap, but won't have a yard to buy stuff from anymore,
at least not for little guys. Place had been there before my time, and it
was always comforting knowing you could go down there and find just what
you needed somewhere. Brush the rust off, and you were good to go.

And now it's no longer. Kind of gave me a bad feeling, like when a
backdraft sucks the air out of a room, and you know everything is about to
blow up, but that's just me. I couldn't get an answer as to "why," other
than the bigwigs decided to shut it down. I did notice a lot more
"safety" signage around, hard hats required, that kind of thing. Maybe
it's liability, maybe it wasn't profitable, maybe they want to cash in
before prices go down, maybe a combination, I dunno.

We've still got an outlet to buy metals from (not a scrapper), but their
"scrap" pile is downright puny, with not much "middle" sized object. Just
pretty much small chunks of really thick stuff and pieces thin stuff;
everything else is sold as new, and by the foot.

It's getting harder for an honest scrounger to find stuff to "make do"
with, but such is life.

Jon

Went to mine looking for some sheet copper. You know how hard scrap sheet
copper is to find? He said I had just missed 1700# by a week.

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

Steve