08-30-2016, 06:51 AM
The surface area is the killer. The more surface area, the more oxidation. The more oxidation the more crap.
If you were wash the brass chips 110% clean and then compress them into blocks, and get them to melt without falling apart first you may get something useful. Utopia aside, I'd see if you can weigh it in for scrap. However here in Perth, I now have to separate my steel swarf from other steel scrap as it is no longer viable for scrap merchants to pay the same price given the loss they will take on the swarf.
Aluminium cans are another waste of time when melting. Most of the weight is the printed label. Best weighed in for scrap and use the coin to buy stock.
One thing I did recently was email a bunch of machine shops and enquire about purchasing their drops and offcuts from them. Given that the arse seems to have fallen out of the mining boom, many are happy to get some cash. I purchased a decent sized box of 6160 aluminium 1018, 1045 and 4140 steel and some SS rod for $50 off of their stock racks. I was allowed to dumpster dive in the scrap metal bin outside for free. That is the only benefit of the plummeting price of scrap steel, as he probably has to pay for them to remove it.
If you were wash the brass chips 110% clean and then compress them into blocks, and get them to melt without falling apart first you may get something useful. Utopia aside, I'd see if you can weigh it in for scrap. However here in Perth, I now have to separate my steel swarf from other steel scrap as it is no longer viable for scrap merchants to pay the same price given the loss they will take on the swarf.
Aluminium cans are another waste of time when melting. Most of the weight is the printed label. Best weighed in for scrap and use the coin to buy stock.
One thing I did recently was email a bunch of machine shops and enquire about purchasing their drops and offcuts from them. Given that the arse seems to have fallen out of the mining boom, many are happy to get some cash. I purchased a decent sized box of 6160 aluminium 1018, 1045 and 4140 steel and some SS rod for $50 off of their stock racks. I was allowed to dumpster dive in the scrap metal bin outside for free. That is the only benefit of the plummeting price of scrap steel, as he probably has to pay for them to remove it.
Hunting American dentists since 2015.