Free metal, the way I like it

[OnlyStihl]

I was at a BBQ the other day and got to talking about welding, metal, etc. Someone pointed me to a free (sort of) scrap pile. I looked it over, went back the following day and figured out a good deal. I'd take what I wanted, and help get rid of the rest. The current owner is a widow, and her late husband was a junk collector. She is eager to see the pile gone.

I've several craigslist people interested in the rest. This is what I wanted. Lots of flat stock 1/8, 1/4, and some 1/2 in pieces. All in excellant shape, just a few minutes with a flapper disk and it's ready to weld.

 

[furb]

I was at a BBQ the other day and got to talking about welding, metal, etc. Someone pointed me to a free (sort of) scrap pile. I looked it over, went back the following day and figured out a good deal. I'd take what I wanted, and help get rid of the rest. The current owner is a widow, and her late husband was a junk collector. She is eager to see the pile gone.

I've several craigslist people interested in the rest. This is what I wanted. Lots of flat stock 1/8, 1/4, and some 1/2 in pieces. All in excellant shape, just a few minutes with a flapper disk and it's ready to weld.

View attachment 467249

View attachment 467250

This will be my poor wife one day. I have so much just in case material here. Anything from 1/4 plate to 6” square tube.

 

[OnlyStihl]

I have a guy showing up this morning to take all of what is left. He's not going to be successful, with just his pickup truck. The more I look at what is left, I can see more metal that I can use.

 

[OnlyStihl]

I found several lengths of welding cable, that all total looks to reach 200 feet. I haven't gotten a real good look at it, but it is in multiple sections with LC-40 type quick connects. A few small sections need some repair. I'll order some heat shrink tubing and make the repairs and configure it all to work with my existing leads.

Also found a 1/0 AWG 3 Conductor cable of length I haven't measure but looks like about 50'. Extension cable, or run a new line out and have a 50Amp receptacle at the opposite corner of the garage.

Turns out this pile of junk/scrap is fast becoming a nice little treasure hunt.

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[OnlyStihl]

Got a good look at all the leads. A 50' lead is excellent and the LC-40 quick connector at both ends matches what I currently have. A 36' lead has a kludge repair in the middle, heavily wrapped in electrical tape. I ordered a new butt splice and will fix it properly. Also has good LC-40 connectors. Another long lead is a toss as almost all the wrap is cracked and would need an entirely new shrink wrap fix, and the LC-40 is trash. Just not worth my time and expense. The 3 wire cord is actually just 10 gauge but in excellent shape and will be fine with new a new plug and receptacle. Not to bad and the price, free is a big win.

 

[OnlyStihl]

Part of my find was a whip lead 18 feet in length. Stinger was crap, so that got replaced. This will be nice when used lightly, vertical and especially overhead welding. Concern: Bulk cable is 2/0 AWG, but the whip lead is 4 AWG. Quite the difference, but the 4 AWG is supposed to be okay up to 135 Amps.

 

[Al Smith]

I'm in a position I have salvagable steel measured in tonage . It's structual stuff like I-beams , channel .,flat stock and plate steel plus pipe .I'm in the process of attempting to make it more orderly which has proven to be a pain in the behind .I've got around another week or more work until it's done .Then I have to install a barrier fence to hid it .If they can't see it they've got nothing to *b-word about it .
I don't have a dime in all that stuff just being at the right place at the right time .

 

[OnlyStihl]

I'm in a position I have salvagable steel measured in tonage . It's structual stuff like I-beams , channel .,flat stock and plate steel plus pipe .I'm in the process of attempting to make it more orderly which has proven to be a pain in the behind .I've got around another week or more work until it's done .Then I have to install a barrier fence to hid it .If they can't see it they've got nothing to *b-word about it .
I don't have a dime in all that stuff just being at the right place at the right time .

Sounds like you are amassing enough metal to take on all kinds of projects.

I'm going to build a go-cart if I can get enough metal together. I'd like to start from scratch build the frame and supports for an engine, brakes, steering, etc. Might be a piece of crap when I finished, but would be fun to attempt such a thing.

 

[OnlyStihl]

The last of the scraps are being loaded. As we dug deeper into the unorganized pile, more and more treasures were found. All total about >20 large 1/4 to 1/2 plate steel were found. 10 to 15 of which are clean, straight with no holes, maybe 18 by 30 inches is the average.

This morning was the money load for me.