Bits and pieces
- Thread starter sberry
- Start date
MP&C
Well-known member
Don't throw that away, some good stuff in there still!
bczygan
Well-known member
Mike Folks
Well-known member
"One Man's junk".......
never know when you " just need that piece! "
Ign
Well-known member
I have to thin those repeatedly.
The geniuses who opted to crash our economy based on unfounded panic have successfully pushed the scrap price of steel to ZERO here, so for the moment all my scrap steel is going to the landfill. Wonderful.
The geniuses who opted to crash our economy based on unfounded panic have successfully pushed the scrap price of steel to ZERO here, so for the moment all my scrap steel is going to the landfill. Wonderful.
danski0224
Well-known member
Little pieces of angle iron can be welded together to make bigger pieces... 
danielbuck
Well-known member
- Joined
- Apr 15, 2014
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I've got shelves, buckets and bins of (somewhat organized) drop offs like that. Anything longer than 1 foot, I definitely always keep, no matter what thickness or shape it is.
As things start getting down to less than 3-4 inches long, I keep them in temporary bins loosly organized by flat, round square and angle, and if I don't use any of it for a while, I toss them it and let it fill back up again. The only thing I don't really toss once it gets that short is solid bar or tubing with very thick walls, because they can make good lathe projects or spacers (or custom washers).
As things start getting down to less than 3-4 inches long, I keep them in temporary bins loosly organized by flat, round square and angle, and if I don't use any of it for a while, I toss them it and let it fill back up again. The only thing I don't really toss once it gets that short is solid bar or tubing with very thick walls, because they can make good lathe projects or spacers (or custom washers).
Dutch01
Well-known member
I should spoon feed these threads but I lose some interest, I do them on occasion as I go along. I chose this as I was doing a little pickup. I do strip some of that out but I still pick bits from there, on occasion take the bigger drops out, dont always do it at the moment and if I find myself searching a bit much I tidy up. I got about 1/2 that much again and then a longer rack. I have seen welding shops open and first thing they build racks for 20 ft steel, in a year its full of drops and often a guy gets longs as needed. I also chop in half for car haul too.
It takes some space, it can be whittled down but its easy to use especially if a guy is a bit of a collector. The main thing is to cut it down into stock if you plan on storing it. I am
It takes some space, it can be whittled down but its easy to use especially if a guy is a bit of a collector. The main thing is to cut it down into stock if you plan on storing it. I am
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It's pretty well reached its end by the time it's plasma whittled. I used to have a can and it hit about 1/2 of it 1/2 the time andevery little cut made a mess,blew soot under my bench. This really works well, deflects very well. If I pay just a little attn and a couple features are hard to see here but I got 98% of it blown in the box.
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Except there is an opportunity cost to having all those bits. Someone above mentioned they have buckets, plural, of bits. That space could be used for something else. Your life could be easier or the shop could be easier to clean by not having those buckets sitting around.
Time also has value. Is it worth 2 hours hunting through the scrap bins to find a piece of metal to save $5 in stock. Maybe maybe not.
If you live in the middle of no where in the 18th century probably. For me having the ability to have stock delivered in 2 hours, it is not.
oldmachinenut
Well-known member
Cary, how did you get those pics of the cart my bandsaw is on?
I almost always find a drop that is perfect for a project I am working on there.
Bill
In my case it's more like 2 minutes vs 2 hours and I couldn't order pieces and wait for delivery to get a bit or a coupon
I use out of there every day, sometimes several and so much so close to ready made. I do toss a lot that is awkward or difficult to store. I can't even remember the last time I been to the steel yard. The variety of thickness and shape would be difficult to deal with, so easy to find something suitable and it is somewhat organized.
This is getting thinned out and some of it wIll go if scrap rises. I have pulled a lot of awkward size, even special size we tossed in there over the years. I put some more useful or potentially useful stuff in there when I did a major scrap out.
Next time the whole truck will go.
Next time the whole truck will go.
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joe49
Well-known member
I agree if you are needing a large quantity of material and are on customers dime. Put there is a lot to be gained in time and savings with organized drop storage.
To a certain degree I agree. I have been saved many times by finding that perfect piece of scrap while working late at night. However, many people take that to the extreme of hoarding. It might be valuable so it takes up space for years and years. Organized is a big key word in that. But organization takes time and effort, and in my experience is usually not done.
There is a reason really high end manufacturing shops resemble operating rooms more then back yard shops. Obviously they can afford it, but they could afford to be slovenly as well. Really they are as or more profit driven as anyone else. They don't do it for the aesthetic. It is enjoyable and easier to work in a clean well, organized, well lit space. It attracts good people and allows good work.
Even in the home shop it is the same. It is easier and more enjoyable to work in a nice space. Hoarding buckets of 1"x1" and irregular drops. old unsorted bolts, wood scrapes, oil cans with two drops in them is the antithesis of a clean organized shop.
I'm moving away from the hoarding side. What drove me over the edge is I have a 2'x3' piece of 1/8"th plate I have been dragging around for 10 years. It is a drop from the laser form a project on my rock crawler. It probably has less then a square foot of usable metal left in it and no piece longer then 4" straight. It is constantly leaning against a wall or blocking access to something I need. It has moved cross country three times. The time I have spent just moving that piece I could have spent I don't know working at McDonald's and bought the whole sheet several times over.
I agree, it's time to go. I do cut and "process" it so to speak. I also agree many shops can't afford to store or work around it. They have special needs, stock to make what they need, easier and cheaper to make new. 90% of mine anymore is repairs, brackets, widgets, so much is already done, many 1cut, 1 hole type jobs. I built space deliberate for this, was in the plan.
I had another shop, had another building right out the back door we had converted for this with shelves, it was handy.
I had another shop, had another building right out the back door we had converted for this with shelves, it was handy.
I also don't save cans with 2 drops, I toss a lot of cardboard, I am amazed at the warm dry storage lots of it gets. I unbox,, there is a reason it's boxed if it is, much marked but stuff is no good unless it can be seen.
I have whole basement shelved out for stuff we want to save a while, out of the way, out of the work area. We use it a lot.
I have whole basement shelved out for stuff we want to save a while, out of the way, out of the work area. We use it a lot.
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raddksn
Well-known member
Ain't that the truth!!!shortly after you have thrown it away
I disagree it's cosmetic.
I am always impressed when I go into a shop of any kind and see the pride that shows with a neat and organized work place.
Now for us home guys I don't think it matters but with a commercial operation the best are always neat and organized.
Just good business.
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I am always impressed when I go into a shop of any kind and see the pride that shows with a neat and organized work place.
Now for us home guys I don't think it matters but with a commercial operation the best are always neat and organized.
Just good business.
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The last place I lived that would literal have been millions of dollars in storage. Big opportunity cost there. Even in your situation there is a huge opportunity and real cost to having that storage.
What is better opportunity than free? How much new stock would it take to get the variety? How many strips to the yard and do they sell the 5$ piece several times a day. There are real cost to everything, just a matter of how much.
I needed a furnace blower motor the other day, we had salvaged a piece a while back and thought it looked familiar. Found it in about 5 minutes without a trip that would have consumed half a day and north of a hundred bucks.
No one is going to pay me to throw my stuff out and put theirs in my basement for storage. Its why its there,,, very low cost. Some we quit collecting, old 3 wire dryer and range wire. NM cable. We have picked thru electric motors fairly well, some of those will go scrap if the price goes up but where they are not a hurt and out of the way.
Had a job for some gaurds a while back that took all the broke box fans.
I needed a furnace blower motor the other day, we had salvaged a piece a while back and thought it looked familiar. Found it in about 5 minutes without a trip that would have consumed half a day and north of a hundred bucks.
No one is going to pay me to throw my stuff out and put theirs in my basement for storage. Its why its there,,, very low cost. Some we quit collecting, old 3 wire dryer and range wire. NM cable. We have picked thru electric motors fairly well, some of those will go scrap if the price goes up but where they are not a hurt and out of the way.
Had a job for some gaurds a while back that took all the broke box fans.
Its so hard to work in a place all the parts look the same and piled together. I was in a fab shop the other day and see it got in the way. A hard thing is to clear the bench. Got to realize not going to do anything with the junk that has been there a week and that I wont need the exact same tools.
I have invested a lot into getting that space as free as it can be. I like an empty shop. I have had it happen and worked around long term **** and I don't like it. This is one of the reasons I have the storage in the nature I do, can get it out of the way at a decent cost and don't mind walking to another building for some stuff if I don't got to trip over it. Some I use so seasonally I move right back to storage.
One of the last pics isn't real descriptive and our stuff changes once in a while but wire remnants are a big deal, I collect it a bit like steel. Where its hanging its not eating, I use some of it. We had a retrofit a while back. I rounded up a few electric boxes we had thrown in a box in storage and saved a whole lot of fussing staring down the isle for stuff at 5 buck a piece.
My helper sorted thru it used up most of the boxes and clamps
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