Save those beer and pop cans
- Thread starter Kevin54
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theoldwizard1
Well-known member
I don't know what scrap aluminum is selling for today, but I expect it will increase a lot over the next 5-10 years as more and more Al content shows up in cars and trucks.
Professur
Well-known member
Al isn't exactly a rare mineral ... and refining it only takes huge amounts of electricity. I don't expect demand to significantly outpace supply.
at one time aluminum was more expensive than gold!!!
never again hah.
take a tip from the youtube crazies (like the link), melt all your aluminum down into large blocks, maybe you can one day make money off aluminum.. as for me, when i scrapped stuff, i hated aluminum... weigh next to nothing, priced at around 2 bucks a pound, but takes up a bunch of space... id rather scrap stainless than aluminum.
also, i never got the concept, i saw people bring in truck beds full of uncrushed pop cans (can't crush here due to people filling with sand and crushing), they would get maybe 10 bucks or something.. how does that even cover gas? i would unload one little tote full of copper and brass, and get 3-400. definitely worth the trip at that point. but why bother with cans at all?
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Stormtrooper
New member
Awesome video!
paranoid56
Well-known member
here, a truckload of cans would get you a few hundred bucks. i think the idea of melting them is kinda neat as you can make more useless stuff lol
dr_clyde
Well-known member
Round here our cans are worth 10 cents a pop for deposit. Almost never see them at the scrapyard.
If someone does cast some aluminum, post up what you cast or how you do it.
I have seen a few videos of where people cast molten aluminum into large ant hills, then dig them out and clean them off. It makes a great table top art piece.
Pouring the aluminum into the teddy bear cookie tins would make a great gift for a kid. It would make a great paperweight for some. All sorts of ideas that you can do with it.
I have seen a few videos of where people cast molten aluminum into large ant hills, then dig them out and clean them off. It makes a great table top art piece.
Pouring the aluminum into the teddy bear cookie tins would make a great gift for a kid. It would make a great paperweight for some. All sorts of ideas that you can do with it.
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youngnstudly
Well-known member
For money making purposes, I save all aluminum across the board and any plastic bottles and such that I can recycle (aluminum was only $1.59/lb. a few months back while plastic was $1.10/lb....to put things in perspective).
For purposes of melting and such, I think the copper pennies are where it's going to be more promising. Especially if the Government stops recognizing the penny (and producing it....which they've talked about doing many times before).
I've been saving them (mid 1982 and down) for the past 4 years, but I don't have all that much saved up yet. My Dad told me he has 16 or 18 Costco Mayo jars full of copper pennies since I tipped him off a couple years back. To be fair, he get $5-10 bucks every week from the bank and goes through them roll by roll.
It would be sweet to be able to melt that stuff down for casting projects at home!
Andy
For purposes of melting and such, I think the copper pennies are where it's going to be more promising. Especially if the Government stops recognizing the penny (and producing it....which they've talked about doing many times before).
I've been saving them (mid 1982 and down) for the past 4 years, but I don't have all that much saved up yet. My Dad told me he has 16 or 18 Costco Mayo jars full of copper pennies since I tipped him off a couple years back. To be fair, he get $5-10 bucks every week from the bank and goes through them roll by roll.
It would be sweet to be able to melt that stuff down for casting projects at home!
Andy
Professur
Well-known member
If you happen to have an international border anywhere close, you can carry those across (under $10k, or you'll have to declare them) and they can be sold for melt in such and such foreign country. Be careful that you don't end up with over that $10k limit on the return trip home. That includes your pocket change and any quarters in the car's console for tolls or parking meters. There's nothing worse than making a perfect transaction only to find out skipping lunch puts you over the limit.
Next to nothing here, 40 cents/lb on a good day for cans, 16 cents for cast alum. A truckload might get you a couple bucks.
BigE
Well-known member
Aluminum is the most abundant metal on the planet. The problem is that it doesn't exist as pure aluminum in nature. It combines with other elements and requires refining. The reason it used to be more expensive than gold is that it was extremely labor intensive to refine. However, some smart guy in the early part of the 20th century developed an electrical refining method that made aluminum refinement easier and faster. After that, prices dropped like a rock.
SCscoutguy
Well-known member
Could you do this with any aluminum? I have several old screen door frames and some aluminum screen window frames that I could melt if it would work.
If you want to do metal casting, using aluminum cans for stock is probably the least cost effective source, right next to screen or aluminum foil. By the time you skim the dross off, there isn't much quality aluminum left. It takes ALOT of cans to make a few pound ingot. The fuel and time is not worth it.
randomtwinkie
Well-known member
I worked at a golf course and recycling the beer cans from golfers could pay for a couple bbqs a year for the crew.
SCscoutguy
Well-known member
I found this video while looking at related youtube videos. It is pretty damn impressive what this guy does.
Aluminum is the most abundant metal in the Earth's crust.
What alloy is used for soda cans?
What alloy is used for soda cans?
Graphic_D
Member
Hey fellas - Total Noob Lurker here... My old man did a lot of casting metal in college and did some far out stuff with his used beer cans. Here's a video of a dude in Sao Paulo casting a chair with some a similar, yet more robust setup. It starts a little slow, but you get a really good look at the process and the rig he built.
https://vimeo.com/76584800
https://vimeo.com/76584800
rustyjames
Well-known member
^^^^^^Cool video, brings back memories of my high school metal shop days learning to sand cast aluminum. Thanks for posting it.
sc3013
Well-known member
There are three alloys used in a soda "beer" can. One for the body, one for the lid, and another for the tab. Body stock has to be soft to be able to form it. The lid has to be brittle to be able to tear out the opening. The tab has to be tough so as to not bend.
Fordman7795
Well-known member
Funny story. I was 2nd in line at the scrapyard in the non ferrous building. Lady in front pulls out bag after bag of cans. She wanted to turn them in for scrap, she "didnt have time to take them back for deposit". The worker there knows me and he comes up to me "hey, im about to give this woman $10 as scrap, give her $15 and take them". Of course i did. After i finish scrapping what i had, i went to store and got $90 in deposit.
Lippyp
Well-known member
I did some aluminium casting (yes there is a second "i" in Aluminium!) We made sand molds in wooden boxes using wooden patterns and cast the handle for a junior hacksaw, the rest we also made, bent the frame up in the forge, made the adjuster on a lathe. We had a proper little foundry in one corner of the workshop opposite the corner with the forge in.
KCarGuy
Well-known member
Last time (summer) that I was at the scrapper dropping off Old Transformers, a young son and father pulled up with some boxes of scrap telephone wire and a small trailer with at least 20 large garbage bags of Crushed Cans.
Turns out, that this young man wanted a Playstation and His Dad told him that if he saved up for it, he could have one. So he printed flyers, and collected neighborhood Aluminum Cans for the summer.
His Dad was shocked when he got $75 for all the wire and His son got $375 for the Cans.
Its still worth scrapping them as long as you have space and dont mind all the bees!
Turns out, that this young man wanted a Playstation and His Dad told him that if he saved up for it, he could have one. So he printed flyers, and collected neighborhood Aluminum Cans for the summer.
His Dad was shocked when he got $75 for all the wire and His son got $375 for the Cans.
Its still worth scrapping them as long as you have space and dont mind all the bees!
Jim Johnstone
Well-known member
Honda Engine Civic Commercial:
You guys might find this interesting.
You guys might find this interesting.
EdT
Well-known member
Great tutorial on aluminum casting in, I think, about 50, 10-20 minute segments can be found at MYFORDBOY on youtube. He's done a lot of casting and strongly recommends that the best results are achieved using things that were originally cast as feed stock. The alloys that extrusions and beer cans are made from are not ideal for casting. That's not to say they won't work, just that the stuff made to be cast casts better and if you're going to the trouble you might as well stack the deck in your favor. One aluminum cylinder head or alloy wheel will give you a lot to work with.
Jim Johnstone
Well-known member
tonydanzah
Well-known member
aluminum is worth to much in Michigan to do that. 10 cent a can.
JonBoehman
Well-known member
The dross can be reduced if you add the cans to a crucible of already-melted aluminum.
The original video looks like a lost-foam casting. A pattern is cut out of sheets of foam. Some people use polystyrene (styrofoam), others use the insulating foam sheets available at Home Depot and the like. You can glue them together with hot glue. The pattern is buried in sand with a sprue sticking up for the hot aluminum to melt. When you pour, the aluminum vaporizes the foam and takes its shape. There's a wealth of lost-foam casting info HERE:
If anyone is interested in getting started in aluminum casting, I can recommend the Dave Gingery series of books. Each one outlines a different casting project-- lathe, horizontal milling machine, shaper, etc.