What do we do with our scrap steel?

bladsmth said:
Best solution is to put it in the trash can every week when you clean up the shop (like any of us actually clean the shop weekly :) )
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I'm somewhat surprised to hear you say this, Stacy.

In my mind it makes little sense to send such high quality steel to a landfill. Perhaps it's due to the dozens of WWII books I've read. God help us when we again find ourselves rationing metal due to a war effort. But if history is any indication (and it always is), we will find ourselves doing that very thing.

We have single-stream curb-side recycling here in Austin. I've been meaning to contact them regarding steel barstock cut offs.
 
Over the years I have collected buckets of steel bits and grindings, and have given little thought as to do with it. I should make a dedicated trip to the scrapyard with it including old car batteries and other scrap that could bring me some money.
 
I have a friend that has a junk yard. He takes all my scrap, and I clean out all the metal shavings from my catch bucket. He will give me small scraps of brass or other things when I need them. He is a scrounger, and can usually find things I'm looking for, so I figure it's fair if I just give him scraps.
 
You're welcome to send it to me! I will make you a cool keychain or something ;-).
But seriously why not set up a "scrap pile" thread where newbies like me can purchase small pieces of known material to tinker with. I know it would benefit me to have a source for small scrap that I can actually identify.
Just a thought.
 
I feel the same way. Nothing recyclable goes from my place to be trucked across the mountains and dumped in a sealed hole in the ground. Talk about inefficient.
Sure it takes a tiny bit of time for me to throw it in the recycle bin or call the scrap guy (he's happy to come by for a bucket- "Every ounce counts," he says)
 
If you have recycling, then that would be the trash can to put it in.
The quality of the steel scrap we have in a knife shop would not affect anything, as all scrap gets sorted into stainless and carbon....and gets melted together..... at the steel mill. M-4, D-2, W-2, etc., goes in along with rebar and car bodies. That is why it is virtually impossible to get new steel without a dozen trace elements in it if you have a full analysis done.


Whistlepig - If it is big enough to use, most makers will find something to do with it. The stuff in the scrap bucket is usually grinding dust, metal shavings from the mill, small chunks of unknown steel, and trimmings from cutting out profiles.
 
Funny, I was just on the other end of this: Stopped into the cabinet shop and looked at their burn pile...You mean you're just going to burn this block of Padauk? Can I have these strips of Wenge and Bubinga?
For them, it's not even worth cutting up for kindling, this time of year. For me, it's about six months worth of scales for my production knives.
 
With the price of scrap the last few years(sometimes up to 10-12 cents/pound) someone would likely come and get it to dispose of it for you. It still gets recycled and you don't have to waste time/fuel to haul minimal amounts to the scrap yard yourself.

Just my 1/4 pound of scrap....
Chris
 
You can use it to test your heat treating recipes or experiment with new ones assuming you have the means to test it
 
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