I found a bucket full of 2 inch ball valves with the tags still on. They're like a hundred some odd bucks each. I gotta make an ebay account or something! I see a guy who works at the scrap yard set up at flea markets with those brass candle holders and knick nacks. He always has cool stuff, makes me want to work there on his days off.
I have always tipped the guys at the scrap yard, 10 or 15 bucks each, for many years, when I back the truck up to the door they come running to unload it, sort it, and often will overlook certain things to give me better weight totals. I already make very good money as a plumber so scrap is just icing on the cake. Scrap yard guys don't make a lot of money, and it feels good to share the wealth 😉
Yep, it’s the best way to get best service, help, and most importantly BEST prices when you sell your scrap! I do the same thing too! Once I roll up on the scale, they all see me, as my truck is a bit recognizable… I roll off towards the pile and a forklift guy will come over, and usually two guys from under the shed where they weigh out all non-ferrous scrap. If I have something really heavy, or palletized, the forklift guy will unload it, I’ll give him a few bucks, and if I have large, strange shaped items or appliances, the two other guys will help offload that. Then roll up to nonferrous shed and they help unload my other stuff which I usually have sorted out to make process smoother; and they sometimes find things I didn’t catch as stainless or what not. The scale operator loves this and it makes his job easier!! They help in persuading to get me better prices than usual! And once I’m cashed out, I’ll give the other two helpers a few bucks as well as the scale operator…. Enjoying much more money in my pocket than before!! Also, when it’s really busy, they will push me ahead of the line, lol. Getting me out before everyone else 😂
That's it scrap yard I go to pays $32-$45 for yard hand/forklift operator. With dozens to hundreds of different grades of scrap metal it's not a no skill job. % of rubbish to metal means these dozens of different categories for just one metal X the drozen of different metals. Mind you been nice always help, have been in a few times with 10 kg brass @ $6.00 per kg and 4 kg of coast brass ( brass and steel) $2.5 per kg and gotten the higher price for the lot. And then you have the ones that arguments over ever little thing and the get ripped to shreds. Custom "Ohhh that's 5% ally" $3.50 Scrap yard No mate best we can do is high return $0.87
I love how he does these videos as an experiment to not only show himself wether cleaning things is worth it or not but he also does this to others. As a 14 year old who scraps just to make a little money, I love his videos and they help me a lot with sorting and showing me what is worth my time and what isn’t.
On the ball valves... If the spline the handle goes on is brass the ball will be brass too. I have yet to find any with a stainless steel ball. If you are not sure, take a drill to the ball to see if it is brass.
Last week my colleagues at work laughed at me when I claimed a load of no. 2 wire out of a skip at my employers This week when I told them that earned me £70 for just taking it to a metal reclamation yard they weren't laughing anymore 😂👍
its better just to keep it to yourself and let em think what they want. same has happened with me i scrap because i enjoy it and its extra money, ive gotten a bunch of scrap from jobs we have done that they were just going to throw away, i sell the scrap and invest the money. when i retire early ill just tell them its because of scrapping. (scrapping is a small amount but in 20+ years that small amount of money from scrap becomes very good amount of money if its invested well.)
@gargalash I see it as a bonus. I asked if I could have the wire first and was given the all clear to take it. I've had many a good weekend using scrapping cash. It keeps me busy when I have to dismantle a washing machine for example and there's that pay off. I have a new partner and she couldn't believe how much money I got for the amount I took in lol
I think brass and copper will be worth a LOT more in the near future. They don't take up too much space and may be worth stockpiling for a few years. I feel the same about aluminum, except for the taking up space part...
I tend to stockpile my ally, I only do cast, extruded and old rolled and it doesn't take long to build up a nice "little" pile. Same with lead acid batteries and dry bright wire. I weigh it all in once a year. Tip: don't weigh in just before Christmas, the price seems to miraculously drop off in December
@@howardchambers9679That checks out. Decreased demand due to less construction in the winter plus increased supply from scrappers trying to buy Christmas presents and vacations. A bad combo for scrap prices
Invest in a furnance ,some crucibles, various size molds, and good tongs...The ingots sell as much as 100% higher depending on the metal...and it doesn't hurt to get friendly with your scrap buyer..they can give you good tips o the market future prices.
Just over a $1 here for dirty but only because prices have spiked lately. Clean is just over $3. And you still have to make some effort cleaning off anything that is easily removed or they will pay even less! So might as well clean it all.
I'm a plumber in nb and i get a lot of brass. You should get a little portable bandsaw. You can clean up relief valves and ball valves in seconds. Well worth the money. Great videos cheers
I'm a plumber as well, sometimes I will start disassembling scrap while waiting for the water heater to drain down, or get the helper to do it, instead of them just watching me work, or staring at their phones.
Love the vids, a note for you and all. Your grinder is your best friend. I use mine at least 75% more then i ever see you use it. Huge time saver. And per you valves, one slice down each side takes seconds and leaves totaly clean brass. Grinding wheels are cheep. USE THEM!!!
I've been doing brass and copper all week - those ball valves are often all brass inside and the smaller ones (nickel/chrome plated) you passed on at 8:10 are simple to clean. Pop valves - just cut the top off and that's it. Best friend for speed with brass is a grinder. Anything fidgety like faucets that are causing issues, I just cut them apart. With a difference of almost $2 here for dirty vs clean brass - it's worth cleaning.
That's what I do with all of my brass pretty much, just fucking cut it up and it goes so fast, I can process a hundred pounds of dirty shit like he has in the video in about an hour and a half. I live in Alaska so scrap prices are a little less, dirty brass is like 40 cents a pound and clean brass is like a $1.30 a pound so it's always worth it to clean it for me
I always clean my brass, it's usually faucets. Couple of tips to speed up the process. Use a set of Torx drivers instead of Allen keys. T8, T9, and T10 are the most common. Also use some cable cutters to take the #1 copper pipe off of the spigot. Nothing wrong with adding to the copper pile
I noticed that too. If you start with the right tools, you get the job done much quicker. I rarely use hammers for anything. I also like using powered tools whenever possible.
Ok so this is UK and possibly only the yard I use. But they will take what they call mixed brass, that is partially cleaned brass. I cut the pipes off but the odd bit of copper pipe is fine, also as long as any other metals are at the bare minimum then they're happy to take it. The difference is maybe 50p a kg and I can clean it all to their standard in a fraction of the time. I rarely remove the little rubber O rings for instance. It's all going to be shredded anyway
I recently sold 110lbs of brass for $224, I don’t know if it was technically worth it per hour but it sure felt good to get paid! I would definitely do it again as I find the work mostly therapeutic. The majority came from plumbing and lighting.
Saw this coming a mile away, This is why I only sort my brass when its convenient or super easy to clean in large quantities. Great video nonetheless Drake! Love them, keep them coming!!
It saves a lot of time just to use a fucking grinder. I could process 100 lb of dirty faucets and regulators and other shit in about an hour and a half. Anything like regulators or big fittings with steel inside I just cut straight in half with my grinder and smack it with a hammer if needed. Saves a ton of time and triples your price of brass.
Scrap yards around here pay less for Lots of zinc taps, They tell you 2.20 for dirty but they don't want zinc, They pay here about $1 per pound for the cheap zinc taps
Keep these what it's worth videos coming. There's somuch useful information. Your saving me somuch time experimenting myself and providing one hell of an education. Really appreciate them and you time.
Yeah I live in a Area that has more Brass cause no salt roads and they have furniture there are days I get 300 hundred pounds then just two pounds or none but I store turn in when markets right hey thanks for fun video
Hey Thub, always good to a see a new video. Ottawa prices: 10 cents for Irony brass, 2 bucks for red and 1.5 for yellow, that they post anyway. Glad you did this one.
You talk like a person who wants to make so much an hour then complete scrapping isnt worth it but for a retired peron its about staying busy and its all proffit .better then staring at the walls and getting no excersize for your health not about so much an hour 😊
Might want to check on some of the values of the vintage/antique brass fixtures before scrapping them. If you have an antiques dealer or architectural salvage business that deals in antique fixtures in your area, it would be worth selling the fixtures to them. Even the round steel, brass, and painted aluminum tap handles from garden hose type valves tend to be in demand for upcycling/craft purposes, for example. I do some scrapping, but I deal in architectural antiques and hardware as part of my antiques business, so am aware of the values of some of the fixtures. Your candle holder was modern and just made in India and not worth much more than scrap. I tend to scrap most modern brass decor items, as they just don't sell well. They are usually easily cleaned of contaminants, if there is any. There are Victorian and older candleholders and such out there, though, which can be worth far more than scrap....good to learn the differences, could make you some good money. Your tub shower setup was a reproduction, so no loss there....Had it been an original one with the shower rails, it would have been worth $175 - $250ish or so. Was surprised you didn't snip the copper pipe/tubing off the tap sets.
The problem with trying to resell certain items is that the market is very small and if put on kijiji or other selling sites like that, is it can take years for a buyer to come along, or never come along. Just scrap it and get the money now.
I am quite shocked at the very narrow margin between clean and dirty. I am watching your videos on scrapping because I am collecting metals for melting and casting. But the time involved in separating them is important to me. Hehe, its easier to watch you do it first and then decide if its worth it for me. Thanks for that.
That’s fair, I would’ve been more open to saving it if it came with the glass. I’m sure they’re easy to replace, I just get in the scrap mindset sometimes and cruise through it all
I'm sure many have said this before, but I'm ah gonna say it again. YOU ARE MY OPRAH. Thanks for keeping it fresh and fun. I always look forward to watching your videos.
Nice video. I had to call my buyer to see what the price of brass was after seeing this. Clean brass is $2.14 and dirty is $1.10 in Miami Florida. I guess It depends on your location
Another point to think about is how much of that would you actually have gotten dirty brass for? Those bathroom faucets wouldn't be dirty brass. Most likely dirty aluminum. I guess all yards are different but taking into account what items you could get dirty brass is a huge factor.
HI Thub!!!! WOW love all your content - I started scrapping and truely your videos explain everything i need to start. THANK YOU the lessons here and your awesome thoughts about what to look for and stuff man THIS is for me and i make a lil bit of money! BEST to you and I Love being called a "Panda" HAHAHAHAAH your a pro! me and wife are watching all your stuff thanks
My scrap yard is generally pretty lenient (e.g. plug ends, USB cord ends, headphone jacks as Copper bearing). However, my irony brass or faucet prices are always under a dollar, even when brass was hitting $3/lb CAD last spring. Can't imagine such high dirty brass prices!
I can’t speak for all scrapyards but mine gives me clean brass even with copper on because brass is mostly copper anyway. It’s true that the copper is worth more when removed and separated but then it’s just a question of the value of your time
I deal with Triple M for scrap. They have an app you can download with current scrap prices. It is different for each city but if you are listed on the app or close to a city that is listed, you can see the different prices before you decide if it is worth the time and effort to clean your scrap. For reference I am also in Canada
Also, now that ive seen the whole thing I can say, that (based on my historic numbers) clean brass sells at an average of 2.20/lb and dirty brass at 0.70/lb a percentage difference of.... a lot🥰🥰 love the vids, love the vibe and the content, keep doin the thing, you're awesome. Panda out🥰
......Land o' Lakes,wi........here!,,,,,,..yes,taking time to clean brass is worth it,,,,...my favorite time,,,,I save it all,like you do,,,,wait until all my chores are done,,and start,,....a few tools on a clean work table,,vise,,,visegrips,,,hammer,cutters,,,pipewrench,,extension,,,,,.....and go!!!.....average=80$ dollars a bucket,,,if you can lift it!!!😯😯...........brass breakage is the way........your right on,,,,tnx,,,pat,,,,big fan....looking for a good 2023.
I use a small portable bandsaw to split valves. Toss all of it in an old cement mixer with a couple scoop shovels full of sand and let her run awhile. Scrap yard guys always say min is the cleanest they ever see!
ok, you've probably already answered this, and I don't want to search very long this morning. Bro, what's a panda? "Hello panda's and scrappers out there...."
FWIW, the primers in brass shell cases are brass or nickel plated brass. Down here they don't want to give much for shell cases but I know a guy that took his spent primers out when he reloaded and put the spent primers in a milk jug. When the jug was full, he took it to the scrap yard and they considered it to be pure brass and they gave him $70.00 for those primers (jug weighed 35 pounds).
There's no way you're pulling all this metal out of the dumpster is there? I don't care if people scrap in abandoned buildings at all. Play buildings the usually knock down and all that metal ghost waste instead of being recycled. Anybody who does that isn't stealing, they are actually giving the world a recycled product. I don't support going into buildings that are gonna be rented or houses that are going to be sold that's just being a dick and a total thief. This goober got me going in the scrap game, his RU-vid videos is how I learned how to scrap. But like always, the student surpassed the teacher. I cash in 150-200 lbs of bear bright alone a week.... ...Not including my gold recovery I probably put 500-1,000 bucks a week in my pocket. I just started Doing precious metal scrap last week And have accumulated 14 grams of gold plating. I scraped the gold plate off of a pile of gold fingers, And accumulated 14 grams of pure gold. So I do pretty well with scrapping. And I have this guy and tinman to thank for helping point me in the right direction.
So the water heater pressure relief valves and the ball joints the best way that we have found to clean those up its to use a 5lb Hammer with the v shape on one end and if you just feed them and had them the right way they will break in half. We normally saver brass up till we have 500 lb and we normally try to clean it as best as we can. But a lot of times it's just brute force with a heavy hammer or hatchet. 🪓 Are there any brass only pays fifty cents a pound when we clean it it pays a dollar fifty so it averages out to we make a dollar for every pound that we clean. We don't remove the plastic and we don't remove the o-rings.
BTW thub thanks for making that stripmeister review video I finally got myself one after watching your video on it and OMG that thing is a game changer! It makes me mad thinking of all the time. I wasted stripping wire by hand before I owned that thing lol. And you're right now I spend all my time peeling off insulation because cutting the wire is so fast. And it also gave me an excuse to buy a new chorded drill so I wouldn't burn out the motor on my 20 volt DeWalt portable drill.
Your yard gives a much better differential than mine. Dirty brass here is .75 and clean is 1.85 That definitely makes a difference. BTW why not cut the copper tubing off those faucets? only takes a second and sells as #2 copper.
This video is very interesting, as an industrial plumber I can give you a couple suggestions, ball valves can be worth scrapping but you need to understand how to properly do it, first of all you need a vice bolted to somenthing really solid...and I mean really solid, then you need to apply the tried old concept of "The best kind of kill is OVERKILL!". The way I do it is simple, what size is the valve...1"? Time to break out the 2 and a half inch plumber wrench 😈 that fucker will unscrew! if you don't have a vice stuck to something that can provide a decent support you can alternatively lay the valve on the groynd, grab one part of the valve with a big ass plumber wrench, the other part with a second big ass plumber wrench, the first wrench should be on the ground held down by your foot, the one you apply force should be at a comfortable angle for you to operate and it will do the job, once you get the hang of it, it becomes surprisingly easy as muscle memore kicks in. FYI I scrapped ball valves up to 2 and half inches in size thanks to my lovely 4inch plumber wrench, that thing can move goddamn mountains, it is my personal one but sometimes I even bring it on job sites when I am at work because I find it extra funny to wait for my collegues to almost pop a vein and then pull out that monster tool from my car trunk and resolve the situation with pure brute force 😂
I just cleaned about 40 pounds of brass and wound up with 37 clean. Most of it was already stripped or clean. It took me only 20 mins to strip the faucets. The worst was an old one with a bunch of old plumbers putty. I'll see tomorrow what I get. A hammer, allen keys, old screwdrivers are mostly all I needed. Mongo baby!!
good video, i enjoy your breakdown and going over cost but the factor you have to throw in is family, bills, epqipment etc... this plays a part in breakdown or not. let say you have 3 hours downtime where your playing video games, taking a nap or other things. what you could do is use 1/2 hour to a hour as break down down time where this is free time and would not affect $ amount because you could do this as extra money that you would not have and use it for other important things, this is where the value comes in verses per hour making. put or write the extra you would be making and keep a log of extra money and see if it really worth it. this is just a my idea of what i would do. Good luck and keep a open mind in whatever you do! Peace brother!!!!
It's very easy to dismantle ball valves :-) Just smash the body of valve to loose tension and than you can quite well unscrew main parts and sealing stuff takes just minute. In my country is crucial to clean scrap metals for money. 'cause those scamps take it, yeah good, BUT they pay same tax like for steel! Just little "dismantling fee"...
