Removing the metal from stainless steel sinks

I pick up quite a few Stainless steel sink, the type used for bars and kitchens. some of the metal strips on the back are rusted and can easily come off. some of them have a different type of weld and I can not pry/bang/chisel them away from the sink. does anyone know of an easy way to remove these? Any info would be appreciated. Thank

Originally Posted by freonjoe

I use my plasma cutter for cleaning those up.

Thanks for the reply. I do not have one of those or any type of torches. I tried a sawzall one time but it vibrated way too much. I've tried an air chisel and a grinder/cutter. Nothing was real affective. I have about 15 piled up so that the rain can lay around them and hopefully rust them out, lol

Just cut that part of the sink off. It's not that much weight that you would be losing, and it's a lot easier to do if you only have a recip saw (or a grinder works, too).

What gauge metal are they? Would an electric nipper type sheet metal tool work?

Ive always beat the steel off with a hammer. Time consumeing, but it comes with the job

Thanks for all of the replys. The two yards I go to make you take them off. The stainless steel cutting blade sounds good for the grinder. i'll have to pick one up.

I'm not worried about losing the bit of stainless. Beating with a hammer does not get all the metal off. It leaves the area of the weld and some flange still on. Seems the welds are much tighter on these type than the others that will pop right off with pliers and a bit of twisting.

I haven't done any ss sinks in a while but I think the older ones were made better and the steel is harder to get off. My yard told me the same thing, take the steel off or it goes in the shred pile.(big diffrance in price) I just use an angle grinder with a steel cut-off blade and cut the lip off the sink. I do the same thing with the pots and pans, cut the steel off with the grinder.

Originally Posted by happyscraper

I haven't done any ss sinks in a while but I think the older ones were made better and the steel is harder to get off. My yard told me the same thing, take the steel off or it goes in the shred pile.(big diffrance in price) I just use an angle grinder with a steel cut-off blade and cut the lip off the sink. I do the same thing with the pots and pans, cut the steel off with the grinder.

I use to mess with those but I stopped because the difference between clean and dirty stainless is .10 here. It's not worth the time and effort for .80-1.00. That is always something to consider, time is money. Don't let a dime stand in the way of a dollar.

I usually only had 2-3 sinks at a time, possibly is could be worth it if you have dozens, but I doubt it.

Your right, some things aren't worth fighting with but the yards I go to don't buy dirty SS. It's either clean SS or it's shred steel. That's a .40# diffrance.

Dynamite? Your sawzaw may work if you have a vise to put your sinks in. I've drove my front truck tire up on things that were stubborn and shook alot. Or stand on it and cut it down to manageable pieces. Might keep you from making a store run. Good luck.

commercial stainless steel sinks are another item worth way more second hand than scrap if still in decent shape.

when i needed a 2 or 3 tank jobber with drain boards on both sides you could not touch 1 under a grand used

Originally Posted by oldtoothlessbassmaster

commercial stainless steel sinks are another item worth way more second hand than scrap if still in decent shape.

when i needed a 2 or 3 tank jobber with drain boards on both sides you could not touch 1 under a grand used

The ones I'm dealing with are the smaller sinks typically found in Kitchens or at home bars. Again thanks for all the good ideas.

I have not had any pots/pans with the magnetic bottom in awhile, I can not remember what I do with them.