Hobby metal caster looking to buy metal (SE WI)

Hi, everyone. First, I'd like to thank the forum admins for quickly helping me solve a registration issue.

Several years ago I started casting metal, but it kinda fell by the way side. I'd like to get started doing it again. One of the issues I had was finding metal. One scrap yard I went to didn't want me in their yard, they were worried about liability if I hurt myself. Another yard it was "We just sent that out, come back X day," over and over again, even though I could see their pile and it was the same stuff as the last time I was there. Etc. Just seemed like I was wasting time. So I'm hoping I can find someone here who's happy to sell me metal. I'm not trying to be cheap, I just don't want to waste my time driving around for nothing or being given the run around by yards. I don't have a scale or anything, I'm hoping we can just look at some stuff and say "How about X $?" So I'm sure that gives you the opportunity to sell at above-yard prices.

I'm mostly looking for aluminum. But if I had some, I'd eventually like to start trying lead, bronze/brass/ and various copper alloys, zinc, and magnesium (I am aware of it's flammability).

I am in Muskego, WI, a little southwest of Milwaukee, WI. I have a van and can pick up, or you can drop it off by me, whichever. I see 3 members on the map around here, but 2 are inactive, and the third guy seems to do "e-waste", which I think is not what I'm looking for. So if there's anyone around here interested, let me know. Thanks, everyone.

I think, for casting Aluminium, you have to start with cast Aluminium. Its got the proper quality's for pouring when molten, getting into all the sharp corners of the mould and staying roughly the same shape when its gone cold.

Depending on the amounts you want, I'd be stripping down car engines & gearboxes for Ali.
Its not that hard, except for the valve guides in the head.
. (I use a steel shaft from something, gearbox or fridge compressor, and a big hammer, and always seem to bash my left hand around the knuckle of my first finger, so I use extra padded gloves on my left hand)

The engine can be split into two by sending a 9inch angle grinder down the length of the head and above the crankshaft, then slam a steel wedge/cold chisle into the gap to split it & to remove the bore liners.

Use earmuffs, safety glasses, and padded gloves when using the big hammer.....

Gearboxes have lots of nice solid gears and shafts, I think you get extra $$$ if you fill 55gallon drums with them and sell it like that to the scrap metal buyer.
There's a bit of Brass there too.

Welcome to the forum.

Could you use aluminum cans?

I would also check out the ewaste person you referred to.
I scrap computers and phone systems and get aluminum from both. I just recently sold about 200 pounds of it and still have 3 five gallon buckets of hard drives.

That e-waste guy may be a good source of cast aluminum for you. Those hard drives are made from cast aluminum.

I came to your post as it was reported as advertising to buy which is not allowed. I would like to see your intro post stay here so maybe you could remove the offer to buy from it. Thanks.

I'm also a metal caster, have not done any castings for several years. My preferance is automotive aluminum.

First image is a fishing weight mold used to cast lead weights.

Try some tire shops that cater to the domestic crowd then dont forget the commercial transport shops they usually have a good supply of damaged rims that you can purchase at scrap price or slightly above to sweeten the pot. Transmission repair shops, sometimes a trans case will be damaged beyound useable conditioon.

Machine shops that specialise in head rebuilding will have heads damaged and not worth repairing heading to the scrap bin.

Also noticed you have a lot of up pull and pick a parts auto salvage yards to choose from, go for the damaged aluminum rims they'll be glad to have you as a customer.

Marinas that repair boat engines would also produce a good waste stream of aluminum also look at some of the recerational dealers that sell and servioce snow mobiles and motor cycles and such, any small air ports near you - drop in and speak with one of the mechanics a lot of the parts used on aircraft engines is aluminum.

Agricultural shops that sell and service farm tractors, check out the bins on the back lot, car dealerships usually have junk laying around but you need to ask as it maybe a valuble core waiting to be shipped back on warranty.

Small engine reapair shops that fix mowers have tons of scrap aluminum engines, forget the transmissions you'll be paying for to much iron and have to deal with the heavy oil.

If you find an old barbecue in the scrap leave it there, that's where it belongs it's the worse scrap I've worked with for metal casting waaay to much dross.


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I was going to add to this thread, but Alloy pretty much nailed it all, along with the rest of you folks.

If you can use Alum cans...visit your local bars & resturants. If you can't use the cans...ignore this. Ha!

Sirscrapalot - Keeper of the traveling cooler.

I think Ali cans are the wrong grade for casting, also Hard drives are made from 'Extrusion grade Aluminium'.

They cut off a chunk of it, heat it up till its nearly molted, then drop it into the casting machine and 'STAMP' the top 1/2 of the die drops and squeezes the soft Ali into the shape of the casting mold. Its called 'High pressure casting' or something like that.

Some grades of Ali, when molten, flow like liquid porridge, all chunky molten liquid lumps.
Anything that's a 'sand cast' Ali casting would be good material to cast from, except the Hard drive chassis and lawnmower chassis, because they have a lot of some other metal in that (Copper?) To stop corrosion.

I'd stick to engine/gearbox Ali castings. Anything thick is going to have less oxides on it too.

Thanks parrothead, I hadn't thought of it like that. I can't find an edit button, the FAQ page says "Your ability to edit your posts may be time-limited", am I too late to change my first post?

I have never tried casting with aluminum cans, they don't sound like they're very good for it. What I've read is that a lot of the material is lost to oxidation and has to be skimmed off because it's such a thin material, and that there's a risk of steam explosions/splashing if there's still some liquid inside of them. I also don't want to sit there feeding them into the furnace one at a time, either. Any alloy can be cast, but cast alloys have silicon in them, which makes them pour and fill details better, and also reduces shrinking and the tendency to tear while cooling. Cans and extruded alloys don't have silicon, they can still work for thicker castings though. Just more time intensive.

I know there are a lot of places I can check with, I was just hoping to avoid calling/driving around to multiple spots for uncertain results, I was kind of surprised at scrap yards not wanting to sell me stuff last time I tried looking for metal. I work as a machinist (often 50-60 hours a week) and am not a scrapper, I was hoping I wouldn't have to spend any time 'hunting' for material. Oh well, thanks everyone.

For those of you that are serious about metal casting as a hobby avoid extruded, die cast, plate and structual. Some of my favouit alloys are automatic trnsmission cases, engine blocks, cylinder heads, rims, hydraulic pumps, outobard marine engines.

Some of the above alloys have resistance to abrasion, some to errosion with the high silicon alloys able to fill the most intricate cavitys like the air cooled fins small air cooled engines.

After removing dross I use a deagassing tablet just befor pouring the metal into the sand mold, always arrange your core box so that the bottom side is topside. This way any small bits of dross going into the pour will make a small imperfection on the non usualble side.

On my fishing weight molds had these imperfections showed up on the inside where the finish of the lead casting is criticle the casting woiuld have to be discarded. Imperfections on the backside are easily cleaned up.

Foundrys use ceramic filters during the pour to keep out contaminants from entering the mold.

This SCUBA weight mold would have been poured with the bottom side up keeping the inside free of imperfections.

Message for the OP I have made serveal posts on this topic which you may find of interest http://www.scrapmetalforum.com/metal-casting/

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Originally Posted by pjzinmnwi

I'm mostly looking for aluminum. But if I had some, I'd eventually like to start trying lead, bronze/brass/ and various copper alloys, zinc, and magnesium (I am aware of it's flammability).
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I used a propane fired furnace for years which would do a quick melts on aluminum but not so good on copper or brass or bronze and decided to purchase this 15 KW induction furnace just before our dollar tanked. The induction furnace by far has been my best investment that I've made yet towards my metal casting hobby, I love this furnace as it has many other uses besides melting metal.

The propane furnace was very noisy, often pissing me off running out of fuel hald way through a melt, the induction furnace just makes a low beeping sound while powered up on a melt and the best part is that it is capible of melting most every metal known to man.

When I get back into the hobby going to try my hand at some of the stanless steels and nickle alloys.

As for your magnesium melts there are cover flux's available that will keep oygen at bay, if you do have an accidental mag fire do not try putting it out with water the results would be disastrous.

As a kid used to toss magnessium into a fire just to waatch it burn, it burns with a bright white flame and give off lots of white smoke. Old chansaws were made from magnesium, older lawnboy lawn mowers have magnesium decks, vans pulled by semi's some will have magnesium flooring while some have aluminum they physically look indenticle other than one being greyer in color than the other.

Magnesium being more reactive with oxygen than alumminum will be grayer in color. Aslo a side by side scratch test would reveal which peice is magnesium as the open would would form a passivated covering much sooner than the aluminum.

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