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I picked up a bunch of plates and pots from garage sale leftovers and now am trying to figure out what they are made of. The magnet test was negative for all of them.
-- The one on the top left is a pressure cooker. I think those are made of either aluminum or stainless steel, but how do I tell which it is?
-- The two pieces on the bottom left have the word "silverplated" stamped on the back plus some other indistinguishable markers
-- The one on the top right is very light.
Thanks
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Pressure cooker - Turn it upside down. It should say which it is. Might be hard to read and actually written in cursive style.
Try bending the pieces by hand. Aluminum bends more easily. Also, various grades of stainless steel have degrees of magnetism; pay attention to even a slight "pull".
Another test is with a grinder. You'll have to become familiar with how each "flakes", so practice with pieces you know to be "Extrusion" aluminum and stainless steel. Also, stainless steel will throw sparks; aluminum will not.
A real basic test is using a key or something similar and scratch the item. Aluminum will show a scratch mark; stainless steel will not.
From your pictures, I'd say all the items have been through a dishwasher quite a bit. A dishwasher will turn aluminum dull but stainless steel will stay shiny. So, the two on the left are likely aluminum and the two on the right likely stainless steel.
Last edited by Mick; 11-15-2010 at 07:59 AM. Reason: Added sparking
People may laugh at me, but that's ok. I laugh all the way to the bank.
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Yes, I did a scratch test with a screwdriver and these pieces seem to be alum.Originally Posted by Mick
Do you know if I could throw these into the same pile as harddrive casings and computer heat sinks?
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Can't help with that. I don't scrap computers at all. I would think you throw the aluminum stuff with aluminum casings as they'd both be classified as "Aluminum Sheet".
Just guessing, but I'd think the heat sink would be Extrusion.
Last edited by Mick; 11-15-2010 at 09:34 AM. Reason: add comment re: heat sink
Experienced Scrapper
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Yes you can throw them in with the computer heat sinks.
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My scrap yard buys anything silverplate as brass you might want to ask your scrap yard about that brass is more valuable then stainless
Metal Recycling Entrepreneur
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A lot of the computer heatsinks I have seen are actually Magnesium......................
They are 'too light' for Ali & have a nice wee 'ting' sound when you tap them.
Probably won't make a difference if they go with the Ali as most Ali is actually a alloy with Magnesium in it anyway.
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