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Does the yard you go to have an XRF gun to verify exact composition of metal?

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  1. 06-30-2022, 02:54 PM #1
    Trialbyerror
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    Does the yard you go to have an XRF gun to verify exact composition of metal?

    I'm trying to figure out if it is pretty standard for a yard to have one of these. I've found a few yards that will sell some items I'm looking for but I would really like to verify the alloy type and basically the types of metal's and % of them in each thing I'm buying.

    Some of the things like lead that I want to make sure don't have zinc contamination and if there is antimony in it, I'd like to know how much. Other things like brass, bronze and aluminum (especially cast) I've found can have some pretty different compositions than what I expected, so again, I'd like to check first.

    IDK if any of you do metal casting or metal working of any form but I would like to be able to find a place that will scan (with the XRF gun) metals that I buy or metals that I cast (maybe some ingots I will use in the next casting process & I want to be 100% sure of it's composition). So not all the metals will be purchased at the yard (they might not even sell to the public) but I'd be willing to pay a reasonable rate at a time when they aren't too busy. If anyone has any suggestions on how I should approach a yard that has a scanner/gun, I'd appreciate it!
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  3. 06-30-2022, 02:54 PM

  4. 06-30-2022, 05:38 PM #2
    CopperMiner
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    These things cost an arm and a leg. None of the yards I go have one in daily use, but they don't sell to small buyers or public neither. Moreover, I think that they just work with the common metals (copper, brass, aluminum, s/s..,) only and they don't handle the harder to identify and less common alloys (babbitt, inconel, monel...) and metals (titanium, carbide...). I guess that I need to break down an airplane and ask them to be sure! lol More seriously, I don't mind that they resell metals to individuals, but it needs to be done properly. Selling by the drum or ingot is a good way to do that. One of the yards I go used to sell items by the pound and it was often a nuisance with the random dudes trying to search in the shred piles at the same time others were dumping stuff and machinery worked nearby. The new administration stopped that, but I am surprised that no accident happened.
    NEW TO SCRAPPING? READ THIS: Build up your horde of magnetic and non-magnetic metals in two piles until you have a better understanding of the business. Magnetic material has low value and is mostly always steel / shred / short iron. Read old threads about non-magnetic metals and ewaste (and how to sort them), but don't forget that they generally have absolutely no tolerance for contamination (screw / iron / foreign material).
  5. 06-30-2022, 08:36 PM #3
    JJinLV
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    Hi and welcome to the forum! In my experience the yards big enough to have a gun aren't interested in selling small quantities and some are prohibited by statute and/or internal policy from selling to the public so you'd need a business license. You'd have better luck sourcing material where the scrap is initially produced (machine shops and production facilities) where they can tell you the specific alloy is because they bought the specific alloy.

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