Had a couple ideas...seeing if anyone here had any luck with these

Cruising around last night...nothing really going in the usual dumpsters so I thought I would hit the nicer older homes section of town...found a tv and then some remnants of a garage sale, including a ceiling fan. That got me to thinking, anyone ever go around on Sunday afternoon and hit sales just to strike up a conversation about scrapping and taking the metal things they don't want to have to move back in the house or garage and have any luck with it? Or even going later on and seeing what might have been left by the curb?

Secondly, I discovered that my city has all construction permits listed online, which could be a great resource for mapping out which places to try. Anyone have a good approach for asking permission from construction workers to dive?

As far as the garage sales go, I have seen a few different posts mentioning that they go to them and tell the home-owners that they'll come by at the end of the sale and clear all junk away. It's a nice gesture to help them out, and the metal is a bonus. I would say this is a better approach than asking for only the metal, because then you are providing a service to them, as well as potentially getting resale items. Anything you can't scrap/use/sell, just drop at the local goodwill.

For the construction sites I'd offer the following:

Always ask for the job foreman or the boss. He's the guy to talk to. You know how it is ... first impressions are important so make sure that you're clean & presentable for that first contact. If you're kinda scaley looking he's apt to think that you're gonna be sneaking in after hours to rob the place. If he figures you for being a stand up guy that's just working for a living he might not mind you coming around every so often.

Look at the permits and what kind they are. New construction doesn't generate the same kind of waste that rehabs and renovations do.

Most of the plumbers on my jobs recycle the copper & brass waste themselves.

You might try talking with the electricians. Most especially the bosses. They tend not to want to want to fuss with the scrap wire but are happy to see somebody recycle it. Back when i was doing copper,brass, and aluminum i had three different electrical contractors that would make piles of the stuff back at the shop. All i had to do was come by every week or so to pick it up.

It's a lot easier to have it all put by for you than to try and dig it out of the waste pile.