Storing Scrap Metal

I was just wondering how people sort/store their scrap metal, I want to perfect my storage/sorting to make it as efficent as possible. So here is how I store mine, and I would love any tips anyone has to provide.

I store my shred in a 8' long 3' wide wooden bin, that I can stack pretty high, and this is in the corner of the garage, I also fill trash cans with smaller shred so I don't have to dig it out of bottom of the bin.

My #1-#2 Copper, And brass is stored in 5 gallon buckets hanging on the wall.

I keep my computer scrap on a utility shelf in shoe boxes for the smaller stuff like: Hard Drives, Power Supplies, Heat Sinks, CPU Chips, And more

I keep my mother boards, and low grade boards in medium size storage totes.

Also my stainless steel, and aluminum is kept in the same size totes

I have about 3 trash cans for plastic/glass/other non scrap items I get from breaking stuff down and need to throw away

Near the front of the garage I got 2 boxes for stuff one is "Stuff to be sorted" Other is "Stuff to break down"

And lastly I have a couple of trash cans near the back of the garage I keep my insulated wire to be stripped and insulated wire to turn in as insulated


I would love to hear how others store their stuff, and all tips are welcome

Thanks,

-DevinTheScrapper

What do you do about your tools?

Devin, It sounds like you have a good system. Personally I store my steel and larger non ferrous items in my trailer. My smaller non ferrous is stored in bins, my wire is stored in a trash can locked away securely in a garage.

Id like to note a few things that may help you. Small motors, brass, lead and other dense material can add up quickly weight wise. Its tempting to overload large bins and fit in as much as possible. Use a smaller tote-something strong enough and that has two handles. Keep your weight under 50 lbs per bin. A good way to pull something is to lift too much too often...

Buckets! I got a silver bucket, a brass bucket, an of course..the ever popular OMG ITS GOLD! bucket™. I have a rather large tote for wire, various other totes for my ewaste stuff(Tote for HDs, one for Ram, etc.) I have several of the the tote from the post office, that I use for copper, and other goodies.

Secured by two dogs who will munch your face off, along with a lovely shotgun. It also helps folks can't sneak around my house, I have one neighbor behind me, rest of my street is empty from Sept. till May of the following year. So thiefs, sneaky people, etc stand out around my house. It also helps when the cops constantly drive by checking houses during this time of the year. Yes my local PD plays security for me at times.

An....I keep my tools in my shop. I leave nothing outside of value. You want to steal the several tvs, from my carport? Go for it, you'll be pissed when you get home an find they've already been stripped. haha!

for those that don't know, down here on my sandbar, the majority of houses are on stilts, being as we get hurricanes, floods, all that fun stuff. So my deck extends over my carport. I keep a crappy desk I got from curbco long ago on the one side for a place to work when I don't feel like being in my shop, an to keep things off the ground in case it rains, floods, etc.

That's just how I roll.

Sirscrapalot - There is a method to my madness, soon as I figure it out I'll let you know!

I store mine in totes and milk crates that I pull out of the trash. I figure I don't buy scrap, why should a pay for storage. A few weeks ago I found four brands new totes in the trash with the lids. Sometimes it is nice to live in a college town. They throw every thing away. But that is also depressing because I can't save it all from the landfill.

Oh and 2 gallon pretzel containers work great for smalls like brass, silver, gold, IC chips and copper bearing transformers.

Originally Posted by Mechanic688

who??

I was asking because I am very disorganized and if he were to get a tool box, that would help keep track of tools.

Originally Posted by jord0690

Well i do mostly cars. Have them lined up along one side of the lot.

All the cats i have in a back room on shelves. All the wire is shoved into a 55 gal drum. Alum rims are on a skid in a truck trailer. All other aluminum is locked in another trailer on shelves (intakes, heads, etc) and in little plastic totes (ac tubing, small pieces) rads are on another shelf in the same trailer. Rotors are piled outside and All shred is just jammed in a car shell thats parked next to the back door of the shop.

You keep your cats on shelves?? How do you make them stay there, don't they want to jump off and run around? The hardest thing about letting the cat out of the bag is getting it back in. No I don't know anyone that keeps their cat in a bag. There was this one guy that wrote a book about a cat in the hat.