METAL GUIDELINES

ALUMINUM

• Aluminum Cans (can be crushed or not, washed out, we prefer them in clear bags)
• Aluminum Rims and Chrome Aluminum Rims (can have valve stems and wheel weights attached)
• Aluminum Signs (can have tape and paint)
• Aluminum Turnings (produced from lathe and milling machines)
• Aluminum Wire (no insulation and no steel wire in center)
• Aluminum Siding (clean, no screws, plastic, caulk, etc. - new or old)
• Clip Aluminum (new production, non painted, thick or thin sheets that have been machine bent or folded, bar stock, plate, etc.)
• Painted Clip (same as clip with paint)
• Cast Aluminum (produced by casting when made, most fittings are cast, auto cast aluminum, etc - no more than 2% steel)
• Extrusion Aluminum (6061 or 6063, irrigation pipe, door frames, window frames - no caulk, glass, screws, rubber)
• Irony Aluminum (50% iron and 50% aluminum, lawn mower motors, possible lawn chairs, motor parts, etc)
• Slightly Irony Aluminum (10% maximum iron)
• Litho Aluminum (thin sheets used in printing process)
• Sheet Aluminum Radiators (radiators, no plastic, steel or rubber)
• Sheet Aluminum (2% maximum screws, plastic, caulk or rubber - no glass)

BRASS

• Brass Turnings (from new brass produced by lathe or milling machines - no steel contamination)
• Irony Brass (white, contains some iron)
• Red Brass (contains more copper than yellow brass - if filed has pink color inside)
• Yellow Brass (most plumbing fittings, door hardware, kick plates, etc. - if filed has a yellow color inside)

COPPER

• #1 Big Insulated (large insulated copper wire - yields 85% or greater)
• #1 Copper (tubing with no solder or fittings, some insulated wire that is stripped but not shiny, bright sheet copper, noninsulated stripped house wire that is tarnished from weather exposure)
• #1 Insulated (wire with copper #12 gauge up to #1 big but still insulated, solid spaghetti wire used commercially, Romex and most house wiring - yields 65% copper)
• #2 Big Insulated (wire same size as #1 Big Insulated but plated and insulated - yields 80% or more )
• #2 Copper (tubing with solder/paint/oil or fittings, fine brittle copper wire)
• #2 Insulated (#14 gauge and smaller - most phone and communication wire - yields 55%)
• #2 Insulated Copper with Steel Shield (same as #2 Insulated with steel shield)
• #2 Insulated Copper with Steel Wires (same as #2 Insulated with steel wires in inner core or exterior shell.
• #2 Insulated low yield (has several very small individual insulated wires and larger coating - yields 35% to 50%)
• 2&1 Copper (two strands of copper and one strand steel weaved together - no insulation)
• ABX (Aluminum Shield Cable, solid #1 insulated copper inside flexible alum conduit)
• Bare Bright (any shiny copper wire/stripped/not burned - burning is illegal, changes grade, is very bad for environment and can result in heavy fines from the EPA)
• Chiller Copper (copper tubing - threaded on outside, steel ribs with no heavy steel ends)
• Copper Turnings (produced by lathe and milling when cutting copper parts or bars with no steel contaminants)
• Heliax/Hollow (insulated outside coating, copper shell, foam shell, copper shell, hollow center)
• Heliax/Solid (insulated outside coating, copper shell, foam shell, copper shell, foam center)
• Lead Insulated Copper (copper wire insulated with lead cover, not plastic)

FERROUS

• 1 Busheling (clean new steel left over from production processes, can be galvanized or painted)
• Appliance Tin (whole appliances, any auto parts with foam, insulation, plastic, shreddable)
• Appliance/Unprepared (equal mix of appliance tin and unprepared steel)
• Appliance/Unprepared 3 (1/3 appliance tin and 2/3 unprepared steel)
• Car motors (no fluids)
• Cars (no battery, no fluids, no CFCs or Freon, no tires, no trash or concrete - gas tank must be off car with holes in it - can be in trunk or back seat)
• Cast Iron (cast iron lawn furniture, auto cast iron parts, clean motor blocks with no pistons or crankshafts, bathtubs, sinks, radiators, pipe, etc.)
• Sealed units (compressors, no oil, no Freon)
• Electric Motors (free of attachments)
• GBX (Galvanized Steel flexible conduit with #1 insulated copper wire)
• Plate and Structural (up to 5' long by 18" wide, angle iron, I-Beams, H-Beams, channel, steel plates)
• Prepared steel (less than 3 foot long, 18" wide, can be any thickness)
• Prepared/Cast Iron (equal mix of cast iron and prepared steel)
• Torchable Steel (over 3/8" thick and requires lot of torch labor - can't be sheared)
• Whole Transmissions (no fluids, alum motor blocks)
• Unprepared Steel (more than 3 ft long or 18" wide)
• Unprepared Steel/Cast Iron (equal parts unprepared steel and cast iron)
• Unprepared Steel/Prepared Steel (equal parts unprepared steel and prepared steel)

MISCELLANEOUS

• Auto Batteries (undamaged lead acid)
• Clean CATV (commercial underground cable vision wire)
• Clean Lead (sheet lead or any lead with no steel, plastic or paper)
• Die cast (clean zinc/die cast parts, free of any steel, plastic or paper)
• Heater Coils (brass, copper and solder, no plastic or steel)
• Heliax with Brass Ends (same as Heliax/Hollow or Heliax/Solid with brass fittings on end)
• Insulated CATV (same as CATV with black outside insulation)
• Irony Die cast (same as die cast but with steel contamination)
• Irony CATV (same as CATV but with steel reinforcement wire on outside)
• Irony Lead (wheel weights or lead with steel contamination)
• Low Yield Triplex (heavy insulated, underground, alum and copper mix cable, also called URD or Concentric)
• Refinery (mostly steel mixed with other non-ferrous metals, such as copper, brass, etc.)
• Triplex (insulated aluminum wire or bare aluminum wire with steel reinforcement wire in center)

RADIATORS

• Car Radiators (made of brass and copper and free of steel, iron, plastic or rubber)
• Copper Aluminum (coils from air conditioners that have no steel ends)
• Irony Car Radiators (same as car radiators but with steel, iron, plastic or rubber)
• Irony Copper/Alum (same as copper aluminum but with steel ends)
• Plastic Aluminum Radiators (aluminum coils or radiators that have plastic tanks and some steel)

SPECIALTY

• New Babbitt (63% tin, 37% lead produced in new production)
• Old Babbitt (solder drippings from circuit boards)

STAINLESS

• 304 Stainless (most restaurant equipment, household sinks if all iron is removed, sheets for laser cutting machines, etc.)
• 316 Stainless (has higher content of nickel, mostly pharmaceutical grade)
• Irony Stainless (same as 304 and 316 with steel contamination)
• Stainless Turnings (free of oil, produced by lathes and milling machines)

**There are many alloys and high-temperature metals that are not listed here that we can test and price for you if you bring us a small sample.