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 Replies: 34 / Views: 7,786 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1903 Posts |
When stripping wire, why can't you just burn the insulation off it in one big batch? Does burning it change the value for scrap? And an old friend of mine used to work in the salvage business. He would tear down old buildings for free just for the salvage rights. He sold the old brick (this was in new england where there are buildings with the good OLD double fired bricks) and paid for the workers with the copper....he did quite well. Don't say it can't be done, just a matter of how "enriched" with copper the site is.
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
3692 Posts |
You can give this corner of the forum any name you'd like. But a pig in a dress is still a pig. And copper is not precious nor bullion. I stand by that. It's priced by the pound and moved by the ton. Anyone trying to sell you copper in troy ounces is trying to make a fool out of you. (Bullion is also .995 and higher.) At best those copper bullion pieces are fantasy bullion, I'll give it that. If I wanted a cool movie prop I would get them plated. I apologize if I've veered off-topic.
Edited by Libertad
11/05/2013 11:20 am
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Valued Member
 United States
216 Posts |
A lot of interesting feedback...
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1200 Posts |
Agreed that stacking copper bullion is silly. IMO, you might as well stack zinc, tin and lead.
At the same time though, I have to vote yes on salvaging/stripping/selling scrap copper wire. It may only pay small bucks, but if I made a couple/few dozen bucks on
a Sunday afternoon that I would have otherwise spent on the couch inhaling beers and getting (GASP!) even fatter, I'd consider that to be a good thing. Besides--if you
convert the proceeds into silver--at the end of the year, you'll have a stack that wouldn't have been there otherwise. This may be a PITA way to build a stack, but if it's
only costing you free time and minimal expense...why not?
On burning the insulation off of scrap wire -- the fumes that would give off are somewhere between nasty, toxic and potentially lethal. I wouldn't go that route.
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Valued Member
United States
216 Posts |
After reading all of everyone's posts, which I might say I deeply and graciously thank you all for, I'm going to have to agree with FF on this one.
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Valued Member
United States
216 Posts |
A lot of interesting feedback...
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Pillar of the Community
United States
979 Posts |
It's ok to have an opinion that copper is worthless, or just not worth stacking. I was just pointing out that his post is fine here. It's not off topic at all.
Also, bullion is defined by miriam webster as such:
1 a : gold or silver considered as so much metal; specifically : uncoined gold or silver in bars or ingots
b : metal in the mass <lead bullion>
2: lace, braid, or fringe of gold or silver threads
Metal in mass, even lead, is bullion. You definition was probably from investopedia, not a dictionary.
I'm just trying to point out that
1. This post does in fact belong here (regardless of opinion)
2. Hoarded copper IS bullion (regardless of opinion)
That being said, if you feel copper is not worthwhile, that is another thing all together. It doesn't change what the board encompasses or what the word "bullion" means.
Edited by Broseph
11/06/2013 11:46 am
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
3692 Posts |
Every dictionary is different. I don't really buy it when people argue behind a dictionary, no offense. They change over time and they don't develop equally. 1984 is a good reason to not trust the written word. Linguists are not accountants; they look at the roots of words and don't really have to understand them to put it in their book.
I'm not saying that the topic doesn't belong in here. I'm saying that copper is not a precious metal but I'm not against scrapping if it's done ethically.
To the original poster: I paid my travel expenses through college by walking home and collecting the liquor bottles and beer cans scattered in concentrated places. If you live near any large parks, colleges or universities (party schools especially) you can scrap the aluminum and glass you find.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4333 Posts |
Burning insulation from copper wire is illegal (federal clean air act).
If the yard accepts it, they are doing so illegally.
When burning, you lose copper weight also, so you might as will just manually strip the insulation.
When I listen to LED ZEPPELIN...so do my neighbors...
Roll hunting since '77
Dirt fishing since '72
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3789 Posts |
1- Copper is NOT a PM, it belongs to the base/industrial metals complex
2- unless you are doing it by the ton its a waste of time
3- there is a GLUT of copper and more on the way
4- burning it off gives toxic fumes, its illegal to burn the plastic.
5- prices will be determined whether the copper is clean/not clean sometimes also referred to as contaminated. Prices will determine on whether the salvage yards want it for starters, and how much work they have to put into it.
overall, its a waste of time. You would be better off collecting it as you found it, then offering a deal to a local scraper who in turn takes it to the salvage yard.
a fast nickel is better than a slow dime.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
979 Posts |
Quote:
"Every dictionary is different. I don't really buy it when people argue behind a dictionary, no offense." Certainly every dictionary is different. There are many definitions out there. I was merely pointing out that yours wasn't the only one. Also, I don't think anyone would argue that Quote:
"They change over time and they don't develop equally. 1984 is a good reason to not trust the written word. Linguists are not accountants; they look at the roots of words and don't really have to understand them to put it in their book." Actually, dictionaries do keep up with society. They are starting to change the definition of the word "literally" because people use it as a hyperbole these days. As CNN notes: "The definition of literally is no longer the literal definition of literally. ... This is going to give grammarians a headache, literalists a migraine and language nerds a nervous breakdown."  Quote:
"I'm not saying that the topic doesn't belong in here. I'm saying that copper is not a precious metal but I'm not against scrapping if it's done ethically."  I think we can all agree that copper is not precious by any stretch of the imagination. I merely wanted to point out that any bulk metal can be considered bullion. I didn't say you should like copper bullion, I just meant that it can be bullion. Plain and simple. I'm not "hiding behind a dictionary" I'm saying "look, enough people agree with this definition to put it in dictionary." And dictionaries change by usage of words, not just etymologies. My uncle saves up scrap until prices are up and then cashes in. That can be considered bullion, just like what the OP is doing. I never meant to get into a semantics debate, but when people try to say that someone is incorrectly using a word when that person is in fact using the word correctly, I tend to jump in. Sorry if it went to far.  Edited by Broseph
11/06/2013 5:59 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3079 Posts |
It is pointless to melt copper scrap yourself, The current rate per pound for copper is around $3.25 a pound. When you scrap depending on the size of copper (dia) Here is one that is about the general prices being paid. If you click on the link in the description it will give you a photo of the type. http://www.sullivanmetals.com/price_list.phpAfter you get the permits,build or buy a furnace, collect enough scrap to melt pay for the fuel to melt it. You could have bought a lot more bullion of copper from the home casting suppliers. @ the current price of the copper rounds and bullets to break even the price of copper would have to be $32.00 to $64.00 a pound. Why bother, you want to stack copper bar in the 2"dia and a power hack saw and cut disks out of it then stack it still would be cheaper then melting and casting ingots!  Edited by Circus
11/06/2013 6:51 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5208 Posts |
Hustling is Hustling.
Make a buck where you can.
Not everyone is a day trader. stock broker, banker, doctor, or rich yuppie who says "I think I will buy 50 oz of gold of silver today"
Some of us have to work for a living and make a buck where we can to put gas in our truck or food on ou rtable.
Congrats Colles on tripling your money for a few hours work stripping the wiring.
Same is investing a few hours roll hunting.
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Valued Member
United States
216 Posts |
Thanks Jack.
I think that my time has been well spent. Even tough many may not see copper as a PM, I see it as 2.70/lb. This, times however much raw copper wire I give them, could add up to a pretty nice payday.
And I agree with you. I don't have the luxury to spend money frivolously on things like gold, silver, or a small island. But here's what I can tell you, I work hard. I put in my 50 hours a week just to make a buck, because whenever I do get married and have kids, I want them to have a better life than I have. Its not about what you do, its about how you did it. And if my old man taught me one thing, he told me "you can never be tough part time son, you need to give it your all, all the time".
And yes I do CRH, but lately its hasn't been panning out for me. I'm on a 37 box sunk for halves. I may move to dimes just to switch things up. I see you have your hands in all denominations Jack, which one outside of halves gives you the biggest rush? Input very much appreciated.
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Valued Member
United States
493 Posts |
Bring it to the recyclers, they fill up the Chinese shipping containers and send it back off around the world again.
Edited by everything
11/11/2013 8:29 pm
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Posted 11/05/2013 11:15 am
