Found a scrap bin full of aluminum chips from 1987 in the back of the shop

I was cleaning out an old cabinet last Tuesday and found a bin of aluminum chips that someone labeled 'December 1987 - Grade 6061'. Turns out those chips were still perfectly good to recycle, and the shop I work at now in Ohio gets paid $0.45 a pound for them. Has anyone else stumbled across old material that was still usable?

3 comments

3 Comments

ivanbell1mo ago

$0.45 a pound for 6061 chips is solid, but did you have to do any extra prep to get that price or did they take them straight out of the bin?

amy_west1mo ago

That's the real question with chip pricing, isn't it? If they're taking them straight from the hopper with some coolant still on them, that's a better deal than if you had to run a centrifuge or a magnet over them first. Did you get a flat rate per pound or did they dock you for moisture content or any steel contamination in the mix?

blake7921mo ago

Did your friend ever try to chip dry without coolant just to see if the price difference was worth the hassle? One guy I know spent a whole weekend running his chips through an old washing machine and a magnet setup he rigged up in his garage. He got a cleaner price but the machine caught fire on the third batch from all the aluminum dust. He went back to selling them wet and just took the hit on the moisture deduction.