How to tell the difference between steel, tin, aluminum, stainless steel, chrome, and zinc.

Hello scrappers and planet lovers. In this video, I will explain how to identify your tin/shred, steel, aluminum, chrome, and zinc. Given the difference in prices, it is important to know how to correctly sort these metals, in order to help maximize your profit.

[@maxcloutier5285]

According to wikipedia, Stainless Steel is mainly made of Chromium, Molybdenium and nickel. Also, there is two well known metals that are ferromagnetic : iron AND nickel. So, stainless steel might be slightly magnetic. I cant say if stainless steel with enough nickel contain to be slightly magnetic is of a lower quality. Another product that is slightly magnetic is Nickel plated brass that we find everywhere in Ewaste.

[@unoduetre12345]

There are 3 types of stainless steel: austenitic, ferritic and martensitic. Austenitic is in general non-magnetic, and the other two are in general magnetic.

[@dr.detroit1514]

Thanks for the excellent info. My time and energy is somewhat limited, so I go strictly for copper, and consider all other scrap obtained to get to that as byproduct. I do pick up large heavy pieces of ferrous when I find it.

[@TinManScrapper]

Thanks for the comment. Very nice meeting a fellow scrapper. Like the name, go lions!

[@ge3z3r94]

same. microwaves are full of all sorts

[@Name-ii9ve]

time to buy gallium

[@twbishop]

it is not tin, it is (ferrous) steel. even though people say "tin can", it is usually a steel can (of various possible compositions). real tin (sn) is only weakly magnetic. stainless steel can also be weakly magnetic if it has a high percentage of nickel or cobalt, and of course, iron (versus chromium). prices and varieties can vary.

[@riverboat28]

Thank you, tin concentration across the earths crust is 2 parts per billion and copper is 63 parts per billion. You tell me which metal we should be hoarding! Best luck bro!

[@kphelps5431]

Great examples, as always another good video to learn from. And thanks for the reminder on the Zinc....lol

[@larryharrelson2540]

Really good info. bro. Im 62 and I had forgot about the spark trick with aluminum. Good on you.

[@colonialcharlie8702]

Thanks tin man. Good info. The simple scrap is paying out nicely right now. I feel bad for those who are tight on space, cuz taking time and sorting makes scrap day so much easier, and more rewarding. 👍

[@TinManScrapper]

Yup, space is my one issue

[@pxv990]

Yet another informative video !

[@giuseppematozzo1354]

Hi Tim, thanks for the videos cause I’m getting into scrap metal and stripping wire and appliances to try and make some extra cash and videos to help a lot. Thank you. Keep the videos up you doing a good job thanks have a good day bye

[@TinManScrapper]

Thank you Giuseppe for watching and the comment. Stay well and happy scrapping.

[@bluepearl]

Thanks you so so much for this informative video!

[@thegreenray4010]

Great video, very helpful!

[@steveherr450]

yes, it can be hard to tell stainless steel and some aluminum apart and it was good to point out the spark test which I forgot about actually to the newer guys. I always have my plasma going and I can tell by how it cuts, clean edge, it is stainless, rough melted edge makes it aluminum.

[@dawngartner1185]

Very educational! Thx!

[@TinManScrapper]

Thank you. Thank you for watching.

[@BushDogScrapper]

Another awesome scrap identification video ♻🌎👍

[@sjagain]

Good info but with the price of gas, there's no profit unless you have a truckload.

[@markbenn1907]

This is awesome thanks man!!

[@paparisling]

Thank you!

[@rockschexnaydre9026]

Tin man here😂😂 I like ur videos keep it up

[@leehirst8081]

Thanks for the tip. 👍

[@TinManScrapper]

No problem. Glad you found it useful. Stay well and happy scrapping

[@workingclassdog3]

I thought I was the only person who sometimes scraps in sandals in North America good video

[@TinManScrapper]

Lol. Most comfortable way for me, but may not always be the safest!

[@joshuaflackua]

Thank you

[@didamnesia3575]

Comments clued me into your use of tin vs actual tin. Thats fine. I understand regional uses of words can vary. Tin here in California means literal tin. As in a copper pot lined with tin.

[@reginacarroll8149]

Thank you.

[@TinManScrapper]

You're welcome! Glad you found it informative. Thanks for watching.

[@mattgour5874]

If this is the quality of teachers in Canada then... wow! What a great teacher.. im jealous.

[@TinManScrapper]

Thank you very much for that huge compliment

[@tomitstube]

great video, one of the most confusing areas of scrapping is sorting what you have, looks like zinc is in between al. and stainless on the spark test.

[@TinManScrapper]

Yeah, zinc is hard to describe. Just put it off to the side and let them classify it at scrapyard.

[@zbigniewczaykowski514]

@@TinManScrapper zinc is about 3 times as heavy as aluminium making it quite easy to separate them , when you pick up something zinc you know straight away it can't be aluminium.

[@user-im8oc4us9p]

What can u use for spark test other than grinder???

[@TinManScrapper]

Not sure actually. I would say stainless is usually heavier than aluminum, but that is not a conclusive test

[@SmokeyPyro]

Got yourself a like man, at the end, like money is good, we all need a buck, but to clean up the environment, thats what i love! Been into this for a few weeks now, scrapping old computers, fans, etc im amazed what lots of aluminum, copper etc come out of those old bastards!

[@TinManScrapper]

Thanks for the comment and kind words. Yup, it is amazing all the goodies that come out of those items. Stay well and happy scrapping.

[@SmokeyPyro]

@@TinManScrapper for sure will man, time flies when being busy with something youre passionate about 😄 Ill give you a sub mate, who knows what itll bring me, and ill help a positive message get spread more in the algorithm 💪

[@danvanninhuys745]

Some things that you believe are extruded, actually go through a bending machine and not extrusion. Found that out at the scrap yard. They are getting real picky with the high prices.

[@paulcoenen7918]

That makes sense Dan. I guess if you have a solid tube of something like a lawn chair frame that would be extruded but anything with a seam would indicate it started as a flat sheet and later bent into a new shape. Is that what you're yard is indicating?

[@colonialcharlie8702]

True, There's heat sinks that are thick sheets and they just punch and bend out fingers to increase surface area, even though it looks alot like extrusion. Try and visualize bending it. If you cant fold or manipulate a sheet of paper to match shape, then its extruded.

[@MemphisMower]

This will help a lot of people out, especially beginners. It takes a while to learn to separate for the most money.

[@Christopher-N]

I think you're mistaking tin for iron (steel). If a magnet sticks to it (ferromagnetic), it's likely iron. Tin itself is _not_ magnetic. Tin is galvanized onto steel to give it weather resistance, until the tin dissolves, then the steel rusts. So, if the magnet sticks, it's iron, nickel, or cobalt (or a magnetic alloy of such).

[@TinManScrapper]

at a scrapyard they refer to it as tin/shred, and if thicker than 1/4 inch then steel. we do also have magnetic stainless steel and stainless steel as other categories.

[@benwaffleiron]

when you say tin, are you talking about the element Tin, or is that canadian slang for steel? i thought Tin (the element) had very few uses as a metal since it's so soft

[@tracydutkiewicz704]

I wanted to learn about real Tin. It's worth about 15 bucks a pound.

[@5-0Stacker]

What are your thoughts on cutting down your scrap/ shred metal to be able to manage it better to get to the scrap yard? Is it frowned upon?

[@TinManScrapper]

Not at all, actually some places will penalize you if it is too big, since they have to do it. I have never had that problem and since they pay per pound, it makes no difference

[@blazeconverse9488]

Thank you for the info that was helpful been 20 years cents i did scraping been getting back into it for the last 2 weeks thanks again. do you buy stuff from yard sale or other business like i do.

[@TinManScrapper]

No, since not a lot of yard sales here where I live.

[@CaptainRadack]

Thanks!1 What do you mean by shred? Thanks!!!

[@TinManScrapper]

we call it tin or shred at the yard. just a name other than steel which at our yard has to be thicker than 1/4 inch

[@gambitdesert8500]

Great information thanks just got to say great job with the glasses but what about those dogs don’t care about them toes 😂

[@TinManScrapper]

lol. I will put on shoes if I am doing some heavy scrapping.

[@gambitdesert8500]

@@TinManScrapper sounds like you been there before like when I get done grinding and start welding with just a grinding shield wondering why it ain’t darkening up lol but really thanks for the info have a good one

[@jjchouinard2327]

Why do you call sheet steel "tin"? Real tin is not magnetic and melts lower than Aluminum. Tin is the main metal in plumbing solders.

[@TinManScrapper]

Because that is what they call it at the scrap yard here in Ontario. There are 2 categories: steel and tin/shred

[@hippie-io7225]

@@TinManScrapper That's very confusing. Tin metal is quite valuable and it would be useful to know how to identify it.

[@georgewarner7210]

And you call yourself the tin man…psh…

[@austindevaney2792]

Okay guys so what your referring to as tin would be considered pewter in scrap and steel which at yards would be somewhat thick. The reason it's called tin/shred is bc the scrap yards that classify have a shredder others that do not have a shredder classify it as steel and light iron bc they do not have a shredder on site which those yards usually have a drop in price by around 5 cent compared to the ones with a shredder.....so tin shred is thin steel and pewter would be the actual tin you are referring too.

[@bobsunkees3392]

Tin is an element of it self any addition to it is an alloy.

[@ssofmas8473]

Please active caption

[@Stuff_happens]

So if a computer case is magnetic it is tin?

[@TinManScrapper]

Yes

[@enlightenedmind1179]

@@TinManScrapper My research reveals that pure tin is not magnetic nor does it rust & many times what we believe is tin, isn’t or has only a small percentage of tin. Are my findings incorrect..?? Do you know a definitive way to test tin??

[@robbymoon2670]

I love ya tinman but I just can't understand why you're the TINman but you say it's magnetic. Tin is only 99.99 pure but it includes zero % magnetizm my friend. Stainless has a 17% magnetizm aluminum zero and I love the spark test. I use it alot.either way, love your videos my friend. Keep up the good work but the tin magnetic theory, smdh. Caught me off guard..

[@matthewgreenbeangrey1542]

he sounds like Morty from Rick and Morty

[@BushDogScrapper]

And then there's die casted metals which can be kind of a pain to separate 😅♻👍

[@ShredStudios]

Why does it have to be over 1/4" to be steel? There is definitely sheet steel thinner than 1/4"...

[@TinManScrapper]

Not sure, just how they categorize it. I too don’t get it. like #2 copper and #1, in order to be bare bright or #1 copper has to be thicker than 16 gauge…copper is copper???

[@ShredStudios]

@@TinManScrapper weird

[@ShredStudios]

@@TinManScrapper im a welder not a scrapper but it definitely threw me off

[@TinManScrapper]

@@ShredStudios No worries. It is also interesting the different prices and rules that various yards have. I think sometimes it all depends on who is working the scalehouse on the particular day.

[@ClownWhisper]

A lot of stainless steel is magnetic. You do not have one gram of tin you should actually make that clear to your viewers that it is not really the metal Tin

[@steveherr450]

In my area if your stainless steel is magnetic, it goes in the shred pile.

[@tierodend]

Don’t rely on the scrap yard to sort your stuff 😢 they’ll willingly label it as tin 😊

[@TinManScrapper]

I think it does depend on the people working at the yard and if you have most of it sorted correctly. Yes, if you have it all mixed, they will down grade you.

[@robbymoon2670]

Why are you saying that tin is magnetic? Tin is very much NON- magnetic

[@TinManScrapper]

refers to tin as in the category at the scrapyard “tin/shred”

[@fazotakeiteasy]

Nice video !

[@TinManScrapper]

Thanks!

[@imperials5507]

How much meth could a meth head smoke if a meth head could smoke meth?

[@TinManScrapper]

Not sure if that comment is directed at me, but I assure you I am not on anything but the high of life! Besides I could not be a full-time elementary school teacher on anything other than lots of coffee.

[@rkb6783]

DONT LISTEN ! To Mr. MISTAKE. Mr. FALSE. I.E. NOT CORRECT.

[@TinManScrapper]

What parts are not correct. Remember this is the difference when separating for scrap, not what each are made of

[@enlightenedmind1179]

@@TinManScrapper It appears there’s a main discrepancy with the info re. tin. Pure tin is supposed to be rustproof, non magnetic and at a much higher price than copper. Can you please provide clarity?

[@eirikmurito]

Tin is not magnetic

[@TinManScrapper]

Tin is magnetic.

[@enlightenedmind1179]

My research indicates that “Pure Tin” is non magnetic and non corrosive, as well.

[@enlightenedmind1179]

@@TinManScrapper Are you referring to “Pure Tin” or “Tin Alloys”?