Does anyone cast their own copper bars and have sold them?

[Bigmarc]

Hi all 

Just wondering if there are any copper stackers out there that have been through the complete process of sourcing, melting, casting and selling. Would be nice to read people's strategies.

Thanks

[modofantasma]

Only partly useful but I've sourced from house renovations, pipes tanks cables and wires. Just tend to pile it up then take it to weigh in though so can't help on the other part. 

Might be able to 'harvest' it from skips or scrap appliances or friends and family doing renovations etc potentially 

[daca]

@Stacker2020

[danmc82]

7 hours ago, Bigmarc said:

Hi all 

Just wondering if there are any copper stackers out there that have been through the complete process of sourcing, melting, casting and selling. Would be nice to read people's strategies.

Thanks

Mine is to build up as many bars as possible, then sell in about 5-10 years time.

Now that electric cars have their foot in the door, I can only see the price of Copper increasing. I'm doing the same for Aluminium and Brass. 

 

[Coverte]

It's taken copper 10 years to recover back and settle at 2011 levels of ~ $4/Lb after a short supply chain disruption - rather like silver; so a slow mover which may rise if/when increased demand grows beyond readily available supply levels via increased demand from electric cars, solar panels and other electronic based devices. 

Given the massive area req'd to store a meanigful volume of any value, it maybe prudent buying cheap/scrap silver cutlery/similar as maybe a more efficient way to save/stack in the hope/expectation of future higher prices. 

Edited August 20, 2021 by Coverte
Typo

[danmc82]

1 hour ago, Coverte said:

 buying cheap/scrap silver cutlery/similar

Thats the biggest diffence between Silver and base metals. Base metals are normally free, you wont get scrap Silver for free unless you are very lucky.

Im only using what is available to me, and although im always on the look out for Copper/Brass/Aluminium/lead, I wont pay for it.

Im not expecting to make hugh amounts of money from it, thats what SIlver and Gold are for. Its a side interest of mine which is fun to do, and maybe make a little money as well.

 

[Bigmarc]

4 hours ago, danmc82 said:

Mine is to build up as many bars as possible, then sell in about 5-10 years time.

Now that electric cars have their foot in the door, I can only see the price of Copper increasing. I'm doing the same for Aluminium and Brass. 

 

Same, I would like to stack for long term. I'm lucky in the sense copper is easy for me to come by but takes up plenty of room (missus is getting the hump). I have been getting a lot of tin but very difficult to find. Have you tried selling a melted bar? Wondering if the dealers would buy them in a big lump. 

4 hours ago, Coverte said:

Given the massive area req'd to store a meanigful volume of any value, it maybe prudent buying cheap/scrap silver cutlery/similar as maybe a more efficient way to save/stack in the hope/expectation of future higher prices.

Silver is kind of separate for me, Its something I have as a just in case and fear of missing out but it is not proven a very good investment, I feel there is a little more of a guarantee with base metals on a return providing you have the room. 

5 hours ago, danmc82 said:

Im only using what is available to me, and although im always on the look out for Copper/Brass/Aluminium/lead, I wont pay for it.

Im not expecting to make hugh amounts of money from it, thats what SIlver and Gold are for. Its a side interest of mine which is fun to do, and maybe make a little money as well.

I am paying for tin, copper comes for free. Your right, it's a hobby that pays. 

[danmc82]

28 minutes ago, Bigmarc said:

 Have you tried selling a melted bar? Wondering if the dealers would buy them in a big lump.

I havent no. if I were to sell I'd be looking at places like ebay, or even other forums where its free to list. I think taking it to a scrap dealer would be a waste of time.

[Bigmarc]

13 minutes ago, danmc82 said:

I havent no. if I were to sell I'd be looking at places like ebay, or even other forums where its free to list. I think taking it to a scrap dealer would be a waste of time.

I am finding that with tin. £23 per kg. Scrappy would pay no where near that. eBay going for spot. I am currently buying it for £4 per kg. Have not sold any yet so not proven it. 

[danmc82]

1 hour ago, Bigmarc said:

I am finding that with tin. £23 per kg. Scrappy would pay no where near that. eBay going for spot. I am currently buying it for £4 per kg. Have not sold any yet so not proven it. 

Where are you keeping it all? Bet your garden looks like a scrappys lol.

Have you moved house now?

[Bigmarc]

 

7 hours ago, danmc82 said:

Where are you keeping it all? Bet your garden looks like a scrappys lol.

Have you moved house now?

Yes, moved in, bit of a ball Ake but I am here. When looking for a new house, the missus and kids decided on 99% of it and I have 1% in the back of the garden. I am already a ebayer so room needed to be had and pre planned.

This is the one of the main reasons for wanting to turning it in to bars. The other is I want to make my own design of bar. Also why I have looked at tin as it's easy to melt for a beginner and it's worth more in volume. As for where I keep it all, I have a couple of large site boxes, I only collect the heavy copper for what I can store and leave the rest.

[AuricGoldfinger]

Interested in this thread. I had 2 tonne of copper saved up but weighed it it at £4 a kilo about 3/4 years ago. Realy wanted to find a company that could process the scrap and make it easier to stack/store. Whether that meant shredding of crushing or casting into bars. I was unsuccessful at finding somewhere. Had too much to try process myself. I just fill these bags up for storage, they weigh about 100kg when

about 100kg when full.

 

[Bigmarc]

2 hours ago, AuricGoldfinger said:

Interested in this thread. I had 2 tonne of copper saved up but weighed it it at £4 a kilo about 3/4 years ago. Realy wanted to find a company that could process the scrap and make it easier to stack/store. Whether that meant shredding of crushing or casting into bars. I was unsuccessful at finding somewhere. Had too much to try process myself. I just fill these bags up for storage, they weigh about 100kg when

about 100kg when full.

 

This is the point I am at. If processed you could store 10 times that, but it's all about time. When I look at YouTube clips of copper melting, it's really hard to gauge how long it takes from starting to heat up forge to pouring. They always seem to cut to the melted phase. @danmc82 how long does it take to process a kilo? 

[danmc82]

15 minutes ago, Bigmarc said:

This is the point I am at. If processed you could store 10 times that, but it's all about time. When I look at YouTube clips of copper melting, it's really hard to gauge how long it takes from starting to heat up forge to pouring. They always seem to cut to the melted phase. @danmc82 how long does it take to process a kilo? 

Problem for me is crucible size. Obviously the bigger the crucible, the more you can melt in one time. You'll be surprised how much scrap it takes to make one bar. I'd say to make 1 x 1kg Copper bar would take about 30 minutes. That would include heat up time etc, but if you carried on, it would be alot quicker.

Once you have a good base liquid, the metal melts alot quicker as you add it. It's always best to leave some in the crucible after pouring to speed the melting process along. 

[AuricGoldfinger]

BigstackD on YouTube has the best videos. He calculates the cost of thr gas etc aswel on some.

[AuricGoldfinger]

@Bigmarc being at this stage though which is as processed as i can get it, does reduce the size. Like those two bags was basically half a shed full of scrap copper. If i could flatten the pipe that would be another good way to save a lot of space. All time but i do sort of see it as a hobby once i start getting a good bit. 

[Bigmarc]

34 minutes ago, danmc82 said:

Problem for me is crucible size. Obviously the bigger the crucible, the more you can melt in one time. You'll be surprised how much scrap it takes to make one bar. I'd say to make 1 x 1kg Copper bar would take about 30 minutes. That would include heat up time etc, but if you carried on, it would be alot quicker.

Once you have a good base liquid, the metal melts alot quicker as you add it. It's always best to leave some in the crucible after pouring to speed the melting process along. 

That's better than I thought. @AuricGoldfinger would have to keep on top of it to be able to process his 100kg. 

[Bigmarc]

31 minutes ago, AuricGoldfinger said:

BigstackD on YouTube has the best videos. He calculates the cost of thr gas etc aswel on some.

Love is Chanel I think he does art by rock as well. I love it when he cracks open a beer and puts his feet up looking at the flame. 

[AuricGoldfinger]

Just wish i could send if off and it come back nice shiny 400oz bars. Would keep going forever then lol

[danmc82]

@AuricGoldfinger with the amount of melting you need to do, it'd be better buying the biggest Forge you could afford/store. Would be cheaper overall than a smaller one as less time means less gas to use.

[Bigmarc]

On 20/08/2021 at 22:31, danmc82 said:

I havent no. if I were to sell I'd be looking at places like ebay, or even other forums where its free to list. I

So I have been keeping a eye on sold bars on eBay, am I missing something as I am questioning my maths as some of these seem to be going for twice the spot price. These were sold yesterday.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Solid-Copper-Bus-Bar-Ingot-Scrap-Investment-/133846921883?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49286&mkrid=710-127635-2958-0

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Copper-Ingot-Bar-1kg-/401778418881?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49286&mkrid=710-127635-2958-0

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Copper-Ingot-Bulion-Bar-/294347126597?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49286&mkrid=710-127635-2958-0

Is there a shortage or is this the normal mark up? Or is my maths wrong

 

 

 

[Norskgeld]

Yes, there is a Copper shortage at the moment.

[AuricGoldfinger]

It’s more to do with the fact that copper bars are seen as more of a novelty item. The bar price isn’t really related to scrap price but what someone is willing to pay. It’s not like gold bars where it’s a highly competitive market governed by spot price and dealers spread etc

[danmc82]

Good news for us then. I think some people just like owning a solid bar of metal, and not many metals look as nice as Copper IMO.

[AuricGoldfinger]

Have you seen the bricks that @MickB has had cast? Now these look good a d wouldn’t mind all my copper being cast into bricks. Could get a pretty penny over spot for those i recon.