How long will it take to acquire...a tonne

[cruelpupet]

So I work in IT (and have for a few years) and there is always a buttload of cables that are thrown out. Scrap from new cable runs, old cables that arent used anymore, power cords, patch cables, etc...

So a few weeks ago I read that a tonne of copper, which if I remember the math I did then correctly amounted to roughly 4 cubic feet, was worth about $5,000.

Now when Im bored I strip that cable and add it to a ball like mass. How long will it take me to get a tonne? So far Ive stripped about 1 pounds worth.

[InfiniteNothing]

How big is your current ball diameter? How long have you been accumulating copper.

[cruelpupet]

How big is your current ball diameter? How long have you been accumulating copper.


The ball which is not compressed or solid is about 4" by 6" football shape. Ive only been accumulating since around that article, maybe a month or so, and I couldnt possibly strip all the cable that gets thrown out so some of it gets thrown out.


(i strip the cable so i wont have to burn the plastic which would realease some pretty toxic chemicals)

[InfiniteNothing]

At your current density you need to get the ball just 5.4 ft in diameter but it'll take you 170 years at your current rate.

[Markel]

...but it'll take you 170 years at your current rate.
and a few hernias. :heh:

[cruelpupet]

okay so now that its next to me its a 6" circumference and 4" long and its roughly pear shaped.

[Jeffbx]

Sheesh man, you pay shipping & I'll send you a ton of cable tomorrow! You can strip it until your fingers bleed.

But in all seriousness, ALL scrap metal costs are skyrocketing. Copper, aluminium, steel - whatever you can haul in will make you some decent $$.

[cruelpupet]

Sheesh man, you pay shipping & I'll send you a ton of cable tomorrow! You can strip it until your fingers bleed.

But in all seriousness, ALL scrap metal costs are skyrocketing. Copper, aluminium, steel - whatever you can haul in will make you some decent $$.

its not the money its the curiosity.

[ShawnLee]

I wonder... More than just having to collect two centuries worth of copper... How do you plan to move a ton of it?

[chrissy]

Take it in monthly and collect the money. Then deposit said money into an orange acct or something just as good keeping track of lbs as you go.

Then no hernias, you still know how long it takes you and you get interest building as you go on the money :)

[cruelpupet]

well i plan on melting it down next time i go camping to make a solid blob. dont think i will turn it in, like i said its not about the money, id rather just have a mountain of copper.

[Houdini]

well i plan on melting it down next time i go camping to make a solid blob. dont think i will turn it in, like i said its not about the money, id rather just have a mountain of copper.

Always a good idea to wash hands after stripping wire, btw. There's some pretty toxic stuff in some wire insulation.

Otherwise, sounds like an interesting venture. I know a guy who put up a huge copper panel wall in his bar. Pretty thick copper too. I wonder what he did with it after he closed the bar. Gotta ask him next time I see him, which should be next week if he comes to NOLA.

[cruelpupet]

Always a good idea to wash hands after stripping wire, btw. There's some pretty toxic stuff in some wire insulation.

Otherwise, sounds like an interesting venture. I know a guy who put up a huge copper panel wall in his bar. Pretty thick copper too. I wonder what he did with it after he closed the bar. Gotta ask him next time I see him, which should be next week if he comes to NOLA.

was there a point to the copper panel?

[Houdini]

was there a point to the copper panel?

Decorative. Really, really classy nightclub (Harry Anderson's old nightclub, Oswald's.) Very swanky, and it looked great behind the bar.

[InfiniteNothing]

well i plan on melting it down next time i go camping to make a solid blob. dont think i will turn it in, like i said its not about the money, id rather just have a mountain of copper.

Good luck on melting that. 1981.4 °F

[Houdini]

Good luck on melting that. 1981.4 °F

Eek...forgot to mention that. Copper's not exactly lead - it's pretty hard to melt. Better bring some really hot stuff.

Might have better luck just pressing it together with some mechanical advantage. More likely to flow together under pressure than you are to reach that high of a temp. Though maybe if you had a big propane burner, like a crawfish boil torch, and enough time, you MIGHT get some melting going. I dunno. Sounds like a good blast furnace would do you well.

Then again, you could always spike the ball with a lot of magnesium. :)

[cruelpupet]

well not to put down our ancestors, but they were able to melt copper a few thousand years ago.

And a quick google search reveals that it is possible to melt copper on your stovetop.

The 1984.1 is that for an alloy, or for smelting copper from ore?

[Napoleon54]

well not to put down our ancestors, but they were able to melt copper a few thousand years ago.

And a quick google search reveals that it is possible to melt copper on your stovetop.

The 1984.1 is that for an alloy, or for smelting copper from ore?

Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copper) gives 1984.32°F as the melting point of copper metal.

[Markel]

At your current density you need to get the ball just 5.4 ft in diameter but it'll take you 170 years at your current rate.
Just curious - was your calculation based on 2000 or 2204.62 pounds? (one tonne = 2204.62 avoirdupois pounds)

[cruelpupet]

Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abilene_Paradox) gives 1984.32°F as the melting point of copper metal.

getting your links mixed up? Keep your replies straight!

[Markel]

getting your links mixed up? Keep your replies straight!
Well, isn't that the melting point of copper in Abilene? :heh:

[cruelpupet]

Well, isn't that the melting point of copper in Abilene? :heh:


Markel is in the final stages of copper poisoning....he is quote himself and responding to others.

[gear02]

This is one of the most serious and yet screwed up threads I've ever seen.

[Markel]

Markel is in the final stages of copper poisoning....he is quote himself and responding to others.
I don't know what you're talking about. :shifty:

[Jeffbx]

This is what I love about this place. People here REALLY know how to go off topic.

[Markel]

This is what I love about this place. People here REALLY know how to go off topic.
So what does THAT have to do with the price of gasoline?

[Jeffbx]

I'm sure there's a direct relation between the cost of raw materials on the secondary market, the amount of said materials we're shipping to China, and the rising cost of gas. I just don't know how to link it all together...

[Markel]

I'm sure there's a direct relation between the cost of raw materials on the secondary market, the amount of said materials we're shipping to China, and the rising cost of gas. I just don't know how to link it all together...
Global warming!

:heh:

[cheapie]

bwahahaha! that made me literally laugh out loud here at work.

[mcs328]

http://www.popsci.com/popsci/how20/afc70e0796b84010vgnvcm1000004eecbccdrcrd.html

Make your own arc furnace with max temps ranging from 5K-7K degrees. Careful not to set your house on fire or go blind.

[Napoleon54]

getting your links mixed up? Keep your replies straight!


I dunno wth you're talking about. :shifty:


Yea I know how to copy/paste...

[Markel]

Careful not to... go blind.
Are we discussing cheapie's hair loss again?

[Napoleon54]

CP, do you smell burning flesh?



Man cutting copper wires severely burned

Joe Gannon
12 News
May. 24, 2007 12:11 AM
A man suspected of stealing copper wire is in critical condition after being shocked by 120,000 volts of electricity through his body.

It all started around 8:30 p.m. when fire crews were called to a brush fire at 50th Ave. and Colter. When they arrived, they saw a man dangling from the top of a utility pole.

Investigators think the man was trying to cut some wires for the copper. But the plan went awry when the man cut into a live transmission wire and sent 120,000 through his body.

Police are incredulous that the man survived the electrical shock. "To be honest with you, I don't know how this person is still living," said officer Daniel Valenzuela of the Glendale Fire Dept.

The man did suffer severe burns, and was taken to Maricopa Medical Center for treatment.

link (http://www.azcentral.com/news//articles/0523copperwire-CR.html?&wired)

[cruelpupet]

heh

[The Happy Squirrel]

wow i se a june darwin award in the making from this thread
nad its funny i have a smart a$$ remark for almost every above post but im just not feeling it tonight

maybe the title of this thread should have been "398,628 pennies for your thoughts"

[Napoleon54]

wow i se a june darwin award in the making from this thread
nad its funny i have a smart a$$ remark for almost every above post but im just not feeling it tonight

maybe the title of this thread should have been "398,628 pennies for your thoughts"

Darwin award isn't for any time someone does something stupid.

Think Darwin --> natural selection --> the weak and stupid die off. Thus, Darwin Award = stupid person removes self from gene pool by killing or sterilizing self.

For someone to be a Darwin Award candidate they have to die or somehow prevent themselves from being able to breed (eg. blow off nuts with a firecracker or cut them off with a ginsu knife or crush them in a vice or bite them off while attempting autofellatio or *suggest another disturbing example*).

[The Happy Squirrel]

Darwin award isn't for any time someone does something stupid.

Think Darwin --> natural selection --> the weak and stupid die off. Thus, Darwin Award = stupid person removes self from gene pool by killing or sterilizing self.

For someone to be a Darwin Award candidate they have to die or somehow prevent themselves from being able to breed (eg. blow off nuts with a firecracker or cut them off with a ginsu knife or crush them in a vice or bite them off while attempting autofellatio or *suggest another disturbing example*).


I am very well aware of that that you
i know what the dawin awards are for and if anyone were foolish enough to try what was in this thread then its a good scenerio for disaster

look at the way the conversation was progressing



well i plan on melting it down next time i go camping to make a solid blob. dont think i will turn it in, like i said its not about the money, id rather just have a mountain of copper.


Good luck on melting that. 1981.4 °F




Though maybe if you had a big propane burner, like a crawfish boil torch, and enough time, you MIGHT get some melting going. I dunno. Sounds like a good blast furnace would do you well.

Then again, you could always spike the ball with a lot of magnesium. :)



http://www.popsci.com/popsci/how20/afc70e0796b84010vgnvcm1000004eecbccdrcrd.html

Make your own arc furnace with max temps ranging from 5K-7K degrees. Careful not to set your house on fire or go blind.

[cruelpupet]

Darwin award isn't for any time someone does something stupid.

Think Darwin --> natural selection --> the weak and stupid die off. Thus, Darwin Award = stupid person removes self from gene pool by killing or sterilizing self.

For someone to be a Darwin Award candidate they have to die or somehow prevent themselves from being able to breed (eg. blow off nuts with a firecracker or cut them off with a ginsu knife or crush them in a vice or bite them off while attempting autofellatio or *suggest another disturbing example*).


And what if your a creationist?

[cruelpupet]

I am very well aware of that that you
i know what the dawin awards are for and if anyone were foolish enough to try what was in this thread then its a good scenerio for disaster

look at the way the conversation was progressing

People have been melting copper for a very long time. Me digging a small pit and building a campfire over a ball of copper has 0.00000001% of removing me from the gene pool.

BTW I think Ill try melting it on July 7th or 8th

[The Happy Squirrel]

well yes my point was simply that the hread was progressing into more and more "probally a bad idea" things

i understand that people are melting copper and everything

and either way it was just siad in jest so lets all get rowdey and make a huge case over it yeah!! everybody flame the squirrel!! whooo hoo! flaming squirrels <which can also lead to a darwin award>

"well bobby, dat boy pour'd some gas on dat der oak tree caue the skurl alvays be chasing him and dat skurl rand up and bobby lit that buggr but pour bobby got done lit himself i reckn his mamma gonna be mad cuase he aint got no gud shoz to be berried in"

i was just saying that the thread was moving into more and more extreme areas. thats all

having a flaming ball of magnesiujm anywhere in or near your home is just simply a bad idea

[cruelpupet]

having a flaming ball of magnesiujm anywhere in or near your home is just simply a bad idea

I know it was in jest, and isnt a flaming ball of magnesium a standard chemistry class thing? or at least it was in my school.

[Napoleon54]

People have been melting copper for a very long time. Me digging a small pit and building a campfire over a ball of copper has 0.00000001% of removing me from the gene pool.

BTW I think Ill try melting it on July 7th or 8th

I melted the sh*t out of an aluminum hobo pie maker in a campfire once (unintentionally). Al melts a bit easier at 1221*F, but it would be interesting to see if you can get a campfire up to 1981*F for copper. Best bet would be to burn some hardwood logs (e.g. oak, cherry) to build up a large bed of coals, then put the copper right on top of it or maybe bury it a little bit.

[cruelpupet]

I melted the sh*t out of an aluminum hobo pie maker in a campfire once (unintentionally).



You know...I used to have one of those...I *wonder* what happened to it :bash:

[mcs328]

I started stripping copper wire out also and so far I got a small lint ball worth. How big has your copper ball become?

[cruelpupet]

I started stripping copper wire out also and so far I got a small lint ball worth. How big has your copper ball become?

it ceased being a ball as I started to get decent sized chunks of electrical cable (ie. what you have in your walls, as well as the lower gauge stuff thats coming into large circuit breakers.)

I would say I have 5lbs stripped and 7lbs unstripped. Anyone know an environmental way to easily remove the copper?

[Prngr44]

it ceased being a ball as I started to get decent sized chunks of electrical cable (ie. what you have in your walls, as well as the lower gauge stuff thats coming into large circuit breakers.)

I would say I have 5lbs stripped and 7lbs unstripped. Anyone know an environmental way to easily remove the copper?

When it's easy, it isn't usually environmentally safe (ie burning.)

If it's environmentally safe, it usually isn't easy.

:)

[Jeffbx]

Hire an unpaid intern & give him a set of wire strippers. Preferably an EE student.

[Paymaster]

Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abilene_Paradox) gives 1984.32°F as the melting point of copper metal.

Long before the rickroll (http://youtube.com/watch?v=eBGIQ7ZuuiU) and the duckroll, there was the abileneroll!

How long before we can turn this into a new meme?