Misc. Aluminum

There are a lot of different grades of aluminum that have not already been mentioned on this website.

Boat motors are usually cast aluminum with steel parts inside, just like lawnmower motors.  These are bought as “Breakage”, meaning they will need to be broken into pieces or smelted to separate the metals.  If you have spare time and hand tools, you can usually strip it yourself.

Many pots, pans, skillets, and other cookware are partially aluminum.  The trick to getting a higher price is whether you can remove plastic, rubber, heating elements, etc.

Sometimes structural shapes are aluminum instead of steel, like pipe, angle, channel, square tubing, and flat plates.   Other items can include screens, grills and sheets.

Some machine shops generate aluminum turnings – the trick there is to be careful no other turnings (like steel) get mixed in, and the cutting oils get drained out so we don’t have to deduct weight.

Some electrical cable that brings power into your home or business is made from aluminum wires with a steel wire down the center to give it strength.  It may or may not be covered with plastic insulation.  Aluminum wire yields its highest value when there is no steel or plastic attached.

As always, you can use a magnet to sort metals – it will stick to steel, but not aluminum.