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PostPosted: Fri May 15, 2026 3:58 pm 
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Last edited by austin86 on Fri Jun 26, 2026 11:41 am, edited 1 time in total.

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PostPosted: Sat May 16, 2026 12:37 pm 
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You just stole my gig! lol.

Have fun.

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PostPosted: Sat May 16, 2026 1:18 pm 

Joined: Tue Jan 06, 2026 12:29 pm
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The best item I ever found, still have, is an airplane that apparently was a limited run. Only around 3000 made. Child's toy that someone toss into a commercial dumpster on public streets outside of a house renovation.

Found that, 2 computers, and a whole bunch a plastic tote containers which I now use for separating my metals.

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PostPosted: Sat May 16, 2026 1:56 pm 
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Location: Western Pennsylvania
Was that typewriter a Smith Corona? Just curious.
Also. That term "Pot Metal". Haven't heard that term for forever. Also. Heard "White Metal".
So. My example. For fun and education. I was doing some decent scrapping of some electronics. Some made in USA. Others in Germany. Same type of housings. Looked the same. But. Nope. The German housings were not like American. You could not tell the difference visually. But. I learned one was Cast Aluminum. The other was Die Cast. So. My inquiry. What was "Die Cast" versus "Cast Aluminum". How to tell the difference?
A Youtuber. Cuscrapping. Made a video using Zep Root Killer in solution in a spray bottle to help tell the difference. Good video. Title. "Identifying Cast Aluminum vs Die Cast.
I just bought the active ingredient. Blue Copper Sulfate. Copper Sulfite Crystals. Blue Vitriol. All the same product under many names.
I bought the smallest amount. Made a solution in a spray bottle with only water. It worked wonderfully.
My technique. Using a file. Scrap the housing to remove paint. Exposing the metal. Then spray some solution on it. If it turned dark. Then it showed the zinc that was added. If it remained bright color. No color change. It was Cast Aluminum.
Guess what? Or do you know? The German made housings all were Cast Aluminum. The USA housings were for the most part Die Cast. Good old American manufacturing.
HERE TO LEARN LIKE EVERYBODY ELSE.
HAVE FUN SCRAPPING.
Thought I would post this to possibly help anybody to sort Die Cast from Cast Aluminum. I could not venture to say it pays to separate or not. But. The technique works. Very effective.


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PostPosted: Sat May 16, 2026 2:02 pm 

Joined: Sat Nov 29, 2014 9:44 pm
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I pulled out all the copper wire from an AT&T renovation that they dumped in a dumpster along with some new old stock servers still mounted to dunnage for shipping.

Wish I still worked in the building across the street from there so I could see when they throw out more ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

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PostPosted: Sat May 16, 2026 2:37 pm 
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PostPosted: Sat May 16, 2026 5:11 pm 
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You may want to check out my what’s inside it series before you go through weighing anything I’ve already done.

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PostPosted: Sat May 16, 2026 6:45 pm 
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PostPosted: Sat May 16, 2026 7:39 pm 
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austin86 wrote:
@Catwhisker you're spot on with the brand of the typewriter! it's a smith corona

I also have a industrial dehumidifier i might scrap if i can't fix it, and a large laserjet printer too. but those would probably be next weekend's project



What laser printer (assuming laserjet generically).

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PostPosted: Sun May 17, 2026 10:04 am 
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