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25 years of bits and pieces

Tom Martin

Well Known Member
Although I would not call myself a hoarder when it comes to little bits of aluminum I am definitely guilty.
In 1993, when I started, you kept all the scraps. If you wanted to build something extra, or had a repair, little pieces came in handy. When building if you were going to modify a part you needed little pieces. The really expensive piece of small aluminum is the one you do not have! I kept everything, different sizes, different thicknesses etc.
As kits have evolved there is less and less need for extra metal. The kits are pretty complete and there are not as many modifications to make. The baffle kit alone has saved hours and hours of work scrounging for just that right bit of metal.
After completing the RV14 I noticed that I did not go to the scrap yard (under my bench) at all. It was time to clean house.
It took a couple of hours to sort through 5 boxes of odds and ends. I narrowed it down to two boxes of high end scraps!
The rest went to the scrap metal yard

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I got a total of $31.55 for my bits and pieces, a memory every one. The interesting thing was that I had a few pop cans as well. They had to be separated as they were worth $0.10 more per pound then aircraft metal!!!
 
,my thoughts, if you haven't used it in 3 to 4 years get rid of it. that relates to just about every thing.
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Junk

After cleaning out my barn 2 years ago, to make room for my RV-8 build; I know what you all mean. There were things in there that my family before me saved for "some day". An unbelievable assortment of stuff. Some of it is hard to put in the dumpster, such as the chaise lounge my grandmother gave birth to my mother on and all the other stories associated with the different treasure. Christmas cards from years past, never thrown away etc., etc., etc.
Having said that I am sure there were several scraps in your picture that I could have used!!:D
 
I cleaned out the shop a couple years ago and finally decided to part with most of my scrap steel and aluminum. Rather than take it to the local recycle company I put a "Free Scrap Steel/Aluminum" ad on CL for the local scrappers who would really benefit from a few extra bucks. There are a few people around our area that scrap as their main source of income so in addition to the scrap aircraft stuff, I had a couple hundred pounds of other metal items for him as well.
 
Moved out of my aviation house in November. I did the same thing. I kept a few sheet pieces but took the rest to the scrap yard. It was hard to do. I started my RV-6 in 1996. The Long-EZ was started in 1984 but not much metal there!!! I still have some soap that takes off epoxy from your hands. That stuff is no longer available and is 34 years old.
 
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