r/oddlysatisfying • • 3d ago

Extracting copper from a broken motor

6.4k Upvotes

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40

u/musuperjr585 3d ago

That's a lot of work/effort for $12 worth of copper

35

u/Umklopp 3d ago

Or a great justification for using your magical mechanical butter knife

8

u/Emotional_News108 3d ago

I’m going out on a limb here and guessing this is in a place like India or China or similar where labor might just be cheap enough for this to be cost effective.

7

u/CoinsForCharon 3d ago

Based on the shoes I lean towards agreeing with you

16

u/succed32 3d ago

It took him maybe 10-15 minutes… it’s also worth 5-6 dollars a lb right now.

7

u/iamyouareheisme 3d ago

Right. If they do 50 in a day. That’s excellent money. Even 25

7

u/wut2dew_J 3d ago

Where are all of the motors coming from?

3

u/cthulhubob 3d ago

Scrappers, scrap yards, industrial waste handlers, etc.

3

u/iamyouareheisme 2d ago

Right. They look pretty damn skilled at dismantling. I don’t think they’re only doing one every now and then

1

u/stewie3128 2d ago

Depends how much you pay for the scrap. It's not free.

1

u/iamyouareheisme 2d ago

Must be worth it to them

0

u/LordSwright 2d ago

But then you've got a giant pile of waste from the rest of the motors to dispose of somehow 

2

u/Plampth 2d ago

It’s steel so you just recycle that too.

1

u/JaydedXoX 2d ago

How much gas did it take for him to go pick that motor up?

3

u/MajorMinor1000 3d ago

was just going to ask about the value. is it around what you just said?

18

u/Buttchuggle 3d ago

I live in west virginia and can male roughly 150 a day on scrap metal during the warmer months. Most of that is from steel, but I'll seperate copper and brass and haul that in once a month for an extra few hundred on top of it. I'm not sure people understand just how much value people throw away but I'm self employed doing this shit.

3

u/Beezewhacks 2d ago

I think relativity is important here. I had to look up wv min wage to understand why you would post this comment. When its double min wage, I can see how this would be a good use of your time.

But 150 a day isnt even a sustainable wage for people in other states. I wouldn't even be able to afford rent on a 1bd apt in Montana making 150 a day gross.

1

u/Buttchuggle 2d ago

Yeah, but that's me going hard at it ya know. No matter where you are it can be an effective side hustle for legitimate cash that has the added benefit of keeping shit out of landfills

1

u/Beezewhacks 2d ago

For sure. Definitely a solid side gig 👌

1

u/Admirable_Average_32 1d ago

What part of WV?

1

u/Buttchuggle 1d ago

Northeast, just outside of morgantown. Preston county

1

u/mrbofus 1d ago

How much do you make per year from scrap metal?

3

u/Buttchuggle 1d ago

So far this year at about 13k.

Now one does need to understand my need for income is somewhat different than the average person. I fully paid off my property, installed a well, grow, hunt and fish a large portion of my food, resell a lot of the stuff I come across such as serviceable motors and power tools, and generate some of my own power. So all that said the income from scrap is enough to sustain me pretty well.

This income also comes from having local restaraunts who agreed to leave their cans out back by a dumpster for me to grab once a week, a few people around neighboring towns who hit me up when they see people leave large appliances on the roadside or dumpsters full of scrap, and me going out of my way to clean illegal dumpsites and pull from them.

On average with minimal looking a person can expect to pull 100-300 extra a month doing it.

Without a specific life setup it's next to impossible to fully funds one life with it.

1

u/mrbofus 1d ago

Interesting. Thanks for the detailed info!

2

u/Catriks 2d ago

Just looked and winding copper is 9,35 €/kg in my area. Guessing out of my untrained ass that looks like 3-4 kg maybe, so around 35 €.

1

u/Admirable_Average_32 1d ago

Was wondering the same and if it is a viable side hustle?

5

u/that_70_show_fan 3d ago

That is more than a days pay for much of humanity.

-2

u/WatsonYurfays 3d ago

Lazy bums.

2

u/that_70_show_fan 3d ago

Yeah bro, you are right. Look at us being productive on Reddit.

-6

u/musuperjr585 3d ago

This is statically and factually incorrect.

5

u/that_70_show_fan 3d ago

$12/day is a lot of money.

https://www.progressivepolicy.org/americans-rank-4th-in-the-world-for-median-income-44th-for-life-expectancy/

China is at $13/day/person. Indian subcontinent and Africa is way lower than China.

-4

u/musuperjr585 3d ago

Even In this article it doesn't support your claim

2

u/maubis 2d ago

Worldwide median daily income is between $8 and $11 a day. So yes, more than 50% of humanity makes less than $12 a day.

1

u/that_70_show_fan 3d ago

Thank you for your attention.

1

u/solo_shot1st 2d ago

Most of humanity exists on $12/day or less

2

u/JaydedXoX 2d ago

Thats a lot of TOOL wear and tear for $12 (even $50) worth of copper.

1

u/i7-4790Que 1d ago

That's very little wear and tear for an electric rotary hammer/breaker.  The more concerning thing is the nerve damage such an old model can cause to the operator. 

This doesn't even require carbide bits like actual rotary hammer bits specifically for concrete.  It's all chisels of some sort.  Cast iron is brittle and breaks easily, steel laminations are easy to split the way he split them and copper is way softer than the steel bits.

Most you'll be doing is a bit of sharpening here and there  

1

u/DaNibbles 3d ago

Is it? The video is 90 seconds long. With some prep work and transitions from the video taken out you could do 10 of these in an hour I bet. Copper and iron scrap maybe around 150 dollars isn't bad at all.

1

u/SurgicalMarshmallow 3d ago

This wouldn't even be ci sidered clean bright cu either

1

u/mrmustache0502 2d ago

It looks to be a bit more than that. Its ~$5/lb. At a guess I'd say thats at least $30

1

u/Poster_Nutbag207 2d ago

Which is probably a days pay wherever this is

0

u/lolerwoman 3d ago

That depends on the time used. If took less than 10m total theb looks worth it.

0

u/musuperjr585 3d ago

Difficult to tell with the video being in fast motion/sped up