Can you Scrap Nails Screws Nuts and Bolts

Old nail and screw scrapCan you scrap nails, screws, nuts and bolts? One of the top questions that I am asked by fellow scrappers is, can you scrap nails, screws, nuts or bolts and make any real money?

I have briefly talked about the subject here and there but today I want to go more in depth on the topic so that you can clearly understand the possibilities of this type of scrap metal.

If you are new to the scrap metal field and have been told that scrap stainless steel bolts, aluminum screws, aluminum nails, steel nails, steel screws or solid brass screws are worthless and a waste of time, that person provided incorrect information.

If a 1 pound box of steel nails cost $6 to $7, a 1 pound box of aluminum nails cost $12 to $14 and 10 copper nails cost $3 to $5, how are these items not worth anything when it comes to scrap metal?

They are all worth money and you should never throw out any screws that you come across or handle while dismantling scrap items.

The real problem with this type of scrap is finding enough of it to make the job worth doing. How to accomplish this is what I want to share with you.

So can you scrap nails, screws, nuts and bolts? You absolutely can. Many people only scrap these kinds of items and scrap yards accept all types of metal.

Depending on the size of the screw or nail, you will need 80 to 100 of them to equal a pound of scrap metal.





During one 8 hour day, you will normally come across 300 aluminum and stainless steel screws or nails.

So in 1 day you should be able to collect 3 pounds of screw and nail scrap. If you worked 6 days, you should have 18 pounds.

If you collected these items for 1 month, you would end up with 72 pounds of scrap metal that you would have normally thrown away.

Keep in mind that brass, aluminum, copper and steel screws or nails, all sell for different prices. We all know what kind of payday 72 pounds of copper or aluminum will bring.

Did you know that one aluminum bolt weighs more than one aluminum can? In fact, the companies that manufacture aluminum cans use a little less than a pound of aluminum to make 30 cans.

Other than saving all of the screws and nails that you come across, a quicker way to get massive amounts of these scrap items is to go around your city or area and remove all of the nails from the telephone poles.





Yes the telephone poles. Look at the picture above. This pole was so full of nails that there was no space for new ones.

I spent 20 minutes removing the nails and wound up with 8 1/2 pounds of aluminum and steel nails.

This street corner had 4 poles total and they all had nearly the same amount of nails within them. So after about an hour and a half, I ended up with almost 34 pounds of scrap nails.

Before you head out to do the same, I want to say that I am pretty sure that there is no law against removing nails from phone poles but if you do not feel comfortable you should check with your local authorities.

The city where you live does not own the poles, your utility companies do. Even if the pole is on your property, you do not own that spot, they do.

You can contact them directly as well, I am sure that if done professionally, they will not have a problem with you removing the nails.

To make separating the different types of nails and screws that you collect easier, you should use a strong magnet.