Sourcing Junk Metal

[Cauldhame]

I know there are various threads already about recording and amping junk metal. My question is, where do you source your junk metal?

I haven't had much opportunity in recent years to collect anything much and when I do, it tends to be bits and pieces I pick up from skips (which I guess could be called "dumpster diving" for people outside the UK) when people have been doing renovations and property clearances. That's been pretty good, but you tend to come across the same sorts of things, so if you've already been doing it a while it can be a case of diminishing returns.

It's come up for me because I've been listening to the Aprapat 2CD collection on FA this week and have really relished the complex, dynamic and massive metal sounds on there. I'm interested to know if anyone has particular strategies/places for sourcing useful items of resonant metal, e.g. do you make any use of "official channels" such as scrap metal merchants, or whether you rely entirely on the serendipity of found objects? 

[Balor/SS1535]

I bought a roof vent from a home improvement store.  It sounds great!

[Stipsi]

I usually self built my junk instruments.
I use contact mics or guitar pick ups (single coil are much better).
And then i use a Soma Cosmos directly on tape to continuously record them (it's a great "looper" for this purpose)
This is my main solution.

[Cranial Blast]

I bring a lot shit home from various construction jobs. Roof vents are my main go to for junk metal sounds and also old step tins from around chimneys.

[host body]

My old building had a concrete bicycle storage room with old bicycle carcasses, rusty tools and random junk. That place was aces

[Theodore]

I bring a lot shit home from various construction jobs.

I dont record, but the last 2 months i work at a construction site. Demolition -by hand!- and rebuilding. The sounds ? True industrial symphony. Materials ? Whatever you want, the size you want it, or we can cut it to your wish, heh. - We are just 2 people there -believe it or not- ! Made me asking myself should i start record ?

Anyway, if anyone was stopping by, asking can i take some debris / scrap / leftovers ... Please do !

[Cranial Blast]

I bring a lot shit home from various construction jobs.

I dont record, but the last 2 months i work at a construction site. Demolition -by hand!- and rebuilding. The sounds ? True industrial symphony. Materials ? Whatever you want, the size you want it, or we can cut it to your wish, heh. - We are just 2 people there -believe it or not- ! Made me asking myself should i start record ?

Anyway, if anyone was stopping by, asking can i take some debris / scrap / leftovers ... Please do !

Good time to make a first attempt at sourcing some great sounds that could be fun to play around with at any rate.

Often I'll throw all kinds of damaged shite from jobs in the back of my pick up and people on the job will look at me like what do you want with that rubbish?! One part of my garage is taken up completely by total junk metal shit. I go to a landfill often and dump loads of shit and lots of noise there too with the bulldozer going off beep beep and smash smash! I wanted to duct tape Sony handheld tape recorder to the hood of dump truck and just gather the experience better.

[Andrew McIntosh]

Made me asking myself should i start record ?

Yes.

[MALVM]

I used to hunt that sort of stuff down quite a bit back in the day. Industrial sites, salvage yards, auto wreckers, steel mills, welders / fabrication shops were all sources. That was a long time ago and metal prices are different now.

Proximity to industrial districts and the ability to transport certainly help. For the sake of lightness, a small sheet box with some rusty springs, wires etc had plenty of great results without having to wield around larger stuff.

I recall many fabrication shops in my youth had scrap metal bins near their dumpsters, but they are less common now as metal theft increased. I recall many smaller welding shops etc would just leave remnants near their dumpsters and frequently had 3/8" plate scrap. but that was a long time ago. 
Working in trades I knew of many people salvaging, even stealing new metals from employers. It was often assumed many of the underground explosions in metros were scrappers getting into live mains, heh

-- those interested should look up the documentary "Scrapper" for free on youtube about people who salvage active bombing ranges. It's one of the crazier docs I've ever seen.