This should be a relatively short article, I am skipping Part 3.2 for now, the reloading deserves a little more input than I have time to do right now. So many good brands of gear, and we like an emphasis on used equipment so I can't just rattle it off like I did the firearms article. General Ballistics are not a big problem, but the actual reloading and gear will take a lot of time in research just to get current info on things I already know for the most part.
SCRAPPING!
It is a great way to make extra money for funding these purchases, whether new or used, you will usually need MONEY. Unless you can trade, but it seems unless an item was obtained specifically for trading, the prospective trader will likely want something that you cannot usually afford to get rid of. So we will discuss Scrapping.
I loaded up a bunch of junk metal at my mother and dad's place this last summer. It was a weekend, and I was working somewhere that involves a longer drive every day. My mother said she would take the load in, and give me the money since I did the work and much of the metal was from collecting I had been doing prior. Most of the rest was from their basement that I did the mold abatement on the prior year so it was effectively my "pay" for that job. I was expecting around $25-$30 as most of it was cheaper scrap iron and some cast aluminum from an old grill or 2. Very little copper, and maybe one 1/2 gallon pail of brass from some old faucets. I did not have high hopes...
Well, you know what? Mum brought me back $80.50, 4 Jacksons and a Kennedy... the scrap yard seems to have a 50¢ coin in there every time you get change. I suspect they are doing CRH or 'coin roll hunting' and use the halves to pay the change on the cash sales, LOL! I guess I would do that too.
I lived in another town close by for 6 years before I moved home, and did a little scrapping there too. It really pays off when you are in a college town (Indiana University) and there are a lot of "curbed" items for the taking. Most of that is furniture, so I am not interested in that but I did get a gas grill with a good tank on it, that is a $15 core right there. It was in fine shape, perfectly serviceable. SCORE!!!
When I was an Apprentice Electrician, they gave apprentices scrap copper. We still do, when allowed. $1 per pound was a very good price back then, but in 2007-2008 the prices went up to $4/# for stripped #2 grade! #1 is a little higher, sometimes 25¢/#. Make sure you have these sorted properly, or you will be docked to the lower prices. One hundred pounds of #2 prices for #1 grade copper just cost you $25! SO make SURE it is good, and question the scales men. I had a "confrontation" one time with this older guy running the scales. I had a good amount of #1 copper but got #2 price for it. I asked what the problem was, and he said it was not sorted properly. I said "Where?" He pointed to a SINGLE PIECE of "less shiny" copper on top. I said "OK then" and moved it to the #2 pile which was next to weigh, he got all huffy and said "FINE!" and printed a new receipt... what a prick! Nearly cost me $30 bucks or so.
Tesla in his Lab
Know your scrap, and look online for pointers. YouTube has many guys and a few girls who scrap, and all have good tips and pointers. I found a great method for breaking up the cores on transformers, but as an electrician and electrical experimenter, I usually save the special copper wire. It looks like bare copper, but has "enamel" painted on insulation. This allows closer winding of the coils for better magnetic flux transfer and higher efficiency. The wire is very expensive if you buy it, so I try and reclaim as much as possible. Small to large specialty transformers and coils can do some AMAZING Things, in fact there is a circuit one can build that is able to light the 20w and 40w Fluorescent tubes, both CFL and standard, on approximately 1/3W!!! I will give you One Guess as to which legendary electrical god invented this, that's right, great hint made you think of TESLA. Edison was just a hack who rode Tesla's coattails, if you really know your history.
There is a lot here I did not cover, Questions Welcome! :D
Crane pic from aplecgroup.com , Tesla in his lab from npr.org