[jeffm]

Does anyone know about how much a 1/2 full 55 gallon drum of 15-5 solids might weigh

[txcncman]

You can only estimate it unless you want to fill the voids with water, then drain the water off to get the empty volume. Even then you are only going to get close. I think steel weights 0.098 pounds per cubic inch. 1 gallon is 231 cubic inches. 55 gallons times 231 cubic inches per gallon is 12705 cubic inches. 12705 cubic inches times 0.098 pounds per cubic inch is 1245.09 pounds. So a solid piece the size of a 55 gallon drum would be 1245.09 pounds. A solid piece 1/2 of a 55 gallon drum would be about 622.5 pounds. You know you have something less than that (plus the weight of the drum itself).

[keebler303]

Jeff

You can get pretty darn close with a bathroom scale. I attached a picture to explain. You just need to weigh all four corners, add them up, then subtract the weight of the pallet and the drum to get you net weight. I use this method when I ship stuff freight, once I get to the depot, I'm normally within 10 pounds of their weight. You can weight up to 4x the scale capacity this way, probably at least 1200 lbs for most scales.

Matt

[jeffm]

Thanks for the reply's

[keebler303]

According to google, steel is around .28 lb/in^3. Aluminum is closer to the .098 stated above. So txcncmans numbers are about 1/3 of what they should be.

Matt

[txcncman]

According to google, steel is around .28 lb/in^3. Aluminum is closer to the .098 stated above. So txcncmans numbers are about 1/3 of what they should be.

Matt

Sorry. I should have actually checked the number. See what happens when you rely on memory?

[Geof]

Rounded to one figure aluminum is 3 x as heavy as water and steel is 8 x as heavy. A 55 gal drum full of water is about 500lbs so 'full' of steel it would be about 4000 lbs. Allow 50% for voids because the chips are not solid, maybe more than 50%, and you end up with not more than 2000lbs for a drum full.