My best junkyard find in metal: One time I arrived to find a WHOLE PALLET of 01 steel STILL IN THE WRAPPERS. The pallet was piled about 4" or 5" high. I bought a bunch of it. Some small rusting here and there from rain. Unfortunately,the steel was all pretty thick stuff,like 3/4" or so. No 1/8 or 1/4". At least,I know what it is,and it's all older USA steel.
I also bought out the real old stock of Brown and Sharpe W1 steel that a company had. It was very old,and the wrappers were dirty and torn. Guess they thought with wrappers in that condition,it wasn't presentable!!! It is ground MUCH smoother than you see on precision ground today. All 6" wide,1/8 and 1/4" material. I DO NOT want to sell any. Good,old USA made steel,from when we were making great steel. And,W1 is getting very hard to find in larger sizes. Many aren't making this simple steel any more. It is treacherous to heat treat,but W1 will take a sharper edge than other steels. Knife makers like it.