You can find plastic 5 gallon buckets being given freely away at bakeries, delis, and restaurants. Are there items that come in metal buckets in a similar manner? What sort of businesses would be looking for people to take metal buckets off their hands?
-rainy
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Well, paint still comes in a one-gallon metal bucket, but when it’s sold in five-gallon quantities, it’s in plastic buckets. You can buy new metal five-gallon buckets from Home Depot or Amazon for about fifteen bucks each (versus about three bucks for a plastic five-gallon bucket). I think driveway sealer used to come in metal five-gallon buckets, but it looks like they’re plastic now.
Roofing cement (and other roofing adhesives) I believe is still sold in metal buckets.
I have bought wood stain in 5 gallon metal buckets. So it is possible that specialty woodworking places would have them to get rid of. They are NOT suitable for many purposes though.
What do want them for? That might help jog our memories about specific types.
I just got primer in plastic 1 gallon buckets. Don’t know why they still use metal for paint.
I am doing a fairly large scale raku demonstration. So I need several metal buckets/containers with a lid for the combustible. The lid is to smother the flames. One gallon is really too small. Something around three to five gallon size would be perfect.
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Had too look up raku. So you’re making kilns. There are sealants that come in 5 gallon steel containers. A contractor that pours concrete foundations might have these available.
You may be able to find cooking pots like that at a thrift store.
Pots like this are 4 gallons or so and used to be very cheap
My mom does raku firing behind her studio and back when I was helping we just had a long dirt trough for people to place their sawdust/newspaper/seaweed and then covered the pottery with metal pails from Home Depot that were supposed to hold ash or something and cost $10. At the very least, you won’t need lids.
We always had enough for everyone, but 99% of the time everyone stood around watching as one person would go at a time. You can probably get away with fewer than you’d expect if you need to save a few bucks.
Remind people to bring a change of clothes so they stink up their cars with the smokiness.
Cooking oil often comes in metal drums - so restaurants, especially takeaway places might have them.
Trouble is, I expect they will already have a disposal channel for them - they will need some of them for containing used oil for disposal (used oil is marketable), but some of the oil that they use goes out the door in the belly of the customer, so there should be a surplus of containers.
Googling “5 gallon garbage can” and selecting “images” shows lots of examples of plastic cans but there are plain metal ones, too.
Must be a thing on your side of the pond. Cooking oil comes in plastic containers here.
Shop level quantities of (mechanical) grease and oil still sometimes come in 5 gallon metal buckets, might check with non-chain auto garages or such nearby.
Pedantic nitpick: properly speaking buckets don’t have lids. Pails do. 
ISTM for the OP’s intended use he’s not going to want a pail that had some thick goopy stuff in it. Especially not if the goop was flammable. There’ll be enough of it stuck to the interior to pollute the roku or even create extra unplanned fires. Not to mention potentially toxic fumes. You’re looking for pails that held something non-toxic, thin & runny, and, ideally, non-flammable.
Paint stores sell empty clean 1 gallon paint cans. A good store catering to pros *might *also sell clean 5 gallon pails.
Like **steatopygia **I’ve bought petroleum-based wood stain in the traditional 5 gallon metal pail with metal lid. It’s been a few years though.
Looks like you’re right. I think that’s actually probably also predominantly the case this side too - just with a marginal market that hasn’t switched from the 20L metal drums yet. I imagine those will be history in a year or three.
Some flammable solvents come in five gallon metal buckets. I’ve purchased five gallon buckets of acetone and isopropyl alcohol for cleaning laboratory glassware. When they were empty we triple rinsed them with water and threw them in with the normal metal recycling.
As to use, in take you heat the pieces in a kiln and then drop them hot into various combustible materials (saw dust, newspaper) and slap on the lid to smoother the flames.
The ditch with the buckets as lids is brilliant, but we will be in a public park so earthworks are right out.
Hadn’t thought of the thrift store enamel pots, I will check that out.
I was aware of the motor oil and oil based stains but was Leary of the residues. Maybe I could pre-burn those myself to clean them.
Good suggestions keep them coming. I think I will need several since the pieces remain in the pails until cool enough to remove which is about an hour.
Coconut oil for popcorn sometimes comes in metal pails. Your local move theater or events arena might be able to set you up with some from their concession stand.
The popping station I used at an events arena used a heating element dropped into the pail to liquefy the oil. It got fairly hot so I suppose that was the reason metal pails were preferred.
Seems it is now sold in plastic buckets as well so no telling what you might find.
You can buy them from an industrial supplier like McMaster-Carr or MSC, search for steel pail. Farm suppliers also.
Can’t really think of any business that would have an excess of clean metal containers to give away. Maybe fill some plastic/metal/wooden tubs with dirt/sand using buckets as lids. How about a wheel barrow? Do you have a kiln and are just looking for a way to smother them in various combustibles after firing? Or are trying to make the kiln also?
