Scrap metal sources on Negros — collecting list, updated

STUDIO VISITS3 posts

For fellow sculptors working with found metal on Negros, here's my updated list of reliable sources. I've been collecting from these sites for eight years.

1. The old Victorias Milling compound — still has structural steel from the 1950s expansion. Ask for Mang Tony at the guard post. 2. La Carlota sugar mill ruins — the roof trusses collapsed in 2019. Good gauge steel, some with beautiful rust patina. 3. Silay port area — fishing boat hulls get scrapped here. The curved plates are difficult to weld but the shapes are extraordinary. 4. Kabankalan rail siding — narrow-gauge track from the old hacienda rail network. Heavy but workable.

Important: always negotiate with the landowner, not just the guard. And bring your own cutting tools — they won't lend theirs.

Replies

Enrico Lualhati4d

I paint, not sculpt, but this is fascinating. The idea that your material has a previous life — as a sugar mill, as a fishing boat — adds a layer of meaning that paint on canvas can't match. Do you think about those histories when you weld?

Ben Legaspi3d

Every time. The Victorias steel carried sugar for decades. When I cut it, I can still smell the molasses in the rust. That smell is part of the sculpture, even if the viewer never knows it.

Write a reply