fig1 illustrates , schematically , the overall system and its components . the system includes a compressor 10 and a conveyor arrangement 11 which terminates in a chute 12 that continuously deliver scrap sheet metal pieces 13 from the manufacturing plant to the compressor . the compressor is schematically shown as being supported upon suitable columns or other supports 14 . extending forwardly of the compressor is a table or platform 15 which receives slabs that are discharged from the compressor . the table includes an end extension portion 16 which may act as a stop for slabs sliding down the table or , alternatively , as a steep , downwardly sloped , portion of the table for discharging slabs from the table . the table is normally tilted at a downward angle and can be raised into a horizontal position as indicated in dotted lines in fig3 . in order to tilt and raise the table , the table may be pivotally connected by a hinge arrangement 17 and lift hydraulic components . returning to fig1 and 2 , the system includes a large electromagnet 20 suspended by cables 23 from a crane mover 21 which moves laterally along tracks 22 relative to the compressor . the magnet is moved laterally with the crane mover 21 . the crane mover , and the tracks and the electromagnet are commercially available equipment and , therefore , no further description is given here as various alternative parts may be utilized . on one side , approximately parallel to the compressor and the table , is a railroad siding upon which open - top railroad freight cars move . the cars 25 travel along railroad tracks 26 and can be moved in conventional manner along the tracks beneath the crane 21 and the magnet 20 . on the opposite side of the compressor , a trailer truck 28 having an open - top conventional trailer 29 , pulled by a tractor 30 , rests upon a roadway 31 . in general , slabs 35 , composed of numerous compressed together pieces of scrap sheet metal , are formed in the compressor initially . then each slab falls from the compressor upon the table 15 from which it is lifted by the electromagnet and transferred into either the railroad car or the truck , as desired . fig3 and 4 schematically illustrate the compressor construction . the compressor is formed with a housing 38 providing an interior chamber 39 , a portion of which near the forward end of the housing provides a collection area 40 . the chamber has an open forward or discharge end 41 , which is normally closed by a heavy , upwardly and downwardly moveable closure or backing plate 42 . the backing plate or closure is mounted for upward sliding movement to thereby clear the opening for the discharge of a slab , or alternatively for downward movement for closing the opening . when down , the plate serves as a base or backing plate for the ram 45 which presses the pieces of sheet metal into a unitary slab 35 . a suitable , conventional or commercially available lift mechanism 43 is provided for raising and lowering the closure 42 . conventional hydraulic cylinders , pistons and piston rods would be used for raising and lowering the closure in response to suitable controls . the horizontally reciprocating ram 45 , which is driven by a horizontally arranged ram rod 46 , is arranged within the housing . the rod extends to the rear of the chamber 39 and is powered by a conventional hydraulic power system 47 . a horizontal cover sheet or plate 48 is secured to the ram and extends rearwardly therefrom . side braces 49 made of roughly triangularly shaped metal plates rigidify the ram and horizontal plate 48 . the housing 38 is provided with an inlet or feed opening 50 located in the upper wall 51 above the collection area 40 . scrap metal pieces 13 are fed or poured through the opening into the collection area of the compressor interior chamber . during forward movement of the ram for ramming pieces of sheet metal against the backing plate , the upper horizontal plate of the ram closes the feed opening of the compressor . however , the conveyor system 11 which supplies the separated pieces 13 of sheet metal continues to operate , without stop , depositing , pieces of sheet metal upon the upper surface of the horizontal sheet 48 as the ram is moved forwardly for compressing the batches of pieces collected in the collection area against the backing plate 42 . the scrap pieces may accumulate temporarily as the ram moves forwardly . then , when the ram retracts a scraper 54 causes the accumulated pieces to drop off the ram sheet 40 into the collection area of the housing . the backing plate or closure 42 may be raised and lowered , by a suitable hydraulic lift 43 formed of conventional hydraulic pistons , piston rods and hydraulic cylinders . those are conventional , commercially available parts . thus , when the closure is lifted up the loose pieces at the opening 50 are still accumulated upon the sheet 48 . thus , only when the ram is retracted , does a new batch of pieces fall into the compression area . after a slab is formed within the compressor and closure 42 is raised , the slab is pushed outwardly through the opening 41 . the slab tilts forwardly and drops down upon the downwardly sloped table or platform 15 . then the table or platform is swung upwardly ( shown schematically ) into a horizontal position ( see fig3 ) by means of a hydraulic lift cylinder and piston arrangement 61 . while the table is tilted downwardly , for example , at approximately 20 degrees from the horizontal , the slab exiting from the compressor will fall downwardly into face - to - face contact with the upper surface of the table and then slide down the table until it hits the barrier formed by the upright table extension 16 . the table extension is held upright by a suitable power device comprising a conventional hydraulic piston and piston rod and cylinder devices 64 . the extension may be swung downwardly by the device so as to slope towards the ground 67 if it is desired to permit the slab to continue sliding down the table and onto the ground . the operation of the system is shown schematically in a series of steps , 1 - 9 inclusive , illustrated in fig9 . step 1 schematically illustrates the loading of scrap pieces into the compression or collection area of the compressor housing through the opening 50 in the upper wall 51 of the housing . the ram 45 at that point is retracted to allow the pieces 13 to fall into the collection area 40 . in step 2 , the ram is moved forwardly towards the closure or back - up plate 42 . that movement , with sufficient force , compresses the irregularly shaped , multiply bent , pieces of scrap sheet metal to bind together into a unitary slab 35 . the slab is vertically arranged against the backing plate at that point . in step 3 , the backing plate or closure 42 is raised upwardly by the hydraulic lift mechanism 53 , thereby clearing the opening 41 at the discharge end of the compressor chamber . the slab 35 , assisted with the forward movement of the ram , moves outwardly of the opening where it tilts forwardly and downwardly to fall upon the table 15 . in step 4 , the slab is illustrated as lying in face - to - face contact upon the downwardly sloped table or platform . in steps 3 and 4 , the ram &# 39 ; s upper sheet blocks opening 50 to stop the feed of pieces into the collection area . step 5 illustrates the ram retracting toward the rear of the housing thereby unblocking the feed opening 50 in the housing and allowing scrap pieces to again fall into the collection area . while the housing opening 50 had been blocked by the horizontal sheet ( step 4 ) scrap pieces which nevertheless were continuously fed from the conveyor system temporarily accumulate above the ram . meanwhile , as shown in step 5 , the slab 35 has slid down the table and is stopped by the upraised table extension 16 . and the backing plate is lowered to close the discharge opening . next , step 6 shows the loading of fresh pieces of scrap in the collection and the ram preparing to move forward for the next compression stroke to form another slab . in step 7 , the second newly formed slab , is , now completed , pushed out the opening , and tilts forwardly , under gravity force , to fall flat upon the table ( shown in dotted lines ) and to slide down the table into end - to - end contact with the first slab . thus , at this point there are now two slabs , arranged end - to - end on the downwardly sloped table . for example , the table may be sloped approximately 20 degrees from horizontal to implement sliding . in step 8 , the table is swung upwardly , by its lift mechanism 61 , into a horizontal position with both slabs on the table arranged in end - to - end contact and horizontal . at that point , the horizontal electromagnet 20 is positioned above the pair of slabs and comes down upon them into magnetic engagement . after the magnet engages both slabs , the magnet lifts both slabs simultaneously . then the magnet , carrying both slabs , is moved laterally by the crane over the open - top rail car , as illustrated in fig1 , or laterally in the opposite direction over a truck - type trailer for loading the pair of magnets into the car or the trailer . the railroad car or truck trailer then function as a transportation container for movement to the facility where the metal will be recycled . in the event that neither a railroad car nor truck is available at a particular moment when the pair of slabs are on the horizontally - arranged table , the table may be slanted downwardly forwardly again , perhaps to a further angle of 30 degrees , and its table extension 16 will likewise be swung into a downwardly angled position so that the slabs will slide downwardly off the table entirely and land on the ground 67 and remain there until removed . the magnetic crane arranges the pairs of slabs within the container , that is , the truck trailer or the railroad car , in stacks . the stacks are arranged in parallel rows . this is illustrated in fig6 and 7 which schematically show two rows of stacks of slabs , each stack containing a number of slabs , one upon the other . the formation of the rows is accomplished by indexing or incrementally moving the rail car or truck short distances forwardly after each laterally adjacent pair of stacks is formed . preferably , the magnet may be moved laterally but not longitudinally . hence , the longitudinal change in positioning of the magnet relative to the containers is accomplished by incrementally moving the rail car or the truck longitudinally . that indexing movement may be done by using conventional equipment which will move a railroad car short distances or by driving a truck forwardly short distances . the formation of the stacks of slabs and the rows of stacks almost completely fills all the space in the shipping container , whether a rail car or a trailer . by way of example , a typical railroad car has a weight - carrying limit of about 220 , 000 pounds . when the car is filled with the closely - fitted rows and stacks of slabs , almost that entire space is used so that close to that maximum weight limit is accomplished . in the case of a truck trailer , a typical weight limit is about 20 tons or about 40 , 000 pounds and that weight limit amount is closely reached by the stacks and rows of stacks . a typical slab formed by this method may be on the order of 48 inches high , 43 inches wide and about 6 - 12 inches thick . a typical railroad open - top freight carrier has about 90 inches of transverse space so that two rows of slabs can be formed leaving a very small amount , such as an inch , on the sides of the rows to enable the slabs to closely fit easily into , and substantially fill , the space . the result is that there is almost no empty space in the container . this contrasts with shipping loose pieces or even loose slabs or slabs or wafers that are haphazardly dropped into the container where there are considerable empty spaces . the result is that the cost of shipping , and the number of containers , such as railroad cars or trailers , required for a particular place , is substantially reduced . consequently the cost of transferring the scrap from its source , such as the factory where the scrap is generated , to the recycling area , such as the melt furnaces , is substantially reduced . significantly , the system may be controlled by conventional programmed computers to automatically perform the cycle of forming the slabs , then forming the pairs of slabs , and next moving the electromagnet for lifting and depositing the slabs in the shipping container , so that virtually no manual labor is required to operate the system . the system lends itself to be completely automatic in operation . the selection of suitable computer controls and the necessary computer programming of the controls can be done by skilled technicians from commercially available equipment . therefore , the controls and computers and programming are not further described here since variations may be used . the foregoing description is for an operative embodiment and best mode known to the inventor herein . thus , having filly described at least one operative embodiment , it is desired that the foregoing description be read as merely illustrative and not in a strictly limiting sense . i now claim :