Where to buy materials?

[Chevy-SS]

Where are you guys buying your materials? I bought some stuff at McMaster-Carr, but it seems expensive. I want to buy aluminum blocks, but a 2" cube costs $31. That just seems like a lot of money.

Any cheaper places?

thanks

[gmfoster]

Originally Posted by Chevy-SS Where are you guys buying your materials? I bought some stuff at McMaster-Carr, but it seems expensive. I want to buy aluminum blocks, but a 2" cube costs $31. That just seems like a lot of money. Any cheaper places? thanks

Well first thing don't buy 2 inches of it. Three feet of 2x2 6061 is 31.00 at Mcmaster Carr.


Also if you are wanting real small pieces of alum do a search for fortel and you can buy a box of scrap for around the 31.00..
Or about 2.00 a pound at any scrap yard if you don't need certs...

Also check out Metal mart and Metal Express.


Garry

[boosted]

also check out ebay.
I found a seller on there that sells by pound (3.XX) per Lb 8lb minimum.
Just about any size up to 6" thick.

[Eurisko]

Aluminum scrapyards pay about 40 cents a pound, but processed aluminum is in the $3 per pound (and up) range.

Aluminum weighs roughly .1 lbs per cubic inch, that 8 cubic inch '2 inch cube' contains less than a pound of aluminum! For $31 dollars???

Check out the seller "Speedymetals" on Ebay.

Price and shipping are reasonable.

[larry53]

Check with other members. I know I sometimes have drops from different jobs if you are only looking for small pieces.

[Mcgyver]

if there is any industry around you, they've got be getting there mro stuff from somewhere. if you are at all urban, industry buys metal from service centres. now some only sell to you if you're making dash assemblies for GM, but there are other smaller ones who specialize in supplying mro quantities. they are perfectly used to selling a foot of this or 6" of that, whether to a hobbyist or the maintenance guy at the gm dash supplier.

my fav in toronto is http://www.onesourcemetal.com/index.html. They'll source and bring in whatever you need.

a similar concept covering more geography is
http://www.metalsupermarkets.com/

[InspirationTool]

If you can buy in quantity over 50 parts, Yarde Metals is great.

I have aluminum bar cold cut (they call it accu-cut) to +/- .005"

-Jeff

[in2steam]

We buy our MRO stuff from a local machine shop in standard sizes, they buy in bulk its cheaper for everyone. Odd off and test pieces we get from from mcmaster. I buy my personal stuff mostly from metals express, or speedy metal, but i Have both local so I don't need to ship normally. Buy in length, the more often you cut it the more it goes up, so if you need to make 50 2" pieces buy 10'. If you don't have one its time for a cheap band saw or sawzall.

chris


edit: I check the price you had above for 6061 2" sq cut at 2" is 11.73($5.85 per inch) at 120" its 208 ($1.75 per inch). They have a $5 handling charge also.
www.metalexpress.net watch sometimes they are not the lowest prices, and the prices quoted online are not those if you call them in.

[BobWarfield]

Lots of suppliers on my links page here:

http://www.thewarfields.com/cnccookb...sourcesSup.htm

I've used Speedy Metals, Online Metals, and Metal Express. Recently I came across Sands Machine, which seemed to have some amazing prices on aluminum. I haven't tried them, and you'd need a means to cut the pieces to size, but worth a look.

Best,

BW

[mcarvey]

If I need bar stock, I usually wait until Enco offers free shipping on orders more than 200 dollars (which is fairly common) and order a whole bunch of it. If I need a pre cut small piece of stock (a few inches of pipe) I usually order it from Alro Metals. If I need an uncommon material, I usually buy from McMaster.

www.useenco.com
www.asapsource.com

-Matt

[Chuck Reamer]

I need a wide variaty of materials, 6061 alum, alumec 89, 316ss, nitronic 50, tuffmet, 4140, p20, h13 and so on. It is usually only a small amount at a time.

I have about 5 or 6 steel and alloy suppliers I deal with locally and a couple out of provence, I get prices from at least 3 places before I order anything at all. Some places will charge you more than double for a certain thing, but give you a killer deal on others. If they cant source what you need, they can lead you to a different supplier that might help.

I deal with encore, integris, new west metals, castle metels, etc, etc,. Just check your local yellow pages for steel or aluminum sales, most places do have off cut pieces for a great deal you just have to ask.

I only deal with metal supermarkets if I need it fast, they are always double what I can get it for elsewere.

[ryanhathy]

This is just to give you an idea of the price difference between these suppliers. The reason I chose 2.25" square bar 6061 aluminum is because it was what I was shopping for at the time. It may not be a good representation when considering other sizes/alloys or with more complex orders. This also does not account for cutting fees or other fees which might have an effect on some orders.

Industrial Metal Sales seems to have a stepped price level shipping categorization with large weight ranges between each step. So if you max out the weight in a given shipping price category, you will get the best deal. Also, the shipping seems to top out at $39.53, so if you order 10x or 100x 72" lengths it still costs $39.53 for shipping. If you max out your shipping bracket, Industrial Metal Sales has the best price otherwise it shuffles the lowest price position with Pierce Metals on the smaller orders. Pierce Metals is cheaper than Online Metals on smaller orders, but Online Metals is cheaper than Pierce Metals on larger orders. And that leaves Speedy Metals as the most expensive of the four. I would have included Metals Depot in this comparison, but they didn't have 2.25" square bar. Their prices seem as high or higher than Speedy Metals anyway. 48" of 2" square bar costs $123.27 after shipping and 48" of 2.5" costs $224.80 at Metals Depot.


6061 Aluminum Square Bar 2.25" x 2.25" x 12"

Industrial Metal Sales -
$14.88 + $12.99(shipping) = $27.87

Pierce Metals - Online Metal Supply -
$18.49 + $9.40(shipping) = $27.89

Online Metals -
$25.84 + $11.23(shipping) = $37.07 - price reflects 5%
discount for registering.

Speedy Metals -
$28.61 + $13.60(shipping) = $42.21


6061 Aluminum Square Bar 2.25" x 2.25" x 24"

Industrial Metal Sales -
$29.76 + $22.99(shipping) = $52.75

Pierce Metals - Online Metal Supply -
$36.98 + $11.30(shipping) = $48.28

Online Metals -
$49.61 + $12.34(shipping) = $61.95 - price reflects 5%
discount for registering.

Speedy Metals -
$55.88 + $16.00(shipping) = $71.88


6061 Aluminum Square Bar 2.25" x 2.25" x 48"

Industrial Metal Sales -
$59.52 + $39.53(shipping) = $99.05

Pierce Metals - Online Metal Supply -
$73.95 + $17.53(shipping) = $91.48

Online Metals -
$82.69 + $16.33(shipping) = $99.02 - price reflects 5%
discount for registering.

Speedy Metals -
$109.61 + $22.90(shipping) = $132.51


6061 Aluminum Square Bar 2.25" x 2.25" x 72"

Industrial Metal Sales -
$89.20 + $39.53(shipping) = $128.73

Pierce Metals - Online Metal Supply -
$110.94 + $24.89(shipping) = $135.83 - They do not list
72" length on their site. This is for three 24" lengths.

Online Metals -
$108.69 + $26.03(shipping) = $134.72 - price reflects 5%
discount for registering.

Speedy Metals -
$161.20 + $36.99(shipping) = $198.19


6061 Aluminum Square Bar 2.25" x 2.25" x 96"

Industrial Metal Sales -
$119.04 + $39.53(shipping) = $158.57 - They do not list
96" length on their site. This is for two 48" lengths.

Pierce Metals - Online Metal Supply -
$147.90 + $29.51(shipping) = $177.41 - They do not list
96" length on their site. This is for two 48" lengths.

Online Metals -
$137.09 + $30.70(shipping) = $167.79 - price reflects 5%
discount for registering.

Speedy Metals -
$219.22 + $35.46(shipping) = $254.68 - They do not list
96" length on their site. This is for two 48" lengths.


Shipping is based on my location in Utah and may be different for you. Prices are accurate as of Dec. 11, 2008. Sorry for any typos or omissions.