Where do you get your aluminum plate

[JWSmith]

I buy most of my aluminum from Yarde Metals, the website is http://www.yarde.com/ Go to the drop zone on the menu on the left of the page.
Hope this helps.
John

[ezland00]

I recommend Speedy Metals. Low price and never over charge on shipping. their 888-744-4140 or SpeedyMtls@aol..com

[Alan T.]

Make friends with you local welding shop. Mine gives me all the scrap I want. I probably have 1500lbs of sheet, plate, box and extrusion.

Alan T.

[cadman]

Originally posted by bb99 OK, this may be a dumb question, but what do the numbers mean (e.g. aluminum 6061 and aluminum 5052)? --bb99

Those numbers are alloy & temper designations. For wrought aluminum alloys, the 1st digit identifies the alloy type, the 2nd digit identifies the alloy variation, the 3rd & 4th digits are used to seperate that alloy from others in the same series (unique number). Temper designations are as follows:

F - as fabricated
O - annealed
H - strain hardened
W - solution heat treated
T - thermally treated

Cast aluminum designations are similar but there are differences.

[steveald]

Hi,

If you use structural channel for a gantry cross-member, keep in mind that the inside surfaces are not very precise, so if you are using THK style bearing rails and don't have the facilities to machine a flat surface in the channel, I would recommend using the outside surface to bolt the rails to. With Thomson style round rails it isn't quite so critical.

Steve

[Cold Fusion]

I plan to use round linear rails.

[bb99]

Cold Fusion and cadman,

Thanks for the info! I keep learning something new from this site every day.

Happy New Year!
bb99

[Cold Fusion]

YGPM Alan T

[thaswell]

Find a company that does commercial door and window instalations. They have great scrap bins full of box and extrusions.