Where do you get raw materials from?

[Men IfrParticipant @menifr84251]

[Men IfrParticipant @menifr84251]

As above what is easiest or cheapest to get steel aluminium and plastics?

[Ian PParticipant @ianp]

Your question is unanswerable without some clarification.

Since we don't know where in the world you are located it would be pointless anyone suggesting any particular supplier.

What is cheap to one person might be expensive to someone else.

A lot of material is available at no cost from discarded items.

We also have no idea of what size materials you are looking for.

You can get thin aluminium sheets from Yoghurt pot lids (well its aluminium and it is thin!)

There are lost of people on this forum that will willingly give advice but not many of them are mind readers

Ian P

[Ian PParticipant @ianp]

and some cannot spell, especially the lost ones

[Martin KyteParticipant @martinkyte99762]

All the heavier elements are synthesized in SuperNovae.

.

. . . but I suppose that doesn't help much.

Martin

[MWParticipant @mw27036]

I take it you're talking about machine stock, so for plastics i personally use a place called direct plastics. They do all the main engineering types at a reasonable cost.

Honestly i mostly use ebay for the odd sheet of aluminium or steel, theres a seller on there called rice metals who is quite reliable.

I used a fairly local place called wilsons metals when i needed some T6 aluminium with a C.O.C, but they are not cheap.

Thats all i've got to offer i'm afraid, other than that you can see what others have said or have a look about, but be careful who you trust your money with!

Michael W

[Mark P.Participant @markp]

I tend to buy from ebay or from my local engineering companies. I try to keep away from suppliers to model engineers as much as possible, I find that they charge a premium.
Mark P.

[SillyOldDufferModerator @sillyoldduffer]

Much depends where you are. Some areas are replete with local engineering stockists, others have none.

Not all locals suppliers are interested in selling small quantities of metal and they may have contracted out their scrap disposal arrangements – so no off-cuts. Some people are lucky enough to know a friendly foreman who let's them root through company scrap bins. Where I worked it was a sacking offence to give away anything and it was also a sacking offence to give permission to another employee to give stuff away. Some companies just want to get rid of scrap as fast as they can. It helps to be in the trade to know which is which.

Scrapyards may be a cheap-ish source provided they'll let you through the gate. My local scrappy used to welcome passing trade: now there is razor wire, an angry dog, and a big "No Visitors" sign.

Once inside buying from a scrapyard is a tricky business unless you know what you're doing. The trouble is you don't know what scrap is made of: as beginner most of my bad experiences were due to using odd bits of metal all of which turned out to be unsuitable. You may be lucky: some people on the forum an excellent relationship with their scrapyard.

Buying new metal in small quantities isn't cheap. I'm lucky enough to have a local supplier, but his range is limited. When he fails the internet is my friend: in addition to ebay and amazon etc there are several metal and plastic suppliers who will happily sell you stuff. Again not cheap, but you usually get what you ask for. Try searching for MetalSupermarket and similar. There are suppliers catering for Model Engineers such as Noggins End and College Engineering. Horologists have sources too.

Old printers and scanners contain useful metal rods and other bits. Anything that breaks in my house gets taken apart to see if there's anything useful in it. Don't think your lathe is useless if it won't cut the stuff though: much of what's in an appliance is far from being general purpose.

The problem gets easier as you build up a scrap box and know what to look for. When making anything I try to over buy metal in order to build up a stock. It hurts at first, but money is saved thereafter.

Dave

[Chris Evans 6Participant @chrisevans6]

Have you got a fairly local steel stockholder ? This morning I went to my usual steel supplier and always ask to look on the offcut rack. For £30 I came away with 7ft of 1" round EN16T. 2ft of 1 1/4" round EN16T. 4ft of 16mm round EN16T and 3ft of 5/8" round EN24T. I do not always get what I go for if looking for a specific grade/size so tend to stock up on anything useful.

[Men IfrParticipant @menifr84251]

I'm in Coventry – I've never found a metal merchant in Coventry but there is one in Nuneaton the problem is that makes it a 2 hour round trip in reality.

[Chris Evans 6Participant @chrisevans6]

Men Ifr, I use a cast iron foundry in Coventry which makes me think it is worth a Google for suppliers. Still lots of engineering around there but it depends where in Coventry you are. I am in between Lichfield and Burton on Trent and sometimes use suppliers over in the Walsall area. There are a few ferrous and some non ferrous suppliers a short drive from M6 junction 10. If you can find a supplier willing to sell small quantities/offcuts it is worth doing what I do and stock up, one day you will need the materiel. All I need to find now is a stainless steel stockholder to improve my ever dwindling stock.

[keithmartParticipant @keithmart]

Hi

I use these:

http://buynow.metalsupermarkets.co.uk/landing-page/?city=leeds&gclid=CNalia_7otACFVUo0wodJvMIrQ

we have a branch in Leeds

Regards

Keith

Leeds UK

[Brian WoodParticipant @brianwood45127]

Chris Evans,

​Have you tried M-Machine in Darlington for stainless? They do mail order.

It you need full size 3m lengths, I have bought from Metal4U in the past

Regards

Brian

[roy entwistleParticipant @royentwistle24699]

There is a Metalsupermarket in Coventry

[Daniel RobinsonParticipant @danielrobinson12697]

I second Dave, the silly old duffer. Scrap yards are a gold mine but you have to keep your wits about you. I have left with 6inch diameter, 2 foot long Titanium for a fiver but then when desperate in need of steel box I have inadvertently paid more than my local stockist, Acton bright steel who charge eye watering amounts if you want to have measured cuts.

I’m not saying that I’m cheap but I do save aluminium cans and melt them into ingots so that I can cast shapes to machine at a later date. I suppose this suggests that I also have a drink problem….

[Chris Evans 6Participant @chrisevans6]

Brian Wood. I will look into metals4u. I would like to stock up on 3 metre lengths of 304 stainless and they do free delivery on orders over £75. There must be another stockist nearer to me I just have not found one yet.

[Ian S CParticipant @iansc]

My next door neighbour's wheely bin, he's motor mechanic, got a pair of shock absorbers, brocken them down for their internal tube and the rod, you just have to be careful draining the oil if you don't want a mess.

Ian S C

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Posted by Men Ifr on 12/11/2016 07:42:56:

I'm in Coventry – I've never found a metal merchant in Coventry but there is one in Nuneaton the problem is that makes it a 2 hour round trip in reality.

.

As Ian said … it depends what you want to buy

However: Out of curiousity I put these three words into a Google search:

metal stockholders coventry

… and got a useful looking list.

MichaelG.

[ struggling to understand the problem ]

[Men IfrParticipant @menifr84251]

Michael,

You may have done the obvious buy you may have hit gold – I didn't check for stockists in Cov as the last time I needed steel simple angle iron about 8 years ago i had to goto Nuneaton…

I'll have a nosy round to see what they've got and whether any carry alu as well.

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Of those listed, I can highly recommend RAA for Aluminium Alloys: **LINK**

http://www.raaltd.com/locations.htm

They are very much a 'trade' supplier … but I found the Manchester branch very helpful when I wanted some cast tooling plate. They located a suitable size offcut, and 'internally' shipped it [nicely protected in bubble-wrap] from Glasgow, for me to collect from Manchester.

… Can't really ask for better than that.

MichaelG.

[JonParticipant @jon]

Avoid the metal markets and that type they all take you for a ride.

I use ASC they do stainlesses and aluminiums but generally use for larger cut to size round blanks by the 100. If you are allowed inside they have off cuts and may get a good price.
Other than that ebays no1 just work in total cost inc postage, no lost down time or mileage delivered to door.

[Brian HParticipant @brianh50089]

I used to live near a small factory that made airline fittings and similar parts.They used to have all sizes of hex and round bar in EN1A and EN8 amongst others, The automatic multi spindle machines could not handle the last foot or so of bar and so this was discarded and this was the end that carried the colour code. Longer pieces up to 2 feet could also be had at the end of a run.

They were alway happy for people to rummage through and take whatever they wanted as it was cheaper than paying someone to take it away.

Edited By Brian Hutchings on 14/11/2016 16:06:27

[John BromleyParticipant @johnbromley78794]

As long as your not too fussy about what grades you are using, most engineering shops have loads of scraps that are plenty useful to the average model engineer. My local engineering shop uses mainly Stainless 304 and 316, some 303 and a lot of ally in various grades, mild steel and a bit of brass and bronze. Been getting odds and sods from them for a few years now.

Best part is I work there now, started a couple of months ago. We do some work for another company that mainly do welding and fabrication. I get my mild steel box from them.

For flat plate, again if your not overly fussy about grades and thickness, try a laser cutters they throw out loads of useful scraps.

Make sure you offer something towards the tea and biscuits fund if nothing else. But I wouldn't be surprised if they let you have small bits and pieces for nowt.

John

[sean logieParticipant @seanlogie69385]

Where are the best price for buying brass round bar up to 25mm ,prices vary so much .

Sean

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

Depends how much you want. A 10ft length from a metal stockholder will always be cheaper per foot than a ft bought from a ME supplier.

 

Edited By JasonB on 04/12/2016 19:21:03

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