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Sourcing aluminum

Chris Cramer

Chris Cramer

Super User
Vendor
Premium Member
Does anyone know what the best place in calgary would be to buy aluminum? Federal metal only sells steel. I'm looking for some 1" aluminum square tubing to build the frame for my 3d printer. the milling machine that I built wasn't very big but it still weighed a ton since it was almost made completely out of steel; so I think I'm going to build the fraim of my 3d printer out of aluminum instead.
 
I seem to recall that kind of stock isn't too expensive so Metal Supermarket might be the place. I had to buy some brass rod last year & was preparing for sticker shock but, it was same price as I would have sourced elsewhere. Called in the order day before, they brought out to me waiting in warm car.

There was also a link posted recently selling 80/20 bolt together extrusions & hardware from BC, Vancouver maybe? They had price list available.
 
Depending on your design 8020 extrusion would make a good choice.
Rocky Mountain Motion is an 8020 dealer. Also look at Makerparts.ca.
I’ve ordered stuff from the latter for my CNC plasma build and they are excellent to work with. Plus they have 3D printer items in their online store.
 
Last edited:
David_R8 said:
Depending on your design 8020 extrusion would make a good choice.
Rocky Mountain Motion is an 8020 dealer. Also look at Makerparts.ca.
I’ve ordered stuff from the latter for my CNC plasma build and they are excellent to work with. Plus they have 3D printer items in their online store.
Click to expand...
I'm using some aluminum v slot extrusion for some of the railing, but most of the gantry is made with linear stainless rod and some linear bearings; so I'm planning to make the frame with aluminum square tubing and angle as that would be cheaper than 2020 extrusion.
 
Just one more thing to be aware of. Most of this structural square / rectangular / angle stock is 6061 which is probably preferred. But sometimes you will see it in different alloys like for decorative, furniture or whatever. Just mentioning if it affects things like welding or finishing methods
 
Steel inc. ironically also has aluminium. I’ve bought a fair bit from Dylan. Be worth checking too. Steel inc 1 (587) 349-4766
 
Thanks for the info, steel inc definitely has great prices for aluminum. I purchased twice as much aluminum for half the price that I got from rona or MSM.
 
No, sorry, I forgot what you said about 6060 aluminum being the most sturdy. I ordered all 1/8" square tubing, angle, and flat bar, I haven't picked it up yet, so I could ask them tomorrow what type of aluminum they stock.
 
I’ve got a lot of hex aluminum extrusion, you can have 2 pieces, from old painter poles they are 8’or less in length
 
It’s a Wooster Sherlock paint pole I have no idea what alloy they use, you might be able to find it on the Wooster web page, i use them for Christmas lights and just keep them around for parts or whatever. It just looks like this DD7040A6-BE2A-473F-9BC7-050E9A768371.jpeg
 
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