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Sourcing Metal | General Discussion

Has anyone been to metal works Canada, here in Calgary to purchase their metal? I haven’t heard that they have a minimum purchase, and they do sell their off cut pieces for less; however I don’t know if they are any cheaper than metal supermarket.
 
Chris Cramer said:
Titanium in itself is usually used for tools, and hardware. Titanium when it comes to knife making is mostly used as an alloy in addition to carbon steel for higher hardness and corrosion resistance.
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In knifemaking, titanium is used for screw, scales, standoff, pivot, pocket clip, etc.
 
Because of titanium’s high strength to weight ratio, and high toughness, makes it suitable for high performance aircraft and spacecraft frames and components. It also has very high corrosion resistance, especially to chlorine which makes it useful for sea water/ marine frames.
 
Folding knife as a dive knife is a bad idea, if you need it, it is the last thing you want to be unfolding to get to safety when you have a limited air supply.

I might add its not about fighting off sharks ;) but getting out of entanglements (discarded fishing line and nets).
 
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Degen said:
Folding knife as a dive knife is a bad idea, if you need it, it is the last thing you want to be unfolding to get to safety when you have a limited air supply.
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Oh yeah ok but im pretty sure they have a couple of fixed blade in the marine or salt series, in H1 or lc200n. The titanium blade is a big marketing thing. When you add enough Ti in an alloy to have a considerable corrosion resistance or weigh reduction, the result is a poor performing edge over time. This is why you don't see any titanium alloy blade in the knife enthusiasm world. In the spec of the Mako titanium dive knife (the knife you linked) they say "alpha (hardened) titanium. But the Alpha alloy of Ti is probably the worst alloy to make a blade; non-heat treatable and low strength at room temperature. (I'm not a metallurgist. I did a couple of knife but nothing more.. but i would prefer diving with a knife in LC200N, Vanax, H-1, VG10, we actually know the exact composition of the steel and they are engineered to be a corrosion resistant blade steel)
 
Titanium is actually very soft compared to high carbon steel, or stainless steel; the highest Rockwell hardness you would find with a titanium knife is 55.Titanium has a high weight to strength ratio, and high corrosion resistance, so it is primarily used to reduce weight, and for water resistance. However, the corrosion resistance of titanium is comparable to stainless steel, and the latest stainless alloys that have been engineered for knives have had a high level of corrosion resistance, toughness, and hardness. So I wouldn’t have titanium in mind for the blades of any of my knives unless it were to be used under water. I just started crafting a custom meat carving knife with the latest, most advanced high carbon stainless steel called Cpm Magnacut.
 
A steel you should look at is Aeromet Tool steel, in the Aircraft version its called Aeromet 100 was designed for the F35 (maybe the F22 can't remember). Made by Carpenter. High shock load resistance, corrosion resistance etc for land gear. Makes a great tool steel also.
 
Dabbler said:
I thought I'd add my experience with Encore metals. I got two sticks of 4140 (SPS) steel from Encore Metals on Friday. Price was okay: $105 for 24ft of 1/2" dia heat treated/ground stock, and $120 for 20 feet of 1" annealed stock (which will need heat treating).

they gave good service, only sell in full lengths, price was as expected. They were happy to cut them to a specific length (+/- 1/4") for transport.

One wierdness: for cash sales (via credit card) the don't give you a receipt or invoice. You have to specifically ask for it.

Oh yeah: $200 minimum (but for full lengths, it is easy to go over that)
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I feel at home in this post. 8 years ago, we were also keen to patrol metal dumps looking for cheaper metal materials or parts. It was a happy time. I didn't understand if you said "US dollars" were US dollars or Canadian "Canadian dollars". 105.00=24 '1/2 ". 120.00=20 feet 1 inch (Compare my purchase: 42crmo material, 1 inch *20 feet =200 RMB /5=40 Canadian dollars. I rarely buy used materials now, and I always buy more than I need ----- because I will always need them later! Building up a stock of ingredients is good for DIY
 
Degen said:
One of the biggest issues for small shops is storage of extra materials for future projects.
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One of the biggest issues for big shops is storage of extra materials for future projects....

LOL!

Big or small, stock storage is always a problem.
 
Susquatch hit the nail right on the head. Doing inventory is expensive for any size business. Maintaining traceability through every step of the manufacturing process is expensive. Storing material safely is expensive, most businesses need to compare the cost of buying new material with storing the material it already has and decide what is worth keeping.
 
Building my material storage rack, while not an exciting project, is one that probably provided some of the highest value to my already crowded space. It's nice to see at a glance the efforts of all my years of hoarding from various places. I didn't realize it was that ba....I mean, I didn't realize I had that much stuff, until I started filling it. Would have made it bigger.
 
Oh I agree, the big difference for business and private individual is how this costs are written off. One is a tax break the other is well cost and if space runs short a loss.

Even as a business with some storage, I find I am getting rid of off cuts more often as they take up too much space and space cost as much or more than the materials.
 
Just auction off the cut-offs. Its probably better than scraping them. Current 80/20 price of scrap is 13c per lbs.
 
Tom Kitta said:
Just auction off the cut-offs. Its probably better than scraping them. Current 80/20 price of scrap is 13c per lbs.
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Most of the scrap is 6061T6. Shaving are about 25c and solids are 65c. Since the scrap yard is close, its wt and get cash less gas ($2-3) its not worth auctioning.
 
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