Sourcing Metal | General Discussion

[Robert Fontaine]

I just looked at McMaster-Carr and they have “ultra-straight tight tolerance shafting” that is specd at .0015” straightness per foot.

3ft of 1” will run you $200 US plus shipping and tax.

How are you getting product from McMaster-Carr. When I look it says no shipping to Canuckistan.

 

[Rauce]

Any good sources of scrap in the GTA? West end preferably

Beach road steel sales in Hamilton sells “secondary” material. The same folks run a scrap yard nearby.

I don’t know of any other places like that but they might be out there.

How are you getting product from McMaster-Carr. When I look it says no shipping to Canuckistan.

I’m not sure how the actual policy is worded but my understanding is that they will sell to Canada but only to businesses. I’ve always just had things shipped to my work.

 

[Robert Fontaine]

Beach road steel sales in Hamilton sells “secondary” material. The same folks run a scrap yard nearby.

I don’t know of any other places like that but they might be out there.



I’m not sure how the actual policy is worded but my understanding is that they will sell to Canada but only to businesses. I’ve always just had things shipped to my work.

Sound like I need to find a business. Infodungeon.com likely won't do it.

 

[Susquatch]

Sound like I need to find a business. Infodungeon.com likely won't do it.

They don't seem to be really fussy about it. They accepted both my farm and my consulting businesses. Although I have an HST number, they never asked for it.

Most provinces in Canada allow you to start a business pretty easily. Just start an unregistered business called Fontaine Machining and use that to register for an account there.

 

[a smile]

刚刚以 0.5 美元/磅的价格购买了另一个托盘新水滴。这个重量刚刚超过 450 磅，还有 3-4' 的东西的完美组合，应该可以帮助我完成接下来的几个项目。

[附件=完整]35245[/附件]

是时候进行切割和焊接了。

Just bought another pallet of new drops for $0.5/lb. just over 450lbs on this one, and a nice mix of stuff 3-4' that should get me through the next couple projects.

View attachment 35245

Time to get cutting and welding.

This is a very cheap price, and I think it is the same price in China, about 0.8-1 USD /kg, if you are relative to your income, this is a very, very cheap price, I am glad that you can find such cheap materials

 

[jcdammeyer]

I picking up this piece of scrap aluminum tomorrow. Not sure how many pounds and there will be some steel but apparently most of it can be cut up and melted down into ingots.

 

[LenVW]

I picking up this piece of scrap aluminum tomorrow. Not sure how many pounds and there will be some steel but apparently most of it can be cut up and melted down into ingots.

View attachment 37668

Not sure how that is going to fit into your robot assembly !!
You are going to have to share a little more of your concept.

 

[Tom O]

Back in Victoria buddy and I bought an engine for his 65 Buick Skylark from a junker and shocked the hell out of him when we picked it up and put it in the trunk. We didn’t even tell him that it was aluminum.

 

[jcdammeyer]

So field trip to JoeMac today. Left with this and super impressed with his 3D printing abilities. Now in addition to the flex filament he's also doing carbon fibre. I'm still having trouble getting my prints in the new SOVOL to stick to the build plate. He's churning out all sorts of stuff on the same printer.
Says a lot about my abilities....

 

[jcdammeyer]

All that's left is two cylinder heads, front oil cover and oil pan and the block c/w pistons. The rest became either sawdust or pieces that will fit into the #6 crucible.

 

[Tom O]

Quite the pile there what’s next thermite?

 

[jcdammeyer]

Of course all I have in the sockets drawer is an E16 torx socket so a set via amazon will be here on Friday. Then I can pull the crank which uses two either E18 or E20 per side. The conn rods are E16. Breaking that V6 into castable bits is going to be interesting. A large sledge hammer has been suggested.

 

[Megar arc 5040dd]

Can anyone suggest a good place to by metal in Saskatoon. I am looking for flat bar either aluminum or steel. I briefly looked online at metal supermarket and my jaw dropped when I saw the price of 3/8"x2" and 3/8"x4" aluminum and steel flat bar. Aluminum was almost exactly twice the price. I will admit it has been many years since I bought new metal but I don't remember flat bar being ridiculously expensive. I used to only be able to get it in 20' lengths now I couldn't dream of buying 20' just to make sure I had enough and some extra.

I was hoping to avoid dealing with rusty old metal from my scrap pile since its for dro mounts but I hay have to reconsider.

 

[Jayham]

Go into metal supermarket and browse the cutoffs. Much cheaper, might just find what you need sitting in the bin.

 

[Alawishes]

In Lethbridge there is National Salvage metal recycling, which is great fun to cruise through. Maybe Saskatoon has a similar business.

 

[Megar arc 5040dd]

Go into metal supermarket and browse the cutoffs. Much cheaper, might just find what you need sitting in the bin.

I will have to pop in and see if they have cutoffs. The one time I was in there a couple years ago it was just an order desk and then if they had what you wanted in stock they would go into the back and cut it for you.

 

[buckbrush]

Can anyone suggest a good place to by metal in Saskatoon. I am looking for flat bar either aluminum or steel. I briefly looked online at metal supermarket and my jaw dropped when I saw the price of 3/8"x2" and 3/8"x4" aluminum and steel flat bar. Aluminum was almost exactly twice the price. I will admit it has been many years since I bought new metal but I don't remember flat bar being ridiculously expensive. I used to only be able to get it in 20' lengths now I couldn't dream of buying 20' just to make sure I had enough and some extra.

I was hoping to avoid dealing with rusty old metal from my scrap pile since its for dro mounts but I hay have to reconsider.

Amazon sells extrude aluminum struts that would be ideal for a DRO , perhaps the 2020 size. Also called linear rail.

 

[Tom O]

It’s sold at princess auto too.

 

[Dabbler]

Here's a secret source for obtaining metal of all kinds. The thing is it is sweat equity. If you live in a moderately big city, or regularly visit one, you can leverage machine shops.

This option is not without risk, and not everyone is well disposed toward hobby machinists. But in almost every case I've been received well. I talk to the foreman about something specific I'm looking for, out of their cutoffs bin. Usually they don't have it. Usually they ask what I make, and we chat. I then ask permission to come back if I need something else.

tips:

Come around lunch or morning break. That's when the supervisor has a better chance of giving you 3 minutes.

Don'tstart with anything exotic. 2" 6160 about a foot long is an example starting point. If they don;'t have any, they sometimes tell you what they typically have, and once in a while you get invited to rummage.

Be very respectful and deferential.

Take no for an answer. you aren't selling anything, you are making a human connection.

As soon as the encounter is over write down who you talked to (including the names of anyone you met), a summary of the discussion, and the outcome. Keep this log for every contact. Review it before the next contact.

I have 4 machine shops where I'm welcome, and one is even collecting extra cutoffs for CHMW members. Another shop has given me open license to jump in to their rollover any time to grab a piece or 2. That 2,000 lb haul of tubing and rod stock including stainless and 4140 rod? Another contact.

All this takes time and patience, but is very rewarding. One time I needed a piece of tubing for a construction. It had to be at least 1X2" 1/8 wall, 24 inches long. A shop had a 2X2X3/16 wall 5 feet long. I told them I could use it nicely. they gave it to me, and told me 'no charge' .

It isn't all roses. Two shops, out of the dozens I talked to, were hostile. I just never went back.

 

[Megar arc 5040dd]

Here's a secret source for obtaining metal of all kinds. The thing is it is sweat equity. If you live in a moderately big city, or regularly visit one, you can leverage machine shops.

This option is not without risk, and not everyone is well disposed toward hobby machinists. But in almost every case I've been received well. I talk to the foreman about something specific I'm looking for, out of their cutoffs bin. Usually they don't have it. Usually they ask what I make, and we chat. I then ask permission to come back if I need something else.

tips:

Come around lunch or morning break. That's when the supervisor has a better chance of giving you 3 minutes.

Don'tstart with anything exotic. 2" 6160 about a foot long is an example starting point. If they don;'t have any, they sometimes tell you what they typically have, and once in a while you get invited to rummage.

Be very respectful and deferential.

Take no for an answer. you aren't selling anything, you are making a human connection.

As soon as the encounter is over write down who you talked to (including the names of anyone you met), a summary of the discussion, and the outcome. Keep this log for every contact. Review it before the next contact.

I have 4 machine shops where I'm welcome, and one is even collecting extra cutoffs for CHMW members. Another shop has given me open license to jump in to their rollover any time to grab a piece or 2. That 2,000 lb haul of tubing and rod stock including stainless and 4140 rod? Another contact.

All this takes time and patience, but is very rewarding. One time I needed a piece of tubing for a construction. It had to be at least 1X2" 1/8 wall, 24 inches long. A shop had a 2X2X3/16 wall 5 feet long. I told them I could use it nicely. they gave it to me, and told me 'no charge' .

It isn't all roses. Two shops, out of the dozens I talked to, were hostile. I just never went back.

That's a really good idea, I just wish I was more of a people person