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CA-ON West Toronto material comparison

Ontario
Type
Supplies
DaveinGuelph

DaveinGuelph

Member
So, I'm new and need metal. I decided to do a bit of running around the Toronto west area looking for brass and aluminum to start. Here's the result"

Metal Supermarkets. You pay for every inch. one piece of 306 brass round, 3/4" x 11.5". = $34 plus tax. (ie. $2.96/inch)

But then I found McKinnon Metals will let you browse their offcuts shelfs.
McKinnon Metals. 2 lbs 6061 aluminum offcuts = $8. and 1 piece of 306 brass round, 3/4" x 10" = $17 plus tax (ie. $1.70/inch)

So, for 306 brass round, McKinnon was almost half the price (57%) of MSM.
 
AIUI, Metal Supermarkets is a franchise operation. Which one did you visit?

Rumour has it that the airport location (1445 Bonhill Rod, Toronto) has little interest in walk-in traffic. Mostly deals with corporate accounts that buy by the truckload. I've had reasonable luck at the Oakville location (although I tend to use Resource Metals now). I don't really know about the Etobicoke or Vaughn stores.

Craig
 
trlvn said:
AIUI, Metal Supermarkets is a franchise operation. Which one did you visit?

Rumour has it that the airport location (1445 Bonhill Rod, Toronto) has little interest in walk-in traffic. Mostly deals with corporate accounts that buy by the truckload. I've had reasonable luck at the Oakville location (although I tend to use Resource Metals now). I don't really know about the Etobicoke or Vaughn stores.

Craig
Click to expand...
Metal Supermarkets... Don Mills location

McKinnon has a brand new building on Zenway in Woodbridge. They welcome pick-your-own-offcuts customers. Speaking to a manager there, you pick your stuff, weigh it, then buy it by the pound. Small pieces of plastic are free (depending). $4/lb for aluminum; $8/lb for brass. The guy there said they get lots of "weekend warriors" during their Saturday hours.
 
Does anybody have experience with Mr Metal in Etobicoke (Queensway & Kipling)?

Mr. Metal | Metal Supplier with Largest Inventory in Ontario

Mr. Metal is a premium metal supplier and provider of custom metal work, with the largest inventory in Ontario and same-day delivery. Place your order today!
mrmetal.ca mrmetal.ca

Appear to be able to provide a huge variety of metals but I don't know anything about them other than a quick browse of the web site.

Craig
 
DaveinGuelph said:
Metal Supermarkets... Don Mills location

McKinnon has a brand new building on Zenway in Woodbridge. They welcome pick-your-own-offcuts customers. Speaking to a manager there, you pick your stuff, weigh it, then buy it by the pound. Small pieces of plastic are free (depending). $4/lb for aluminum; $8/lb for brass. The guy there said they get lots of "weekend warriors" during their Saturday hours.
Click to expand...
BTW, is there some reason that you're not looking in Guelph/Cambridge/K-W? Paging @LenVW ??

Craig
 
Rather than learning on metal have you considered ABS or PVC plumbing pipe and connectors? While you're getting to know your new machine and learning how to use it plastic is much cheaper and it's easier on tooling when a mistake is made.
As has been said many times before, right or wrong the machine does what you tell it not what you think you told it told it. ;)
 
slow-poke said:
If you're in West Toronto head over the metal recyclers Dixie/Shawson Rd area near the airport. They let you look through the bins and you pay about 10% of Metal Supermarket prices. One of the few things I miss from the GTA.
Click to expand...
what are they called?
I worked in that area for like 4 years, didn't know there was a metal recycler there...


for what it's worth I've been using resource metals recently for my stuff, everytime I walk into metal supermarkets I know I'm getting fleeced pretty hard @_@
 
mjautek said:
what are they called?
I worked in that area for like 4 years, didn't know there was a metal recycler there...


for what it's worth I've been using resource metals recently for my stuff, everytime I walk into metal supermarkets I know I'm getting fleeced pretty hard @_@
Click to expand...
Attar is the best one, there are others close.

On a good day, they have a lot to choose from, 2 foot square plates up to 3/4" thick, blocks, rounds you name it. I found the place many years ago when Metal Supermarket was closed on a Saturday, the guy looked at what I needed and said just take it not worth weighing. They have a rolling bin for each type of metal, more aluminum than anything else probably because of proximity to airport.

25E7FED4-0DA5-4318-A9ED-64837C11086F.png
 
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trlvn said:
BTW, is there some reason that you're not looking in Guelph/Cambridge/K-W? Paging @LenVW ??

Craig
Click to expand...
I get a lot of HRS and CRS from Golden Triangle Specialty Metals on Dundas Street in Cambridge. They have a large inventory of plate, bar and structural profiles, along with some Aluminum and Brass.
They serve a lot of small quantity needs in the area.

Golden Triangle Specialty Metal | Plasma Cutting | Cambridge, ON

Golden Triangle Specialty Metals is a steel and plastic distribution and service center in Cambridge, Ontario. We focus on supplying customized & short cuts of a wide range of materials (Stainless Steel, Aluminum, Brass, Copper, Bronze, Plastic and Tubing) in different sizes, shapes and grades...
www.goldentrianglesteel.com www.goldentrianglesteel.com

The others are Elma Steel, Kitchener Steel or if you other small pieces there is Metal Supermarket in Kitchener.

I did work for SIHI Vacuum Systems in Guelph (2014-2018). I did not deal with the metal vendors very much. They bought a lot directly from Russel Metals and Ryerson who usually deal with huge quantities.

Sometimes you just have to ask, I have bought material from established fabrication shops that had done some work for me in the past.
 
trlvn said:
Does anybody have experience with Mr Metal in Etobicoke (Queensway & Kipling)?

Mr. Metal | Metal Supplier with Largest Inventory in Ontario

Mr. Metal is a premium metal supplier and provider of custom metal work, with the largest inventory in Ontario and same-day delivery. Place your order today!
mrmetal.ca mrmetal.ca

Appear to be able to provide a huge variety of metals but I don't know anything about them other than a quick browse of the web site.

Craig
Click to expand...

The owner and founder Dan is a friend of mine. We all worked briefly together 25 years ago with Bill Mair (founder MS) on an internet metals supply chain start up thing that was lots of fun but didn't last. Great idea whose time hasn't yet come - replacing brutally cumbersome EDI with our system that mapped each party's system and then translated data and put it directing into trading partners ERP's. Anyway, big vote of confidence for Mr. Metal and Dan, use them all the time. They're not one of the big service centres and the go after the same MRO market as MS, but I think they are a lot cheaper.
 
Last edited:
trlvn said:
Does anybody have experience with Mr Metal in Etobicoke (Queensway & Kipling)?

Mr. Metal | Metal Supplier with Largest Inventory in Ontario

Mr. Metal is a premium metal supplier and provider of custom metal work, with the largest inventory in Ontario and same-day delivery. Place your order today!
mrmetal.ca mrmetal.ca

Appear to be able to provide a huge variety of metals but I don't know anything about them other than a quick browse of the web site.

Craig
Click to expand...
We use them pretty frequently, it helps that we’re close enough they’ll deliver for free, typically within a few hours. They’re good to deal with, I can’t speak to the pricing as I don’t usually see that end.
 
trlvn said:
BTW, is there some reason that you're not looking in Guelph/Cambridge/K-W? Paging @LenVW ??

Craig
Click to expand...
I would really like to find a brass and aluminium supplier near Guelph, KW, Cambridge. At least one that lets the general public come in and browse for offcuts. So far no luck. Any suggestions??
 
DaveinGuelph said:
I would really like to find a brass and aluminium supplier near Guelph, KW, Cambridge. At least one that lets the general public come in and browse for offcuts. So far no luck. Any suggestions??
Click to expand...

I suspect that might be difficult for metal like brass. At places like metal super markets, you tell them how much you want of a certain size and they cut some for you. The left over isn't designated as a cutoff because they can sell the leftover at full price. Basically, most customers at Metal Supermarkets just want small pieces all the time.

Steel and aluminium are different because longer pieces are the norm.

I could be all wet on this but that's my thinking.

For brass, I'd suggest just ordering what you want and forget the idea of getting cheaper cutoffs.

Aluminium might be easier to get as cutoffs.
 
SM usually has an offcuts area, brass will be slim pickings and they will be awfully proud of it. Peckovers and ASA are I think the biggest, don't know of much down your way though
 
DaveinGuelph said:
I would really like to find a brass and aluminium supplier near Guelph, KW, Cambridge. At least one that lets the general public come in and browse for offcuts. So far no luck. Any suggestions??
Click to expand...

Did you see @LenVW 's post? #11 Golden Triangle Specialty sounds like a propect.

Another avenue to consider is ordering online. For example, I bought a couple of 'Protoboxes' from Online Metal a few years ago. At that time, I was using a cross-border shipping service in Lewiston, NY. Since then, I found Shipsy. Shipsy has a pickup point in Kitchener.


Shippsy | Get Your Free U.S. Address | Cross-Border Shopping

Getting a U.S. address has never been simpler or cheaper. Ship from the U.S. to Canada for $7.99. Try Shippsy today!
shippsy.com shippsy.com

The protoboxes give you a bit of an inventory so you don't have to go buy metal for every little thing. Of course, you still have to factor in exchange, the fee from Shipsy, a bit of delay and having to pick up the shipment from Shipsy's location. Just another option to think about.

Craig
 
trlvn said:
Did you see @LenVW 's post? #11 Golden Triangle Specialty sounds like a propect.

Another avenue to consider is ordering online. For example, I bought a couple of 'Protoboxes' from Online Metal a few years ago. At that time, I was using a cross-border shipping service in Lewiston, NY. Since then, I found Shipsy. Shipsy has a pickup point in Kitchener.


Shippsy | Get Your Free U.S. Address | Cross-Border Shopping

Getting a U.S. address has never been simpler or cheaper. Ship from the U.S. to Canada for $7.99. Try Shippsy today!
shippsy.com shippsy.com

The protoboxes give you a bit of an inventory so you don't have to go buy metal for every little thing. Of course, you still have to factor in exchange, the fee from Shipsy, a bit of delay and having to pick up the shipment from Shipsy's location. Just another option to think about.

Craig
Click to expand...
I really like that Protobox idea! I find it tough to work at home, I’m used to having hundreds of pounds of brass, aluminum and steel offcuts kicking around at work, and I’m used to being able to problem solve by looking at cross sections on the stock rack.
 
trlvn said:
Did you see @LenVW 's post? #11 Golden Triangle Specialty sounds like a propect.

Another avenue to consider is ordering online. For example, I bought a couple of 'Protoboxes' from Online Metal a few years ago. At that time, I was using a cross-border shipping service in Lewiston, NY. Since then, I found Shipsy. Shipsy has a pickup point in Kitchener.


Shippsy | Get Your Free U.S. Address | Cross-Border Shopping

Getting a U.S. address has never been simpler or cheaper. Ship from the U.S. to Canada for $7.99. Try Shippsy today!
shippsy.com shippsy.com

The protoboxes give you a bit of an inventory so you don't have to go buy metal for every little thing. Of course, you still have to factor in exchange, the fee from Shipsy, a bit of delay and having to pick up the shipment from Shipsy's location. Just another option to think about.

Craig
Click to expand...
The fellow I spoke to at Golden Triangle said they no longer allow people to come it and look for offcuts. You have to order and pickup, full price.. so.

BUT. I got a quote from Online Metals a while ago and the only thing in my way was the problem of shipping. So thank you for the Shipsy heads up; that's helpful.
 
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