Cost of steel?

[DaBear3428]

Steel is so ridiculously overpriced, i stopped doing plasma projects last year. On one project the price doubled WHILE i was doing the project.

on one gate project, we were quoted something like $800 for a stinking 5”x5” x 8 foot 1/4” post for a gate.

a few years ago that was a closer to $200 .

yea that was what i was finding but the local steel supplier gave me a high but non-crazy quote.

 

[Little Red Tractor]

I have a small machine/fabrication company not far from me. For my DYI projects, I can generally find what I need in their cut-off/left-over rack that they'll sell pretty reasonably.
Maybe you can find a place like this. Good luck.

 

[ArlyA]

I have a small machine/fabrication company not far from me. For my DYI projects, I can generally find what I need in their cut-off/left-over rack that they'll sell pretty reasonably.
Maybe you can find a place like this. Good luck.

That is just what I do.

 

[2manyrocks]

I paid a visit to my local scrap yard last week. He said scrap prices are wayyy down and two scrap yards in nearby towns have closed up. Looks like he has been selling off material pretty hard himself to keep the cash flow going, but it means that he no longer has the inventory of useable scrap he once had. He also said one problem is that the piles of scrap metal available for him to buy have also been decreasing in the last ten years. So my go-to source for affordable metal seems to be drying up.

 

[Cub 7275]

I agree and understand but when you are planning a 4X8 welding fixture table, you need the big pieces lol. I might think about 3/8s plate but that is not the scope of this conversation, my thinking is that i find the place that has the best value on a known commodity (4X8 1/2 inch) I can then trust their prices (within reason). I will look into the scrap yards for drops and smaller pieces but that is a random supply and not the best way for me to plan.

Have you considered looking for used tables? At work we have 3 platforms 5' x 8' that are 1" thick and have a stout support structure underneath. The owner got them really cheap when a company was shutting down. They are flat enough that I suspect they were originally ground flat after the support structure was welded on. We put legs on one to use as a layout table.

Years ago at another company we made a 4 x 8 welding table with 1/2" plate and were disappointed at how out of flat the 1/2" HRS was. That company also picked up a used 6' x 6' cast fixture table with square holes that was great for laying out weldments.

 

[stuckmotor]

That is just what I do.

I was talking to a machinist about obtaining cutoffs and he said he'd only found steel that way one time and someone had pulled it from behind a work bench.
Other people have all the luck.:'(

 

[Fields_mj]

I'd contact the nearest welding/fab shop so long as you have a way of getting it home from there. For rough estimates, I use places like MetalDepot.com to figure out what I should budget, but my local welding shop normally sells it to me for at least 10% less. I'm normally buying angle iron, channel, and/or 2" square tubing for various "projects", and I make sure that I'm buying in at least 8' sticks (normally 10' or 12') so that the shop isn't having to put much labor into it. Everything is delivered to them in either 20' or 24' sticks. They don't mind cutting it in half for me so I can put it in the back of the truck and take it home (3 miles down the highway). I had one project where I needed the ends cut at 22.5 deg to form an arch. I had them cut everything to size for me so that the angles were right. I think he charged me an extra $30 to make the cuts (8 cuts all together). If he was a drinker, I would have thrown in an extra case of beer just to say thanks.

 

[DaBear3428]

Have you considered looking for used tables? At work we have 3 platforms 5' x 8' that are 1" thick and have a stout support structure underneath. The owner got them really cheap when a company was shutting down. They are flat enough that I suspect they were originally ground flat after the support structure was welded on. We put legs on one to use as a layout table.

Years ago at another company we made a 4 x 8 welding table with 1/2" plate and were disappointed at how out of flat the 1/2" HRS was. That company also picked up a used 6' x 6' cast fixture table with square holes that was great for laying out weldments.

yes i have and will continue, but none have come up even within 200 miles. as to the flat part i'm prepared to add adjusting bolts to the underside to post construction level it.
planning on doing round holes for fixturing.

 

[DaBear3428]

I'd contact the nearest welding/fab shop so long as you have a way of getting it home from there. For rough estimates, I use places like MetalDepot.com to figure out what I should budget, but my local welding shop normally sells it to me for at least 10% less. I'm normally buying angle iron, channel, and/or 2" square tubing for various "projects", and I make sure that I'm buying in at least 8' sticks (normally 10' or 12') so that the shop isn't having to put much labor into it. Everything is delivered to them in either 20' or 24' sticks. They don't mind cutting it in half for me so I can put it in the back of the truck and take it home (3 miles down the highway). I had one project where I needed the ends cut at 22.5 deg to form an arch. I had them cut everything to size for me so that the angles were right. I think he charged me an extra $30 to make the cuts (8 cuts all together). If he was a drinker, I would have thrown in an extra case of beer just to say thanks.

that is what i have been doing but the online places were giving me crazy stupid prices like i said before. one of the local suppliers gave me a high but not crazy number the other day so i'm a little more comfortable now. and i can do 24' sticks i have a trailer and pallet forks for the tractor that can handle 2000lbs.

 

[kluttzy]

I agree and understand but when you are planning a 4X8 welding fixture table, you need the big pieces lol. I might think about 3/8s plate but that is not the scope of this conversation, my thinking is that i find the place that has the best value on a known commodity (4X8 1/2 inch) I can then trust their prices (within reason). I will look into the scrap yards for drops and smaller pieces but that is a random supply and not the best way for me to plan.

You might go with thinner plate and brace the underside with material from the scrapyard. 1/2" plate is HEAVY.

 

[Metalman5767]

I've had good success with Steel Supply, 14130 West Rd, Houston, TX

 

[dgriff23@cox.net]

Don't know your plan but I used catwalk grating with heavy angle iron on each end. Much easier to use clamps and stays debris free.

 

[jwmorris]

That was what I was thinking but I have been getting some crazy numbers, like $1400 for a 4X8 1/2" A36 plate. so I'm looking for some comparable real numbers to educate my BS detector.

What are you going to do with it?

If you are going to cut it up and have a bit of drop left over, I have found that often I can have the parts water jet or laser cut locally for less than anyone local will sell me just one sheet for.

They purchase at much better prices than I get and the drop still has some value to them (Like they might already have drop pieces your project can be cut from, keeping them from having to use a new sheet). Lots of times I walk away with ready to use parts for less than a full sheet would have cost me before the work starts.

Thats coming from a guy that has his own CNC plasma and pantograph machines.

 

[DaBear3428]

I have a small machine/fabrication company not far from me. For my DYI projects, I can generally find what I need in their cut-off/left-over rack that they'll sell pretty reasonably.
Maybe you can find a place like this. Good luck.

thanks, i will look into that

 

[DaBear3428]

Don't know your plan but I used catwalk grating with heavy angle iron on each end. Much easier to use clamps and stays debris free.

got any photos of what you mean? sounds interesting.

 

[DaBear3428]

What are you going to do with it?

If you are going to cut it up and have a bit of drop left over, I have found that often I can have the parts water jet or laser cut locally for less than anyone local will sell me just one sheet for.

They purchase at much better prices than I get and the drop still has some value to them (Like they might already have drop pieces your project can be cut from, keeping them from having to use a new sheet). Lots of times I walk away with ready to use parts for less than a full sheet would have cost me before the work starts.

Thats coming from a guy that has his own CNC plasma and pantograph machines.

i will check into that

 

[mocassincreekranch]

I bought my plate, a 4x10 from a water utilities contractor that was using them to cover the hole they had dug up in the road.

 

[5030]

I've taken no less than 10 price increases on hot rolled steel sheet, plate and shapes since inflation has been the deciding factor and I don't buy foreign made steel either. Has to be marked made in USA or I reject it and I buy in truckload quantity only. Mostly from Alro or Contractors Steel and they deliver it to the shop. Had one truckload that had rectangular heavy wall (schedule 80) on it and the steel was stenciled .Made in Mexico and I rejected the entire load and when the rep called me, I reiterated to him I only buy domestic steel which he knew. When it came back out the second time, every stick was marked 'Made in USA'. Amazing. I only buy mill lengths (21 foot long in shapes) or full sheets of flat rolled material and I have the equipment to unload it as well. We not only have a back in dock for rear unload but a high lo big enough to unload 10 ton at a time side loaded.

My plasma table can handle full mill length sheets which can be 8 to 10 feet in length depending on the mill that levels it and / or the manufacturer as well as the alloy.

I do buy filmed stainless steel sheets as well, mirror polished on one side and filmed but that all comes from Carpenter Technologies in western PA and ships as an LTL on a flatbed truck. I only buy a couple sheets at a time for a specific recurring job. Carpenter is the only domestic mill that rolls 300 series stainless and it's very expensive. Always comes in the 4x8 configuration, carefully packaged as well. Quality, American made material, produced in a union shop by employees that care.

I don't ever sell cut off's either. My nesting program makes full use of everything I cut on the table. All that is left, I send to Omni-Source as scrap. In fact, I have an Omni-Source roll off can next to the shop for scrap.

 

[stuckmotor]

I have a small machine/fabrication company not far from me. For my DYI projects, I can generally find what I need in their cut-off/left-over rack that they'll sell pretty reasonably.
Maybe you can find a place like this. Good luck.

I keep reading about places like that. Unfortunately, I 've never found one.

 

[Jrasband]

I go to my local industrial fabrication shop and they source it for me and charge cost. I just got 3 20' sticks of 1 1/4" 14 gauge, and 1 20' stick of 1 1/4" 11 gauge for $190, it seemed lie a good deal to me.