Metal Supplies

[John]

Where do most people get their metal supplies from?

I am mainly looking for small lenghts of brass rod and plate to use in my mini-lathe.

I have tried scap merchants but it is a bit hit and miss as to what they have in their bins.

I also tried hobby shops but they tend to stock lightweight stuff mainly for model boat builders and model trains.

Big metal suppliers want to sell you six meter lengths/minimum order half a ton when you only want six inches.


Any ideas?

John

 

[Bogstandard]

Hi John,
If you have any small engineering firms locally, you can go cap in hand and just say that you are a model engineer, explain the situation about obtaining small quantities of materials, and ask if they can help in any way by letting you have a look thru their scrap bins.
Always stress that you are willing to pay for it.
When you are starting out, it helps to put it about to friends and neighbours that you are on the lookout for scrap bits and pieces (not just metal). Old printers, sewing machines even car engines are good sources of metal. But be prepared to accept friendly gifts that are just rubbish, do not offend anyone by turning stuff away, they will be trying to help you, just gently dispose of it in your own way, they just might find a bit of treasure in the back of the garage and think of you first.
It takes years of hunting to build up a stash of good usable materials. You just might have to buy some expensive stuff in the beginning to get you thru the 'lean times', but eventually you will start to amass a good stock.
Keep all the nuts, bolts, bearings etc. you find, they will come in handy one day.

Good hunting

John

 

[tmuir]

Besides that seller on ebay OZ the only other places I know of in Australia are Model Engineering shops which are all unfortunately over east.
Most advertise in the 'Australian Model Engineering' magazine but here are their website to save you some time.

http://www.mesupplies.com.au/
http://www.hobbymechanics.com.au/
http://www.ejwinter.com.au/
http://www.minitech.com.au/

I've bought some 1/8 pipe fittings off E & J Winter before and found them most helpful but I'm sure the others are just as good.
Biggest problem of having to buy from over east is the postage is a killer so I think you would be better off to place one large order than several smaller one to save on postage cost.

 

[shred]

Brass seems to be one of the hardest metals to find in HSM quantities around here too. I suspect it's because not much is commercially machined out of brass anymore. I'm blessed with a friend with a bunch of big machines that lets me have odd bar ends, but that is 95% Ali and steel with some Delrin and the very occasional bit of brass. Making friends at a machine shop is a great way to get stock, but takes time. If there's a metal distributor nearby, you might ask what they do with their 'drops'. Most of the time they have a deal where a scrapman comes along and picks up the whole bin, but sometimes you can get a few bits there as well.

 

[John]

Thanks guys

I will check out those ideas and see what I can find.

John

 

[compound driver]

HI
Most of my stock is bought in bulk orders once a month. for some time iv had the idea of offering brass bronze and steel in small lumps to model engineers.
If it would help let me know and il look at prices.

Not much help for people in Oz but might help in the UK.

Cheers kevin

 

[rake60]

Go in person to your local small machine shops and ask them if they
would sell you bar ends. A telephone call will get a “NO” answer every
time. Worst they can say is NO.

If you have a model engine, take it along to show them why your looking
to buy bar ends. Many will tell you that they don't sell stock.
But I can guarantee if you bang on enough doors you'll find a shop that
will sell to you. The left over bar ends have already been paid for by the
customer's job that the stock was ordered in for. The machine shop will
get scrap price out of them at a recycling center. Sometimes if they can
sell them at their cost their actually making a little money.

I know of one guy who found a small machine shop that GIVES him their
bar ends, on the condition he brings his finished engines in for a
demonstration run.

Rick