What sizes of metal to stock???

[lazylathe]

This may sound like a totally useless question, but it confuses the heck out of me!

I have been looking online at www.metalsupermarket.com, wondering what sizes, shapes, types and lengths of metal to buy.
As of now i just have some round aluminium and brass that i picked up from Home Depot.
It is my stock of "Test" metal to try and get a feel for the lathe and just to figure out how everything works.
It is also teaching me what not to do!

So i go onto the website and am bombarded by questions of:
Type of Metal
Profile/Shape
Grade

Some are only available in certain grades and shapes.
They do not really explain the different grades, so i am unsure of what my little lathe can handle.

I am looking at building some small, simple engines and hopefully something truly amazing once i get the hang of it. ;D

Does anyone have any suggestions as to what a good stock pile of metal would be?
Lengths, sizes and shapes?

Thanks for any and all help!

Andrew

 

[tmuir]

Just use google to see what the grade of metal means, there wikkis on most explaining them.
But as to what size to stock from my experience it doesn't matter how many sizes and shapes you have in stock there is always one you don't have for a project.

Firstly work out if you are going to work in imperial or metric and which ever way you go try and stock the bars in those sizes.
In Australia even though we are metric its hard to get metric bar stock so most of mine is imperial.

ALso keep an eye out for free stuff.
Broken printers are great for getting very nice machineable SS rods from.
Don't overlook any sheet metal lieing around either as its handy to have a good selection of sizes in stock and sheet metal is expensive to buy.

For what I make which is mainly parts for toy steam engines I use brass rod most often on the range from 1/8 inch to 1/2 inch or BMS rod between 1/2 and 1 inch.

It really depends on what you plan to make as to what you need to have.
Pick a project, make a shopping list of material and buy more than you need of each size for that project and then on the next one do the same for what you don't have.
Eventually you will get a good range.

 

[Krown Kustoms]

For a good start on stocking up on materials I would stick with Aluminum 6061, brass and 12L14 steel.
Round stock is about the most versatile. You can mill it into most any shape, hex is good to have and square if you have a 4 jaw chuck.
12L14 has a high lead content, therefore is soft and machines really well.
Some people don't like 6061 Al, I don't have a problem with it and it polishes up to a mirror finish.
Brass is pretty common, but like everything else there are different grades.
I use free machining brass, there is marine grade but I have never used it.
I use www.onlinemetals.com they have everything and the prices are pretty competitive.
I'm not sure the measuring system you use in your part of Canada, but I think they sell metric and standard.
-B-

 

[Philjoe5]

Andrew,
It is worthwhile to find some local machine shops and try to pick up some drops. In general, they will be using materials that machine well, and often they will be glad to part (no pun ) with materials they can't use at their cost. But keep this general rule in mind: you can fill your workshop with odds and ends, but for the job at hand you will not have anything that is convenient in size :'(. This is why we love our lathes, milling machines and the bandsaw. Just cut away everything you don't need.

Cheers,
Phil

 

[shred]

Also note that hardware store mystery-metals are usually not that good for machinability, brass excepted.

 

[zeeprogrammer]

I started this hobby last Feb and, other than knowing that brass, aluminum, and steel existed, I knew nothing else about them.

I've ended up with a little pile of
6061 T6 aluminum, I got this as a bundle of various diameters, 3' length
360 half hard brass
12L14 cold finished steel
1018 cold finished steel
4130 cold finished steel
The bundle probably wasn't a good idea. Better to pick and choose. Most of my lengths are 12" or less depending on diameter (cost).

Most of my stuff is round but I have some square (and rectangular) and hex...particularly in brass.

Most of the finishes (T6, half hard) have to do with hardness. Read up on wiki about cold versus hot rolled finishes.

If you buy kits, it's common to get 360 half hard brass, 6061 T6 aluminum, and 1018 steel.

Seems like most of the members prefer the 12L14 over 1018 and I've found it easier to work with too.

If I remember right, the 4130 was gotten to make tools with but I'm not sure.

I've been buying from 'onlinemetals' and 'speedymetals'. 'speedy' seems to give a better price. You can buy by the inch from either site. I've tried to buy 12" at a time but larger diameters can get expensive so I get less.

The things you want to build will also influence what you want/need to get. I'm building (he says ) small steam engines so I don't need much. Special items might be tough such as flywheels. Cast iron is popular (particularly for IC engines it seems) but I haven't gotten there yet.

Hope this helps.

 

[BAH101]

What part of Ontario do you live in? I am in northern Ontario and it is hard to find suppliers, and with all the mills closing, there goes that source.
I have family in Ottawa, so I drop into Metalsupermarkets anytime I am close. I have them saved to my GPS, just in case. They will have a section with short cut-off's you can look through and usually will discount the price as the big machine shops are not interested in the small stuff. I have some of the Home Depot aluminum looking stuff and it is not the best to work with.
Bryan

 

[jonesie]

hi lazylathe.machine shops are a good place to look for small pieces that they get rid off.getting some o-1 or a-2 is also good if you need to heat treat something. also 4140 or 1045 is good as they machine nice and they can be flame hardened.check out barn sales and garage sales as they might be by someone like me that saves any scrap steel i think i might use someday and usually i do not. i also save good size chunks of hard nylon it is easy to machine and good to practice on if you are not real sure of what you are doing. good hunting jonesie

 

[lazylathe]

Hi Bryan,
I am in South Western Ontario, halfway between London and Toronto. So there are a few Metal Supermarkets around me. Good to know that they have offcuts at a discount price!
The stuff from Home depot is pretty poor quality! But it is okay to practice on...

I was asking the question because i am not originally from Canada, so i hate the winter and want to stock up before the horrible white stuff comes!

I work in the Metric system, so i am baffled by most of the plans i have as they are imperial! Thank goodness for digital calipers!!!

What part of Ontario do you live in? I am in northern Ontario and it is hard to find suppliers, and with all the mills closing, there goes that source.
I have family in Ottawa, so I drop into Metalsupermarkets anytime I am close. I have them saved to my GPS, just in case. They will have a section with short cut-off's you can look through and usually will discount the price as the big machine shops are not interested in the small stuff. I have some of the Home Depot aluminum looking stuff and it is not the best to work with.
Bryan

 

[Jadecy]

All good advice already.

My common use favorites in order are:

6061 Aluminum
1144 (Stress Proof) steel
12L14 (leaded steel)
Dura-Bar continuously cast iron
1018 steel
416 Stainless (first time machining this and it cuts similar to 1018. Not real comfortable with this material yet)

I also keep an assortment of drill rod (aka Silver steel). Great for making studs.

I just pick something I want to build and buy material accordingly. As time passes your inventory will grow. When I need a couple inches I usually buy a foot or so....unless of course it is 3" round brass that costs an arm and a leg ;D

 

[Tin Falcon]

I think thing have been pretty well covered
http://www.mcmaster.com/# carries a pretty good selection of brass steel aluminum and plastics they are also good about explaining the basics of each grade of material. you need to look at the entire picture when selecting material. such as does the steel need to be heat treatable or weldable as well as machinable. Also some aluminum is harder to anodize.
Tin

 

[jonesie]

lazylathe, you say you always work in metric, if you need to convert to english just divide the mm by 25.4 and you have the exact english . i have to convert all the time as many of the machines that we keep running are metric, and some are english so most of my tools are english. ggod luck