Cost of steel?

[DaBear3428]

What should i expect to pay for 1/2" A36 hot rolled steel and where to buy?
any pointers of purchasing hobby qualities of steel and alumn?

 

[5030]

Prices on steel have not abated much if any and if you want hobby quantity, I suggest Alro or Steel Warehouse.

 

[AWSubie]

What should i expect to pay for 1/2" A36 hot rolled steel and where to buy?
any pointers of purchasing hobby qualities of steel and alumn?

Have u been to Federal Iron and Metal in Corpus? They probably have what u want and might sell drops at lower prices.

Address: 7414 Leopard St, Corpus Christi, TX 78409
Phone: (361) 882-1777
Email: tadler63@sbcglobal.net
Hours of Operation:
Sun Closed
Mon-Fri 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM

 

[DaBear3428]

Have u been to Federal Iron and Metal in Corpus? They probably have what u want and might sell drops at lower prices.

Address: 7414 Leopard St, Corpus Christi, TX 78409
Phone: (361) 882-1777
Email: tadler63@sbcglobal.net
Hours of Operation:
Sun Closed
Mon-Fri 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM

Thanks AWSubie, I work in CC so very helpful.

 

[ArlyA]

Buying at your locale steel yard has got to be waaaaay less expensive. Good call AWsubie

 

[DaBear3428]

Buying at your locale steel yard has got to be waaaaay less expensive. Good call AWsubie

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.

 

[ArlyA]

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.

652lb of plate will be costly. May I ask if you can get away with a smaller piece? I'd guess you have a used or cut-off retailer there as well. Should be less $$$.

 

[jmc]

what are hobby quantities? Seems like my local hardware sells it in 3' lengths but it's probably cold rolled. Still...

 

[MossRoad]

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.

MetalsDepot currently shows it as $940.

But you'd have to ship it.

MetalsDepot® - Buy A36 Steel Plate Online!

Shop for steel plate at America's Metal Superstore. Largest selection of A36 steel plate at wholesale prices. Any Quantity, Any Size, Delivered Anywhere!

www.metalsdepot.com

 

[DaBear3428]

MetalsDepot currently shows it as $940.

But you'd have to ship it.

MetalsDepot® - Buy A36 Steel Plate Online!

Shop for steel plate at America's Metal Superstore. Largest selection of A36 steel plate at wholesale prices. Any Quantity, Any Size, Delivered Anywhere!

www.metalsdepot.com

Federal quoted me $600 with local pickup, i good with that but the metal depot and other internet prices are 50% more which is what i expected. yes i can use smaller pieces but was looking for a direct comparison to get a handle on what i'm looking at as to price. I was hesitant to call the local distributer because i'm not ready to start buying steel / Al at this time, still building my new shop. I was just getting a little discouraged with the steel prices i was seeing.

Thanks to all for the insight

 

[DaBear3428]

what are hobby quantities? Seems like my local hardware sells it in 3' lengths but it's probably cold rolled. Still...

is there an issue with using cold rolled that i'm not aware of?
I thought cold rolled was more expensive than hot rolled and had some better dimensional tolerances?

 

[MossRoad]

Unless you specifically need that spec and/or new steel, check local scrap yards. Some (not many anymore) will allow you to browse and help you pull things out of the pile.

I just got about a 3.5' long piece of 3 or 4" angle iron 1/4" thick for $7 a couple weeks ago at a local car scrap yard for a project. It'll need cleaning up, of course, but the price was right for me.

They also had bent sheets, discards, old steel rack support legs that could be repurposed, gotta use the imagination.

But that's only if you don't need the spec like I mentioned.

Good luck in your search.

 

[ROUSTABOUT]

Unless you specifically need that spec and/or new steel, check local scrap yards. Some (not many anymore) will allow you to browse and help you pull things out of the pile.

I just got about a 3.5' long piece of 3 or 4" angle iron 1/4" thick for $7 a couple weeks ago at a local car scrap yard for a project. It'll need cleaning up, of course, but the price was right for me.

They also had bent sheets, discards, old steel rack support legs that could be repurposed, gotta use the imagination.

But that's only if you don't need the spec like I mentioned.

Good luck in your search.

Our scrap yards keep all the plate steel for to sale to the public. I call them first.

 

[ArlyA]

You might be overthinking this. .5 steel has very limited uses and 10 gauge to 3/8 is what I used to fix things 95% of the time. I'd suggest you go to a scrap iron lot and see what they got. Smaller chunks are lots easier to get home.

 

[DaBear3428]

You might be overthinking this. .5 steel has very limited uses and 10 gauge to 3/8 is what I used to fix things 95% of the time. I'd suggest you go to a scrap iron lot and see what they got. Smaller chunks are lots easier to get home.

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.

 

[ArlyA]

A 4x8 table is huge!

 

[Tractor Seabee]

my welding supply also has a steel yard. Very convenient and they cut pieces if you need to. They charge by the pound in general.

Ron

 

[DaBear3428]

A 4x8 table is huge!

Go BIG or Go home lol

 

[stuckmotor]

For what it's worth, I've read that base prices (shipping not considered), of at least one online supplier were significantly lower for those who bought in person at their nearest facility. Can anyone here confirm or refute this?

 

[grsthegreat]

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 .