Where do you buy your metal stock?

[duramaxsky]

Anything I will use up I take a trailer and by the whole stick. But I save any piece over an inch. And I have used many of them. I just found a use for about 10 1" pieces of flat bar. It would have been a waste to cut those out of a big piece if I had tossed them. Yes I can be cheap.

 

[Big Barn]

Anything I will use up I take a trailer and by the whole stick. But I save any piece over an inch. And I have used many of them. I just found a use for about 10 1" pieces of flat bar. It would have been a waste to cut those out of a big piece if I had tossed them. Yes I can be cheap.

Same here

 

[downsizingnow48]

deleted

 

[yomax4]

Anything I will use up I take a trailer and by the whole stick. But I save any piece over an inch. And I have used many of them. I just found a use for about 10 1" pieces of flat bar. It would have been a waste to cut those out of a big piece if I had tossed them. Yes I can be cheap.

Good stuff. I dig in my small piece bins every day. I separate aluminum mild and stainless to make it quicker. While downsizing I came across a stack of 2'x2'x1/2" stainless plates from my plasma table show days. Probably have to scrap them.

 

[BigBlue1]

Same here

View attachment 646296

I do the same thing. With wood too. Always helps to have a pallet of shorts around for little stuff (for wood). My metal collection is slowly growing but now that I have a metal bandsaw and MIG welder I'm sure I'll be doing more projects and collecting more scraps.

Rob

 

[BigBlue1]

For anyone from MN that follows this thread, be aware of the following:

Coremark Metals has various pricing schemes. The price I was quoted on the phone for a couple items (I think I listed them earlier) was a fair amount lower than what I was actually charged in the store. I didn't catch it at checkout because I also bought a bunch of other stuff and didn't look at line item pricing. I called to ask today and was told of this difference. They did not adequately explain why there is a difference but there are prices for calling, for walking in, and for buying online. So, for best pricing you need to call them and get a quote on what you need and ask them to pick it for you. Then show up at the store to pick up your order.

As an example, I was told initially on the phone that a 2x2 1/4" angle of hot-rolled steel was $34 for a 20' length. I was also told they will cut in half for free. When I got to the store I asked at the desk for that and the person said "we have 10' pieces in the store you can get yourself". Turns out the price in store is $24.33 for 10', so $48.66 for 20 feet. And it is not just due to the length. If you walk in and ask for and get a full 20' piece it still is going to be more than $34.

Screwy. Pay attention.

Rob

 

[ArlyA]

Close...there is 30 pound (old days), 60 pound, and 115 pound.

When I worked for UP/BNSF we used 136 pound rail, and of course CWR or Continuously Welded Rail, which was using the Thermite Welding process. It uses chemical heat of magnesium to make aluminum powder and other metals carbon-loving, to bring in the steel into the gap and fill it.

As for ties: I have seen them all. Plastic, wood, steel, concrete and composite. Wood always worked the best. Steel the worst. Concrete okay, but got destroyed during derailments.

A perfect wheel, on perfect rail means the wheel and top of the rail has contact 1/2 an inch wide. The contact between the flange and inside of the rail in perfect conditions (new rail, and new wheel) is .175 of an inch...or just a little more than 1/8th of an inch. In other words, there is not a lot of contact. I thought of that sometimes, sitting on a high railer (pick up with rail wheels) at a 60 mph switch with a 15,000 ton trail barreling headlong at me and only .175 of an inch holding it all to the rail as it shifted from my track to the other track!

Maybe we could start a rail thread? Is there already one going? I'm not very knowledgeable about all that but did work as a carmen for a few years.

 

[BukitCase]

Might be fun; did anybody actually click on the link I posted earlier?
RAIL SPECIFICATIONS

I had NO IDEA there were so many choices, prior to this I'd only seen increments of 10 lbs/yard... Steve

 

[ArlyA]

Might be fun; did anybody actually click on the link I posted earlier?
RAIL SPECIFICATIONS

I had NO IDEA there were so many choices, prior to this I'd only seen increments of 10 lbs/yard... Steve

This is interesting. The list must be dated since they don't list "Burlington Northern" on it. I suppose all these little RR's ordered so much rail on there own, they used whatever specs they liked.

 

[Peter 315]

This is interesting. The list must be dated since they don't list "Burlington Northern" on it. I suppose all these little RR's ordered so much rail on there own, they used whatever specs they liked.

I think a lot of it is discontinued....