Recommendations where to by stock

Most of my online buying has been from speedymetals.com, onlinemetals.com and “6061dude” on ebay. Depends on what material I'm looking for and comparative prices.

Tom
 
Hobby metals is nice for small stuff. They sell in 6" and 12" lengths and ship in fixed price priority mail boxes which keeps the cost of shipping down. You will quickly find that shipping can cost more than the metal. Since they are catering to hobbyists they tend to have some of the more unusual metals that we like.

It looks like you are not far from Dallas, there must be some decent metal yards near you that you can check for cheap cut offs and scrap.
 
Try steeldawg9061 on eBay. His prices and selections are as good as I've seen, shipping is reasonable, and he made a custom cut of 4" 303 stainless for me that saved a bundle. He's open to requests.
 
Here are some ebay vendors I've used quite a bit. If you look through their inventory, you can usually find pretty good deals on aluminum and brass. I usually keep my ears open for local bargains on steel and buy it when I can. But if I need something more quickly for a given project, I buy from a local welding shop - more expensive, but convenient.

Regards,
Terry



 
Here are some ebay vendors I've used quite a bit. If you look through their inventory, you can usually find pretty good deals on aluminum and brass. I usually keep my ears open for local bargains on steel and buy it when I can. But if I need something more quickly for a given project, I buy from a local welding shop - more expensive, but convenient.

Regards,
Terry




The third one tagged the wrong address. Here's their ebay link:


Regards
 
I have bought a lot of material from 6061dude on ee bay. Do a search for aluminum bar, then look at his store. He usually has packages that are good deals.
Joe
Agree with @Liljoebrshooter . This guy has been selling on Ebay for a long time. I have bought stuff - mostly aluminum stock -- from him for years. You get exactly what he describes at a fair price with quick delivery -- and consistently so. Agree that a visit to his store is worthwhile - he's got 5,000 items listed.
 
Yup, 6061dude and steeldawg on ebay, Hobby Metal Kits for the small stuff. If those don't cover it, I tend to go McMaster Carr after getting fed up with the shipping fees for Online Metals. Can't fault O-M otherwise, but doubling the cost of the metal in order to ship it just don't work for me.
 
If there is a local metal distributor, check with them. We have one in Redding (pop. 80,000). They have a remnant/drop rack with some good deals, and have a clearance sale once a month. Cutting and shipping charges are always the killers. Scrap metal dealers are also good, that's where machine shops dispose of their drops. The downside is you rarely know what you're getting.
 
I just checked Google Earth and there is a Metals Supermarket in Kent (22029-70th Avenue South. Kent, WA). They are more expensive than scrap yard, but have great quality and will cut what you need. I usually by full lengths of materials from SSS Steel, but when I need small specialized items, Metals Supermarket is where I go.
 
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