Who do all of you use for fabrication supplies such as aluminum and steel tubing, bar stock and sheet stock. I live near Mobile, Alabama and there are not a lot of industrial supply or metal supply sources. Any of you use suppliers on the internet. Thanks.
I use metal supermarkets because it is a mile from work and they usually have what I need on the drop shelf. They also have an online store and will ship.
In my experience someone local will be much cheaper than ordering online. There is a local fabrication shop that does a lot of repairs on heavy machinery and farm equipment. They have a truck deliver metal twice a week. I just order through them and usually get it at cost because it's not costing them anything extra.
+1 on a local fab shop. Shipping from a distributor could be very pricey. Plus, there's always a good chance of getting drops if you don't need full lenghts.
For brackets, gussets and other tabs. Buy from A&A there cheaper then you can buy the steel for 90% of the time.
I mostly buy drops from a local large fabrication/metal distribution company.
I have a small side biz building custom gym equipment, and when I started I used Metal Supermarkets. They're pretty convenient since you can get stuff cut to size (with decent accuracy), but they're also pricey. However, you will get different (ie, better) rates if you call your local store vs ordering online. You are also likely to get different rates depending on which store you call. Some locations can also do considerably more than cutting - the one I used got a 5'x10' waterjet several years.
But as mentioned, they're not cheap. Now I buy from a steel supply house that is way cheaper. Like, 1/3 the cost on a per-foot basis. They only carry steel, no aluminum, no SS either as far as I know. They'll cut it, but not super accurate. I think they charge $1/cut. But the rub for you is they only sell full pieces. So if you need 18" of 1x1 tubing, you'd have to buy 24'. Since I can't haul a 24-foot long section of tubing in my truck, I just get it cut to fit in the truck, and then cut to size at my shop. And the extra means I have a small inventory myself now.
I still use Metal Supermarkets occasionally for small pieces or weird size and stuff like that, as they are pretty good about getting it.
The online places like Discount Steel (now Coremark) have good prices until you calculate shipping.
I don't know how big Mobile, AL is but it's not a backwoods 1-stop-sign intersection, there's got to be places there supplying the construction industry.
Also, for small stuff, there's always McMaster.
sacramento is a good sized town, we have two big steel supply shops. If you watch my video on getting rollbar tubing you can see how huge Del Paso Pipe and Steel's warehouse is. They are the cheapest but won't cut it, so 20ft pcs, unless I can find what I need at Blue Collar Supply which had the largest supply of fasteners (sae) known to man, but they just closed their doors after 44 years. I just choke on the prices of the online places, it is a good place to see ballpark figures you can then cut in half. lol
In reply to pirate :
I keep forgetting you're not that far away from me. I still haven't tried out my new welder that I've had for 3-1/2 years, so I'm not much help on steel sources, other than I see someone on FB Marketplace who often lists various sizes of steel tubing by the stick.
In reply to pirate :
In Minneapolis there are 4 second hand or surplus metal sources. They buy drops or off cuts from various sources at steep discounts from list.
Every once in a while I can find insane deals where they don't know what they have.Or it's been there too long and the boss will give me a break since I tend to buy a fair amount. For example I bought a pallet of 4'x8' .125 copper sheets. (84 sheets) For $125. Used it for copper flashing on my roof etc. A Decade or so later when copper went through the roof because of China and the three Gorges Dam. I sold my box of little scraps to another place for $154.
I bought 10 sheets of 4'x12' 6061 .040 dead soft and paid $65. I'm always stopping by to pick up rounds or chunks etc of various aluminum., stainless steel etc
Most of the time Steel is one price per pound and Aluminum another. They don't care grade, condition, whatever. They charge enough for a cut that it usually makes sense for me to take home the whole bar or length. ( no you can't cut it yourself )
Dude, I found like 5 different steel supply houses in Mobile in like 30 seconds with a Google search - Ryerson, Goldin Metals, Bay Steel Corp, Siskin Steel & Supply......etc. Given the port activities and the proximity to the Gulf drilling operations I'd have a hard time believing that a steel supply is hard to find. My local supply houses aren't overjoyed to sell one or two sticks and cut it in half for pick up, but they will do it.
80% of the time I buy from a local welding/trailer/fabrication shop, Fields Ornamental Ironworks. He usually has drops of the common sizes. He will also cut 21' sticks for easier hauling.
10% of the time I order from Ryerson Steel and have them deliver it to my office. They are a good bit cheaper in larger quantities. Just remember this is usually going to be 21' sticks and have a way to unload it.
10% of the time, I buy from the local scrap yard. They sell fairly cheaply by the pound, but it's frequently rusty. Their yard is also a muddy mess and that stuff ends up everywhere.
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