The price of steel

[Greg_Lewis]

I'm having heart palpitations right now after looking for a piece of 1 x 1-1/2 CRS on line. For the last three or four years I've been able to get by with the stock of various sizes and materials I already have in my shop and haven't bought any new metals. But Holy Cow! I knew prices were up but this is beyond belief. For small projects I prefer to buy a couple of feet or so on line as the cost in time and fuel to drive the 40-mile round trip to the industrial part of town and then take my chances on finding a cutoff, isn't worth it. And for most of what I do I don't need a full bar, which is what the local folks want to sell me. But at these prices perhaps I'll see if paper mache will work.

[Bill Shields]

Welcome to the current world..

[Greg_Lewis]

Anyone have a favorite online source?

[NP317]

Onlinemetals.com

Not cheap (nothing is nowadays) but comprehensive and quick to ship directly to your location.
I used them extensively when at University of Washington in Seattle (1 mile from my home), and also since I moved to the Northern Oregon woods 7+ years ago.
RussN

[Glenn Brooks]

Maybe call around to local metal fab shops. They often have lots of rems left over from manufacturing processes.

[liveaboard]

I have bought a lot of steel (for a private individual).

At first I bought from a steel fabrication shop who also sold raw material. But when I needed to buy more (tons) I asked around.
Prices from steel yards who pretty much only sell steel, are different. Like half the price. Sometimes 20% of the price.

40 miles is to be expected, that's about what I have to drive here in Portugal. Of course you have to buy whole lengths of 20'.
If I buy more than I can put on my roof rack, they will deliver. Their big truck has a route, here on Thursdays, other areas on other days. There are other yards a bit farther down the road, they're too far from me but they still create price competition.

I expect these basic facts are the same in the US, as steel in an internationally traded commodity used in large amounts everywhere.
Call around.

Drawn steel alloy rod costs 5x more and comes in 10' lengths. Much nicer to work with on machines, and can be hardened too.

The only question is whether the steel yard near you (and there is one for sure) will sell a few lengths to a private buyer.
And of course the cheap stuff is hot rolled black skinned mild steel, maybe not what you want.

During the steel glut after the USSR broke up in the 90's, I bought 12 tons SO CHEAP! Ahh, pleasant memories. 45 Eurocents a kilo, about 25 US cents a pound; including tax and delivery.
I built a house on a Dutch barge, and now it's worth a lot; in part because of the value of that steel (and 110 sheets of plywood, 800 sq. ft. of hardwood decking, a ton of plantation teak at cut throat price, etc.)

5 years ago steel here was down to 0.80 Euros, last time I bought was a couple of years ago at 1.20 Euros. I don't know what it is now but I need a few hundred kilos soon, so I'll let you know.

[Steggy]

But Holy Cow! I knew prices were up but this is beyond belief.

There was an opportunity to do something about it last month, but the electorate evidently didn't think paying twice as much for everything was all that bad.

[NP317]

Here in Hood River, Oregon, USA, I am fortunate there still exists a fabrication machine shop, which supports all the orchard and farming machinery in our three valleys.
And I can go visit their office with a list of materials I seek, and they take me back to the racks to choose. They cut lengths for free.
Prices are always reasonable from their stocks, and I always donate to their "coffee fund" in addition to purchasing the steels.
RussN

[Greg_Lewis]

You're lucky, Russ. There is a scrapyard here in the same part of town as the metal yard that used to spread things out in about two acres of its front yard. You could wander through there and pick out stuff and pay by the pound. They made a little more from that than what they got from their wholesale buyers and we were able to get bits and pieces cheap. But several years ago when the value took a leap they sent much of that on and now there is little left. The metal yard will sell half a bar but even that is more than I often need.

Something else that really bugs me is the tiered pricing that so many industrial places use. I just hate it when the first question they ask is either "Do you have an account with us?" or, "What company are you with?" I know that the price they quote will depend on my answer. It's going to take them the same amount of time to deal with me as to deal with one of their large customers and I don't like having to pay a higher price than the next person in line. I've learned to say that I'm a cash customer but if they have a veteran's discount I wouldn't mind having that. Sometimes that works.

And for the stuff I am looking for now, it's more economical to buy off Ebay considering the three hours of my time it takes to drive down to the yard and back plus the time in the yard, and the $15 worth of diesel fuel it takes to make the trip. I did find two 6-inch cutoffs on Ebay for $25 including shipping, so that may be the solution for today.

[Greg_Lewis]

YAHOO
I just found a 4-foot piece under a bunch of other stock in the back of the shop!
I only need four inches so there is lots left over for when I screw up the first try. I keep my stock in five different places depending on the size, shape and type and this piece ended up below the bottom level of my main stock rack due to its weight. And the back part of the shop isn't all that well lit. So that's my excuse. Oh happy day. I'm going to have some fun this afternoon.

[liveaboard]

And today's sweepstakes winner is GREG LEWIS!

[mcostello]

CoreMark Metals beat all others but I have not bought from for 2 years. Used to be Discount Steel.