Questions About Metal Suppliers

[BDKS]

Since I no longer have my truck I was considering ordering metal online. One site of interest is www.metalexpress.net. I am totally confused with different types of metal offered. Alloy Steel Cold or Hot Roll, Carbon Cold and Hot Roll. I looked at prices and they appeared to be decent compared to the local stores. What is the difference between different kinds of steel for general shop use. Fixtures, carts, shelving, etc.

1 sq x .049 w steel tube square welded X 96" $20.40
1 sq hr steel -astm A36 X 96" $26.10
1 sq crs 1018 steel X 96" $48.55
1 sq crs 1045 steel X96" $46.77
1 sq 4140 crs annealed alloy X 96" $55.00

Can anyone decode this information for a beginner to metalworking?


Thanks

[Pangea]

All I can tell you is some of those prices=wallet rape. The last 1"X1"X 16ga square tube cost me about .63 per foot. That was about one month ago.

[fallon416]

I use OnlineMetals.com amd MetalsDepot.com for online ordering. The prices that you posted seem high. What will get you with the online ordering is the shipping costs. Normal shipping costs for a 100.00 order seem to be around 47.00.

Neil

[salvageclaus]

Try

King Metals.

They not only have metal for architectural metals but carry a big stock of everything else you can think of. They are plenty competitive. I bought 8X4 sheets of heavy expanded for well under $30 each.

I live about 2 hours away from the dallas store, so I go there about 4 times a year and stock up. It cost a bunch to ship truck freight.

The website isn't complete yet so call them for pricing.

They have treated me very well.

[pturner]

The first line is tubing, the others are solid bar. Unless stated tubing is A-36 ERW (36,000 psi yield strength). ERW is electrical resistance welding, ie the tube is bent and welded. The outside weld flash is ground off, but there is still a weld inside.

HR is hot rolled. This is usually low quality A-36 steel, and has a rough finish. this is easy to machine, easy to weld steel, used for most purposes as it is the strongest for the dollar. There are also higher grades of HR steel used in building applications, espically in europe

CR is cold rolled, this produces a smothe finish with some residual stress that may cause problems in machining. The rolling also makes it stronger by hardening the edges.

1018 is 0.18% carbon and is stronger than A-36, but still low carbon steel. I believe this to be the most common CR steel.

1045 is 0.45% carbon, stronger then 1018 this is the next jump up in "commonly available" steels

4140 is alloy steel, and can be hardened to be much stronger then the above steels.

I'm not up on tubing prices, but for shapes (angle, bar, channel, or I) I expect to pay .45 -50 cents a pound for A-36 in 20' sticks. You price looks to be double that. 1" square bar should be pretty cheap, thought it's kind of an Odd size.

[raceperformance]

Do you have a metaexpress near you? I use them all the time and the prices on their website are much higher then when you call them. I just use the website to get the part number, and then when I call the prices are much more reasonable.

[usmcpop]

Find a local steel supplier and ask about delivery.

[BDKS]

Thanks to everyone for advice. The place I listed was cheaper than HD, Lowes and TSC... What is the average price for angle iron? I will checkout some of the places locally. Will many of the suppliers work with small customers that are not ordering $1000s of material at a time? The problem with delivery is I am located about 30-40 miles from civilization.. so to speak. But we have a wal-mart

[usmcpop]

Whoa. Did a quick search and almost panicked until I realized I had typed "eel prices". Last year I bought a few lengths of angle and flat bar and paid about 60 cents a pound. I have never priced delivery, but it's probably not too bad if they are running around town anyway. Here's some current wholesale pricing per ton, just to put in perspective:

Hot-rolled sheet steel cost an average $545 for the second straight month in February while cold-rolled sheet was virtually flat, rising just $3/ton to $630. Hot-dipped galvanized stayed at $665 this month and electrogalvanized was stuck at $705. Cut-to-length discrete plate was flat at $774 and coiled hot-rolled plate dipped $10 to $738. Merchant steel bar stalled this month at $520; cold-finished bar, grade 1018, remained $885, and structural beams, W8 wide-flange, stayed at $592 – while concrete reinforcing bar slipped $2 to $486/ton.
Meanwhile, wire rod stayed at $484.