buying steel for home use

[skotl]

Is this the correct section for this question?

So I look at US YouTube videos in envy, where they say that they "pop down to the scrapyard and buy box section steel and 3/4" plate and get change from $50"

Are these places available in the uk? In Edinburgh, there are plenty of merchants that state that they buy scrap steel, recycle cars, etc. Are these places that I can go browse'n'buy offcuts of steel from?

Where do other hobbyists get their working material from?

 

[J.B. Welding]

Can be hard to nip and buy a few bits of bar fae the scrappies HSE stuff... a local welding shop/fabrication shop will have a pile of off cuts they might sell you some if you know what your after. EBAY of course=postage. Hey! I could bring you a buldle of assorted stock if you have a list. Heading up to Edin. Saturday (southside), could bring 30kg for say £50 if that helps at all? rounds angles big and small flat bars. Its pretty clean no heavy grinding to do like on real scrap!Hoping to help!

 

[cumbriasteve]

Scrap yards vary a lot, we have one where the crane is swinging about all day moving the different materials and cars around, obviously there is no chance of the owner letting you loose to rummage for good stuff.

There is another one where the owner sits outside his caravan/office and is happy to let you venture into his domain whilst weighing you up to see how much he can squeeze out of you.

 

[nick205]

Is there a metal supermarket near you? Not the cheapest, but they generally have what you need in reasonable sized pieces.

Failing that find a local fabricator and make friends with them. I have a local high who's happy to sell me bits and pieces for cash and biscuits.

 

[J.B. Welding]

Biscuits and wee lifts...good currency!

 

[fixerupper]

Years ago I worked in a workshop making ducting, I was at the start of a production line with a guilotine cutting sheet steel ... tea money for the whole workshop came out of my scrap bin ...jeff...

 

[GordonC]

Pretty much all the scrappers and recycle centers I've been to wont sell you any bits of steel or that. Apparently the recycle centers arnt aloud to as once they buy it they cant sell it back to the public but I dont know if thats true. I just get all my steel from a small steel merchants local to me. I've got to know the guy and now I just phone in my order and he has it all cut ready for me plus I get a rumage through the scraps skip and can take any bits for free

 

[MattF]

Throw a stone and ask which scrappie it hits. Some will, some won't. The Yanks have the same situation. Local engineers/fabricators are usually the best bet, unless you drop on one of the arsey type.

 

[MoreWellie]

Definitely available in the uk. Miles from you, but a nearby scrapyard http://www.fd-odell.com/ is hyper organised and also sell new metal so they are a bit of a hybrid.

They are happy for people to root through the offcuts and reclaimed materials and then buy the things they want based on the weight, you just need to check in at the office first and put a hi vis on

I have also tried a local steel stockist and they seem perplexed if you want to go and rummage as they expect people to turn up with a shopping list but they have let me in to look at their offcuts. I then have to hand them to a counter man who makes up the shopping list which I take to the office and pay and then go back to the counterman to pick everything up. So don't ignore the larger stockists but be prepared to pay a bit more

 

[brightspark]

Pretty much all the scrappers and recycle centers I've been to wont sell you any bits of steel or that. Apparently the recycle centers arnt aloud to as once they buy it they cant sell it back to the public but I dont know if thats true. I just get all my steel from a small steel merchants local to me. I've got to know the guy and now I just phone in my order and he has it all cut ready for me plus I get a rumage through the scraps skip and can take any bits for free

yep it boils down to health and safety and insurance on site .all so some of the materials may be contaminated eg demolition materials from chemical works ect

 

[BrokenBiker]

at the moment i am taking my chances with ebay and metals 4 u. If the order is over 75 quid them metals for u deliver free, if its under i use ebay as their delivery is usually cheaper tha. Metals for u, but they do have a huge range of mild stainless alu brass bronze and plastics to choose from.

i also know a blacksmith but he is usually only good for thick sheet, big box section and square bar as most of his work is now repairing digger buckets and so on

 

[ukracer]

at the moment i am taking my chances with ebay and metals 4 u. If the order is over 75 quid them metals for u deliver free, if its under i use ebay as their delivery is usually cheaper tha. Metals for u, but they do have a huge range of mild stainless alu brass bronze and plastics to choose from.

i also know a blacksmith but he is usually only good for thick sheet, big box section and square bar as most of his work is now repairing digger buckets and so on

I use a few local places from fabricators to steel merchants. prices do vary but at least I see what I am getting and on steel delivery can be high. I just picked up 6 x 7 foot lengths of 40 x40 box and paid 25 quid. I paid £2 a length for 4foot lengths in 60 x 60 last time I went there I dont know if either was cheap or expensive. lol

Update. Just checked ebay prices and it was cheap.. very cheap. lol

 

[BrokenBiker]

yes, very cheap indeed

 

[visor_down]

Are parker steel prices competitive ? Free delivery over £50, wondering if it worth the hassle of trying to transport sheets back from local steel yard.

 

[PTvor]

I've bought new steel from a local fabricator who's pretty reasonable and they are nice people to deal with. They like to have a chat.

They also let me forage through the scrap bin, which is very kind, although I take almost all of it back, welded together.

It's a place I'd driven past for 20 years and never realised it existed until I phoned around for steel.

Scrap yards I found were OK years ago, but very variable. Even at the same yard, it would depend who you were talking to. The last time I went to one I asked where all the cars had gone which they used to have piled five high. The answer was that scrapping cars was a specialised business these days with regulations to be followed, and they just didn't want the hassle or to put the considerable investment into it. I'm not at all surprised that it's tightened so much that they won't sell scrap to anyone who walks in. I don't doubt that despite all this there are a few which will still sell you scrap for something reasonable and forget the waste regulations. It used to be twice the scrap value.

I think it depends on your luck, just like some people seem to have good reasonable welding suppliers within an easy drive and some are not so well blessed. You just have to make enquiries locally. Metals4U and such people strike me as very dear.

 

[nick205]

Metals 4 U provide a service that suits consumer customers. I.e. small amounts and easy payment. I think they're OK on value for what they offer.

It's like Halfords, consumer focused but you pay for the service of being able to get what you need when you need it. A motor factor will be cheaper, but closed on Sunday.

 

[skotl]

Darn

Thanks for the replies, folks - much appreciated. It looks like the times when I used to follow my dad around "the scrappies" (mid 70s) are long gone.
Looks like the trick is to find a friendly local...

J.B. - brilliant offer! I just saw it too late - heading for Broxburn tomorrow .to pick up some wood. I'll drop you a PM, if that's ok, with my email and I'd be delighted to take you up on the offer in the future.

As some have suggested, if you have an exact shopping list then they're likely more comfortable dealing with you but, as I'm just a hobbyist, I'd prefer to rummage.

 

[DrNik]

I do pop down to the local steel stock holder and buy the bent bits and off cuts for cheap, it's all meant to go through to office but I pay cash to the guys on the shop floor

 

[garethp]

Always take cash if you don't want much and get to know the guys where you go, sometimes it's not worth phoning the office for a price and I've had some stuff for 'beer money' :-)

 

[chevy2]

Never usually a problem for me getting steel as i have several sources including cds and chromemoly but small amounts of ali especially for use on the lathe is difficult to come by but had a result yesterday and got a contact in my local non-ferous stockholders that'll let me have a rummage though their offcuts bin of ali offcuts as they a lot of multiple cutting for engineering companies,

he charges a flat rate of £3 per kilo so got myself a 9 kilo/£27 bag of various sized bars for starters