Price of cast iron?

[Masterjuggler]

So this is the straight edge I said I made out of a bench vise slide. coincidentally, it happens to be 8" long lol. it wasn't finished in the blued up photo, I believe I took it to about 25ppi. I then used it to scrape in a cross slide vise, took me about 25 hours because I did it by hand, and the worst dovetail was skewed around 7 thou both in height of the part and distance between dovetails.



Currently I don't have a mill, just my mini lathe and a 2x72 grinder that I rough parts in with pretty well. Certainly no surface grinder though.

Like I said before, I'm not just looking to make a straight edge, or a camel back would certainly be the best route, though a large camel back isn't really in my budget right now. I also just want some bar stock to make whatever else I need such as level bases or cross slide gibs. Cast iron isn't only good for straight edges, it's just what I happened to bring up in my first post, so it kind of got stuck as the topic, sorry about that.

 

[JFL4066]

Try https://hobbymetalkits.com/shop?olsPage=t/cast-iron
They have round bars. And you will find round CI is cheaper than square or rectangle bars. I just mill it flat. made a real nice angled dovetail straight edge 12" long

I've also bought the round CI lifting weights used in gyms. Milled them flat to remove the cast in numbers. I have no issues machining them.

 

[JFL4066]

.... smaller gym weights could be turned in the lathe instead of milling.

 

[C-Bag]

Try https://hobbymetalkits.com/shop?olsPage=t/cast-iron
They have round bars. And you will find round CI is cheaper than square or rectangle bars. I just mill it flat. made a real nice angled dovetail straight edge 12" long

I've also bought the round CI lifting weights used in gyms. Milled them flat to remove the cast in numbers. I have no issues machining them.

Seems like way more reasonable prices. How are they on shipping? Way to often shipping is where you get jammed. I remember hearing about this place but forgot. I also like the take PayPal and have the auto check out with PayPal. Not everybody does.

 

[macardoso]

Try Alro Steel. *Edit* If there is a Alro Steel outlet in driving distance. probably worth your while. the one near me always has drops on sale.

When I did a price comparison, Alro consistently came up at 300% the price of other online stores for small quantities like we want to buy. McMaster was often cheaper

 

[Masterjuggler]

Try https://hobbymetalkits.com/shop?olsPage=t/cast-iron
They have round bars. And you will find round CI is cheaper than square or rectangle bars. I just mill it flat. made a real nice angled dovetail straight edge 12" long

I noticed the rounds are a lot cheaper, I guess they're easier to continuously cast. That site definitely has better prices than a lot of other places, even if they are just short lengths. Thanks for the link! Going to checkout, looks like a standard $10 shipping.

I'm about to start my next school semester, so I'll wait and see if mcmaster starts allowing pickup by the time I'm back home and in my shop again. Without the cost of shipping they're cheapest for me. I just gave them a call, there's no current estimate for when that might happen. If not, then I'll be ordering from hobbymetalkits.

 

[hotrats]

When I did a price comparison, Alro consistently came up at 300% the price of other online stores for small quantities like we want to buy. McMaster was often cheaper

Wow! never ordered anything, or actually priced anything online. Sorry, for the mislead. Their outlet is about 30 miles from me. I've always found drop prices reasonable, and a good selection. They usually have something sale priced. If there is a outlet nearby, check it out.

 

[macardoso]

Wow! never ordered anything, or actually priced anything online. Sorry, for the mislead. Their outlet is about 30 miles from me. I've always found drop prices reasonable, and a good selection. They usually have something sale priced. If there is a outlet nearby, check it out.

I think they're very competitive for commercial accounts. I found (at the time) buymetal.com had the best prices for aluminum and brass, while onlinemetals.com had the best for steel.

This was all quantities <70lbs including the price of ground shipping.

Drops in-store from Alro are pretty good if there is one near you.

 

[SLK001]

I think they're very competitive for commercial accounts.

They (ALRO Metals) let me create an account (in fact, they recommended it). The last time I ordered CI from them it was a 3" round x 12" bar for ~ $70. It wasn't a drop either, but a cut order.

 

[Tim9]

Well I gave metal super market a call, and despite their website's claims, it seems they don't carry cast iron, save for one warehouse in Wyoming that has a single bar of it in stock. So much for that. I put in a quote on online metals for a shorter section over the phone, and got an email back almost immediately saying they can't sell less than 72".

@C-Bag I have ordered a bunch of 12l14 and some aluminum stuff from steeldawg9061 before, definitely good prices. There's no cast iron on his ebay store now, but I'll send an email to see if he knows when he'll get more. Thanks for the tip on that!

@Tim9 You're right, the round prices aren't too bad on mcmaster. I was looking at the rectangular bar which looks more expensive. I'm only about 40min away from them, so if I don't get it cheaper on ebay I might wait until they offer pickup again. Though it is fun to order in the morning and receive in the evening because they're so close haha.

I can't believe how hard it is to find this stuff considering how much it's used. I love working with it too. I much prefer the powder to stringy aluminum or mild steel chips, though free machining 12l14 is definitely my favorite.

Dave... the interesting thing about McMaster is they are real good with drop shipping. Lots of stuff I order from them arrives within a day. Not as good as same day... but pretty damned good. Plus, they don’t rape you with shipping and handling charges either. McMaster is pretty fair with shipping cost. Great company with great service.