# Online and Speedy Metals



## ddickey (Dec 21, 2017)

Check out these price differences between Online Metals and Speedy Metals.


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## dennys502 (Dec 21, 2017)

I use MIdwest Steel Supply online and pick it up myself. They have some pretty good prices and usually a sale with a percentage off for that day.
https://www.midweststeelsupply.com/store/steelflatbar


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## ddickey (Dec 21, 2017)

I've been there a few times. Seems to be a decent place.


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## Bob Korves (Dec 21, 2017)

I can't tell which is which, Duane.


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## dennys502 (Dec 21, 2017)

ddickey said:


> I've been there a few times. Seems to be a decent place.


The only problem I've had is some 1/4" 304 flat bar that they substituted with slit material - other than that its been pretty good.


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## Groundhog (Dec 21, 2017)

I've used Speedy for some time. It is usually less expensive even with shipping than buying from the local machine shop. The only local steel supplier will only sell in mill lengths (20' or whatever) so for short pieces it is buy from the big machine shop or online.


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## ddickey (Dec 22, 2017)

The Speedy Metals is the one on top. Online Metals below. Three times more expensive for same materials.


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## bfk (Dec 22, 2017)

Interesting. I priced an order yesterday on both sites for about $85 worth of steel round and flat plus a little brass. Speedy was about $3 more, but their shipping was $5 less. I had a 20% off coupon at Online, so they got the order. Ordered yesterday afternoon, shipped today, delivery notice for tomorrow. 
Other times I've checked they've usually been comparable. 
Just checked my email to make sure I had the dates right and saw an email from Speedy offering 5% off.


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## richl (Dec 22, 2017)

Shipping always kills the deal for me, except for exotic materials and tubing which I cannot get locally. Priced a36 1" plate, 12x12 from each, speedy was cheaper by a bit over 1/2, but add 36.00 to ship plus 5.00 for the honor of ordering thru them (speedy metals). I'll get it myself locally for less than that. I feel for people that have to buy online.
I'very gotten some things off ebay, shipping is sometimes included.


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## Sleddog (Dec 22, 2017)

Checkout www.hobbymetalkits.com their website shows 6" & 12" lengths , but dropping them an email asking for longer pieces or items not listed is no problem. They're located in Wisconsin & offer reasonable flat rate shipping. 
I'm not affiliated, just a satisfied customer.


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## Asm109 (Dec 22, 2017)

Your point is valid overall but just want to point out that 1117 is NOT the same as 1144 Stressproof.  Ones low carbon the other medium with special heat treating to make it machine and have great properties.


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## ddickey (Dec 22, 2017)

Didn't notice that Asm109. Thanks for pointing that out. I just checked 1.5" x 12" 1144 at Speedy is $15.38.
So Online is more than 100% more expensive.
Didn't compare shipping though.
Edit: Shipping from SPeedy--$18.90. Online--$36.10
Perhaps due to the fact I live closer to Speedy?


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## chips&more (Dec 22, 2017)

Some people don’t like the shipping charges, including myself. But, when I think about the hassle, time and gas to drive around versus having it sent to my front door. It’s a no brainer. Also, Amazon sells raw metal materials…Dave


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## Robert LaLonde (Dec 22, 2017)

I recently placed a larger order from Alro.  4 - 1x6x144 4140HT flat bar and misc 4140QT rod. They smoked anybody else (including freight) except my local vendor, but the only piece they offered me was a master plate to big for me to work with.   Cut down to usable size it was more.  When I realized I needed a couple smaller pieces (larger bar1x8x10) for two of the parts of the job I priced around, and again Alro was the answer.  For the larger order they were a LOT cheaper per pound, but even for the smaller order they weren't bad.  

Some other resources:  

Admiral Steel:  
Knife size thickness bar lengths in a wide variety of tool steel.  Both carbon and stainless.  

Tool Steel Service of California:
Has a lot of tool steels.

McMaster-Carr:
Has nearly (almost) everything, but for metals they tend to be expensive.  You may be able to negotiate better pricing for larger orders, but for small orders they are strictly the price shown.  On a positive note McMaster-Carr STOCKS STUFF and it ships quick.  

Remington Industrial:  My preferred local metal yard stocks the following that I use:
5052 Sheet
6061-T6511 bar
Misc aluminum tube and structural shapes
A36 Tube
A36 and A500 plate
304 round bar
1144 Stressproof (tm) round bar
Your usual array of hot rolled structural
They tend to be better pricing than any of the online sellers on the items they stock.  *If* you buy fill size stock.  A band saw saves me a LOT of money.  Anything they do not stock is a crap shoot.  If its something they stock in another yard or comes from one of their regular mills I can ask for them to have it on their next regular truck and I get it for similar competitive pricing with no freight.  I recently foudn they can get 416 and 303 for me competitively as well.  

Another local vendor:
Seems to price every piece of metal like its a job his fabrication shop didn't get and he's trying to make up for it.

Now on larger orders of anything it pays to shop around.  The local vendors should not be discounted.  Often they too will discount on quantity orders.  Some more than others.  I recently bought some square steel tube from Remington.  I bought a dozen pieces (since I'll use it eventually anyway) and I basically got one piece for free.  On my 4140 I got the best price shipped halfway across the country from Alro.  A while back I needed a large batch of 5052 sheet and plate.  Metals to Go had the best price including freight from Maryland to Arizona by nearly half.  

One IMPORTANT thing to note:  
Each major metal vendor seems to have certain products they sell a lot of of.  Those products they tend to be very competitive on.  Other things they sell may be quite over priced.  No one vendor I have found is good on everything or even most things in modest quantities, and on larger quantities all bets are off.  Shop it around.  

But, I don't need 12 feet of rod you might say.  Well how about if the 6 inch piece you need is $9 and the uncut 12 foot pieces is $100.   Come on.  If you are a shop you will use it eventually, and if you are a hobbyist you will have more metal to play with.  There's a very old saying about being penny wise and pound foolish.  The ONLY reason to not buy the larger piece is if you HAVE TO HAVE the small piece and there is no practical way you can afford the full size piece.  That's when you got to the scrap yard or call the guys you have made friends with at the local fabrication shops.  Still... at the current price of fuel as somebody mentioned its pretty easy to burn up enough gas to cancel any savings from being cheap.  Cheap and frugal are not always mutually compatible.


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## Robert LaLonde (Dec 22, 2017)

Buy the way.  I have emailed Speedy Metals twice asking if they can be more competitive on quantity orders.  I have yet to receive a response.  Before somebody says, "_You should call._"  I've been in business all my life. Quotes come in email, 20 years ago by fax, and not long before that by mail or in person.  No hard copy no long term relationship.  Verbal quotes often change or get conveniently forgotten.  When I was a contractor I followed the same advice.  I walked around with a notebook and wrote down what was quoted or estimated, and then wrote down all the things the customer tried to tack on afterwards.  Anything over a couple thousand dollars got a signed contract.  Period.


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## Cactus Farmer (Dec 22, 2017)

I'm in the middle of the oil fields and we have lots of machine and fab shops. That said, there are metal suppliers too. I check with them first and then try the online sources. The supplies I use regularly I buy in bulk to save time going to get it. The exotic stuff gets to be a pain due to chasing the best price. My #1 peave is finding the best price and then calling to find they are out of stock or the "shipping & handling" doubles the bottom line. 
   Then there are the shops I can visit that let me look through their junk bins. There are some really good stuff in those bins!!! I get all I need and a little for my stock up pile. If I need something that they have on hand I usually get it cut or sheared to spec. for cheap. I do try to help them out with sharpening and grinding needs so it's not a one way street.


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## KMoffett (Dec 22, 2017)

For people around the Twin Cities, there is also Garelic Steel. A few blocks south of Midwest Steel Supply. on 2nd and Broadway.

Ken


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## dennys502 (Dec 22, 2017)

I used to get odds and ends from Garelick when I had a small mfg company in Minneapolis. It was just across the river from me. Benny Garelick was willing to deal and I usually got a good price from him.


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## 4GSR (Dec 22, 2017)

I found Speedy Metals to be the best choice for me.  The way I buy stuff from them is to buy it in 4 foot lengths and five to six pieces of different sizes at a time.  That way, I get a decent shipping charge for the amount of material I buy.  If you buy one piece 4 foot long, the shipping cost is almost the same if you buy five pieces of the same length.  So far, I've been very satisfied with their service.


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## FLguy (Dec 22, 2017)

I buy from a number of companies; DiscountSteel.com,( Minneapolis), is very far priced.My choice for a lot of the time for Alum. is Stoner Aluminum and Brass: Fast and fair on cost of material and shipping. I do buy from Speedy but find the shipping charges fairly high to some other companies for the same item and possibly a greater shipping distance. My 2 cents worth. PS use to live in Minneapolis so it's nice to see some of my old stand-bys being mentioned.


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## woodchucker (Dec 22, 2017)

dennys502 said:


> The only problem I've had is some 1/4" 304 flat bar that they substituted with slit material - other than that its been pretty good.


What do you mean slit material?


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## woodchucker (Dec 22, 2017)

FLguy said:


> I buy from a number of companies; DiscountSteel.com,( Minneapolis), is very far priced.My choice for a lot of the time for Alum. is Stoner Aluminum and Brass: Fast and fair on cost of material and shipping. I do buy from Speedy but find the shipping charges fairly high to some other companies for the same item and possibly a greater shipping distance. My 2 cents worth. PS use to live in Minneapolis so it's nice to see some of my old stand-bys being mentioned.


I have trouble with Speedy, not only high price, but very high shipping too.


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## Mitch Alsup (Dec 22, 2017)

Of the 3 major onLine metal vendors (Online, Speedy, Metals Despot) I have used, I find that the prices on one class of materials (Steel, Aluminum, ...) varry all over the map, and often I have to order one class from vendor A and another from vendor B.

But what drives me up the wall is that you have to get to the point of pushing "confirm order" before you know what the actual costs are.

Now, I buy most of what I want from a local metal warehouse. The after sales tax ends up rather similar to the after shipping costs.


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## Robert LaLonde (Dec 22, 2017)

FLguy said:


> I buy from a number of companies; DiscountSteel.com,( Minneapolis), is very far priced.My choice for a lot of the time for Alum. is Stoner Aluminum and Brass: Fast and fair on cost of material and shipping. I do buy from Speedy but find the shipping charges fairly high to some other companies for the same item and possibly a greater shipping distance. My 2 cents worth. PS use to live in Minneapolis so it's nice to see some of my old stand-bys being mentioned.



I used to buy from Discount Steel, but then I waited over 4 weeks for an order once and finally called them since they weren't responding to emails.   They said they hadn't even processed it, and didn't know when they would.  When I said to cancel it they seemed to not care.  Now that may have been one employee, but I can't risk that when I need a piece of metal for a job.  I might buy from them again someday, but they are pretty far down on my list.


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## dennys502 (Dec 22, 2017)

woodchucker said:


> What do you mean slit material?



This is a slitter. Its used to make narrower material from a coil.




The problem is the edges are not flat - especially when you get into heavier material.
This is the 1/4" x 5" x 13" long 304 SS I ordered. You can tell it is slit by the shiny edges and the breakage on the edge similar to a sheared piece.
Now I check to make sure they are selling bar stock and not slit material. For me slit material is just scrap.


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## RandyM (Dec 22, 2017)

I like Online Metals because they send me discount coupons. If you can wait for the right coupon it can give a good discount. My experience with Speed Metals is unimpressive. But, this is like all products, you have shop around if you want the cheapest price at the time. I feel my time is worth something and the Online Metals coupons fills this bill. I too love the "to your door delivery". Running around wasting time and gasoline is not for me while being at the mercy of the hours of a local supplier.


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## kvt (Dec 22, 2017)

I like this discussion,   The main supplier here in SA is Westbrook Metals.   I and they are expensive.   I am looking for suppliers as I want to get some stuff to do some projects.


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## SSage (Dec 22, 2017)

I just bought some O1 3/8 flat bar and various drill rods, shopped around and went back with McMaster Carr. The shipping is reasonable, I average around $7 in shipping per box. I always get it the next day too if I order before 3pm or so. My last two steel orders have been McMaster. Online Metals is priced higher than most from what I've checked. I keep looking at other vendors, but they are priced higher and the shipping takes longer.


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## Richard White (richardsrelics) (Jan 3, 2018)

I purchase a specific material from SpeedyMetals, If you don't know, this will save you money. They automatically add a "processing fee" to orders if above certain criteria. I called and asked, the lady I spoke to is the only one who deals with online orders, she stated, just put a note in the comments to kindly waive the processing fee, and she will do it.  She stated it had something to do with the way their system was set to automatically add that extra charge.  I as well thought shipping was a bit high, but thru experimentation I found I can ship nearly twice as many parts as I originally ordered for the same money..  I am buying 5 inch OD 3/8 wall aluminum tube... Have bought 150 pcs so far, will need nearly 200 pcs this year at least..  I hope..


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## 4GSR (Jan 3, 2018)

Speedy Metals has 18% off this week for anything in stock!  My problem is, I'm broke! Spent all of my money on Christmas.


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## Richard White (richardsrelics) (Jan 3, 2018)

I am not broke...LOL Need to order more rings...LOL


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## Nogoingback (Jan 3, 2018)

Great thread.  What all this confirms for me is that you need to shop around every time.  I tend to buy pretty much what I need,
though I'll buy more in sizes that I think I'll use.  But recently I bought a piece of 1144 round bar, 3.75" dia. x 2.25 long.  I wasn't 
going to stock up on more than what I needed, so I bought an offcut from an eBay seller for $7.54 plus $6.50 shipping.  Speedy
was $32.50 plus shipping.  The seller was Oakland Steel in Sterling Heights, MI.  I also recently bought a 1" length of 6061 4"
dia. round bar.  Online Metals was $7.50 plus shipping.  eBay seller was $4.29 plus shipping of $6.50.


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