Recommendations where to by stock

BuyMetal.com for aluminum

I hear that Xometry stock supplies is really competitively priced.

McMaster has a huge selection of small-than-full-bar materials, bigger than any other supplier I know, but you pay a 25-50% premium. Often worth it.
 
@macardoso - McMaster was the first place I checked and they did seem expensive. I'll take a look at BuyMetal and Xometry. Looking to learn how to operate a lathe so need to purchase some stock to practice on.

Thank you for the welcome

@Reddinr - Haven't come across OnlineMetals, so thank you for that recommendations.

Any tips on type of stock to get to practice on?
 
Hi @spartan2381, welcome!

First place I usually look online is, strangely enough, eBay. I almost always find what I'm looking for on there, or something sufficiently close. No hassles, shipping price is known, no need to get quotes, no need to set up an account. Just a few clicks and it's done.

If I don't find it on eBay, I start looking at some of the other suppliers that folks have listed.
 
spartan2381 said:
@macardoso - McMaster was the first place I checked and they did seem expensive. I'll take a look at BuyMetal and Xometry. Looking to learn how to operate a lathe so need to purchase some stock to practice on.

Thank you for the welcome

@Reddinr - Haven't come across OnlineMetals, so thank you for that recommendations.

Any tips on type of stock to get to practice on?
Click to expand...

When I did a side by side comparison, BuyMetals was slightly cheaper than similar online vendors for aluminum, but that was 2 years ago and things certainly could change. Alro was insanely expensive, even for their drops.

If it were me, I'd buy a few 3' bars of 1" 6061-T6 aluminum. Easy material to work with, very cheap, and useful later on if you have left overs. Stick to materials that you actually know the material spec on. Mystery steel is always garbage.

12L14 and 41L40 are good introductions to machining steel as they have additives to allow them to machine easier.

After that, start working with some 4140. It is a great material, useful for just about anything you want to make out of steel.

By the time you outgrow those, you'll know exactly what material you need for your projects.
 
I think it's worthwhile to check eBay as well. I buy drops and small quantities from eBay fairly often and
find that I save money doing it. Depends on what you need of course.

I would say generally, if you want to save money, you have to shop around since prices vary a lot. If you want it
quick, Online Metals is a good choice since they usually ship the same day.
 
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find a good scrap yard within reasonable driving distance. Spend a couple of hours wandering around and you'll find plenty of interesting stuff to get you started! Took 142lb to the yard last time I went, came back with 120lb :)
 
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