Source of cheap turning stock?

[Silverbullet]

Brass is almost a high cost commodity . A few years back I wanted to build up a stock supply I put a request to a local metal supply. When I got the copy to verify the three ft bar of 2" 360 it was almost $400.00 . No I didn't buy any of course but the price has dropped dramatically. When I was buying 3/8" x20' Brass twenty years ago it was about $20. So $1,00 a foot I have a few lengths left but no big dia. Brass. Ck some of the eBay dealers .

 

[brino]

Not brass or aluminum, but the shafts used in basic desktop printers and scanners are machinable steel.
Plus the way they are built they get replaced often...the metal is "free" for the cost of removing it from the land-fill bound devices.

-brino

 

[royesses]

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Roy

 

[Ken from ontario]

the shafts used in basic desktop printers and scanners are machinable steel.
-brino

THanks for reminding me, I was just about to start a thread with this title: "what can be used as a test bar?".
I'm planing on testing the run out in my new R32 chuck, couldn't find a suitable test bar, I've heard that printer shaft is sometimes used for this purpose, I guess it is better than using a drill bit shank.I'll soon find out

 

[Dave Paine]

THanks for reminding me, I was just about to start a thread with this title: "what can be used as a test bar?".
I'm planing on testing the run out in my new R32 chuck, couldn't find a suitable test bar, I've heard that printer shaft is sometimes used for this purpose, I guess it is better than using a drill bit shank.I'll soon find out

I have seen videos of people using the shafts from printers / scanners and also the rods from shock absorbers as test bars. All have good finish and tight dimensional tolerances.

 

[RJSakowski]

THanks for reminding me, I was just about to start a thread with this title: "what can be used as a test bar?".
I'm planing on testing the run out in my new R32 chuck, couldn't find a suitable test bar, I've heard that printer shaft is sometimes used for this purpose, I guess it is better than using a drill bit shank.I'll soon find out

I have salvaged bars from old photocopiers and printers. I have a 1" diameter and several 3/4" diameter bars. While I can't vouch for straightness, they are otherwise dimensionally accurate. I have found outboard motor driveshafts to be quite good as well. They are usually stainless steel. The larger motors have shafts 3/4" and up. Another source is hydraulic cylinders.

 

[RJSakowski]

Not brass or aluminum, but the shafts used in basic desktop printers and scanners are machinable steel.
Plus the way they are built they get replaced often...the metal is "free" for the cost of removing it from the land-fill bound devices.

-brino

I have found that some of the printer/copier shafts are hardened. However, some machine something like 12L14. Also, under the rubber on the rollers on the larger office machines often lies a nice chunk of aluminum.

Living where I do, there is no readily accessible supplier for larger metal stock. As a rule, I don't throw out any metal that has possibilities. Axles from cars/trucks are a good source for steel as is old farm machinery. I salvaged a 1-1/2" x 8" free machining steel from our old front end washing machine. I save brass plumbing fittings and the like for melting down to cast billets. Rounds can be cast in sand molds fairly easily. I also save aluminum castings for recasting. Having a forge makes it fairly easy to melt non ferrous metals.

 

[Robert LaLonde]

I have found that some of the printer/copier shafts are hardened. However, some machine something like 12L14. Also, under the rubber on the rollers on the larger office machines often lies a nice chunk of aluminum.

Living where I do, there is no readily accessible supplier for larger metal stock. As a rule, I don't throw out any metal that has possibilities.

Me either. I've made many a part or piece of equipment or just a repair from stock in my junk pile outback.

Axles from cars/trucks

and especially trailers

are a good source for steel as is old farm machinery.

I've got an old boat trailer out back that has become bearing removal tools, bucket forks, and a whole host of other things. The axles are dog eared to become both part of an Appalachian power hammer and a belt grinder. The leaf springs on one end obviously. The square tube of course, but I won't even need pillow block. I'll just use the wheel spindles as pivots for the spring, and one of the other two wheel spindles will get the drive wheel and offset drive. Two heavy pieces of square tube cut from the middle of the axles should be obvious.

I salvaged a 1-1/2" x 8" free machining steel from our old front end washing machine.

Wow. I got absolutely none from the machine I just tore apart. Some springs and shocks but all the vibration damping weight came from cast resin-crete blocks. The only real cool salvage is a high speed motor and maybe the motor controller.

I save brass plumbing fittings and the like for melting down to cast billets. Rounds can be cast in sand molds fairly easily. I also save aluminum castings for recasting. Having a forge makes it fairly easy to melt non ferrous metals.

That last part is what got my attention. I mill a lot of aluminum and I have a lot of scrap aluminum. I actually have more use for casting than forging equipment and I've been struggling with whether I want to build a proper foundry furnace or a forge first. How big is your forge, and how easy is it to use it for casting work? I'd like to be able to pour as much as 20 lbs of aluminum in a run. 10 lbs might not be enough for some of the stuff I want to cast. I was thinking if I designed it right I could just change burners and top (side) bricks depending on what I was doing so I didn't have two big furnaces taking up space in my shop.

 

[jim18655]

Some large gate valves have a nice brass stem in them. I got a 7/8" x 12"brass rod from one.

 

[royesses]

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