Sourcing metal for projects $$$$

A couple of places you can try for low cost, Scrap metal dealers. my favourite is a couple of local machine shops, will often give or sell cheap bar ends, offcuts and parts that failed inspection, and can't be reworked.

One of my favourite places is a heavy fabrication shop, big heavy structural steel he lets me rummage through his scrap bins for free.

Also get to know some local auto workshops, car axles are really great high tensile steel, and truck ones even better I haven't paid for steel in over two years. Aluminium and brass are of course harder to get.
 
I am kind of lucky. First I have a fab shop close to me that makes food processing equipment. They use mainly stainless and I know a guy there and they let me pillage the dumpster. Then I am a mechanic for heavy equipment and I am always looking for some good material. I also collect all the aluminum I can get my hands on. Engine parts etc, and I melt it down and cast a lot of stuff. Have probably 4 garbage cans of aluminum waiting. I get a lot of good steel from hydraulic parts, motors,pumps,and cylinders. Gotta keep you eye open for the deals too.
 
Wish i had the money id pick that up right now! That stock would last me a little while. Sadly alot of the projects i want to do to tool up are steel.
 
I'm gonna say, Amazon is by far the handiest and some of the better deals out there. Being a prime customer helps as well. The guys at Metal Supermarket said that the tariff is really bringing metal up, but by far aluminum. He said our scrap is sent there for recycling and hits us on the way back. This isn't a conversation about politics, just passing on what they said is the cause.
 
https://hobbymetalkits.com/
Mr. Pete told us about these guys. I bought from them a while back. Prices weren't too bad, plus they have small pieces. Great for learning and small projects.
I watch the scrap pile. Best prices for good stuff.
 
mickri said:
I have bought and sold on Ebay for many years. I have experienced a few bad sellers and buyers over the years. Less than 1%. I have always come out ok and have never experienced a loss on Ebay. When Ebay first started Ebay tended to favor sellers in disputes. That policy didn't last long once Ebay realized that buyers were the driving force in their growth and that sellers were a dime a dozen and could be easily replaced.
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Your experience differs dramatically from mine. I somewhat recently (last year) bought a window regulator for my pickup. Manual crank window type, nothing fancy. It was ~$25 and listed as OEM Toyota, compared to >$175 from the dealership for the same part.

Received it, not remotely the right part. Not Toyota, also not close to fitting in my truck. Hole spacings were all off by a mile, the physical size and shape were nothing like the part I was replacing. Emailed the seller and asked if maybe there was a mix-up and they shipped the wrong part. They didn't respond, so after a week I left negative feedback and disputed the payment through paypal. Ebay promptly emailed me to tell me the seller had disputed my dispute, and they had ruled in the seller's favor, deleted my negative review, and paypal wouldn't retract my payment. I contested it through my credit card and got my money back after much hassle. I emailed ebay directly to ask for an explanation on the situation and received no response. This seller had 99%+ positive feedback. Must be pretty easy when you're not allowed to get negative feedback.

Edit: Not suggesting you're getting preferential treatment or anything, simply that ebay is blatantly crooked, and don't favor buyers at all in my experience.

poplarhouse said:
Wow, you're absolutely right! They must have had it mis-listed this morning. Dang, I should have bought it.
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This happens a surprising amount if you watch Amazon pricing. No idea what causes it. I bought a water pump for the same truck I mention above, OEM Toyota part through Amazon, for $19.85. Showed up and it's the factory original part, in Toyota box with Toyota logo stamped in the casting. Bragging to a friend, I sent the link just after buying and it had gone up to over $130 within minutes of placing my order. My price of $20 stuck and I never heard anything about it. I don't know if it's that they make errors in pricing, or if it's driven intentionally by something else, but if you keep a keen eye, you can catch unreasonably good deals from time to time. In my experience, you pretty much have to pounce to catch it, or it'll go away forever.
 
Janderso said:
https://hobbymetalkits.com/
Mr. Pete told us about these guys. I bought from them a while back. Prices weren't too bad, plus they have small pieces. Great for learning and small projects.
I watch the scrap pile. Best prices for good stuff.
Click to expand...
They do have great prices unfortunately for me all they have for steel is 12L which is a little soft for what im wanting to do with it.

Edit: i retract my statement bc after closer looks 12L14 is close to 1215.
 
Don't know what to say SCLead. I have bought lots of stuff on Ebay and have only had a few problems. Less than 1%. All of which were resolved in my favor. As I said in my previous post I always buy with a credit card and always file the claim with my credit card. I am very careful buying anything online and do my homework. I routinely ask questions of sellers, look at how they respond to negative feedback and read all of the fine print in their listings.
 
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