Upper Mississippi Hobby Machinists group, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa

What size and type are you looking for? I am working at a shop that toss's the short cut offs. I told a guy a few weeks ago to call some local machine shops I believe there is one down on 101st street...on the street going to the waste plant just east of the excavator place...forget their name. I have driven by it, but never stopped. Maybe stop by and see. There is also a machine shop down south of Hastings on 47 on the way to Hampton, maybe give them call might be able to buy some scrap from them too.

Otherwise on 2nd Street in North Mpls there are several scrap and metal dealers.
Rich
 
Lately I've been getting most of my stock the seemingly expensive (easy) way but used to get it in what appeared to be the cheap (hard) way. Let me explain:

I used to go to the steel yards up in north Minneapolis and see what I could scrounge up. Brass and aluminum were pretty safe, but any of the unmarked steels or stainless steels of unknown alloy turned out to be a big headache. Too many times I would end up with something that was almost totally unusable because it was too difficult to machine for one reason or another. As a result I wasted my time, fuel, and money to go down there and bring home stuff I could not use. I live southwest of the cities a fair distance, and making a special trip up there to go metal shopping usually took up at least half a day. Long story short, any usable material that I got ended up being more expensive (with all things considered) than if I had simply ordered what I wanted online from one of the online metal sales outfits or even from McMaster-Carr. Total cash outlay was about the same after shipping and paying the higher prices, but I ended up with the material I needed and nothing else that was unusable. Add to that the fact that I didn't have to waste half a day hunting for the stuff, instead it magically showed up on my door step! :ups:

I do have a friend with a small machine and repair shop down between Belle Plaine and Le Sueur. Occasionally I will buy a few odds and ends from him, but sometimes that is even a shot in the dark.

So my theory is this: I would rather spend a little more for what I get and have the right stuff rather than waste even a little money on stuff I cannot use.
 
Terry
came to same conclusion years ago
order what one wants as to material and size,gets one what you need

I use Metal Supermarkets, cut to size ,no charge
 
I believe I have joined the group. In one area it said South Dakota as well so I am interested. There aren't many metal workers in this area. It would be intersting to meet with others of "metalhead" interest.
 
Yup, you're a member in there, Kevin. Welcome aboard!! I also looked at the member map and I see what you mean about very few members in your area, so it pretty much makes sense to get on board here.
 
i have tried to find a group closer to home but looks like the only group in indiana is in ft wayne, bout 200 miles north of me.
 
Bubba, you can create your own group. After a quick look at the map, I see that there are a few other members in your general area. You can create a group for people in your area, then invite them. It is not hard to do, and the ability to create a new group is open to all members of H-M.

When I first created this group, there were not very many people up in my immediate area, so I expanded the borders so-to-speak and included a larger area. When we do have some sort of get together this summer, a few people might have to travel a bit farther, or they may choose not to come at all. I can see where a time may come where we may need to break the group up into two or three smaller groups from smaller geographical areas, but that will be quite a ways down the road. On the other hand, groups that are too small never really get going, so maybe starting out with a large area to get people going isn't such a bad idea after all.
 
Hey Bubba, I'm in the NW Chicago land area so I'm probably not too far from you. If you got a group started, I would be interested. I like the idea of getting some "localized" people together for a meet from time to time to share ideas, stories and issues. I think it would be a great asset that would further enhance this already great site.
 
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