Where do you get practice scrap cheap?

Luckily I know a guy that owns a recycling yard, one of the biggest around here. I can get steel for free, only problem is there is limited to pick from but if i keep checking i will find what I need. Brass and aluminum he sells to me for very cheap. But same thing, you gotta get there when the stuff you want or need is there.. wait to long and its sent out and you gotta wait til more comes in.
Usually recyclers are the cheapest places to buy.
 
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Tear down discarded printers. They have soft stainless steel rods in them that cut like butter and are great to practice on, and the price is right. These rods are accurately ground, too, so they work great for many projects. The bigger the printer, the bigger the rods.

Aluminum is great to practice on but it cuts best with a tool intended for aluminum.

If I could pick only one material for a new guy to learn with it would be 12L14. You can buy 12L14 on ebay in 12" lengths for very good prices. Some sellers ship flat rate priority for free and you can buy as many as will fit in a box.
 
Seems like I always have stock lying around . We scrap metal regularly at work and I'm able to grab what I want , but I really don't need anything . I've shipped metal on here in the past in a flat rate box but you would need to know what is needed .
 
Yard sales for junk...

Thrift stores too,check with management for junk they cannot sell.

Bedframes usually free and usually good angle iron but some very hard and ruin hack saws...

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I'm surprised to be the first to mention it, machinable wax. There's commercial and DIY, something for everyone. I don't use it all the time, but I do find it handy. I fill some glass containers with it, toss them in the oven for a while and out pops blue plastic rods, plates, etc. The material shrinks a bit as it cools, so it tends to pop out of the container pretty easy. Clean the machine well before using, and you can remelt the swarf over and over.
 
There you are Mauser ! A lot of good tips and ideas where to get your materials from.
 
Yep! Never heard of machinable wax before, but just looked it up, and especially liked the look of the homemade stuff! We're a little short of industrial stuff in my area, but I'll find stuff somewhere!
 
I have a welding shop that sells their drops to me by the lb. Sometimes a dollar and sometimes 1.50. For 2 to 3 ft. lengths.
 
Depends very much on where you live, but look around your locality, any machine shops. I find the small ones are easier to deal with, they are less tied up with corporate red tape. Ask them for any bar ends that are too short for what they are making , also any parts that, are undersize and can't be reworked. Also fabrication shops where they weld heavy structural pieces like bridge girders, the offcuts can be machined up. I have one near me the allows me to rummage through his dumpster, it costs me a case of beer once a year at xmas.

Motor mechanics are always chucking out drive axles from cars, they're fairly hard but machine well with carbide. Great for making boring bars etc. If you have any earthmovers nearby the hinge pins on the bucket loaders are always being replaced, good steel.

So far in just over two years I have not had to buy any steel for my projects. Brass and aluminium are a bit harder to get but I don't need to use them very often. I have started a collection of old pistons that I intend to melt down and make some billets that I can machine up.
 
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