Steel Merchants In Se Qld

[warps]

Hi all

Wondering if any of the Brissy / Gold Coast boys can suggest a decent steel supplier. I've found pretty big discrepanies in pricing over the years, so definitely worth shopping around. My usual supplier (South East Steel at Molendinar) has shut up shop, which is a shame because he was regularly 20-30% cheaper than anywhere else (maybe that's why they went bust?)

I'm doing the ring around and getting quotes from several suppliers (those who are prepared to answer phones, anyway) but was wondering if anyone knows of a good supplier I could talk to, maybe speed up the process.

I won't be buying in commercial quantities, so no point looking at a wholesaler who expects to sell 20 tonnes of steel a year before giving any discounts.

cheers.

[warps]

Don't all answer at once

I've sent off 6 RFQ's (2 of the 8 suppliers I tried to contact have had their phone number cancelled, so I can only imagine they've moved on).

Have received 4 quotes so far, and there's definiltley variation in the pricing. The biggest variation was for 5mm plate where the dearest was 124% dearer (yes, more than double the price) than the cheapest. The other stuff (RHS, angle, flat) saw a variation of 16% to 53% between the cheapest and dearest.

So far there doesn't seem to be any one supplier that's cheapest in every area. Some are cheap on one product, and dear on another. They will all deliver for around $50, too (looking at about a tonne of steel).

Definitely an interesting exercise. Shows that depending on what you're after, it's worth shopping around.

[Dan_J]

we talking industrial steel or tube and car fab metal?

i had a thread for tube suppliers, should have been a sticky

[warps]

I guess you would call it industrial, although it's at the small end of the scale (up to 25x50 RHS, flat, angle, SHS). Do you mean plain mild steel tubing, or more exotic stuff (CrMo, CDS etc)? I had a bit of a search for your thread on tubing but couldn't find it. Care to post a link?

[Dan_J]

yeah i ment exhaust and cooler tube suppliers only, doesn't mean we cant have a big thread for industrial, cage and also thin tube suppliers as it should help out others

Edited December 20, 2012 by Dan_J

[Risking]

For cage material at the moment

Race tech are far cheaper for bare minimum CDW tubing than anyone else.

For 4130, performance metals have the best German milled material I've welded for a while.

I found to buy everyday material like RHS etc it was way cheaper to buy constantly from a local light fabrication shop that was buying tonnes per week. Despite paying his slight mark up it is still cheaper than buying direct from wholesalers when your quantity is comparatively low.

[Nee-san]

Do you need any of it cut or are you just looking for raw lengths ?

I work in a Laser company and we do tube and flat.

[warps]

I was going to get it all in raw lengths (looks like about 45 full lengths in assorted sizes atm). Will need to get the plate cut though. I'm ordering 3 sheets of 5mm plate (2400x1200) and need to cut them into 800mm x 1200mm lengths. Was considering water cutting, as that gives a nice clean cut. I have a plasma cutter which should give fairly good cuts. Failing that I can always resort to the good ol' 1mm cutting discs on the grinder.

All the RHS, angle, flat etc I'll just chop to length with my drop saw. It will be getting a good workout int he new year.

Out of interest, how much do you charge for laser cutting? As I said, cutting 3 full sheets into 3 pieces each (6 cuts in total)

[Risking]

Most steel suppliers have a guillotine and charge a couple of $$ per cut.

[Nee-san]

I work in the Engineering/Operating side so I can't give you a quote.

But I can probably organise one for you with the sales guys.

If you're talking about getting 3 sheets essentially cut down the middle I think the Lasercutting component would be very small.

Obviously they would also be able to organise material for you if you needed.

5mm steel cuts beautifully if the material is good quality.

With tube we can cut anything up to and around 12 meters in length, true 3d beveling etc.

we cut alot of roll cage stuff already.

Let me know if you want to know anymore warps.

[warps]

Thanks for the offer, but Risking's suggestion makes perfect sense. Hadn't even thought of a guillotine before. Will give that a try first. It'll make the sheets easier to manage at my end too (didn't fancy trying to manoeuvre 113kg sheets of steel without plate clamps or a decent crane / forklift)

Most of the stuff I'm making won't need anything fancier than right angle cuts, so no need for fancy bevels. Will keep it in mind for future projects though (already have a few more projects on thr drawing board)

The first project will be a steel rack so I can store and sort all this steel I'm buying.

[Nee-san]

No problems mate,

straight cuts are really a waste of what the machine can do to be honest, it's amazing the profiles the tube laser can cut.

On another note, if you're looking for steel, have you tried this place ?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icIwKaci3MI