Metal supplier recommendations

Hey Guys,

Would anyone know of any good local metal suppliers/metal yards they can recommend?

Depends on what you need. We keep some materials on hand, mostly low carbon steel, but have a lot of 3003 aluminum 3/16” flat in random square and rectangular shapes… The yard store is a good resource for small quantities of steel, aluminum, and stainless. There is a new metal supplier locally, but for the moment I cannot remember their name and have had no business with them to know their terms. We get most of our steel from Salina Steel as they usually beat everyone’s price, but have a $250 min order and require a forklift at the delivery site. I believe they add a markup to materials sold to people not in the metalworking industries. We get Aluminum and stainless delivered from Metals USA, they don’t have a minimum but price according to the order, so small orders are more expensive per lb, and also require a forklift at the delivery site. Central Plains Steel is on the north end of Wichita, we usually do not use them as their prices are prohibitive for us but have used them in the past and several of our customers have them deliver custom-cut materials to our shop on a regular basis. This tells me they price things differently depending on the customer, Steve wouldn’t use them if they were much higher than anyone else as he won’t pay any more than he has to for materials on his projects. I’ve heard the scrap yards have materials for sale but have had no business with them to know their terms and what they have, I suspect it is just whatever someone has sold them recently…

Jeff Eck

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From: Michael Arnao via MakeICT Forum
Sent: Monday, October 24, 2022 6:34 AM
To: jeff@makeict.org
Subject: [MakeICT] [Metalshop] Metal supplier recommendations





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MichaelArnao MakeICT Member
October 24

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Hey Guys,

Would anyone know of any good local metal suppliers/metal yards they can recommend?

Visit Topic or reply to this email to respond.

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1 Like

Cool, thanks for the info. I have purchased metals on metalsdepot.com. I figured if I want to get into metal working, it might be worth it to take a trip to a metal yard and see what it’s like.

Is probably the one that Jeff was thinking of. I’ve stopped in there. Depends on what you need though. They say they can get anything and vs paying shipping they may be competitive. Their warehouse is clean so if that’s your thing… They are super nice. A friend of mine has bought stuff from them recently and keeps going back. I like the fact that I can get tool steels there. The only thing I don’t like is they are more expensive that a bulk steel supplier and they won’t just give you a price per foot. You have to say I need a quote for 60 feet of x. Then they’ll give you a number for that quantity. But if you need another quantity it’s not like you can just scale that quote up or down.

I’ve bought some stuff from AMR. Sometimes yigher prices than the yard but clean new metal. They also have a surplus yard you can look over but it’s not as extensive as the yard.

I buy most of my new steel from Mainz and assoc out near Goddard. His prices are good but it’s not the most convenient.

Of course I do buy from the yard when it suits me.

2 Likes

Thanks David, that is exactly who I was referring to. Have you used them yet? I am curious if their prices are similar to the yard store or higher?

···

From: David Hanson via MakeICT Forum
Sent: Monday, October 24, 2022 11:05 PM
To: jeff@makeict.org
Subject: [MakeICT] [Metalshop] Metal supplier recommendations





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whateg01
October 25

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Metal Supermarkets

Wichita | Metal Supermarkets

Need metal in Wichita? We have over 8,000 metal types, no order minimums, and value-added services. Ask us about pickup or delivery.

Est. reading time: 1 minute

Is probably the one that Jeff was thinking of. I’ve stopped in there. Depends on what you need though. They say they can get anything and vs paying shipping they may be competitive. Their warehouse is clean so if that’s your thing… They are super nice. A friend of mine has bought stuff from them recently and keeps going back. I like the fact that I can get tool steels there. The only thing I don’t like is they are more expensive that a bulk steel supplier and they won’t just give you a price per foot. You have to say I need a quote for 60 feet of x. Then they’ll give you a number for that quantity. But if you need another quantity it’s not like you can just scale that quote up or down.

I’ve bought some stuff from AMR. Sometimes yigher prices than the yard but clean new metal. They also have a surplus yard you can look over but it’s not as extensive as the yard.

I buy most of my new steel from Mainz and assoc out near Goddard. His prices are good but it’s not the most convenient.

Of course I do buy from the yard when it suits me.

Visit Topic or reply to this email to respond.

Previous Replies





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MichaelArnao MakeICT Member
October 25

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  • | - |

Cool, thanks for the info. I have purchased metals on metalsdepot.com. I figured if I want to get into metal working, it might be worth it to take a trip to a metal yard and see what it’s like.





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jeff MakeICT Member
October 24

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  • | - |

Depends on what you need. We keep some materials on hand, mostly low carbon steel, but have a lot of 3003 aluminum 3/16” flat in random square and rectangular shapes… The yard store is a good resource for small quantities of steel, aluminum, and stainless. There is a new metal supplier locally, but for the moment I cannot remember their name and have had no business with them to know their terms. We get most of our steel from Salina Steel as they usually beat everyone’s price, but have a $250 min order and require a forklift at the delivery site. I believe they add a markup to materials sold to people not in the metalworking industries. We get Aluminum and stainless delivered from Metals USA, they don’t have a minimum but price according to the order, so small orders are more expensive per lb, and also require a forklift at the delivery site. Central Plains Steel is on the north end of Wichita, we usually do not use them as their prices are prohibitive for us but have used them in the past and several of our customers have them deliver custom-cut materials to our shop on a regular basis. This tells me they price things differently depending on the customer, Steve wouldn’t use them if they were much higher than anyone else as he won’t pay any more than he has to for materials on his projects. I’ve heard the scrap yards have materials for sale but have had no business with them to know their terms and what they have, I suspect it is just whatever someone has sold them recently…

Jeff Eck

··· (click to show quoted text, requires login)





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MichaelArnao MakeICT Member
October 24

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  • | - |

Hey Guys,

Would anyone know of any good local metal suppliers/metal yards they can recommend?

Visit Topic or reply to this email to respond.

To unsubscribe from these emails, click here.

1 Like

I’ve bought a lot from Central Plains Steel, they are good if buying in larger quanities.

Wichita Iron and Metal is a scrap yard that lets you browse their scrap lot and buy stuff.

1 Like

How does it compare to the old Boge?

I don’t recall. It seemed like a place I would go for stuff I would otherwise order online like tool steel and odd shapes or sizes. But not competitive with places you might buy bulk materials. Which kinda fits the description on the yard or used to anyway. That’s about as helpful - well it wasn’t very helpful

1 Like