looking for small steel square tubing source

I am looking for source(online or otherwise) small(less than 1/2") steel or aluminum square tubing. The smallest tubing most sources have is 1/2" which is too much for my application.

BTW: I am in San Francisco Bay Area.

Reply to
Alex
Loading thread data ...

Check out your local hobby stores, the ones that cater to model railroaders and such.......Safe bet they will probly have brass, I dunno about steel or aluminum.

Good luck.

Reply to
"PrecisionMachinist"

Take a look at Small Parts, Inc.

formatting link

Reply to
Ed Ruf

We used to get special brass profiles (they have square tubing too) from these guys:

formatting link
I'm not sure where you'd find steel or aluminum square tubes that small. PrecisionMachinist's suggestion of local hobby stores is a good one for small quantities.

Cheers,

--Mitch

Reply to
Mitch

Why don't you hire a freelance contract designer or engineer for your job? Probably not very expensive to do. Just curious; you seem to be using these three newsgroups to do simple design for you.

And you can probably use the Thomas Register or your local business yellow pages and the phone to locate suppliers ...

Reply to
Cliff Huprich

Maybe he has fun doing it?

Reply to
Mitch

.

Probably come in over budget, unmanufacturable, and late.

Reply to
Garlicdude

Cole Fox Hardware on 4th Street, has small square tubing in Aluminum and Brass. It is in the basement in a section where they have a bunch of small dimensioned tubung, rod and sheet for hobby supplies.

Another source is Small Parts in Florida,

formatting link

800-220-4242 I buy stainless steel tube from them regularly.

They have a very large selection of small tubing. They carry telescoping square Aluminum from 3/32" to 1/4", and square telescoping Brass from 1/16" to 1/4" and in thin and heavy walls from 1/4" to 3/4"

Reply to
Abrasha

You could contact some large aluminum manufacturer, they exist also smaller but are not always in the catalogs.

What is the application?

Round tubes I have found very small in applications for the medical sector. (But also rather expensive) Timothy

"Alex" schreef in bericht news:zz8fb.162$ snipped-for-privacy@newssvr21.news.prodigy.com...

Reply to
Timothy

This is for swing arm. Very similar to the one on a desk lamp.

Reply to
Alex

Common guys! I am just asking where to buy stuff. As for hiring a designer... I am building lot's of different prototypes to see what works the best(for my idea) if at all.

When I am more or less happy about a particular prototype I'll hire someone professional to work on a final design of a product that would be mass produced(hopefully). So far it' still far down the road.

Anyway folks who have money don't ask questions on news groups. I wish I had money to hire someone from the start. :)

rec.crafts.metalworking has been a very valuable resource for me. I am very thankful to all people who gave me advise on my (sometimes stupid) questions. I am also taking machining class at local community college so expect my question to be less stupid :)

Thanks, Alex

Reply to
Alex

Good for you. This is a good place to learn.

Reply to
Kathy

Righty O. You made a legit request. Don't mind the naysayers.

Reply to
Dan Bollinger

your single best source for prototyping materials of all kinds is

formatting link

Reply to
Michael

(Note: Top posted reply moved to bottom, comp.cad.solidworks added to groups)

Alex, You have started what looks like ~22 threads in 3 crossposted newsgroups asking about the design of your little gizmo and it's parts and for local suppliers over the last month or so. While many of the comments are no doubt of great value a real designer could probably help you a lot, IMHO, and at a lesser total cost in the end. IF you are serious about your unknown secret project/product/design. You might even be able to find someone local (San Francisco IIRC) that needs a bit of side work and will sign a confidentiality agreement.

HTH

Reply to
Cliff Huprich

For a prototype?... there's always scrounging. Discarded desklamps for example. Go for a long walk on trash night.

Reply to
Carl West

Then why don't you just use a square bar. The extra weight of the inside will not have this much influence as when applying big bar's vs. tubes. (stifness to weight ratio ... ) this bar can be made at the size you want in the material you like.

If you need a hole inside (cables or whatever) just drill (depending on the length, but with these diameters, don't expect stifness from long tubes).

If all this doesn't work, try to change the problem otherwise: eliminate the reason why it has to be so small, or the reason why it has to be square / a tube .....

If you give more details on all sizes, stifness, cost ..., then we could maybe help better.

Timothy

"Alex" schreef in bericht news:noofb.9196$ snipped-for-privacy@newssvr27.news.prodigy.com...

Reply to
Timothy

Try GlobalSpec

formatting link
You can search for components and service suppliers by user friendly search forms. Search across many suppliers at once by specifications or service capabilities.

Reply to
Whitey

Well, we would hope you would'nt hire an un-professional designer. :)

You want fries with that?

Sorry, I couldnt resist.

Bing

Reply to
Bing

Hey, I resemble that comment. I'm an un-professional designer (shorts, t-shirt, and sneakers). Or at least I was for a while. Lately I've been dressing up and going to a "real" job every day. Wingtips even.

Reply to
bob

PolyTech Forum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.