While shopping for steel on line i found this neat
PDF on line. Its a 128 page catalog and has all
the wieght to length ratios of common steels along with a
general description and properties of various steels.
formatting link
Kinda neat to figure out the aproximate wieght of stuff
before you build it.
Best Regards
Tom.
Hi Tom,
Thanks for the link, this is a nice little reference. I see
it has some appendixes describing color classification for
new steel too, plus a few other things. Cool!
My steel supplier sends us a book with most of the same info. included
in the book. A couple of other steel suppliers seem to have the same
book with their name on it. I would suggest that you ask your steel
company if they had a steel reference book that they distribute.
John
According to Leon Fisk :
[ ... ]
Beware that each steel vendor has its own color codes, so you
have to know who it came from to know which color code to use. :-)
If you are ordering new steel from multiple vendors, it is a
good idea to buy some cans of paint and repaint new steel to a color
code which *you* use (probably that of your most frequently used vendor)
so you *know* that they are all coded to the same standard.
If you are getting drops -- especially off eBay -- you have no
hope of knowing by the color code what you actually have. :-)
Good Luck,
DoN.
Hi Don,
I suspected as much concerning the color coding. I've seen
it on different pieces of metal before and knew it was there
to identify them, but had little to reference it to. I'll
make sure I don't take any match ups too seriously. But
sometimes it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck, walks
like a duck...
Almost all of my metal is "mystery metal" bought (or found)
at ~30 cents a pound (my favorite supplier). New metal
prices are _SCARY_ nowadays for tinkerers on a fixed income.
[ ... ]
:-)
That they are. I'm on a fixed income too. Every once in a
while I will get a project which causes me to *buy* stock, but that will
have some form of income related to it. :-)
Enjoy,
DoN.
Its scary in the commercial market too. I ordered 700 lb of 304
stainless a week ago and the price was 3.37 a pound..... ordered another
bar this week and they quoted me 4.60 per pound. I beat them down to
3.70 but in one week... wow. Im lucky I put in a material clause in
the quote.
John
Hi John,
I'm glad not to be in your boat, but I don't see how you can
do it any other way (clause). With price fluctuations
nowadays it would be like playing Russian roulette and/or
suicide. I would think that most reasonable clients should
understand the clause. If not I doubt that they are really
worth having as a client/customer (shrug).
What really is bad is when you get a material quote from a vendor and he
doesn't honor it. Another shop I know got a quote on some stainless
steel plates that was supposedly good for a month. The price went up
and they passed it onto him even though he had a quote. He probably
could have pressed the issue. I think they finally split the difference.
I had a bunch of ss i" round drops about 6 inchs long lying around for 6
years. I got tired of kicking them around so a couple of months ago I
finally scrapped them. Yup I could have used them on this last job.
John
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