Steel wire cut to length

Try wire forming companies, the kind that make pegboard hooks and such. (unfortunately, 400 lbs. IS a trivial order)

(...)

Way Out West we have PDM. These guys are great!

They cut to size *and deliver* new steel for less money than the surplus houses charge for drops.

Shamelessy stolen from their catalog: "As demands for ?pre-production processing? grew, new processing equipment was installed at all facilities. Shears, automatic saws and shape burning equipment that can burn in steel virtually anything that can be drawn in two dimensions, are available. Plasma cutting equipment allows shapes to be cut at high speed and in material which is too thin to be cut with conventional flame cutting equipment. Computer aided design and numerical control have made possible the burning of shapes too large and complex to be laid out on a drafting table, while at the same time allowing for the efficient ?nesting? of parts for reduced scrap loss."

What's not to like?

Download their catalog, would be my advice:

Check the 1/8" cold finished round bar at the top of page 78, for example.

--Winston

You might look at the pre cut galvanized steel hanger wires sold for suspended ceiling use, I believe they are 12ga and pre cut 6' lengths.

What kind of plant can be supported by a thin wire like that? The stakes I use in the garden are 6' and made from 1/2" conduit with a plastic coating. The other stakes are 2" wood.

BINGO!!!

I just got a quote from the local supplier. They come as 12 ga (.105") wire 12 foot long in bundles of 141 pieces. I can hot saw them to either

4', 5' or 6' depending on how the project goes. They had 30,000 pieces in stock about 4 miles from my office so turn around is not an issue.

Thanks!!!

Pete C. wrote:

On Thu, 10 Jul 2008 03:45:44 GMT, with neither quill nor qualm, Winston quickly quoth:

I'll definitely have to check that out. I paid $20 for a stick of 5/8" angle a few months ago. For larger projects, PDM might be the way to go.

Y'mean they can cut your pukey ducks (roosters, cowboys, and bulldog cutouts) for ya now ? Shucks, gee whillikers, Mr. Winnie!

That's an excellent catalog. I just printed it out on my color printer (laser, couldn't afford an inkjet ;) and will save it for reference on available shapes/sizes. Plus, there is a very handy reference section at the end.

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Ed Falk discovered that a local 'drop shop' got beat pricewise by PDM recently: "PDM had the best prices by far, $500 compared to Alan Steel's $840." Though I understand he found Allied Iron to be more convenient at $650.

CA might be a bit of a commute for you though, Larry.

Yup! Telescope tripods, Winch bases, and whimsical stuff like that there, as well!

pobricito!

Did I mention they are great people? I have no connection other than being one happy customer.

--Winston

I found one of the wire forming shops would run coil stock through a rotary straightener, then cut to length for right around $1 per pound of "bright wire" stock. That is a close to the what I pay for 2" rectangular tubing and similar. Dropped the price of a 5' piece of 11 ga down to $.13 That's for the 5' piece NOT per foot! I have no idea how he is going to make any money on the order.

Samples are > I got a request for a couple thousand plant stakes this afternoon. They

Who and where, please?

--Winston

On Fri, 11 Jul 2008 03:38:32 GMT, with neither quill nor qualm, Winston quickly quoth:

True. Fresno and Stockton would be, too, by about 300 miles each way.

Oh, USEFUL pukey ducks. Got it.

Instead of 6 months worth of ink cartridges ($200), I got a nice little Samsung clp600n color laser printer when Staples had a $200 coupon. The only thing wrong with it are the smell and the noise. It stinks as bad as a skunk (which I don't really mind) and sounds like a jet fighter idling next to me (NO NOIS print engine my ass.) I only turn it on to print. The output is lovely, though, and it's fast.

Bueno, bwana. Muchos garcias, senior.

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Larry Jaques gravely intoned:

Heck, I'd call PDM anyways. Those guys are resourceful. Perhaps they're aware of a supplier more local to you. Couple years ago they delivered a couple sticks of 1-1/2" box tube to my residential side yard. Almost No Money for a 30 mile round trip.

I was embarrassed the order was so small. Their truck driver treated me like I was their best customer though. That sort of attitude is nearly as easy to remember as the other kind of attitude. :)

(...)

UPDs Exactly!

(...)

Yup, I was at Xerox when they were developing the 'blazer' which was a monochrome 'B' size laser printer. I got used to mine instantly. It made beautiful schematics.

--Winston

On Fri, 11 Jul 2008 16:08:36 GMT, with neither quill nor qualm, Winston quickly quoth:

Roger, wilco, and out.

Cool.

That's precisely what keeps a company alive even during downturns.

Just what the world needs: more acronyms!

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I like my Canon BJC 240 with the three cent refilled cartridges for day to day printing. I buy the printers for up to three dollars, provided there is a BJ-02 cartridge included, otherwise forget it. Gerry :-)} London, Canada

It's called "customer service" and quite often results in something that helps show a profit down the line. Gerry :-)} London, Canada

More often than not, in lots of different ways.

--Winston

Ceiling hanger wire. Comes in 10 foot lengths already stretched and straightened. Contact a local commercial drywall supply house.

Gerald Miller wrote: (...)

Oh All RIGHT! I'll bite, Gerry, if nobody else will.

Where the heck do you find printers and cartridges so inexpensively?

--Winston

On Sat, 12 Jul 2008 16:37:56 GMT, with neither quill nor qualm, Winston quickly quoth:

I believe they're old Roman or Goth machines, Winston. Or was that DOS/Win3? Same/same.

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