Where to buy steel?

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I've been reading a lot about people buying "drops" or scraps at steel suppliers. I've called a couple of them near me and have been told that is a thing of the past. I did find one place that sells scrap, but it's more like crap- tiny pieces and a poor selection. Home Depot's steel stock is priced more like titanium.Specifically I want to build a welding table, and two of the plans I've seen say they spent about $50 by buying scrap.Does anyone have any ideas? I'm near Denver, CO.
Reply:The welding shop near me sells steel stock on the side.  But they also allow dumpster diving to certain constant customers, like myself.  I swear I am in there once a week buying steel and dumpster diving for scrap. You could just buy the steel from the supplier.  Yea it will cost you more, but will start a good relationship.Lincoln 300 Vantage 2008300 Commander 1999SA250 1999SA200 1968Miller Syncrowave 200XMT350MPA/S-52E/xr-15Xtreme 12vs Millermatic 251 w/30A  Millermatic 251 Dialarc 250 Hypertherm 1250 GEKA & Bantom Ironwokers
Reply:Look under scrap iron and steel. There are places that are continually getting in all the uncut crap and scrap from wreck out and demolition and junkies. They'll have piles of scrap that are being picked up by a electro magnet and loaded into rail cars. Big dangerous piles of treasure. Most will let you pick through the pile but you'll need to visit on a regular basis and look for what you need and be sure and grab any good looking stuff. Sort of a buy ahead because you don't know what you need yet but they may not have what you want when you go to look. Most charge scrap plus prices. If they take it in at $60 to $80 a ton and cut it up for the pile, then you want to pull it out they'll get their labor back and some profit. So if they are paying $80 a ton for scrap you'll pay a little more out the door. Lot of it used to run about 16 to 20 cents a pound. Probably more now."The things that will destroy America are prosperity at any price, peace at any price, safety first instead of duty first, the love of soft living and the get rich quick theory of life." -Theodore Roosevelt
Reply:Steel is a bad deal right now no matter where you buy it.  I just paid $38.00 for 20' of 2" x .090 wall square tube.  Scrap around here (N. Calif.) is going for around 35¢ a pund for flat stock, and 65¢ for squre or round stuff.  Bummer!Hank
Reply:When I can't recycle something I've already got around or have picked up I usually try to plan my projects around the odd cutoffs that I can get at Industrial Metal Supply.  Timing is everything but they've always got a decent amount of nice square/round tubing, angle, strip, etc. in steel, stainless, aluminum, etc. that they sell by the pound.  Most of the really cheap stuff is in the under 4 foot long range but it works for a lot of my projects.  Most of the time I'm paying 0.25/lb for those cutoffs which is OK with me.  The nice thing is that if they don't have the scrap piece I need I can always buy their regular stuff.  I often find myself picking up some of the stuff I frequently use whenever I see it in the bin just in case.  Of course that leads to creating some projects just because I have some material of a certain type but that's not always a bad thing ;^)They're pretty busy during the week but they're open 1/2 day on Saturday, I'm guessing to capture the weekend warrior business.  Lots of times I'll go in there just before they close and they'll just look at my pile of stuff and say $10.00  Hopefully you can find a similar place like that in your area and build up some kind of relationship with the counter folks.  You're right, the stuff at Home Depot is way, way too expensive and nowhere near the quality of the stuff I'm getting at the metal supply.Last edited by Tinker; 11-11-2004 at 06:47 PM.TinkerCentury 135GS, ThermalArc 250GTS
Reply:I often find myself picking up some of the stuff I frequently use whenever I see it in the bin just in case. Of course that leads to creating some projects just because I have some material of a certain type but that's not always a bad thing ;^)