Steel prices?

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I hadn't bought any new steel in almost 20 years. Until yesterday, YIKES!A bit of a shocker when I went in to pay for my project steel. Enough to build 2 new tables, a small 24" square portable and a 2x4' fixed for a vice and grinding and hammering and welding on. 1/4 plate for tops, some 1.5" square tube, 1.5" angle, a few pieces of flat and some 1" square. Granted I got more than the minimum i needed but I know I'll use it here and there.$160!I almost soiled myself. Sure didn't look like 160 to me but the other thing is, it's the only place I know of within an hour drive any direction. Maybe the prices are typical but I'm going to have to do a little searching before my next buy.Any suggestions? I probably just have to get used to the reality.
Reply:You could build a Bessemer and make your own. I use a lot of used steel. Its a bitch to clean but I'm on a limited income so can't afford very much new.  Mac
Reply:1/4" plate probably ran up the bill. I usually figure roughly $1/ft on stuff under an inch from where I usually get it.  The bit over and bit under usually averages out to around that.Also cutting charges can add up. They whacked me almost $16 for cuts the last time I picked up stuff. Granted most of that was for the cut on the 1" plate I was buying, but it adds up when they make a bunch of cuts. I make a point of making sure that the yard guys note that any of the stuff from the shorts pile doesn't get added in as "cuts" when they write up the bill. The office staff often thinks the yard guys forget to add the cut charges to the sheet and automatically add one cut per line item for anything that isn't full length..No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth! Ronald Reagan
Reply:I don't think they charged for cuts but the plate was by the pound, rack steel by the foot. I paid cash and asked for a receipt. It was just a tear off that said "steel" $160.I think they meant "steal"
Reply:Originally Posted by KingcreekI don't think they charged for cuts but the plate was by the pound, rack steel by the foot. I paid cash and asked for a receipt. It was just a tear off that said "steel" $160.I think they meant "steal"
Reply:It would help posting your location. There maybe members that may know where best prices for your area.
Reply:Illinois, Kewanee area
Reply:Just got an order in Friday. 1 sheet 1/4" 4x8 alum1 sheet 11ga 4x8 alum2 sheets 11ga 4x8 steel5, 20' sticks 11ga 2x2 angle steel5, 20' sticks 1/4 2x2 angle steel5, 24' 11ga 2x2 sq tube steel5, 24' 11 ga 1x1 sq tube steel1, 12' stick 6061 3" alum barand (I dont know why)1, 20' stick 3" steel barTotal price? $1900 If you cant fix it with a hammer, it must be an electrical problem."Boy, everyone starts with a full bag of luck and an empty bag of experience. The trick is to fill the bag of experience before the bag of luck is empty."-Grandad circa 1990ish
Reply:Kingcreek  I have been out of welding since 1991 when I sold my fab shop.   I bought 5 piece of 1x1 tubing (seconds with some splits  and rust )  The steel was about $126.00  I about fell over.   The last I bought was in the 15 cent to 25 cent range from the wholesaler and we did buy truck loads from the mill we used from 10 ga. back then up to 6 inch thick plate that we cut parts out of.   I believe if I remember correctly we paid in the high 30s or 40s for the  A514 (T-1) plate.    I have a lot of rusty stuff in my barn and I have been dragging it out and cleaning it up for some of my projects.   I bought 10 pieces of 3/8 A-36 blue steel plate at a sale the other day for $150.00 per sheet.   I needed two pieces for a proposed project.  I called a local fab shop and they jumped all over the plate.  I probably should have kept it for that price but I had close to 1500.00 in it and wanted to get some of my money out.   I did as a bonus get two pieces of 1/2 in the deal 2 ft x 8 ft. that looked brand new for the same price.  I also bought several hundred feet of 8 x8 x3/16 and 8x8 x 1/4 for about $6.00 a foot.   I needed some for door jams for a metal building I want to put up.   I didnt need that much square tubing and I made a couple of phone calls to locals and sold about 1/2 of it quickly.   I was able to keep what I needed .  The steel company quoted me from $15.00 per ft to $20.55 per foot. I sold it for about what I had in it to move it.  I just priced some 2 inch plate and 1 1/4 plate to build a 6 ft press brake out of and the steel cost was over $3000.00 ..............I have held up on my press brake building  gotta justify building it for my farm shop since I am retired and usually wind up doing work for some of the other farmers around usually neighbors and of course free work. To shorten my story.  You might look around at some sales and determine if there is any steel involved at auction price.   I tried to buy some steel at another sale(fabrication company had gone bankrupt) and the auction company wanted to sell it as one lot of about 125 tons and it was a mixture of 2 x2 angle up to 18 inch wide flange beam from 20 ft to 40 ft length. Some steel supplier bought it all.  There was  about any size steel structural,square.round tubing and plate you could think of .  I didnt need 125 ton and didnt have a way to move it. richey   sweet home alabama
Reply:I have a small fab shop with 6 employees.   My steel bill last month was $47,000 give or take a couple grandVantage 500's LN-25's, VI-400's, cobramatics, Miller migs, synch 350 LX, Powcon inverters, XMT's, 250 Ton Acurrpress 12' brake, 1/4" 10' Atlantic shear,Koikie plasma table W/ esab plasmas. marvel & hyd-mech saws, pirrana & metal muncher punches.
Reply:Just for fun, we were comparing the cost of fabricating pipe coral vs. buying from Billet Barn and Corral, on of the local dealers and it turned out we'd be saving about $10 on a 12 or a 24' panel of 3-rail, 1-7/8" round so we decided I'd stick to the repair side of fixing ours when they broke. Quite pricey that metal stuff!
Reply:Been paying about .63  /  lb around here.  .03 / lb if I go over about 600 lbs.  This was 20 footers of flat bar and angle.-AaronJet 17.5" Drill Press1942 South Bend 16x84 Lathe1980s Miller 320A / BP --- 2013 Power Mig 2562012 Jet 7x12 Horizontal BandsawVictor O/A Setup
Reply:I don't know what the costs are really by me. I just pick up what I need and then pass on the price to the customer, whatever it is, it is.I do know I just picked up a stick of 1 5/8 x .065" tube and it cost me $75.
Reply:Welding rods are steadily climbing higher too..... If possible on small projects I try to buy the drop steel..... if you can find what you need you save some money.Paying the cost to be the boss!!!
Reply:I just bought 303 pounds of angle and channel from www.magnasteel.com for $264 plus tax no cuts and no delivery. That's 0.87/pound but considering I live in one of the most expensive states in the country it's not bad. I have dealt with Logan Steel in Meriden but I have found their prices to be very erratic at best. Price often depends on who you talk to and their "bargain barn" is a dollar a pound for steel, three dollars a pound for aluminum. Not a bargain by any stretch of the imagination.Magna Steel in Beacon Falls is my new go to place for steel. Their prices are comparatively good and they don't rip you off. Also, I can't remember the last time I paid anybody for a cut. I understand that's not always possible but before I spend $15 a cut, I will always buy the whole piece because I know I'll use it somewhere down the road and materials generally are getting any cheaper......By the way hot rolled carbon steel plate from the steel manufacturer is running about $800US per metric tonne (2,204.6 pounds) in North America.Last edited by Fab54; 08-12-2013 at 12:45 PM.Millermatic 211Lincoln Precision TIG 225Century 250 MIGLincoln 225 AC Box (sold)I support my local welding store (Amazon, McMasterCarr, Cyberweld, EBay).
Reply:Originally Posted by KingcreekIllinois, Kewanee area
Reply:Yeah I've noticed the price of steel has steadily gone up like most commodities.  One of my business ventures, I buy raw zinc, cadmium, nickel and chrome alloy.  Out of those four metals, zinc has sky rocketed when it shouldn't have.  It's plentiful, relatively easy to mine, yet the price went through the roof.  The demand for it has gone up in Asia And that affects the price we pay for it here in the U.S. Steel demand and prices seem to be the same as zinc.   However with steel, North America doesn't produce it in quantity like they used to.  The demand for steel has gone up 6x's the rate it did just 10 years ago.  Ever look at the price of a piece of schedule 40 or 80  2" pipe at a big box store?  It's incredible how sharp the price has gone up over the past couple of years.Lincoln Power Mig 216Lincoln AC/DC-225/125Miller  625 X-Treme PlasmaMiller 211 Forney 95FI-A 301HF 91110Victor Journeyman O/PMilwaukee DaytonMakita  Baileigh NRA Life Member
Reply:Originally Posted by Matt_MaguireWelcome aboard, did you buy in Galva or the cities?Matt
Reply:Plate around. 45 lb  beams. 55 angle and channel. 80  weld mat 4.0 / lb 7/8 bolts 3.00 each plate girder bridges 1.50 / lb.
Reply:I get rems for .70/lb at Everett Steel in Woodinville WA... keep an eye out for normally expensive stuff like seamless tubing that ends up in the rems bin.  I picked up a roughly foot-long piece of 4" x 4" x 1/2" angle for under five bucks to practice running beads in recently, lots of good deals to be had on scrap, rems, craigslist as well.Lincoln AC-225 TombstoneAirco 800 Torch w/ 2-stage regs
Reply:Farm Auctions and Dumpster diving!I make the Customers buy the Steel for Fab projects as that cuts down on the deadbeats.Last time I bought steel was some 4' by 4' 1/4" sheets at 0.30 cents a pound out of a local fabricators dumpster.
Reply:Originally Posted by KingcreekGood catch. Galva.
Reply:Does anyone have an idea of how much more Stainless Steel is over regular steel?  I am planning out a Kinetic Sculpture art project that will live outside and be driven by wind.  The finish I want would require everything to be clear coated if I used regular steel.  But even that would not last many years and would have to be clear coated periodically.Ideally, I would use Stainless steel but there are more expenses such as Tri-mix gas and stainless MIG wire plus the extra cost of Stainless.  Does anyone have an approximation of the cost difference of the steel?  I will be using mostly 11 and 18 gauge sheet steel.  Is stainless going significantly more costly?johnnyPLincoln Power Mig 256Lincoln 140 HDMiller Maxstar 150 STLHypertherm Powermax 45
Reply:Originally Posted by johnnyP  Is stainless going significantly more costly?