Buying material

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I have bought steel a few times from a local steel company. I'm not sure that they even specialize in selling raw material, but they do specialize in building and what not. I have no idea if the price I get from them is good or not. Does anybody have any suggestions for the hobby weekend warrior about buying material? (besides the 3 foot sticks at Lowes/Home Cheapo) I'm thinking about building a 5x10 ramp trailer. I'm thinking about using a trailer jack to raise and lower the ramp. The tongue would hinge underneath close or at the axle, so the rear of the trailer lowers to the ground. And then crank the jack to bring it back down/up and pin it or use no jack at all. I just thought the idea of the jack would make it easier to use and keep it from see-sawing while loading whatever. Thanks.Last edited by Home Wood; 09-23-2012 at 12:18 PM.
Reply:I asked around and called around various scrap yards.  (Google scrap yard, salvage, and related keywords, on google maps).  Most places, like auto scrapyards, won't let people come in and look.  There are some big places that really cater to metal needs, but I haven't been to those because they were out of my way.  I found a couple of small places that said I could come in and browse.  One wanted 50 cents a pound, and was too dangerous to move about, and didn't have much because of the way they process their scrap.  Another charges me 30 cents a pound, and is a blast because there are a wide variety of piles of stuff to examine, but they aren't in the biz to let people scrounge really, they mostly are just recycling.  Still, I find things, like good angle iron, 1/2 inch plate, and other things.  Good for the hobbyist, takes many trips to find what you want based on what people have been bringing into the scrapyard.Good luck.  Hit the phone with google maps in front of you, you'll find some place eventually.  It's a LOT cheaper than the alternatives.  (At $0.30/lb anyway).Careful: easy to get cut or smashed in these places.
Reply:The first thing you should do is edit your profile (User CP) on this forum to show us where you are located. Someone here is likely to be near you that will post where they buy their metal. We buy both new and used mostly from metal salvage yards near us that sell both. They set aside salvage metal stock that looks like it may be easy to re-sell (common sizes of flat, angle, and partial sheets). They don't always have all sizes of used material in stock and it may have holes and blemishes, but will be a significantly lower price if it suits your needs. They will cut it to size for you, but you will have to buy the whole piece by the pound. They won't let you look around in the piles of scrap, but if you see something that you want that is on the outside of a pile they will get it for you and charge by the pound. There is another source nearby that will cut new stock to your order and charge by the pound and by the cut. They are more expensive than the salvage yards charge for new, but you can get exactly what you need with no waste. Depending on the need this sometimes can be the better source. We use very little expanded metal, so usually buy only what we need from them, instead  of keeping partial sheets on hand here.CharleyMiller MM252Miller Bobcat 225NTMiller DialArc HF / DIY Cooler2 Victor O/A TorchsetsMilwaukee 8" Metal SawMilwaukee Dry Cut "Chop" Saw 5 Ton Wallace Gantry Various Grinders, Benders, etc.