I live in the Mpls Mn area. There are plenty of fabrication shops
around and they all have drops of some sort. I would look them up in
your area and go visit them. Sometimes, we get several thousands of
pounds free, just for going dumpster-diving and sometimes we have to
pay. I know of one fab shop that works with lots of plate up to about
1/2" and they pile drops onto pallets from time to time with a fixed
price per pallet.

Pete Stanaitis
------------------

Bernard Arnest wrote:
Hi,

I was just told from a friend in St. Louis that he can get
hot-rolled steel plate at scrap prices of $.25/lb. I also know another
who told of getting 6" steel rod stock at $.50/lb. Clearly I'm in the
wrong part of the country, or just calling all the wrong businesses!

I'm willing to drive a few hours on a one-time trip to get lots of
steel at such prices if I can find them. I'm in Cambridge, MA, but
anywhere within the NorthEast or even slightly beyond is fair game if
it means that I'll save hundreds of dollars if not close to $1000 (I'll
be on the same budget, but I'll be able to build two machines for the
price of one :-) ). It's ALMOST worth the 24-hr drive to St. Louis,
but surely there's a place closer.

Can you direct me?

I know of one local scrap dealer, but they mostly have genuine scrap,
crushed up fences and torn sheet metals; little plate stock and none of
it at all flat. My friend implied that what he found at scrap prices
was in fact usable stock for machining, not bent or rusted half
through. I'm looking for steel plate between 1/2" and 1" thick.



thanks!
-Bernard Arnest
-Bernard Arnest