RoyJ wrote:
I got a request for a couple thousand plant stakes this afternoon.

(...)

Way Out West we have PDM. These guys are great!
http://www.pdmsteel.com/index.html

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:
http://www.pdmsteel.com/PDF/pdm_cat2006c.pdf

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


--Winston