On 4/10/2018 8:35 AM, Bill wrote:
On Mon, 9 Apr 2018 16:01:14 -0700, Bob La Londe wrote:

4140 comes Alro if the weight is enough to get good
pricing. Smaller quantity I shop around.

I have an Alro nearby, but I almost never buy from them because I'm a
hobbyist and only need small qantities. Went in there one day, and a
36" piece of O-2 was almost 3x what MSC and McMaster for the same item.
I would be willing to pay a little more to support them since they're
maintaining a presence here, and paying local taxes - just not 2x-3x
more.

Their prices used to be far more in line with other vendors but
something changed.


I only get decent pricing from them if I buy several hundred to a couple
thousand pounds. A few months ago I bought several bar length pieces of
4140HT oversize 1" x 6" x apx 12' flat bar and several pieces of 4140HT
TGP round rod in various sizes. Their price was better than any other
quote even including truck freight to my shop. Their one each price was
quite a bit higher than any other quote.

For thin pieces of tool steel Admiral steel has some some stuff listed
on their website for knife makers that is quite competitive. Nothing
thicker than 1/4" though if I recall.

Tool Steel of California has decent prices on some tool steels as well,
but I always price check. Often my discount at MSC when paired with
orders over 149/299 discounts respectively makes MSC the better choice
for small pieces. Especially since I get free freight.

I do often check McMaster-Carr, and have several pieces of O1 on the
shelf that came from them. I also check Speedy metals, Online Metals,
and a few others when shopping for small pieces.

It pays to shop. Once in a great while I even find a good deal on steel
on Ebay. Iggy sells labeled salvage there, but I don't recall his Ebay
handle.

Discount Steel is almost never the best price, and I have had issues
with order fulfillment with them. I cancelled my last order with them
because they never filled it and never let me know they had a problem.