On 12 May 2005 20:09:02 GMT, Ignoramus18353
wrote:

So, where do people buy round metal stock for turning? I have a few
odds and ends at home, but not much. As always, I do not want to spend
a fortune.

i

From time-to-tiome I stop by Pacific Steel and Recycling. They have a
pile of short ends that they sell for reduced price.

Over in their metal salvage area the boys take good care of me.
Whenever any of the local fabricators clean house they sell perfectly
good virgin aluminum "short" ends that are sometimes five or six feet
long. The crew at Pacific sets this stuff to one side for me.

They let me scrounge through their boxes of brass and bronze salvage.
I've gotten a wide assortment of shapes, some of it new. One day I
scored on 1/4" X 6" brass bar stock. They'd chopped it up in lengths
to fit their tri-wall boxes. I wish now that I'd bought it all.

Another amazing find was unused 5" copper pipe with quarter-inch wall
thickness. Again, they'd chopped it up with a Sawzall to fit in the
boxes. Someday, if I ever get around to building a model boiler...

Out in the iron piles I look for truck axles. They're harder than
heck, so I burn them to convenient lengths and throw them into the
wood stove when I've got a good, thick bed of hot coals in there. I
let the fire go out, allowing a nice, slow cooldown of the axle stock.
After the anealing it machines very well.

Sometimes, I'll stop by at the local big truck overhaul shop.
Generally, they'll give me anything I find in their scrap bin. I've
found some very nice pieces of brass out there. Maybe a truck
mechanic could set me straight on this, but I *think* they come from a
two-speed differential overhaul.

Another of my favorite stops is a fabricating shop. After they got a
computer-controlled plasma cutter they've started generating tons of
good stuff.

Use your imagination. It's out there at a reasonable price.

Orrin