I am looking for source(online or otherwise) small(less than 1/2") steel or
aluminum square tubing.
The smallest tubing most sources have is 1/2" which is too much for my
application.

BTW: I am in San Francisco Bay Area.

"Alex" wrote in message
.com...
I am looking for source(online or otherwise) small(less than 1/2") steel
or
aluminum square tubing.
The smallest tubing most sources have is 1/2" which is too much for my
application.

BTW: I am in San Francisco Bay Area.



Check out your local hobby stores, the ones that cater to model railroaders
and such.......Safe bet they will probly have brass, I dunno about steel or
aluminum.

Good luck.

--

SVL

"Alex" wrote in message
.com...
I am looking for source(online or otherwise) small(less than 1/2") steel
or
aluminum square tubing.
The smallest tubing most sources have is 1/2" which is too much for my
application.

BTW: I am in San Francisco Bay Area.


We used to get special brass profiles (they have square tubing too) from
these guys:

http://www.specialshapes.com/

I'm not sure where you'd find steel or aluminum square tubes that small.
PrecisionMachinist's suggestion of local hobby stores is a good one for
small quantities.

Cheers,

--Mitch

"Alex" wrote in message y.com...
I am looking for source(online or otherwise) small(less than 1/2") steel or
aluminum square tubing.
The smallest tubing most sources have is 1/2" which is too much for my
application.

BTW: I am in San Francisco Bay Area.

Why don't you hire a freelance contract designer or engineer for
your job? Probably not very expensive to do.
Just curious; you seem to be using these three newsgroups
to do simple design for you.

And you can probably use the Thomas Register or your local
business yellow pages and the phone to locate suppliers ...
--
Cliff

Why don't you hire a freelance contract designer or engineer for
your job?

Maybe he has fun doing it?
--
Cheers,

--Mitch

Cliff Huprich wrote:


Why don't you hire a freelance contract designer or engineer for
your job? Probably not very expensive to do.
Just curious; you seem to be using these three newsgroups
to do simple design for you.
..
--
Cliff

Probably come in over budget, unmanufacturable, and late.
--
Regards,
Steve Saling
aka The Garlic Dude
Gilroy, CA
The Garlic Capital of The World
http://www.pulsareng.com/

Alex wrote:

I am looking for source(online or otherwise) small(less than 1/2") steel or
aluminum square tubing.
The smallest tubing most sources have is 1/2" which is too much for my
application.

BTW: I am in San Francisco Bay Area.

Cole Fox Hardware on 4th Street, has small square tubing in Aluminum and Brass.
It is in the basement in a section where they have a bunch of small dimensioned
tubung, rod and sheet for hobby supplies.

Another source is Small Parts in Florida, (http://www.smallparts.com)
800-220-4242 I buy stainless steel tube from them regularly.

They have a very large selection of small tubing. They carry telescoping square
Aluminum from 3/32" to 1/4", and square telescoping Brass from 1/16" to 1/4" and
in thin and heavy walls from 1/4" to 3/4"
--
Abrasha
http://www.abrasha.com

You could contact some large aluminum manufacturer, they exist also smaller
but are not always in the catalogs.

What is the application?

Round tubes I have found very small in applications for the medical sector.
(But also rather expensive)
Timothy

"Alex" schreef in bericht
.com...
I am looking for source(online or otherwise) small(less than 1/2") steel
or
aluminum square tubing.
The smallest tubing most sources have is 1/2" which is too much for my
application.

BTW: I am in San Francisco Bay Area.

This is for swing arm. Very similar to the one on a desk lamp.

"Timothy" wrote in message
...
You could contact some large aluminum manufacturer, they exist also
smaller
but are not always in the catalogs.

What is the application?

Round tubes I have found very small in applications for the medical
sector.
(But also rather expensive)
Timothy

"Alex" schreef in bericht
.com...
I am looking for source(online or otherwise) small(less than 1/2") steel
or
aluminum square tubing.
The smallest tubing most sources have is 1/2" which is too much for my
application.

BTW: I am in San Francisco Bay Area.

Common guys!
I am just asking where to buy stuff.
As for hiring a designer...
I am building lot's of different prototypes to see what works the best(for
my idea) if at all.

When I am more or less happy about a particular prototype I'll hire someone
professional to work on a
final design of a product that would be mass produced(hopefully).
So far it' still far down the road.

Anyway folks who have money don't ask questions on news groups.
I wish I had money to hire someone from the start.

rec.crafts.metalworking has been a very valuable resource for me.
I am very thankful to all people who gave me advise on my (sometimes stupid)
questions.
I am also taking machining class at local community college so expect my
question to be less stupid

Thanks,
Alex




"Cliff Huprich" wrote in message
om...
"Alex" wrote in message
y.com...
I am looking for source(online or otherwise) small(less than 1/2") steel
or
aluminum square tubing.
The smallest tubing most sources have is 1/2" which is too much for my
application.

BTW: I am in San Francisco Bay Area.

Why don't you hire a freelance contract designer or engineer for
your job? Probably not very expensive to do.
Just curious; you seem to be using these three newsgroups
to do simple design for you.

And you can probably use the Thomas Register or your local
business yellow pages and the phone to locate suppliers ...
--
Cliff

"Alex" wrote in message
m...
Common guys!
I am also taking machining class at local community college so expect my
question to be less stupid

Good for you. This is a good place to learn.

Common guys!
I am just asking where to buy stuff.

Righty O. You made a legit request. Don't mind the naysayers.

your single best source for prototyping materials of all kinds is
www.mcmaster.com

"Alex" wrote in message om...

(Note: Top posted reply moved to bottom, comp.cad.solidworks added to groups)

"Cliff Huprich" wrote in message
om...
"Alex" wrote in message
y.com...
I am looking for source(online or otherwise) small(less than 1/2") steel
or
aluminum square tubing.
The smallest tubing most sources have is 1/2" which is too much for my
application.

BTW: I am in San Francisco Bay Area.

Why don't you hire a freelance contract designer or engineer for
your job? Probably not very expensive to do.
Just curious; you seem to be using these three newsgroups
to do simple design for you.

And you can probably use the Thomas Register or your local
business yellow pages and the phone to locate suppliers ...
--
Cliff

Common guys!
I am just asking where to buy stuff.
As for hiring a designer...
I am building lot's of different prototypes to see what works the best(for
my idea) if at all.

When I am more or less happy about a particular prototype I'll hire someone
professional to work on a
final design of a product that would be mass produced(hopefully).
So far it' still far down the road.

Anyway folks who have money don't ask questions on news groups.
I wish I had money to hire someone from the start.

rec.crafts.metalworking has been a very valuable resource for me.
I am very thankful to all people who gave me advise on my (sometimes stupid)
questions.
I am also taking machining class at local community college so expect my
question to be less stupid

Alex,
You have started what looks like ~22 threads in 3 crossposted
newsgroups asking about the design of your little gizmo and it's
parts and for local suppliers over the last month or so.
While many of the comments are no doubt of great value a real
designer could probably help you a lot, IMHO, and at a lesser
total cost in the end. IF you are serious about your unknown
secret project/product/design. You might even be able to find
someone local (San Francisco IIRC) that needs a bit of side work
and will sign a confidentiality agreement.

HTH
--
Cliff

Alex wrote:

This is for swing arm. Very similar to the one on a desk lamp.

For a prototype?... there's always scrounging. Discarded desklamps for example. Go for a long walk on trash night.

--


If you try to 'reply' to me without fixing the dot, your reply
will go into a 'special' mailbox reserved for spam. See below.


--
Carl West http://carl.west.home.comcast.net

change the 'DOT' to '.' to email me

As always, put on rubber gloves, wear eye protection, stand on an electrically insulating mat, dress in old clothes, avoid electrical shock by working with one hand in your pocket, and do it outdoors in a well ventilated area. Lastly, to avoid personal injury, have it done professionally.
- http://www.homemetalshopclub.org

Then why don't you just use a square bar. The extra weight of the inside
will not have this much influence as when applying big bar's vs. tubes.
(stifness to weight ratio ... ) this bar can be made at the size you want in
the material you like.

If you need a hole inside (cables or whatever) just drill (depending on the
length, but with these diameters, don't expect stifness from long tubes).

If all this doesn't work, try to change the problem otherwise: eliminate the
reason why it has to be so small, or the reason why it has to be square / a
tube .....

If you give more details on all sizes, stifness, cost ..., then we could
maybe help better.

Timothy

"Alex" schreef in bericht
m...
This is for swing arm. Very similar to the one on a desk lamp.

"Timothy" wrote in message
...
You could contact some large aluminum manufacturer, they exist also
smaller
but are not always in the catalogs.

What is the application?

Round tubes I have found very small in applications for the medical
sector.
(But also rather expensive)
Timothy

"Alex" schreef in bericht
.com...
I am looking for source(online or otherwise) small(less than 1/2")
steel
or
aluminum square tubing.
The smallest tubing most sources have is 1/2" which is too much for my
application.

BTW: I am in San Francisco Bay Area.

Try GlobalSpec
http://www.globalspec.com

You can search for components and service suppliers by user friendly
search forms. Search across many suppliers at once by specifications
or service capabilities.




"Alex" wrote in message y.com...
I am looking for source(online or otherwise) small(less than 1/2") steel or
aluminum square tubing.
The smallest tubing most sources have is 1/2" which is too much for my
application.

BTW: I am in San Francisco Bay Area.

"Alex" wrote in message
m...

When I am more or less happy about a particular prototype I'll hire
someone
professional to work on a
final design of a product that would be mass produced(hopefully).
So far it' still far down the road.

Well, we would hope you would'nt hire an un-professional designer.

You want fries with that?

Sorry, I couldnt resist. g

Bing

"Bing" wrote:

"Alex" wrote:

When I am more or less happy about a particular prototype I'll hire
someone
professional to work on a
final design of a product that would be mass produced(hopefully).
So far it' still far down the road.

Well, we would hope you would'nt hire an un-professional designer.

Hey, I resemble that comment. I'm an un-professional designer (shorts,
t-shirt, and sneakers). Or at least I was for a while. Lately I've
been dressing up and going to a "real" job every day. Wingtips even.

"bob" wrote in message
om...
"Bing" wrote:

"Alex" wrote:

When I am more or less happy about a particular prototype I'll hire
someone
professional to work on a
final design of a product that would be mass produced(hopefully).
So far it' still far down the road.

Well, we would hope you would'nt hire an un-professional designer.

Hey, I resemble that comment. I'm an un-professional designer (shorts,
t-shirt, and sneakers). Or at least I was for a while. Lately I've
been dressing up and going to a "real" job every day. Wingtips even.

Thats not un-professional, thats called casual designing.

Bing