I stopped by my structural steel source (Federal Pipe & Supply in
Detroit), and strolled into the steel warehouse, heading for where the
drops are stored. I like to rummage the drop area - never know what
I might find and most of the time I leave with considerably more than
I intended to buy - I see some stock and think of a future project
that I am intending to do. The material in the drop area is cheaper
by virtue of the fact that I do not have to pay a cutting charge. On
short or light weight sections, the cutting fee could exceed the
material cost.

By the time I was 50 ft into the warehouse, I was intercepted by an
employee and directed to the steel sales counter - what ever I wanted
they would write up and it would be cut to length out in the
warehouse. Turns out a "customer" sued them, apparently the customer
"hurt himself" out in the steel warehouse (but did not bother to
notify any employees).

I understand why the company has changed their policy but for me it
sucks. I ended up buying a 3 ft piece of 3x3x3/16 angle for $17 (I
needed 30 inches but had to buy in foot increments). I watched the
employee take a piece of stock about 40 to 44 inches long and lop it
off to 3 ft. I would have gladly bought the longer piece and had a
useful drop left over for some other furture and it still would have
been cheaper than the cutting charge.

I still know of a non-ferrous metals recycling yard near me that has a
room specifically for aluminum drops, sold by the pound. I just
don't have any idea where to find the same now in a steel source - it
takes time to go from one supplier to the next to see what their
policies/proceedures are.

wrote in message
...

By the time I was 50 ft into the warehouse, I was intercepted by an
employee and directed to the steel sales counter - what ever I wanted
they would write up and it would be cut to length out in the
warehouse. Turns out a "customer" sued them, apparently the customer
"hurt himself" out in the steel warehouse (but did not bother to
notify any employees).

Or it could be the lie that management told them to tell so they can charge
full price plus a cutting charge for drops. One local metal shop I know of
will let you pick through drops, and still charge you the full price like
they custom cut it from a full length piece of stock.

Bob La Londe wrote:
wrote in message
...

By the time I was 50 ft into the warehouse, I was intercepted by an
employee and directed to the steel sales counter - what ever I wanted
they would write up and it would be cut to length out in the
warehouse. Turns out a "customer" sued them, apparently the customer
"hurt himself" out in the steel warehouse (but did not bother to
notify any employees).

Or it could be the lie that management told them to tell so they can charge
full price plus a cutting charge for drops. One local metal shop I know of
will let you pick through drops, and still charge you the full price like
they custom cut it from a full length piece of stock.

did they charge a cutting fee on the scraps too?

On Sun, 15 Nov 2009 18:25:24 -0800 (PST), wrote:

I stopped by my structural steel source (Federal Pipe & Supply in
Detroit), and strolled into the steel warehouse, heading for where the
drops are stored. I like to rummage the drop area - never know what
I might find and most of the time I leave with considerably more than
I intended to buy - I see some stock and think of a future project
that I am intending to do. The material in the drop area is cheaper
by virtue of the fact that I do not have to pay a cutting charge. On
short or light weight sections, the cutting fee could exceed the
material cost.

By the time I was 50 ft into the warehouse, I was intercepted by an
employee and directed to the steel sales counter - what ever I wanted
they would write up and it would be cut to length out in the
warehouse. Turns out a "customer" sued them, apparently the customer
"hurt himself" out in the steel warehouse (but did not bother to
notify any employees).

I understand why the company has changed their policy but for me it
sucks. I ended up buying a 3 ft piece of 3x3x3/16 angle for $17 (I
needed 30 inches but had to buy in foot increments). I watched the
employee take a piece of stock about 40 to 44 inches long and lop it
off to 3 ft. I would have gladly bought the longer piece and had a
useful drop left over for some other furture and it still would have
been cheaper than the cutting charge.

I still know of a non-ferrous metals recycling yard near me that has a
room specifically for aluminum drops, sold by the pound. I just
don't have any idea where to find the same now in a steel source - it
takes time to go from one supplier to the next to see what their
policies/proceedures are.

That's too bad. Damn lawyers and the greedy *******s that employ
them.

Years ago the yards in Mnpls allowed customers to use the O/A rigs
that were on carts out in the yard. Burn off what you want, take it to
the scale, get a chit, thence to the office.

They'll still do one cut per stock piece gratis, as in cut 20' pieces
in two to make transport with a pickup more feasible.

On Sun, 15 Nov 2009 18:25:24 -0800 (PST), wrote:


I understand why the company has changed their policy but for me it
sucks. I ended up buying a 3 ft piece of 3x3x3/16 angle for $17 (I
needed 30 inches but had to buy in foot increments). I watched the
employee take a piece of stock about 40 to 44 inches long and lop it
off to 3 ft. I would have gladly bought the longer piece and had a
useful drop left over for some other furture and it still would have
been cheaper than the cutting charge.


Most guys I deal with will sell drops at full price, you do save the
cutting charge though.

Some of them are $10.00 for a cut.

Thank You,
Randy

Remove 333 from email address to reply.

wrote:

I still know of a non-ferrous metals recycling yard near me that has a
room specifically for aluminum drops, sold by the pound. I just
don't have any idea where to find the same now in a steel source - it
takes time to go from one supplier to the next to see what their
policies/proceedures are.

Well, in 5 years, you will have to order your materials from China!
There's not going to be much stock of anything left in the US.
At least you can still find material where you don't have to freight
it in from overseas.

Jon

"Jon Elson" wrote in message
...
wrote:

I still know of a non-ferrous metals recycling yard near me that has a
room specifically for aluminum drops, sold by the pound. I just
don't have any idea where to find the same now in a steel source - it
takes time to go from one supplier to the next to see what their
policies/proceedures are.

Well, in 5 years, you will have to order your materials from China!
There's not going to be much stock of anything left in the US.
At least you can still find material where you don't have to freight
it in from overseas.

Jon

unlikely - every major city I've been in has multiple suppliers of metal,
and we still use metal - it won't be "order from china" in any of our
lifetimes.

"Cydrome Leader" wrote in message
...
Bob La Londe wrote:
wrote in message
...

By the time I was 50 ft into the warehouse, I was intercepted by an
employee and directed to the steel sales counter - what ever I wanted
they would write up and it would be cut to length out in the
warehouse. Turns out a "customer" sued them, apparently the customer
"hurt himself" out in the steel warehouse (but did not bother to
notify any employees).

Or it could be the lie that management told them to tell so they can
charge
full price plus a cutting charge for drops. One local metal shop I know
of
will let you pick through drops, and still charge you the full price like
they custom cut it from a full length piece of stock.

did they charge a cutting fee on the scraps too?

I don't recall. It was just really expensive. I have found for more than
one or two small pieces it can be cheaper to order them on-line, and for
bigger orders my best price including freight was by truck line from the
whole other side of the country, and I don't mean by a couple dollars. For
a couple dollars I would have bought it locally every time. I own a local
business myself.

Bob La Londe wrote:
wrote in message
...

By the time I was 50 ft into the warehouse, I was intercepted by an
employee and directed to the steel sales counter - what ever I wanted
they would write up and it would be cut to length out in the
warehouse. Turns out a "customer" sued them, apparently the customer
"hurt himself" out in the steel warehouse (but did not bother to
notify any employees).

Or it could be the lie that management told them to tell so they can
charge full price plus a cutting charge for drops. One local metal shop
I know of will let you pick through drops, and still charge you the full
price like they custom cut it from a full length piece of stock.

That's my guess. My local metal store doesn't
have any such thing as drops. Everything goes
back on the shelf and you get charged full-pop
for it.

My steel supplier used to charge for drops by the lb. I would pick
out my treasures, carry them all to the scale and get them weighed and
then take the slip in to the steel office. Early last year as steel
was beginning the price spike, they documented every piece and length
and charged by the item - not nearly as good of a deal for me but
still better than the new policy of paying for a cut fee every time.

On Thu, 19 Nov 2009 03:51:34 -0800 (PST), wrote:

My steel supplier used to charge for drops by the lb. I would pick
out my treasures, carry them all to the scale and get them weighed and
then take the slip in to the steel office. Early last year as steel
was beginning the price spike, they documented every piece and length
and charged by the item - not nearly as good of a deal for me but
still better than the new policy of paying for a cut fee every time.


So they are charging twice for the same cut. Is that a job for the Better
Business Bureau?


Mark Rand
RTFM

On Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:45:41 +0000, the infamous Mark Rand
scrawled the following:

On Thu, 19 Nov 2009 03:51:34 -0800 (PST), wrote:

My steel supplier used to charge for drops by the lb. I would pick
out my treasures, carry them all to the scale and get them weighed and
then take the slip in to the steel office. Early last year as steel
was beginning the price spike, they documented every piece and length
and charged by the item - not nearly as good of a deal for me but
still better than the new policy of paying for a cut fee every time.


So they are charging twice for the same cut. Is that a job for the Better
Business Bureau?

The BBB in the USA is nothing but a marketing agency. It has no teeth
whatsoever other than posting, on its own website, that some business
jerk is actually being a jerk. For that, they want about $500/year.

Pass.

--
When we are planning for posterity,
we ought to remember that virtue is not hereditary.
-- Thomas Paine

On Fri, 20 Nov 2009 11:43:54 -0800, Larry Jaques
wrote:

On Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:45:41 +0000, the infamous Mark Rand
scrawled the following:

On Thu, 19 Nov 2009 03:51:34 -0800 (PST), wrote:

My steel supplier used to charge for drops by the lb. I would pick
out my treasures, carry them all to the scale and get them weighed and
then take the slip in to the steel office. Early last year as steel
was beginning the price spike, they documented every piece and length
and charged by the item - not nearly as good of a deal for me but
still better than the new policy of paying for a cut fee every time.


So they are charging twice for the same cut. Is that a job for the Better
Business Bureau?

The BBB in the USA is nothing but a marketing agency. It has no teeth
whatsoever other than posting, on its own website, that some business
jerk is actually being a jerk. For that, they want about $500/year.

Pass.


You are so royally screwed. You need some real socialism BEG.


Mark Rand (not really trolling... much)
RTFM

On Sat, 21 Nov 2009 01:15:49 +0000, the infamous Mark Rand
scrawled the following:

On Fri, 20 Nov 2009 11:43:54 -0800, Larry Jaques
wrote:

On Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:45:41 +0000, the infamous Mark Rand
scrawled the following:

On Thu, 19 Nov 2009 03:51:34 -0800 (PST), wrote:

My steel supplier used to charge for drops by the lb. I would pick
out my treasures, carry them all to the scale and get them weighed and
then take the slip in to the steel office. Early last year as steel
was beginning the price spike, they documented every piece and length
and charged by the item - not nearly as good of a deal for me but
still better than the new policy of paying for a cut fee every time.


So they are charging twice for the same cut. Is that a job for the Better
Business Bureau?

The BBB in the USA is nothing but a marketing agency. It has no teeth
whatsoever other than posting, on its own website, that some business
jerk is actually being a jerk. For that, they want about $500/year.

Pass.


You are so royally screwed. You need some real socialism BEG.

No, you're royally screwed. We're liberal-governmentally screwed.


Mark Rand (not really trolling... much)

Suuuuuure.

--
When we are planning for posterity,
we ought to remember that virtue is not hereditary.
-- Thomas Paine