Sources for metals?

[Roy Lindberry]

I've been thinking about making some tools such as moulding planes and a marking gauge. I'm curious if any of you have favorite sources for tool steel and brass. Is there a recommended online site, or is it probably better to simply by from a local industrial supply company?

Or is it worth it to try to salvage steel from old sawblades and such? And if so, what would be some good sources for brass?

[Johnny Kleso]

Steel is very cheap so dont waist your time with mystery steel..

Sign up for enco's mailing list and you get a free shipping code every month for orders over $50
You can also find good deals on tool steel at eBay once and awhile.

Marshall Tool Steel is highly rated and not super expensive
http://www.flat-stock.com/~store/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=T&Category_Code=PMGFS

[Ron Brese]

Roy,

Lie-Nielsen sells moulding plane iron blanks. This could really short cut your process. I believe Matt Bickford buys these for his planes.

http://www.lie-nielsen.com/catalog.php?cat=548

Ron Brese

[Matt Meiser]

Here's another source for raw materials: http://www.asapsource.com They are local to me and I've been dealing with them for about 14 years.

[Jerome Hanby]

I don't recall the name at the moment, but I've bought Brass from one of the Amazon Associates. Something like online metals. Amazon search for brass rod should turn them up.

[Mike Siemsen]

McMaster Carr is a good online source as well

[Terry Beadle]

For marking gauge projects, I recommend using the Japanese cutting blades offered by Japan Woodworker. They are about $10 each but are the best.

Next up in terms of cost though is using worn out files. Especially, the triangle ones you use up on your saw blades. They make good cutting blades and are easy to trap with a wedge in the marking gauge arm end. It just takes a bit of time to grind them into shape. Cost is very hight....hoot! Free !....sorta.

[David Weaver]

Like Ron says, LN sells tapered irons.

For a marking gauge, even a piece of old saw steel would be fine - assuming you're making a cutting gauge, and it would be quick to sharpen and easy to replace.

I've been getting steel at mcmaster carr, and have gone through a bunch of it. Mcmaster is a day from me, so if I order something, I get it the next day, and shipping is cheap. That usually makes up any difference in their cost vs. a discounter, but if I lived a few shipping zones away, the same might not be true. Mcmaster's 01 steel is starrett, at least what i've gotten.

I have cut my own irons, and I made a really ugly nasty little thing to hold the irons so that I can add some taper to them on a belt sander. It doesn't need to be super precision (none of the old irons were), just something to hold the iron against a belt sander so that you can grind enough away so that the wedge is released more easily. If you build a new and tight plane and put a straight iron in it, it can be a bear to get the wedge out without striking the finial, and I don't like that a lot.

I know it miffs larry when I say this, but i'd rather make the iron on my own for the cost of the LN irons, especially since the taper doesn't need to be precision ground - it just needs to be there.

If you don't have a belt sander, though, to do it, just buy the LN iron blanks.

I start with 1/8th O-1 and then stick it in a chunk of wood that's got a cavity routed about a 16th deep and then i tack it in place with a drop of CA in two spots. Takes about 5 minutes to put acceptable taper on the iron - just check what you're doing and make the jig a bit wider than the iron so you can't accidentally take material off diagonally (if you have the skill to sharpen an iron freehand or do anything really, with your hands, you'll have no trouble putting the taper on the iron with reasonable squareness).

[Joe O'Leary]

For metals in general, these guys are good: http://www.onlinemetals.com/

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

For small quantities, I've had decent luck buying scraps from local artisan metal shops. Kind of places that make lamps and fancy brassworks that I could never afford. They've sold me decent sized scraps of brass and bronze for about what they pay for the material, which is considerably less than I would pay online because I'm not buying in the quantities they do. Even when they've charged me more, saving on shipping makes it worth it. Of course, many times it means I need to square up the odd shaped offcut piece, but for the occasional project, it's been helpful.

Steel, (when it's not for something like a blade where you would want to be particular about what you're getting) aluminum (I use a lot of this for musician gear and stuff, obviously not tools) and round stock (of brass, steel or whatever) I usually pick up at the metal scrapyard. Unless I'm buying a fair amount or the price of metals is particularly high that day, the fellow behind the counter just eyeballs it and I throw him a couple of bucks. The scrapyard is harder when the price of metals goes up, as they turnaround things quicker so there's less to pick through. Have to be careful there, though; I'm always finding some weird aluminum extrusion or something and swearing I can find a use for it...

[ray hampton]

a good source for steel would be gun barrels if you could buy the scraps barrels

[Pat Barry]

I would check out any local machine shops, tool and die shops. They always have barrels full of offcut pieces of all different materials. Get to know someone who works there and I bet they would even set aside a pice of tool steel or stainless or brass for you. I doubt they would charge much of anything for the offcuts either because their ultimate customer already paid for the material and all the shop is going to get is a nominal reclaim value.

[george wilson]

Any off cuts(called drops) I have bought from a steel supplier in Richmond have been just as expensive as any other steel. I think the clowns expect ME to pay for the sawing they already had to do to make the drops in the first place!!!

You might do better at a machine shop. The ones around here aren't too cooperative. I couldn't even get a large local company to cut the museum a deal on the huge amounts of scrap they already had OUTSIDE in their dumpsters. And,we'd have given them better prices than the junkyard 50 miles away,where their scrap was hauled. I just don't understand business I guess.