online metals is awesome for small cuts, prototype stuff, ect. they're the only place I know that you can get a 2" section of 6" round stock without having to buy a foot.
they have a good selection of oddball stuff, too. titanium, ect.
their discounts for the slightly-less-than-a-foot pieces are nice, too. I usually grab a piece of copper or 1" square or 1x2" rectangle stock for chill bars whenever I need or order something.
they're owned by thyssen krupp, hence the better-than-average pricing.
So guys, how do you go about finding a local place that will sell hobby-shop quantities to walk in customers? All I can find in my yellow pages are industrial/structural type places that will design a building for you and then come out and put it together. Is there some secret codeword I don't know about, or am I in one of those places with the piped in sunshine?