[jakeru]

holy crap where are you from? im in az and metal is far cheaper than that...

$1.50lb for aluminum
$0.50lb for steels

5356 1/16 and 3/32 filler by the 5lb box is around $27

gas, well ok i go through alot of gas, but a 275 tank costs me $38 delivered, i believe that without my company discount its around $54 per tank if you pick up/drop off

I am in greater seattle area, which may be more expensive than arizona (certainly price of land/rent is much higher...) but maybe not, as there is a lot of industry around here, so probably a lot of demand for metals and supplies, so probably many "botique/specialty" suppliers I just haven't checked out yet.

I actually paid only $5 for my last 1 lb MIG spool of 4043 from my LWS, so I am pretty pleased about that, to be honest it was half of what I was expecting to pay. I will be definitely be returning there for more aluminum filler rod. I am just a small time hobbiest fabricator, not a large account.

As for metals price... at the onlinemetals place I was thinking of, (which is local to me), in their "scrap" corner, I think it was only the copper in that was "officially" $4/lb. The aluminum and stainless I think were supposed to be $3/lb, steel $2/lb. But they were actually pretty "loose" with the weighing, I think I had a whole variety of various scrap in my hands of various types (aluminum and copper mostly) and the guy working there just looked at it (didn't even put it on the scale) and said something like "how about $5?" I picked up some copper chiller blocks / stock, aluminum angle, various pieces of aluminum tubing, and a couple pieces of aluminum angle. Let me tell you, I have really gotten my $5 worth from that purchase.

I wish I could find $1.50/lb for fresh, unused, graded aluminum stock... Isn't that below what the price recyclers would pay to buy the materials for though? That wouldn't make sense, to be able to buy virgin materials somewhere for so cheap, and resell to a scrapper for a profit. Maybe I am off as to what the prices for scrap metals are though.

But before I knew about the "scrap" area of the place though, I bought some 5052 aluminum sheet from them through their online "retail storefront", .065" thick, 1'x4' piece for about $18 after tax (locally picked up at least, so no shipping tacked on), which I think at .88lbs/ square foot for the material, wold work out to around $5/lb I think:
http://www.onlinemetals.com/merchant.cf ... 0&top_cat=
I thought that was a *bit* spendy. So for me, $2/lb (or even less) if I could find one or more pieces of scrap in the scrap area (probably could have... as I cut the large sheet into mostly little pieces to make an intercooler end tank), would have probably cut my costs for those materials into about a third.

And I have even bought in the past (actually still do occasionally, when I don't feel like driving across down, for small items) from the local hardware stores, such as ace, lowes, or home depot. I recently paid $.88 for 1" long piece of ~3/8" OD, 1/16" wall thickness aluminum tubing from them. Actually, it was in their hardware bins, marketed as an "aluminum spacer" for $.88. You can see that $.88 piece welded into the middle of my boost tube (pictured below.)
If I found it in the online metals scrap bin, I would probably know what grade of aluminum it was, and $.88 would probably buy me a few feet of it.

OK that's probably an absurd example, but any metal stock from the hardware section of home depot, lowes, etc are comparatively MUCH more expensive than even onlinemetals "full retail" locally picked up price. I at least have been learning where less expensive options are!

From the cheaper gas supplier in town, Argon costs me about $45'ish (after all taxes and fees) for an 80 cf owner owned, swapped exchanged I think, and $50-$55'ish for a 150 cf owner owned, swapped/exchanged. But there are only about 3 different companies (although many retail outlets) selling gas in the area.

[gurew]

dang man remind me never to move there because i couldnt afford to weld anymore.....i get the BIG bottles for $38 delivered to my shop, i usually get 2-3 bottles a week sometimes i wont get any bottles for weeks

[tigger]

well i can certainly remind you not to live in the UK if you want to weld! I pay approx £60 per bottle of gas ( cant remember what size it is, but the bottle is about 3 and a half foot tall ) and i have to pay £7 a month for the privillage of having their bottle to keep it in!! when its done i just take it back and get a full one. I would buy myself a bottle and get it filled but i dont know where i would take it. but i think i better find out because its costing me a fortune!

[Burf86]

Yo tigger blud

I'm in the UK as well and I'm wanting to do pretty much the same as you.
Iv wanted to be a welder for many years but ended up going to Uni to study Engineering. After I left I decided I didn't want to work in a design office and decided to follow the welding route. Iv been working in a sheet metal fab shop for about 7 months now. I got myself onto a tig welding course at a local college and started dropping CV's into every company on any industrial sight I could find. The company I'm at now offered me a job as a trainee. I'm 24 and getting £6 per hour... but apart from all the scurfing I love it. Just gonna stay there for a year to build up my experience and try find better jobs after that.
I want to start my own company too, making bike frames. Looking into buying a 200a ac/dc machine from R-Tech. (If you haven't seen them check out http://www.r-techwelding.co.uk/welding_ ... Tig_Welder).

Good luck with getting things set up.

[jakeru]

gurew - I am doing a little aluminum fab project for someone on the side, so have an opportunity to shop around with some new supplier in my area. I have now checked a total of four local metal suppliers.

Best price I found on a .063" 5052 sheet was $52 for a 3x8 sheet. That was from alaskan copper and brass. http://www.alaskancopper.com/ That sheet would weigh 21 lbs, so would be $2.47 / lb (plus 9% tax.) However, this place also has a $100 minimum order, so I won't be buying there, don't need that much. That is a great price for whole sheets though. A couple other places I checked prices on are selling sheets of the same grade and thickness, for the same price, but for a smaller 4'x4' sheet. One sold a 4 x 8 sheet for $85.

I'll be sticking with online metals though (place I bought from in the past), even though it's a little pricier per pound, because they can shear me just the pieces I need for about $75. I don't have good cutting tools, and this will really make the job easier not needing to mess with cutting the pieces. I can also beef up the thickness in just the pieces I need with little extra cost and the customer liked that idea.

Alaskan copper has a "cash only" shop in Seattle, which might have even lower per pound prices on odds and ends, which I will have to check sometime.

This is my first "professional", fab from customer supplied specs project. I've already done some welding work professionally. Repaired someones radio controlled airplane exhaust pipes, which were made out of aluminum. (Not your average R/C airplane... a 40 lb monster!) Turned out really well; customer wants to bring me to their booth at a trade show next year to repair other people's broken mufflers!

[tigger]

yo BURF86 blud!, sounds like youve got your foot well and truly in the door my friend. i used to work in a book making factory operating a folding machine before i became an electrician and i left that job cuz i just didnt like being kooped up in there all day, so i dont think i would want to work as a batch welder just putting together brackets all day- i work in industrial factories and ive seen it first hand, it seems that most people are not qualified but doing the same welding as a qualified guy- you just have to pass a test set by the boss.. But having your own firm doing somthing different most days and sometimes going out on site would be ideal! I have come to the decision that im not going to attend a tig course- i asked a coded welder from one of the firms i visit to come to my workshop and give me some pointers. to cut a long story short he said that he couldnt fault my welding! hes a proper old skool stickler and he couldnt find anything wrong with my technique! so a combination of good advice from here and other welders i know+ lots of practice has turned me into a sound welder, i just want to know more about different metals which i dont think will be covered in a tig course- just need more expeience. I just looked at that welder and wow that is cheap! i like the look of the 160A AC/DC the most cuz it looks like it has more controls but as ive never heard of that company before, i wouldnt be able to vouch for it. all i will say is, you usually get what you pay for and that much welder for so little money is suspect, but who am i to say.. hope you land the type of job that suits you mate. I however, am gona carry on with the electrical trade to get some more money in and then think about making some money from this welding lark in the evenings and weekends and see where it takes me. Where abouts in the UK are you? anywhere near Wiltshire??