Originally Posted by
Don Clement
Steve,
I have not tried Fry Steel. IMS has a location more local to me in Riverside, Fry Steel is in Santa Fe Springs( IIR near McMaster-Carr) not as close for me. For small quantities of metal, I usually will check out IMS for rems e.g. I needed some steel angle plate to support an I-beam used with a HF trolley to hoist a 2.2K lb lathe into my shop last week and IMS had steel angle plate rems for $0.25 lb. As for larger quantities the price goes down considerably when buying in volume. When I buy in volume not only is the cost lower, IMS will cut 12ft long pieces in half for free so I can get them into my small pickup. BTW IMS now delivers to the mountains for free on orders over $250.
Don
Fry delivers too. They won't do residential delivery so I have it set up with a shop about 5 miles away for them to deliver there. IMS has a store in Irvine that works out well if I need a small piece. They have precut pieces in 12 and 36 inch lengths for $3.29 per pound. A lot of times I'll do that so I don't have to buy a full bar. Fry Steel will charge about $10.00 for a cut if I need a short piece which sometimes drives the per pound price way up. They will cut it in half for free and that works for me since my truck only has a 5 foot bed. I can get 6 feet 2 inches in if I go corner to corner.
You can buy GOOD PARTS or you can buy CHEAP PARTS, but you can't buy GOOD CHEAP PARTS.