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IndustryArena Forum > Community Club House > International / Regional Forums > Australia, New Zealand Club House > Where to get Aluminium,. 6061, 7075 and other machinable alloys in Aus?
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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Feb 2015
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    6

    Where to get Aluminium,. 6061, 7075 and other machinable alloys in Aus?

    Hi Folks,
    I'm in Perth. I know this has been asked before but the threads I have seen so far seem old. I am wondering where others are getting machinable aluminum in small quantities. Thus far Capral seems to only have 6060 except for the occasional 6061 or other more machine friendly alloy. I have on occasion bought small 6061 plates from the US but it seems a bit crazy. Surely there are places in Australia that source small quantities of machinable Aluminum alloys? Usually I am after small quantities of bar or plate(3mm to 10mm).

    In terms of what I am using it for,.. www.gtrobotics.net should give you an idea of what I am doing and working on. Hopefully one day I will get to the point of commercial feasibility but still a bit more work for now.

    Thanks

    Greg

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jun 2014
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    4

    Re: Where to get Aluminium,. 6061, 7075 and other machinable alloys in Aus?

    Quote Originally Posted by gregau View Post
    Hi Folks,
    I'm in Perth. I know this has been asked before but the threads I have seen so far seem old. I am wondering where others are getting machinable aluminum in small quantities. Thus far Capral seems to only have 6060 except for the occasional 6061 or other more machine friendly alloy. I have on occasion bought small 6061 plates from the US but it seems a bit crazy. Surely there are places in Australia that source small quantities of machinable Aluminum alloys? Usually I am after small quantities of bar or plate(3mm to 10mm).

    In terms of what I am using it for,.. www.gtrobotics.net should give you an idea of what I am doing and working on. Hopefully one day I will get to the point of commercial feasibility but still a bit more work for now.

    Thanks

    Greg
    In Queensland I get most of mine from Tritons or Metal Land. Normally your local steel merchant should be able to supply most small cuts. Do you have GJames Glass and Aluminium in Perth?

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Feb 2015
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    6

    Re: Where to get Aluminium,. 6061, 7075 and other machinable alloys in Aus?

    Thanks for the ideas.

    So far:
    Metal Land: seems everywhere except WA(Sigh) I notice they only seem to have 6060/6063 of which neither seems to be considered good for machining in what I can find. I certainly find 6060 hell as compared to 6061/7075 but I dont have experience with 6063.
    Tritons :I'm not having much luck finding who you are referring to on google. Lots of businesses with triton in the name but nothing obvious that is local for aluminium to me. Are you refering to triton boat builders?
    GJames :Best bet so far. I'm trying to contact them see what they say. Fingers crossed.

    Thanks,
    Greg

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Feb 2015
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    174

    Re: Where to get Aluminium,. 6061, 7075 and other machinable alloys in Aus?

    I use McMaster-Carr

    more specifically McMaster-Carr

    small pieces always a need

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Feb 2015
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    6

    Re: Where to get Aluminium,. 6061, 7075 and other machinable alloys in Aus?

    Thanks for pointing that out, I had never considered mcmaster as carrying such things..
    I do see they have some 6061 parts..Its a bit pricey though.
    For a 12" x 12"x1/8 6061 al sheet they are $30US.

    Similar sheets are on ebay for $10US. The only reason I'm not using the ebay ones at the moment is because their shipping to Australia is $100+
    There used to be a seller there that would send 10 sheets for $50 and that was reasonable but that seller seems to have dissipated. I notice most sellers of materials are actually US shops that are effectively using ebay for advertising. I need to find one with more reasonable shipping though.

    I wonder if anyone has found a source in china?

    How much does it typically cost you to ship to Australia?

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jun 2010
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    4252

    Re: Where to get Aluminium,. 6061, 7075 and other machinable alloys in Aus?

    Basically, the supply of almost any decent machinable Aluminium in Australia is almost hopeless.

    Capral (and others) can supply 2011 rod. That is good stuff. They can also supply bendable 5000 sheet - a pain to machine!
    Edcon can supply 2011 rod and 6082 flat strips, the latter from China. Both machine OK. Joke there: Capral bytched about Chinese dumping of 6060 etc, and won. So now the importers bring in the BETTER 6082, which Capral cannot supply - and still undercut Capral. Ha!
    Ullrich resell capral (I think).
    Airport Metals sell various exotics, but YOU PAY!

    www.fortal.biz in America can supply Fortal solid at very good prices, but you pay for the shipping. I have bought 2 boxes of bits so far, and I am very happy with it. Lovely to machine.

    Cheers
    Roger

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Feb 2015
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    6

    Re: Where to get Aluminium,. 6061, 7075 and other machinable alloys in Aus?

    >decent machinable Aluminium in Australia is almost hopeless.

    Pretty much what I had concluded. I was hoping there was just something I didn't know about. I sadly guess it reflects the dismal state of Australian industry.

    >www.fortal.biz

    Looks interesting but odds and ends seems like a bit of hit and miss, or ending up having to machine a larger block down that what is desirable.

    > Capral bytched about Chinese dumping of 6060

    I had in the past wondered if it would be a good business idea to import chinese Aluminum. They certainly sell much much cheaper than capral.

    >I notice a few sellers on aliexpress. Perhaps I will try them. They certainly are cheap, just long shipping times is a pain.


    Does that mean people here in Aus are mainly just machining 6060 and 5000 series? If so how are they doing it reliably? I find it hell, cant seem to good feed/speed combos that don't gum up bits..

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Jun 2010
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    4252

    Re: Where to get Aluminium,. 6061, 7075 and other machinable alloys in Aus?

    Looks interesting but odds and ends seems like a bit of hit and miss, or ending up having to machine a larger block down that what is desirable.
    No, that is not how it works. Yes, you can buy a 20 kg hobby box of lumps if you have nothing specific in mind, but you don't have to go that route. I bought from the spreadsheet, naming each piece that I wanted. That let me select the exact sizes I needed. I kept adding until I was just under the 20 kg limit for the standard USPS box.

    Also, I think you are ignoring the 2011 machining rod and the Edcon imported 6082 flat bar. Both are good machining metals.

    mainly just machining 6060 and 5000 series? If so how are they doing it reliably? I find it hell, cant seem to good feed/speed combos that don't gum up bits..
    That seems to be it otherwise for alloys, and yes, these alloys can gum up the cutters. However, I am having some success by combining aluminium-specific cutters, and an air blast (to prevent recutting of chps) with a very light pulsed misting of 3 parts kero to 1 part olive oil. My parts come out dry.

    Mind you, machining 5005 sheet Al is still dicey.

    Cheers
    Roger

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Feb 2011
    Posts
    91

    Re: Where to get Aluminium,. 6061, 7075 and other machinable alloys in Aus?

    What about 5083. That always cut nice with a bit of metho and is readily available. Doesn't anodize very well with the added silicon,or was it the Magnesium, comes out grey.

  10. #10
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    Jun 2010
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    4252

    Re: Where to get Aluminium,. 6061, 7075 and other machinable alloys in Aus?

    Yes, I have machined 5083 sheet. Not as bad as the chewing gum, but I still had to watch it carefully.
    OK, machinable, just.
    My 2c.

    Cheers

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Jun 2012
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    28

    Re: Where to get Aluminium,. 6061, 7075 and other machinable alloys in Aus?

    Hi Greg, have you tried this guy from Ebay Aus?
    discount.metals on eBay

    I don't know exactly what he has, just one of those on my watch list "just in case"....
    Let us know how you go, I'm just learning what's what in terms of machinability but found that a carton of beer buys lots of good scap/offcuts from your local engineering shop.

    What part of Perth are you in? I'm NoR, Wangarra has plenty of engineering businesses with thirsty workers :-)
    There are 10 types of people in the world
    Those of us who get binary, and those who don't.

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Feb 2015
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    6

    Re: Where to get Aluminium,. 6061, 7075 and other machinable alloys in Aus?

    Hi Sneaky,

    I'm NoR as well and pretty close to Wangarra. I guess the trick is finding the right businesses. Any hints? My background is electronics so I'm not really familiar with machining/mechanical industry in Perth.

    Thanks for the ebay link, i have book marked it.

    Greg

  13. #13
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    Feb 2015
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    6

    Re: Where to get Aluminium,. 6061, 7075 and other machinable alloys in Aus?

    >Yes, I have machined 5083 sheet. Not as bad as the chewing gum, but I still had to watch it carefully.

    I notice carpal has that~ about $300 for 1.2x2.4m x 3mm sheet if I recall correctly

    Masters has 60cm x 30cm x3mm sheets for ~$30 each but i suspect they might be 6060 as they aren't marked. They might be 5083 though since that seems to be common. I find it a bit hit and miss machining them but I'm certainly no expert.

    Usually I'm running 5mm single or 2 flute cutters at 1000mm/min to 2000mm/min at depths of 1 to 3mm per pass. Sometimes works out, sometimes not. HSS seems to work better than carbide(less stick?). Generally calculated from FSWizard - Free Advanced CNC Speed and Feed Calculator.

    Tried various strategies from WD40 spray to flood hocut. In the case of flood I suspect that since I am not controlling the mixture very well that might not be helping..

    Certainly in the past I found 6061 100x easier..

    How fast are you machining it?

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Jun 2010
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    4252

    Re: Where to get Aluminium,. 6061, 7075 and other machinable alloys in Aus?

    If by Masters you mean McMaster-Carr, I am afraid i regard them as a sort of toys for boys supermarket, with huge prices reflecting their stocking costs. This may be unfair, but they have always seemed very $$$$$ to me.

    Feed speeds - ah well, I have a small (but very solid) CNC machining centre which is not designed for speed. 400 mm/min or maybe 600 mm/min at 2000-2500 rpm is about where I sit. This produces a rather light chip load, so I am probably erring excessively on the side of caution. That feed seems to work on 6Al4V Ti sheet as well.
    DoC - yeah, around 1 mm, but this is often controlled a bit by the thickness of the sheet when I am machining out a stack of parts. That is, about one pass per layer.

    Caution: possibly as important as feed/speed: clamp the edges down hard when machining several layers of thin Al sheet! I usually use heavy clamp cutouts on top, just under-sized.

    As I mentioned, 3 parts kero to 1 part olive oil, pulse misting, works for me.

    Cheers
    Roger

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Jun 2012
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    28

    Re: Where to get Aluminium,. 6061, 7075 and other machinable alloys in Aus?

    Quote Originally Posted by gregau View Post
    Hi Sneaky,

    I'm NoR as well and pretty close to Wangarra. I guess the trick is finding the right businesses. Any hints? My background is electronics so I'm not really familiar with machining/mechanical industry in Perth.

    Thanks for the ebay link, i have book marked it.

    Greg
    Hi Greg, sorry for the late reply mate.

    I've had various degrees of success just "cold door knocking" likely businesses on the East side of Hartman Dve, there's about a dozen engineering businesses in there and a couple that do CNC work, it's amazing what you can get in exchange for a cold carton of ale :cheers:

    I have a stash that'll keep me busy for the next 12 months or so all for the cost of 3 cartons of beer. :banana: sorry I can't point you at any specific business, it was a while ago now and I don't recall exactly where they were, but it's not a huge area to do some drive by recon.
    There are 10 types of people in the world
    Those of us who get binary, and those who don't.

  16. #16
    Join Date
    Apr 2012
    Posts
    71

    Re: Where to get Aluminium,. 6061, 7075 and other machinable alloys in Aus?

    Here is another option to look at Obrien Aluminium in South Windsor in Sydney, When they were in Smithfield I used to get 6061 to make billet replacement GM 671 Supercharger front covers roughly 18x 9x 11.5 inches dimensionally so they do have more than just 3mm plate and round stocks they also have most of the Aerospace alloys also.
    We also used to subcontract to them making Alloy Billet O ring sealed Junction boxes for a Telstra contract that were roughly 350mm x 240mm x 140mm so they do carry larger stock sizes than many in Australia whom seem to mainly have Round Bar, Plate and Sheet and from experience mainly sheet plus architectural extrusions plus Round Bar Plate seems to be more special order for contracts in thicker sizes in Australia.

    To think we once had a great native aluminium manufacturing Industry.

    O'Brien Aluminium Pty Ltd

  17. #17
    Join Date
    Jun 2010
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    4252

    Re: Where to get Aluminium,. 6061, 7075 and other machinable alloys in Aus?

    re Discount.metals
    Just a caution. Most of what he sells is 6060T5. He probably buys it from Capral and chops it up with a cold saw.
    It will machine like damp chewing gum. Sigh. Wish it was otherwise.

    Cheers
    Rogere

  18. #18
    Join Date
    Apr 2015
    Posts
    27

    Re: Where to get Aluminium,. 6061, 7075 and other machinable alloys in Aus?

    Hey Guys,

    Old thread I know but certainly worth reigniting. I had the same issue trying to source metal. I went to the local steel suppliers and got a heap of AS3679-300 grade steel which was crap! I have since found Bohler's who sell most grades for milling. There is also Interlloy but I havent been there yet.

    Victoria

    They aren't cheap, like S1214 50x50mm 250mm long was $30 and 20x100x250 6061 was $35, but it cuts like a dream..
    and they are pretty much in every state.

    Typical german attitudes though (you need to know what your asking for rather than my approach of, I want some metal thats good for machining otherwise they look at you silly and ask what do you need it for? when you say practicing on a mill, they again look at you weird), so have a look on their site for material grades or ring and ask for a catalog (no pricing but has all the materials they sell) The Steel comes in certain sizes and the aluminium is a massive block and they just cut off whatever size you want.

  19. #19
    Join Date
    May 2015
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    1422

    Re: Where to get Aluminium,. 6061, 7075 and other machinable alloys in Aus?

    New here, just saw the thread. Worth trying Robert Cameron in Burswood, they do small quantities of all kinds of stuff. I'll ask the machinist at work tomorrow where they get their gear from, I know they do a lot of 6061 there.

  20. #20
    Join Date
    Jun 2015
    Posts
    28

    Re: Where to get Aluminium,. 6061, 7075 and other machinable alloys in Aus?

    I have a few sources for metals and extrusions, Here are a couple you might not know about
    Via E-bay
    lakeviewengineering
    williamstownmetals

    I also have a list of other business and companies for various other parts, Some are on E-bay some are direct.
    But i always try to use Australian when i can. depending on there prices.

    Linrox

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