monstermetal Posted September 14, 2010 Share Posted September 14, 2010 The supplier where I have bought my alloy and tool steel was bought out by a big world wide outfit (uddeholm bohler ) and the price of the H-13 I was buying went up over 50% The last 1" cost $91 for a 12' stick... this morning they told me it was going to be $144 a stick... That works out to $4.25/lb They are the only local place I am aware of to buy alloy and tool steel so I dont know that I really have much of a choice unless I have something shipped in... But it just seems like a lot of dough... The 1" is now a buck an inch.. Three sticks, one of 3/4, one of 1" and one 1 1/4 was $450... Anyway I just wanted some feedback.... Wondering how prices are in the rest of the world? If that is just the going rate or am I getting reamed? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JNewman Posted September 14, 2010 Share Posted September 14, 2010 I have found alloy and tool steels are really worth calling around for prices. The place that is cheap for one thing can be way more for something else or if you don't bother getting a quote. A couple of years ago I was buying $2000 worth of 4140 from EMJ (they were 50% cheaper than my local place that stocks alloy steel) and I thought I would get a little mild steel for stock. I bought one length each of some larger sizes and a couple lengths of 1x1/4 and 1/2" round. When I got the bill the mild steel seemed a little expensive, I compared it to the local place that I buy mild steel and EMJ was %50 higher. I would call Cinncinati tool steel for a price on your H-13. I just got a price from them on some W-1 they are $22US compared to $26.60Cdn (the dollar is almost par these days). Their quote said if I set up an account shipping is $20 no matter what the weight. This time I am going to go with my local supplier as he has the material in stock the job is a rush and I probably will not save much because of the customs brokerage. But next time I will probably order extra and get it from Cinncinati. I have paid $77 for the same size W1 bar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigfootnampa Posted September 14, 2010 Share Posted September 14, 2010 Larry; I have been keeping an eye on these guys on e-bay.Moses B. Glick They have 20,000 pounds of H-13 rod from .263" Diameter to .645" Diameter. Mostly 12' but maybe some shorter drops too. They are selling it at $1 per pound. Shipping usually adds about the same for small packages but much less if you order enough to freight it. Even a metal munching "Monster" like you oughta be able to make a meal or two outa that stock! It's secondary market stuff... some rusty, some missing cert nos, etc. but for us guys that are gonna cook the tar out of it anyway and mash it with big hammers it is perfectly usable stock. I haven't bought any from em yet but if you'd be so kind as to leave a little on the table I will as I get some extra available. BTW they have a lot of iron copper in numerous alloys, which I know nothing about. It seems like something interesting though... know anything about it? I have tried some Monel and that stuff is just scary hard but I wonder if this might be a softer version? It seems that the nickel in the Monel is the hardness baddy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
double_edge2 Posted September 14, 2010 Share Posted September 14, 2010 ( bohler uddeholm ) I paid in brisbane about $100 for a metre of 30.5 mm h13 (including some delivery) so about $10 au for 100 mm. it was $29 for the same in 4140. went down there and got some off cuts and it wasnt that much cheaper. they work it out in cubic for offcut aswell Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forgemaster Posted September 14, 2010 Share Posted September 14, 2010 We normally joke that the guys at Bohler wear balclavas,(cause they are robbers) We have quoted on jobs where the customer has been buying steel from bohler, and supplying it to us free issue, we then forge it and they come collect it. We were able to buy the steel from another supplier, cut it our selves, forge it, with about a 40% markup on the steel and our normal shop rates, and we were still below the price bohler was quoting for the steel only, without cutting. A fact I only found out after I put in our quote, xxxx! We normally buy from Atlas steels, I believe they are a Canadian based company, but they are in Australia in a fairly big way. Phil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JNewman Posted September 14, 2010 Share Posted September 14, 2010 We normally buy from Atlas steels, I believe they are a Canadian based company, but they are in Australia in a fairly big way. Phil Unfortunately the Canadian part of Atlas went broke several years ago. Atlas alloys steel mill was about an hour from here. About 4-5 years ago I tried for several days to get a hold of a demolition company who was knocking down the mill because they had 2 Nazels for sale. I finally got a hold of the guy and he agreed to sell me one for scrap prices, an hour later he called me back to tell me his partner had sold both hammers and a steam hammer they had all together. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattBower Posted September 14, 2010 Share Posted September 14, 2010 I can't contribute much to this conversation except to say thanks for the reassurance. I've been pricing H13 recently, and the difference in prices among suppliers (for the very small quantity I would want) are shocking. So shocking that I've been tempted to call up the cheap guys and ask them if they're sure that's really H13 they're selling. But their prices aren't too terribly much higher than the new prices you're facing. So that's kind of encouraging. (Sounds like maybe I should buy now, though, in case their price is about to go up.) If you want sticker shock, go look at what H13 sells for at McMaster-Carr and Online Metals. Obviously small quantities always cost more, but those prices seem a little out of control. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monstermetal Posted September 14, 2010 Author Share Posted September 14, 2010 Larry; I have been keeping an eye on these guys on e-bay.Moses B. Glick They have 20,000 pounds of H-13 rod from .263" Diameter to .645" Diameter. Mostly 12' but maybe some shorter drops too. They are selling it at $1 per pound. Shipping usually adds about the same for small packages but much less if you order enough to freight it. Even a metal munching "Monster" like you oughta be able to make a meal or two outa that stock! It's secondary market stuff... some rusty, some missing cert nos, etc. but for us guys that are gonna cook the tar out of it anyway and mash it with big hammers it is perfectly usable stock. I haven't bought any from em yet but if you'd be so kind as to leave a little on the table I will as I get some extra available. BTW they have a lot of iron copper in numerous alloys, which I know nothing about. It seems like something interesting though... know anything about it? I have tried some Monel and that stuff is just scary hard but I wonder if this might be a softer version? It seems that the nickel in the Monel is the hardness baddy. Thanks for the heads up on these guys..... I shot them an email about shipping a 100 lbs out to me... Unfortunately there largest size is still too small for the current need.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigfootnampa Posted September 14, 2010 Share Posted September 14, 2010 You're welcome. Sounds like they will still have some for me! It would be nicer if they had some bigger diameters but it's hard to beat the price. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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