Steel Stockists in the South West

[WestfordForge]

Hey all SouthWest Smiths! Total newbie to smithing and the site. 

I live near Taunton, and I'm struggling to find stockists who aren't either a rip off (internet national suppliers mostly), or only want to deliver by the ton. 

All recommendations in the SW welcome, I have a van so not just looking for delivery! 

Cheers

Ross
WestfordForge

[JustAnotherViking]

Any small engineering firms local to you?

Might be worth popping in and having a chat with them, explaining what you're doing, what sort of stuff you need (always good to have a forged bottle opener or two in your pocket as an example/gift)... perhaps they have some offcuts you can have, or failing that, they'd have a good knowledge of where to buy new stock in the area.

[WestfordForge]

Great shout JustAnotherViking, there are some small->medium scale firms around which I'm sure are worth hitting up. 

Thanks for the advice, especially the bottle-opener pal grease idea!

[John B]

Hi, There are many steel stockholders/suppliers who deliver around the Taunton area, a lot will depend on the material types and sizes you require. Some have minimum quantities and delivery charges which put costs up.

If you collect from stockholders some will cut to length for you, others will just supply a stock length, usually 4 or 6metres or longer if RHS, so take something along to cut them up to fit your van, bolt croppers or a shear, or other suitable tool.

There are stockholders at Cullompton, East Coker and Yeovil as well as Radstock, and Templecombe

There are also many blacksmiths in that area that may also be able and willing to sell you small quantities.

Here at Westpoint Forge, near to Exeter, 30 minutes from Taunton by M5, our members can purchase stock if we have it, or other items you may need, if not other members may have what you require.

We have a members  day on every second Saturday in the month, anyone can come along to see what we get up to, and if we can help them. Tea, coffee and biscuits are usually on hand, and advice is free, Members can hire the use of a hearth for the day with a mentor on hand if needed.

[WestfordForge]

Hi John B - at the moment I am just looking for some mild flat, round, square and a little bit of box section really. Just some baseline materials to get me started on a range of projects.

Thanks for the tips re: locations.

I might take you up on the offer and pop down, I'm actually in Welly, so you're only 30mins from me tops. Cheers for that!

 

[John B]

Should be able to help with those bits for you. Look forward to seeing you.

[Joel OF]

On 28/03/2018 at 2:36 AM, John B said:

There are also many blacksmiths in that area that may also be able and willing to sell you small quantities.

When you're first starting out it can be a bit intimidating / embarrassing approaching a fabrication or engineering firm to sheepishly say "I just want a little bit of..." but every blacksmith has been in the position of not knowing what on earth they're doing & knows that feeling of just wanting to have a bit of a bash on whatever you can get your hands on, so approaching a local smith for their off cuts, or getting them to tag a few bits for you onto their next order may be the most appealing path for you.

If I had a local person wanting some bits of bar I'd probably just buy it for them and make them work it off doing some drilling or something.

[JHCC]

If you're just starting out, 8-10 mil square and round is great stuff for lots of beginner projects. 

Another great source of free/cheap steel is construction sites. Talk to the person in charge and ask if they have any steel scrap that you can take off their hands. A year or so ago, I got a mother lode of all manner of angle iron, tube, box section, flat bar, rebar, and other stuff I can't even remember, and even almost half a ton of galvanized plate that I couldn't use, but that got me a fair penny from the scrapyard. You may not need it now, but you have an obligation as a smith to start collecting steel that you'll find a use for some day.