Nick Owen Posted April 30, 2018 Share Posted April 30, 2018 Evening ladies and gents, I was hoping that some of you might let me into your deepest secrets and let me know where you source your steel from? I've been back through some old forum posts but it seems a lot of the links are now dead or not as relevant as they once might have been. The 'high grade steel' ebay/website seems like easy access to 1055 and 1095 but was hoping someone might know cheaper sources? On a side note are there any great places to scrounge steel from as well? I'm guessing the scrap yard is a pretty honest bet but maybe there are some other good sources that I'm ignorant of? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dickb Posted April 30, 2018 Share Posted April 30, 2018 You are in luck, the scrounge steel season is just starting, at least here on this side of the pond. It's a summer time event and we call it "Garage Sale Time" . People review the contents of their Garage, Basement, Attic, Storage sheds... and conduct a "Garage Sale" selling the items they have been wanting to get rid of for years . As such they do not command high prices. A couple of days ago I found a digging bar (not sure what you call it over there) . Looks like a grossly over grown crow bar and weight about 20 to 25 pounds for two dollars. They are usually made of 1045 or similar steel. Lots of old tools that can be reforged into something useful. New stock, mostly mild steel can be found at any shop that makes gates and fences. They sometines have leftovers and/short length pieces that they can't use but are fine for you. A lot of this not too useful for them. A major use of scrap steel used to be for export to China and it brought a good price, but that market has gone away and the price for scrap steel has dropped to historic lows. Machine shops frequently have "drops" that can be had for the asking. Just ask nicely and if possible show them a couple of samples of projects (hand forged tongs, hooks, door knockers, etc etc. That usually gets a great reception. I recently needed a quench tank and went to a company that services fire extinguishers. I showed a couple of samples and had a pleasant convrsation about blacksmithing and was given a couple of expired fire extinguishers. After cutting the tops off they wee perfect. Good luck hunting. Post script . The cost of delivery from ebay or mail order will eat you up. Much less if you can source it local. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted April 30, 2018 Share Posted April 30, 2018 Skip Diving? I'd really suggest you talk with local blacksmiths. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustAnotherViking Posted April 30, 2018 Share Posted April 30, 2018 Several online retailers for mild steel such as themetalstore, metals4u, etc in the UK do custom lengths/quantities. For speciality/high carbon steel, you're likely stuck with ebay. Have a search on Google for local steelholders and give them a call for prices if you have something in mind. 12mm Square is a fairly universal size for starter projects, and a 7m length typically goes for around a tenner from a local supplier if you go and pick it up (bring a hacksaw or ask them to cut it for you) For smaller quantities, have a look around your local area next time you're driving around and keep an eye out for small engineering firms. Call in and have a chat. They likely have a load of offcuts you can possibly take your pick from... Just be sure to drop back with a thank you crate of beer and custom made bottle opener, and you'll be set with a cheap/free supply of material. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Owen Posted April 30, 2018 Author Share Posted April 30, 2018 Some great ideas, thanks guys! There is a local metal working place that a work buddy used to work with so might pop in there but I think they mainly deal with gates/fences so probably only mild steel available. Garage sales aren't really much of a thing over here. We do have car boot sales but never really sure what to buy that would be good. I imagine that tools probably have some good steel in and they are often plentiful. Not likely that I'll be able to whip out an angle grinder and do a quick spark test in the local school field I guess I was just a little disappointed at the price of flat stock 1055/1095 for blades. £30 for 600mm seems pretty steep, especially if you're going to mess it up in the early stages Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted April 30, 2018 Share Posted April 30, 2018 So start with car springs, coil and leaf, should be able to source them locally and get a lot of experience working hardenable materials with them *cheap*. Over here I pick up springs at the scrapyard for 20 cents a pound and will pick up extra to give away to students want to try out bladesmithing. If you are in a rural area; find where they work on agricultural equipment; much of the old stuff used good high carbon steel. Unfortunately a lot of the new stuff uses the boron steels that are not "blade-worthy". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Owen Posted April 30, 2018 Author Share Posted April 30, 2018 That's my thinking. Will hit the local scrap dealers and see how open they are to me poking my nose in and pulling out leaf/coils. I will have to watch some videos on how to remove them, I'm really not a car person If I spend a while just turning them into a stockpile of workable stock I will have something to practice against so I'm not hammering away money for other things Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the iron dwarf Posted April 30, 2018 Share Posted April 30, 2018 there will be many places local to you for mild steel, some are expensive and some cheap, some will only deal with big customers others deal with anyone. depends on what you need and in what quantities Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joel OF Posted May 1, 2018 Share Posted May 1, 2018 For mild steel from memory I think FH Brundles are the cheapest on delivery, they charge £10 for orders under £150. I would just set up an account with them & get what you want delivered. They sell in 6m and 3m lengths. If you've got a friendly steel yard or fabrication firm on your doorstep who are happy to order you in fresh bar with their next order or already have a decent selection of off cuts, then that route is worth a shout, but if you're pulling random junk out of their bin & have got to grind off welds/bend/etc so it's useful, you're just wasteing time and effort. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
basher Posted May 1, 2018 Share Posted May 1, 2018 If you are looking for carbon steel furnival steel in chesterfield phone Andy , great to deal with sells 15n20 , en42, En42J, cs80, cs90 en9 en8 and loads more. Steel is sold in industrial lengths so do not expect to get small pieces , 5m and 7m bars and 1m sheets… start to think of steel by weight, my last order cost between £2.50 and £6.50 a kilo depending on grade. generally the cost goes down dramatically as the quantity goes up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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