Yep. I think if you can save your $$ and wait it out, it would be wise. That's what I am doing. I was going to build another building to match the other one, but not right now.
Whenever possible I never buy less than a full length at the metal yard nearby. The difference for less than a full length is huge! I find it's about 25% more for the other 10' if I'm only buying 10' of material. My metal supplier gives me one cut free, so I decide what length will work. Sometimes I need two 6' pieces so I have them cut it 12' and 8' rather than in half and I'm left with two 4' pieces. Last box tubing I bought was 3/16" wall 2"x2" and it was $60 for the stick, and they quoted me $45 for 12 ft.
Most steel suppliers will not eat the drop cost. They are risking not selling the drop cut at all, so you pay them their profit and a big piece of their cost on it if you leave it there. I buy most of my personal stuff from a supplier we use for the plant, and I try to exclusively buy from his drops. He only charges me the net after what he charged the first customer for the drop. Win-win.
Looking at the "s****" wood and steel here on the farm as if it's gold, lately. Starting to eyeball old structures for wood. And especially, dead farm implements for steel.
The drops are the pieces that are cut off. If you had a 10' piece and bought 6', the 4' would be the drop. Basically s**** to the vendor, since they can't sell it as a whole piece. Sometimes, you can just drop by and peruse the drop bin. Some vendors won't let you.
Steel suppliers buy rolled sections in sheet sizes or mill lengths, shipped in bulk. So a sheet might be 4'x8', or 5'x12', etc. and a tube or angle may come in 24', 40', or even 48' lengths depending on the mill that made them. If you buy these sections in total, you get the full value of the steel for that section... there is no cut fee, and no waste or "drop" at the steel supplier's site. If you have them cut out a piece, or make a length cut, you will pay a portion of the cost for the waste and for the cut, as the remaining piece is no longer marketable as a whole section from the mill. It is now a "drop". When we buy cut lengths for the company, we always buy the drops as well. That way we get the full value of the mill section, and we always end up using them for something. Not everyone does that, so our suppliers usually have a pretty good selection of drops left over from other customers or work they have done. If you are willing to go and pick through the drops yourself (and the vendor will allow it) you can usually buy these drops at a discount because the vendor has already taken a cut of his cost from the previous customer who bought from the whole length or sheet. Not all steel suppliers will do this, as it is a profit center for them. In my case we are a customer (a pretty big one) on the company side of things, so they take good care of me for my bit of home-use stuff.
Fordors Hold on it is just getting started. Gas will be 5 to 6 dollars a gallon in the next few years just like Europe. They want to make your gas powered car obsolete.
Just this morning I was at our local steel supplier and bought a bunch off the drops rack. It cost me $0.60 a pound.
you guys are doing it backwards. you should collect free steel whenever you see it, then build what you need based on the free steel you have rather than designing something and then buying the steel to fit your design. that's how I built my body rotissierie, tool stands and a bunch of other nonsense.
Just bought some 1x2 box tubing . They didn't have what I needed used so new price was $2.80 per foot. I used to buy 2x3 for 2 bucks per ft.
I was informed last month from my supplier that prices are going up 30% the said to buy ahead if I needed more. Sent from my SM-J7008 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
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