I have a project I am working on that could use a fair number of small
pieces of steel sheet. Mild steel is just fine.

1/16" 400 units
3/32" 300 units
1/8" 200 units

Thickness is nominal. Closest sheet gage thickness is fine.

Length is 4.5"
Width is 1/4"

Tolerance for length and width is +/- .01" and if they were all under
0.01" it would be no big deal if somebody wanted to save a couple square
inches.

Flatness needs to be "looks pretty flat" but no tight tolerance is required.

I am not really setup to cut these myself, so I went looking for a
vendor. Midwest Steel & Aluminum seemed to be the best (only) option.
They offered the dimensions I needed (to nearest gage size) at a
reasonable price in those quantities. Cheap enough I could make money
on the project. I placed the order along with some other stock and
forgot about them. Their lead time for anything is absolutely terrible.
I knew this going in so I was prepared to wait. (I dropped Midwest in
favor of Coast for my bulk aluminum due to their attrocious lead times.)

I have one customer already champing at the bit for the end product, but
I told him it was going to be a long term solution, so he was prepared
to wait as well.

After about five weeks I contacted Midwest to ask if my order was close
to being processed. They replied they were unable provide my cut parts,
but they would refund that part of the order and ship the rest. They
didn't, and I immediately told them to just cancel the whole order. I
had to contact them twice more before they refunded any of it. They did
finally refund it today. Well, they sent me an internal credit memo, but
its not hit my account yet.

I'm still looking for a source for the pieces and I still am not setup
to cut them efficiently. A burr from a tight fitting sharp shear might
be ok, but twisted up like a potato chip would not be. I could toss
them in a tumbler and probably not add to much processing cost. Plasma
cut would probably not produce a cost effective part. To much hand work
and mill work, and I am still a one man shop. I don't know how well it
could be laser cut, but that's a lot more expensive machine, and I
expect most laser tables would eat all those narrow parts.

Yeah I know most metal vendors are loaded with orders and just don't
give a shit about a small customer who only orders about $10+ a year,
but I am still looking for a source. I might be able to job it out, but
a job shop would certainly charge as much for the parts as I would
retail the net product for.

Ah, well. The headaches of a small business.

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On Tue, 11 May 2021 10:05:52 -0700
Bob La Londe <none@none.com99> wrote:

>I have a project I am working on that could use a fair number of small
>pieces of steel sheet. Mild steel is just fine.
>
>1/16" 400 units
>3/32" 300 units
>1/8" 200 units
>
>Thickness is nominal. Closest sheet gage thickness is fine.
>
>Length is 4.5"
>Width is 1/4"
<snip>

Sounds like you could use an Ironworker machine. Buy some 4.5" wide
stock, set up a length stop, feed lop, feed lop... Expensive
machines but maybe you can keep an eye open for a used one to turn up...

https://www.clevelandsteeltool.com/ironworker-machines/cst-40-ton

--
Leon Fisk
Grand Rapids MI

"Leon Fisk" wrote in message news:s7euuj$si3$1@dont-email.me...

On Tue, 11 May 2021 10:05:52 -0700
Bob La Londe <none@none.com99> wrote:

>I have a project I am working on that could use a fair number of small
>pieces of steel sheet. Mild steel is just fine.
>
>1/16" 400 units
>3/32" 300 units
>1/8" 200 units
>
>Thickness is nominal. Closest sheet gage thickness is fine.
>
>Length is 4.5"
>Width is 1/4"
<snip>

Sounds like you could use an Ironworker machine. Buy some 4.5" wide
stock, set up a length stop, feed lop, feed lop... Expensive
machines but maybe you can keep an eye open for a used one to turn up...

https://www.clevelandsteeltool.com/ironworker-machines/cst-40-ton

--
Leon Fisk
Grand Rapids MI

Hand held nibbler will do the job. Could be a summer job for a high school
kid.

Best Regards.
Tom.

"Bob La Londe" wrote in message news:s7edhg$v44$1@gioia.aioe.org...

I have a project I am working on that could use a fair number of small
pieces of steel sheet. Mild steel is just fine.

1/16" 400 units
3/32" 300 units
1/8" 200 units

Thickness is nominal. Closest sheet gage thickness is fine.

Length is 4.5"
Width is 1/4"

Tolerance for length and width is +/- .01" and if they were all under
0.01" it would be no big deal if somebody wanted to save a couple square
inches.

Flatness needs to be "looks pretty flat" but no tight tolerance is required.
..........
----------
I've worked with/in several small metal fab shops that could do this easily,
and my stock of 1/8" (11 gauge) steel is from one that closed. Some of the
local metal vendors can shear or plasma cut to specifications. NH has enough
aerospace industry to support many small shops that can do excellent work.
They don't advertise so you may have to look and ask around to find them,
often in out-of-the-way places where the rent is cheap. "Sheet metal
fabricator" is a good search term.

At my noncommercial hobbyist level this shear is enough to cut what I need
and I flatten the curled cutoffs with a planishing hammer on an anvil, or
curve it on water pipe, which is one of today's projects.
https://www.mscdirect.com/product/details/00919282

Strips cut on a large industrial shear will be either straight or only
lightly twisted, you could look at the scrap cutoffs behind the machine to
see if they would be straight enough for your use. The 6" x 27" sheared
cutoff of 3/8" HRS plate I bought to splice channels into the 16' gantry
track wasn't visibly twisted.
jsw

On Tue, 11 May 2021 10:05:52 -0700, Bob La Londe <none@none.com99>
wrote:

>I have a project I am working on that could use a fair number of small
>pieces of steel sheet. Mild steel is just fine.
>
>1/16" 400 units
>3/32" 300 units
>1/8" 200 units
>
>Thickness is nominal. Closest sheet gage thickness is fine.
>
>Length is 4.5"
>Width is 1/4"
>
.....
>Yeah I know most metal vendors are loaded with orders and just don't
>give a shit about a small customer who only orders about $10+ a year,
>but I am still looking for a source. I might be able to job it out, but
>a job shop would certainly charge as much for the parts as I would
>retail the net product for.
>
>Ah, well. The headaches of a small business.

A garden variety Trumpf CNC punch would make short work of those, I
think.

Lots of places have them- my local guy (Scarborough, Ontario) is
fairly reasonable on runs of a few hundred pieces (I get fairly
complex parts cut and bent to shape), but I'm sure you can find
someone more local to you. There isn't much programming in a flat
piece of steel. I would expect a lot of waste material, maybe more
than half, since 1/4" is pretty narrow.

--
Best regards,
Spehro Pefhany

On 5/11/2021 3:02 PM, Leon Fisk wrote:
> On Tue, 11 May 2021 10:05:52 -0700
> Bob La Londe <none@none.com99> wrote:
>
>> I have a project I am working on that could use a fair number of small
>> pieces of steel sheet. Mild steel is just fine.
>>
>> 1/16" 400 units
>> 3/32" 300 units
>> 1/8" 200 units
>>
>> Thickness is nominal. Closest sheet gage thickness is fine.
>>
>> Length is 4.5"
>> Width is 1/4"
> <snip>
>
> Sounds like you could use an Ironworker machine. Buy some 4.5" wide
> stock, set up a length stop, feed lop, feed lop... Expensive
> machines but maybe you can keep an eye open for a used one to turn up...
>
> https://www.clevelandsteeltool.com/ironworker-machines/cst-40-ton
>

A decent powered iron worker is probably out of my budget unless I find
a good used one somewhere not to far away. I was rather surprised to
find there are manual ones. (to small for my application) I bet those
have to be well anchored and require judicious use of a cheater bar.

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On 5/11/2021 6:42 PM, Howard Beel wrote:
> Hand held nibbler will do the job. Could be a summer job for a high
> school kid.
>
> Best Regards.
> Tom.

Not a horrible idea. Those small jobs provided my main source of pocket
money in high school. Piece work grocery marking and stocking.
Chopping cotton. Working on the grape packing sheds.

I recall most of us were thankful for the opportunity to make some
money, but I'm skeptical of most around today. I just don't know many
youngsters willing to work these days who don't already have jobs or
their own "hustle" going on.

Couple high school cowboys across the street, but they work all the time
when they aren't in school already. Work, rodeo, and practice. They
also roll out in the middle of the night if somebody has some livestock
get loose.

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On 5/11/2021 6:42 PM, Howard Beel wrote:
> "Leon Fisk"  wrote in message news:s7euuj$si3$1@dont-email.me...
>
> On Tue, 11 May 2021 10:05:52 -0700
> Bob La Londe <none@none.com99> wrote:
>
>> I have a project I am working on that could use a fair number of small
>> pieces of steel sheet.  Mild steel is just fine.
>>
>> 1/16"  400 units
>> 3/32"  300 units
>> 1/8"   200 units
>>
>> Thickness is nominal.  Closest sheet gage thickness is fine.
>>
>> Length is 4.5"
>> Width is 1/4"
> <snip>
>
> Sounds like you could use an Ironworker machine. Buy some 4.5" wide
> stock, set up a length stop, feed lop, feed lop... Expensive
> machines but maybe you can keep an eye open for a used one to turn up...
>
> https://www.clevelandsteeltool.com/ironworker-machines/cst-40-ton
>

I've been looking at iron workers (still out of my budget), but they
sure do seem to be some awesome purpose specific machines.

--
This email has been checked for viruses by AVG.
https://www.avg.com

On Thu, 13 May 2021 10:29:52 -0700
Bob La Londe <none@none.com99> wrote:

>On 5/11/2021 6:42 PM, Howard Beel wrote:
>> "Leon Fisk"  wrote in message news:s7euuj$si3$1@dont-email.me...
>>
>> On Tue, 11 May 2021 10:05:52 -0700
>> Bob La Londe <none@none.com99> wrote:
>>
> [...]
>> <snip>
>>
>> Sounds like you could use an Ironworker machine. Buy some 4.5" wide
>> stock, set up a length stop, feed lop, feed lop... Expensive
>> machines but maybe you can keep an eye open for a used one to turn up...
>>
>> https://www.clevelandsteeltool.com/ironworker-machines/cst-40-ton
>>
>
>
>I've been looking at iron workers (still out of my budget), but they
>sure do seem to be some awesome purpose specific machines.
>

I've only seen them in use via youtube. One guy was punching ~1 inch
holes through 1/2 inch plate. Ker-pop, reposition the piece, ker-pop...
sure looked slick.

Oh well, keep your eyes open and one will turn up. Hard to find stuff
you're not watching out for ;-)

--
Leon Fisk
Grand Rapids MI

"Leon Fisk" wrote in message news:s7jph0$pb7$1@dont-email.me...

On Thu, 13 May 2021 10:29:52 -0700
Bob La Londe <none@none.com99> wrote:

>I've been looking at iron workers (still out of my budget), but they
>sure do seem to be some awesome purpose specific machines.
>

I've only seen them in use via youtube. One guy was punching ~1 inch
holes through 1/2 inch plate. Ker-pop, reposition the piece, ker-pop...
sure looked slick.

Oh well, keep your eyes open and one will turn up. Hard to find stuff
you're not watching out for ;-)

--
Leon Fisk
Grand Rapids MI

-------------------

Last year a nearby second-hand dealer had one which I examined. There wasn't
much it could do that I can't with a bandsaw and milling machine, though
much more slowly. I think they are oriented toward the requirements of
structural steel with square ends and bolted joints more than those of my
interest, machinery framework with more complex welded joints, i.e. mitered
angle and tubing. It would have been of almost zero help fabricating the
gantry hoist track splice joint I just completed and tested to 1000 lbs.

The 8" bench shear I mentioned cut 1/8" steel easily enough but not very
accurately, freehand to felt marker lines. The parts are just load-spreading
pads. It doesn't adequately prevent the work from tipping or shifting during
the cut though adding an angle-iron table to clamp to should help. Clamping
the work to the table does help considerably on my 30" 3-in-1
shear/brake/roll, a machine so fussy and difficult the original owner gave
up on it.

On 5/13/2021 4:01 PM, Jim Wilkins wrote:
>
> Last year a nearby second-hand dealer had one which I examined. There
> wasn't much it could do that I can't with a bandsaw and milling machine,
> though much more slowly. I think they are oriented toward the
> requirements of structural steel with square ends and bolted joints more
> than those of my interest, machinery framework with more complex welded
> joints, i.e. mitered angle and tubing. It would have been of almost zero
> help fabricating the gantry hoist track splice joint I just completed
> and tested to 1000 lbs.
>
> The 8" bench shear I mentioned cut 1/8" steel easily enough but not very
> accurately, freehand to felt marker lines. The parts are just
> load-spreading pads. It doesn't adequately prevent the work from tipping
> or shifting during the cut though adding an angle-iron table to clamp to
> should help. Clamping the work to the table does help considerably on my
> 30" 3-in-1 shear/brake/roll, a machine so fussy and difficult the
> original owner gave up on it.

While I am a home shop hobby hack shade tree wannabee button pusher I do
operate my shop as a business. The single most precious resource I have
is time. There are a lot of things I can make that I choose not to just
because I can make other things more profitably for the time invested.

For example I make a lot of hand injection fishing tackle molds. I can
make hand injectors that are decent and very usable, but instead I send
my customers to my competitors for those because they are better setup
to make them efficiently. I only make a few for my own use for testing,
and my favorite ones were made by somebody else.

This is for a product that I am not going to make and sell unless I can
make it efficiently. Midwest bailing on me after holding my money for 5
weeks and then letting me know ONLY after I prodded them that they
couldn't do it was a bit annoying. I can make the parts a number of
different ways. I did one complete tool by roughing the plates, and
then putting a stack in a mill vise to finishing to size. Very hands on
time consuming. That's time I'm not getting CAD/CAM work done for
custom molds. I could glue a sheet down on a CNC router or to a pallet
in one of the mills, but that's also a tedious process, and that level
of precision is not required.

A shear might work, but if I have to spend time on the anvil with a
hammer for every piece it starts to push the hands on time budget I am
willing to dedicate to the product.

FYI: I have had employees in the past (was a contractor for 23 years)
and I really do not want to have employees again. I made my most money
years when I chose to not have any and only accept as much work as I
could do by myself.

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"Bob La Londe" wrote in message news:s7m79m$odg$1@gioia.aioe.org...

On 5/13/2021 4:01 PM, Jim Wilkins wrote:
>
> Last year a nearby second-hand dealer had one which I examined. There
> wasn't much it could do that I can't with a bandsaw and milling machine,
> though much more slowly. I think they are oriented toward the requirements
> of structural steel with square ends and bolted joints more than those of
> my interest, machinery framework with more complex welded joints, i.e.
> mitered angle and tubing. It would have been of almost zero help
> fabricating the gantry hoist track splice joint I just completed and
> tested to 1000 lbs.
>
> The 8" bench shear I mentioned cut 1/8" steel easily enough but not very
> accurately, freehand to felt marker lines. The parts are just
> load-spreading pads. It doesn't adequately prevent the work from tipping
> or shifting during the cut though adding an angle-iron table to clamp to
> should help. Clamping the work to the table does help considerably on my
> 30" 3-in-1 shear/brake/roll, a machine so fussy and difficult the original
> owner gave up on it.

While I am a home shop hobby hack shade tree wannabee button pusher I do
operate my shop as a business. The single most precious resource I have
is time. There are a lot of things I can make that I choose not to just
because I can make other things more profitably for the time invested.

-----------------------------------

I'm only a hobbyist retiree now but I built custom and prototype equipment
for a living, usually with small general-purpose machine tools that weren't
ideal for the specific task so I learned to improvise, at least enough to
make the prototype work if not look perfect every time. I think the largest
batch I ever made was 12, 10 to deliver to the USAF plus 2 spares.

I could hope that my ideas would fly but I never expected to manufacture
anything myself, I took my prototype and drawings to local job shops for
quotes. The closest I got to high volume production lines was building and
installing test stations in them.

https://www.iqsdirectory.com/metal-stampings/arizona/

"Jim Wilkins" wrote in message news:s7ma09$oln$1@dont-email.me...

https://www.iqsdirectory.com/metal-stampings/arizona/

----------------

Different search terms brought up this:
https://www.mapquest.com/us/arizona/barco-stamping-co-10464460

On 5/14/2021 10:01 AM, Jim Wilkins wrote:
> "Jim Wilkins"  wrote in message news:s7ma09$oln$1@dont-email.me...
> https://www.iqsdirectory.com/metal-stampings/arizona/
>
> ----------------
>
> Different search terms brought up this:
> https://www.mapquest.com/us/arizona/barco-stamping-co-10464460

Barco Metal Stamping has a facility right here in Yuma, but my unit
quantity is likely not enough to interest them. I quoted a video system
for them when I was a contractor. (Didn't get it.)

It would take them longer to change the dies then it would take to make
my typical order.

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On 5/14/2021 10:13 AM, Bob La Londe wrote:
> On 5/14/2021 10:01 AM, Jim Wilkins wrote:
>> "Jim Wilkins"  wrote in message news:s7ma09$oln$1@dont-email.me...
>> https://www.iqsdirectory.com/metal-stampings/arizona/
>>
>> ----------------
>>
>> Different search terms brought up this:
>> https://www.mapquest.com/us/arizona/barco-stamping-co-10464460
>
>
> Barco Metal Stamping has a facility right here in Yuma, but my unit
> quantity is likely not enough to interest them.  I quoted a video system
> for them when I was a contractor.  (Didn't get it.)
>
> It would take them longer to change the dies then it would take to make
> my typical order.
>

.... and with the current construction boom they are probably running
24/7 knocking out pre-construction and cutin light cans.

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"Bob La Londe" wrote in message news:s7mb7o$lu2$2@gioia.aioe.org...
On 5/14/2021 10:13 AM, Bob La Londe wrote:
> On 5/14/2021 10:01 AM, Jim Wilkins wrote:
>> https://www.mapquest.com/us/arizona/barco-stamping-co-10464460

Barco Metal Stamping has a facility right here in Yuma, but my unit
quantity is likely not enough to interest them. I quoted a video system
for them when I was a contractor. (Didn't get it.)

It would take them longer to change the dies then it would take to make
my typical order.
.... and with the current construction boom they are probably running
24/7 knocking out pre-construction and cutin light cans.
-------------------------

This is the classic manual sheet metal shear:
https://www.machineryvalues.com/inventory/pexto-137-k-foot-shears-or-hand-powered-shears/155570/26

but it's rated only to 16 gauge steel. You set the back gauge to the desired
width and then push the sheet in, stomp, push, stomp, ..... If it's sharp
and properly adjusted to cut paper there's minimal burr. I don't know of a
comparable small machine that shears 1/8" steel as precisely. You saw what I
think of the 8" Enco shear.

I had one in my model shop at Mitre and would own one if I had the space and
need, along with a finger brake. The 3-in-1 I bought instead has only the
virtues of low price and small footprint.

On Fri, 14 May 2021 18:21:43 -0400, "Jim Wilkins"
<muratlanne@gmail.com> wrote:

>"Bob La Londe" wrote in message news:s7mb7o$lu2$2@gioia.aioe.org...
>On 5/14/2021 10:13 AM, Bob La Londe wrote:
>> On 5/14/2021 10:01 AM, Jim Wilkins wrote:
>>> https://www.mapquest.com/us/arizona/barco-stamping-co-10464460
>
>Barco Metal Stamping has a facility right here in Yuma, but my unit
>quantity is likely not enough to interest them. I quoted a video system
>for them when I was a contractor. (Didn't get it.)
>
>It would take them longer to change the dies then it would take to make
>my typical order.
>... and with the current construction boom they are probably running
>24/7 knocking out pre-construction and cutin light cans.
>-------------------------
>
>This is the classic manual sheet metal shear:
>https://www.machineryvalues.com/inventory/pexto-137-k-foot-shears-or-hand-powered-shears/155570/26
>
>but it's rated only to 16 gauge steel. You set the back gauge to the desired
>width and then push the sheet in, stomp, push, stomp, ..... If it's sharp
>and properly adjusted to cut paper there's minimal burr. I don't know of a
>comparable small machine that shears 1/8" steel as precisely. You saw what I
>think of the 8" Enco shear.
>
>I had one in my model shop at Mitre and would own one if I had the space and
>need, along with a finger brake. The 3-in-1 I bought instead has only the
>virtues of low price and small footprint.

I've used those 52" shears a fair bit for various soft materials. Do
you think consistent 0.01" tolerance is practical with a hand shear?

I have one of those little 12" shear/rollers from China that used to
be pretty cheap ($200-ish, IIRC). They're now not so cheap

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/hck-sp3-1-12?seid=srese1&gclid=Cj0KCQjw4v2EBhCtARIsACan3nxCzfgXgmh70_zvbI0TL04RpDu93QqUy9z5micOhzUIxqpWLmuYBBMaAoF6EALw_wcB
--
Best regards,
Spehro Pefhany

"Spehro Pefhany" wrote in message
news:ht60ag9va5hkb22biqqme31m3u6vk5r116@4ax.com...

On Fri, 14 May 2021 18:21:43 -0400, "Jim Wilkins"
<muratlanne@gmail.com> wrote:
..........................
I've used those 52" shears a fair bit for various soft materials. Do
you think consistent 0.01" tolerance is practical with a hand shear?

--
Best regards,
Spehro Pefhany

--------------

Maybe, if you are skilled enough. The previously sheared edge of sheet metal
locates it against the back gauge for the next cut, so the condition of that
edge matters. Some stock shears cleaner than others. When I needed precise
size and a cleaner edge than shearing provided I sheared oversize and milled
stacks of pieces. Remember, I specialized in R&D prototyping and custom
work, not high volume.

The Mitre model shop had a "Triok" version of the 3-in-1 that was much
better than the imports I've seen.
http://www.chaski.org/homemachinist/viewtopic.php?t=76114

I still prefer the Pexto, Diacro and Whitney sheet metal machines (my corner
notcher is pre-Roper) but the Triok convinced me a 3-in-1 could form the
electronic housings etc I needed at home.

When I worked in the drafting department the sheet metal foreman told me to
assume 0.030" tolerance on sheet metal, after bending. Usually they were
closer to 0.010". I have no hands-on experience with more modern machines
with digital back gauges.

Bob La Londe <none@none.com99> wrote:
> I have a project I am working on that could use a fair number of small
> pieces of steel sheet. Mild steel is just fine.
>
> 1/16" 400 units
> 3/32" 300 units
> 1/8" 200 units
>
> Thickness is nominal. Closest sheet gage thickness is fine.
>
> Length is 4.5"
> Width is 1/4"
>
> Tolerance for length and width is +/- .01" and if they were all under
> 0.01" it would be no big deal if somebody wanted to save a couple square
> inches.
....
> I'm still looking for a source for the pieces and I still am not setup
> to cut them efficiently. A burr from a tight fitting sharp shear might
> be ok, but twisted up like a potato chip would not be. [...]
> Too much hand work and mill work, and I am still a one man shop.
> I don't know how well it could be laser cut, but that's a lot more
> expensive machine, and I expect most laser tables would eat all those
> narrow parts.
....

What is your per-part target price? At some point between 29 and 229
cents each, probably someone on the newsgroup would step up. You
could have an auction. Do you already have some #16, #13, and #11
sheet -- the gauge numbers for 1/16, 3/32, and 1/8" -- on hand to
supply to someone with a good mill or shear plus time or greed?

Coremark Metals <https://www.coremarkmetals.com/hot-rolled-steel-sheet>
would be glad to cut your parts out, for about $15.07 each. ($15 for
the cut, 7 cents for the metal.) The tolerances they show for shearing
are +- .063. Another approach is to have them cut strips that are
nominally 5/16" wide (leaving enough material to mill to size later)
and say 10' or 12' long, from which you could cut 26 or 31 pieces to
your 4.5" length. For example, 5/16" x 10' #11 cold rolled at $2.64+
$15/cut gives a cost of 68 cents per item, while 5/16" x 12' #11 hot
rolled at $2.26+$15/cut gives a cost of 56 cents per item. (Coremark
says contact them directly for large quantities.)

Anyhow, given long strips of about 1/4" wide sheet, you could cut off
a bunch of pieces each 18.4" long or whatever your vice size or mill
travel is, then clamp bunches of say 20 pieces on your mill table and
face them down to 1/4". (If the shear cuts are clean enough you'd
face one edge, else two edges.) Then use a slitting saw to cut off
4.5" long batches of 20 at a time.

I have 10 or 20 feet of 0.259" wide laser-cut #13 cold rolled sheet
which is between-parts scrap from a prison-furniture manufacturer.
(#13 seems to be a popular gauge for such furniture.) An advantage of
laser cutting is excellent finish and accuracy, which would remove the
need to face strips to width. You would just need to cut them to
length, in some convenient batch size.

Regarding laser cutting, McNeilus Steel Inc. is a small distributor
that probably would handle your job efficiently. Don't know any
costs, but at <https://mcneilus.com/contact/> they have an online
quote request page. The Fargo ND plant processes about a million
pounds of steel and aluminum a week, if I recall correctly, via a
couple of metal stretcher (flattener) lines, lots of big presses, big
laser cutters, big and small CNC machining centers, 50 ton overhead
crane, etc, and a whole bunch of Big Ass fans on the ceiling.
<https://bigassfans.com/>. A railroad siding comes into the building
for receiving rolls of steel. McNeilus also has plants or warehouses
in MN, WI, TN.

- jiw

"James Waldby" wrote in message news:s7q4ih$u27$1@dont-email.me...

What is your per-part target price? At some point between 29 and 229
cents each, probably someone on the newsgroup would step up. You
could have an auction. Do you already have some #16, #13, and #11
sheet -- the gauge numbers for 1/16, 3/32, and 1/8" -- on hand to
supply to someone with a good mill or shear plus time or greed?

Coremark Metals <https://www.coremarkmetals.com/hot-rolled-steel-sheet>
would be glad to cut your parts out, for about $15.07 each. ($15 for
the cut, 7 cents for the metal.) The tolerances they show for shearing
are +- .063. Another approach is to have them cut strips that are
nominally 5/16" wide (leaving enough material to mill to size later)
and say 10' or 12' long, from which you could cut 26 or 31 pieces to
your 4.5" length. For example, 5/16" x 10' #11 cold rolled at $2.64+
$15/cut gives a cost of 68 cents per item, while 5/16" x 12' #11 hot
rolled at $2.26+$15/cut gives a cost of 56 cents per item. (Coremark
says contact them directly for large quantities.)

Anyhow, given long strips of about 1/4" wide sheet, you could cut off
a bunch of pieces each 18.4" long or whatever your vice size or mill
travel is, then clamp bunches of say 20 pieces on your mill table and
face them down to 1/4". (If the shear cuts are clean enough you'd
face one edge, else two edges.) Then use a slitting saw to cut off
4.5" long batches of 20 at a time.

I have 10 or 20 feet of 0.259" wide laser-cut #13 cold rolled sheet
which is between-parts scrap from a prison-furniture manufacturer.
(#13 seems to be a popular gauge for such furniture.) An advantage of
laser cutting is excellent finish and accuracy, which would remove the
need to face strips to width. You would just need to cut them to
length, in some convenient batch size.

Regarding laser cutting, McNeilus Steel Inc. is a small distributor
that probably would handle your job efficiently. Don't know any
costs, but at <https://mcneilus.com/contact/> they have an online
quote request page. The Fargo ND plant processes about a million
pounds of steel and aluminum a week, if I recall correctly, via a
couple of metal stretcher (flattener) lines, lots of big presses, big
laser cutters, big and small CNC machining centers, 50 ton overhead
crane, etc, and a whole bunch of Big Ass fans on the ceiling.
<https://bigassfans.com/>. A railroad siding comes into the building
for receiving rolls of steel. McNeilus also has plants or warehouses
in MN, WI, TN.

- jiw

------------------------

That's interesting. I only put on the production engineering / purchasing
agent hats when the project manager didn't want to, mostly for ordering
printed circuit boards. It's a job I'd rather avoid.

On Tue, 11 May 2021 10:05:52 -0700, Bob La Londe <none@none.com99>
wrote:

>I have a project I am working on that could use a fair number of small
>pieces of steel sheet. Mild steel is just fine.
>
>1/16" 400 units
>3/32" 300 units
>1/8" 200 units
>
>Thickness is nominal. Closest sheet gage thickness is fine.
>
>Length is 4.5"
>Width is 1/4"
>
>Tolerance for length and width is +/- .01" and if they were all under
>0.01" it would be no big deal if somebody wanted to save a couple square
>inches.
>
>Flatness needs to be "looks pretty flat" but no tight tolerance is required.
>
>I am not really setup to cut these myself, so I went looking for a
>vendor. Midwest Steel & Aluminum seemed to be the best (only) option.
>They offered the dimensions I needed (to nearest gage size) at a
>reasonable price in those quantities. Cheap enough I could make money
>on the project. I placed the order along with some other stock and
>forgot about them. Their lead time for anything is absolutely terrible.
> I knew this going in so I was prepared to wait. (I dropped Midwest in
>favor of Coast for my bulk aluminum due to their attrocious lead times.)
>
>I have one customer already champing at the bit for the end product, but
>I told him it was going to be a long term solution, so he was prepared
>to wait as well.
>
>After about five weeks I contacted Midwest to ask if my order was close
>to being processed. They replied they were unable provide my cut parts,
>but they would refund that part of the order and ship the rest. They
>didn't, and I immediately told them to just cancel the whole order. I
>had to contact them twice more before they refunded any of it. They did
>finally refund it today. Well, they sent me an internal credit memo, but
>its not hit my account yet.
>
>I'm still looking for a source for the pieces and I still am not setup
>to cut them efficiently. A burr from a tight fitting sharp shear might
>be ok, but twisted up like a potato chip would not be. I could toss
>them in a tumbler and probably not add to much processing cost. Plasma
>cut would probably not produce a cost effective part. To much hand work
>and mill work, and I am still a one man shop. I don't know how well it
>could be laser cut, but that's a lot more expensive machine, and I
>expect most laser tables would eat all those narrow parts.
>
>Yeah I know most metal vendors are loaded with orders and just don't
>give a shit about a small customer who only orders about $10+ a year,
>but I am still looking for a source. I might be able to job it out, but
>a job shop would certainly charge as much for the parts as I would
>retail the net product for.
>
>Ah, well. The headaches of a small business.

I'll ask my sheet metal guy what he could do with this.

Randy
Remove 333 to reply.
Randy

On Thu, 20 May 2021 09:00:56 -0400, Randy333 <rbraun333@enter.net>
wrote:

>On Tue, 11 May 2021 10:05:52 -0700, Bob La Londe <none@none.com99>
>wrote:
>
>>I have a project I am working on that could use a fair number of small
>>pieces of steel sheet. Mild steel is just fine.
>>
>>1/16" 400 units
>>3/32" 300 units
>>1/8" 200 units
>>
>>Thickness is nominal. Closest sheet gage thickness is fine.
>>
>>Length is 4.5"
>>Width is 1/4"
>>
>>Tolerance for length and width is +/- .01" and if they were all under
>>0.01" it would be no big deal if somebody wanted to save a couple square
>>inches.
>>
>>Flatness needs to be "looks pretty flat" but no tight tolerance is required.
>>
>>I am not really setup to cut these myself, so I went looking for a
>>vendor. Midwest Steel & Aluminum seemed to be the best (only) option.
>>They offered the dimensions I needed (to nearest gage size) at a
>>reasonable price in those quantities. Cheap enough I could make money
>>on the project. I placed the order along with some other stock and
>>forgot about them. Their lead time for anything is absolutely terrible.
>> I knew this going in so I was prepared to wait. (I dropped Midwest in
>>favor of Coast for my bulk aluminum due to their attrocious lead times.)
>>
>>I have one customer already champing at the bit for the end product, but
>>I told him it was going to be a long term solution, so he was prepared
>>to wait as well.
>>
>>After about five weeks I contacted Midwest to ask if my order was close
>>to being processed. They replied they were unable provide my cut parts,
>>but they would refund that part of the order and ship the rest. They
>>didn't, and I immediately told them to just cancel the whole order. I
>>had to contact them twice more before they refunded any of it. They did
>>finally refund it today. Well, they sent me an internal credit memo, but
>>its not hit my account yet.
>>
>>I'm still looking for a source for the pieces and I still am not setup
>>to cut them efficiently. A burr from a tight fitting sharp shear might
>>be ok, but twisted up like a potato chip would not be. I could toss
>>them in a tumbler and probably not add to much processing cost. Plasma
>>cut would probably not produce a cost effective part. To much hand work
>>and mill work, and I am still a one man shop. I don't know how well it
>>could be laser cut, but that's a lot more expensive machine, and I
>>expect most laser tables would eat all those narrow parts.
>>
>>Yeah I know most metal vendors are loaded with orders and just don't
>>give a shit about a small customer who only orders about $10+ a year,
>>but I am still looking for a source. I might be able to job it out, but
>>a job shop would certainly charge as much for the parts as I would
>>retail the net product for.
>>
>>Ah, well. The headaches of a small business.
>
>
>I'll ask my sheet metal guy what he could do with this.
>
>Randy
>Remove 333 to reply.
>Randy

My guy is under $600 for the whole lot. Laser cut.
Remove 333 to reply.
Randy