Thread: Where to buy scrap metal to practice on lathe?

Hi,

I used this bloke off epay:

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Copper-Ro...eb41142&_uhb=1

I bought some bright MS bar of varying sizes for $1 a kg. He's at Heathecoate though if you wanna pick up.

Ben.

Hi Neevo
Auto wreckers will get you axles, shock absorbers, wheel hubs etc

Roger

Just a word of warning. If you have truly never used a lathe before, "mystery metal" or black bar might not be a great place to start, as your next thread may well be "why cant I get a good finish on this mystery metal?" as some of them can be just nasty. Which will be a little hard to help with as no one will know if its you or the metal.

Having said that................wheelie bin axles seem to turn real nice

Stuart

When I was in Sydney, I bought bits of metal from an eBay seller - offcuts_galore.
He has a wide range of stuff and is reasonable on postage.

Try Edcon Steel at Blacktown or any other steel merchant in your area.

Edcon will cut to size or already have off cuts in a variety of materials.

Other merchants will probably have off cuts but might have a minimum length to cut if off a length of bar.

It will be cheaper than driving to Heathcote or buying through Off Cuts Galore.

While your at recommending guys any good scrap suppliers in Melbourne

Cheers all. Didn't think about the mystery metal bit. Plus I forgt really how cheap steel is new. I've got a Metaland up the road from me. Will go and see if they have any scrap or otherwise I will just buy some new bar. Anything I should ask for specifically to practice on?

Wheely bin axles are wheely easy to find if you pick the right time. (smiley here)

Dean

Neevo,
An address at "west of the rest of the world" doesn't allow any one here to help a real lot. If you are western NSW or may be even WA your options are going to be different from those available in big regional areas.
Hey! we are not after GPS co -ordinates but someone in or near your local area may be able to point you to what you want.

Scrappers and wreckers seem to be in the bigger areas, where as a small rural community may still have an engineering business still viable.

These blokes probably have ends of bar that they might sell to you at the right price.

Bigger centers may have a Tafe center. Make friends with the fitter & turner teachers who might allow you access to the left overs bin.

Grahame

Originally Posted by Grahame Collins

Neevo,
An address at "west of the rest of the world" doesn't allow any one here to help a real lot. If you are western NSW or may be even WA your options are going to be different from those available in big regional areas.

Fixed.

I go to a local steel supplier who has all manner of scrap bits and pieces in a bin at $1/kg.
They have some very interesting shapes left over from plasma cutting, lots of discs up to 1" thick, bar, square rod, tube and lots of she and RHS.

While not for a lathe this was an unusual 16 mm thick shape I picked up yesterday.
Anyone have ideas what to do with it?
The long edge is straight but had ripples on it from the plasma cutter.


This grinder stand was all made from scrap including all the locking handles etc


As was this BS brake,

While not for a lathe this was an unusual 16 mm thick shape I picked up yesterday.
Anyone have ideas what to do with it?

To me it looks like the start of a lifting beam to be used with a gantry and block and tackle........

Originally Posted by Simplicity

While your at recommending guys any good scrap suppliers in Melbourne

i know a place that there is lots between 70mm to 10omm but its all very hard steel.
not shore what grades but can be annoying because of its hardness

Bob
Not trying to run this thread off course.
But that looks like a pretty impressive grinder stand there.
Any more pics please would be great.
Matt