The Armour Archive

M&I Surplus has these large blue metal shelves (in the back, by the restroom) that are a few bucks a pop and I was wondering if anyone might know what kind of steel they are made of. They are large enough to make some good sized stuff & cheap enough I'm not scared to screw up & toss. I'm just learning armoring and thought those might be a good deal to practice with but I don't know if they are MS or Spring steel or what gauge, I'm guessing 16-18. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks!

will probably be mild, could be hot or cold rolled, you would need to scratch the paint to see.
16 gauge would be useful for a lot of things 18 gauge for a few less but still worthwhile for learning and for some parts of armour you can use, dont know the thicknesses required except for on helms.

Nobody is going to build shelves out of spring. They'll be painted mild steel, or stainless for food-handling shelving. Esoteric alloys aren't going to appear in anything shelflike for the civilian market. Palm Springs is not a town where peculiar metals turn up much.

The flat parts will be okay to work with. You'll find the formed parts are a PITA and hardly worth the bother.

I'm a total n00b at this so needless to say I have much to learn regarding metallurgy & such. I question spring steel because many years ago, I tried to make a demi gaunt out of a piece of a metal bookend- one if those tan ones, much like the kind you'd find in an old library or school. It was thin (18 gauge my guess) but hard as hell to bend, so I thought maybe they were made of the same material.

I guess it won't hurt to pick up a few to practice on next time I cruise through Pomona. I can spec it out with my caliper. Thanks guys.

I'm sure it is just crap very thin sheet metal. That being said, I could use some shelving, I might go by and check em out!

Edward de la Pole wrote:I'm sure it is just crap very thin sheet metal. That being said, I could use some shelving, I might go by and check em out!

Ya better leave me some! *shakes fist*

It looks thick enough for me to learn on & I'm sure I can come up with something useful to make out of it. If you happen to go by there, can you let me know what you think of it?

Likely to be 20 gauge or thinner if it's shop shelving. Heftier stuff could show up. Salvaged some like that from some back alley of the UA Tucson campus once, and somebody cleaned it out of the room we were building armor in over Christmas break. I'm still a little bitter about that. In that year I was fighting in carpet armor and a worked-over army helmet.

This info is 4 years old but........

For awhile in late 07, early 08, I had frequent business in Riverside. I found that the Industrial Metal Spply Company had a branch there and was about 35% cheaper than the other IMS branches. I could actually recover the gas price by getting my steel there for my weekly purchases. Examples: Cold rolled IMS in San Diego 94 cents/lb, Riverside IMS 59 cents, Brass: $7.99 /lb in SD, $3.99 in Riverside. My understanding is that they spent a sh#tload of $$ building a new facility and it never really had the sales to justify the investment. The IMS in Riverside is on Main Street, north of CA 60, about 1.5 to 2 miles north of Columbia on the left.

Don't waste your time on scaps if you can get the good stuff that cheaply

ARMOURER ERIC wrote:This info is 4 years old but........

For awhile in late 07, early 08, I had frequent business in Riverside. I found that the Industrial Metal Spply Company had a branch there and was about 35% cheaper than the other IMS branches. I could actually recover the gas price by getting my steel there for my weekly purchases. Examples: Cold rolled IMS in San Diego 94 cents/lb, Riverside IMS 59 cents, Brass: $7.99 /lb in SD, $3.99 in Riverside. My understanding is that they spent a sh#tload of $$ building a new facility and it never really had the sales to justify the investment. The IMS in Riverside is on Main Street, north of CA 60, about 1.5 to 2 miles north of Columbia on the left.

Don't waste your time on scaps if you can get the good stuff that cheaply

Good to know, Thanks Eric. One concern I have is size. I have a very small car to haul with & little storage/workspace. Can I purchase small cuts from them, say 3'x4' or so?

If you have a hard roof, a rack becomes a possibility. Even Yakima bike racks work fine for such loads.

And many steel stores deliver, so ask.