The Armour Archive

Went to my local Metal Supermarkets today to pick up what i hope to be the first of many sheets of steel and discovered a dreadful secret people had been keeping from me.

STEEL IS EXPENSIVE! lol

I sweet talked the guy for about a half hour and got him down to $82 Canadian for a 4' by 8' sheet of 18 gauge.

On my way out i asked him what the same would be in stainless and he said about 2.5 to 3X as much. Something to do with nickel surcharges or taxes or something.

First questions is did i get ripped off paying $82 for a 4'x8' sheet of 18 gauge mild?

Second question -- Is stainless that expensive in the U.S. as well as up here in Canada?

First questions is did i get ripped off paying $82 for a 4'x8' sheet of 18 gauge mild?

I don't think so. I converted that, and it's about $60 US, and that's not as expensive as some people get it.
I can get it for about $52 US. It's not that big of a difference.

Blame china, They are affecting the market severely.

-+G

The guy at the metal store said he was talking to someone who had been in China recently. The guy told him that steel is so short that they have to guard some of the steel bridges in outlying areas so that the steel beams etc arent looted.

That's ok. They gave us szechuan food so i can live with them driving up steel prices a little.

Not to knock metal supermarkets.... I do about half my buisness there, but there prices are generally much higher than other places. They are kind of consider the "corner store" of the metal industry. They have everything!!! always instock, I have never had them tell me they were out of what I needed. So your paying for convience. Around here, they are the only store you can really walk into and expect to leave with all the metal you request, everywhere else I deal with has to put in an order for most stuff. Worth the extra $$$ from me..... they even deliver for $5 !!!

I think that's an OK price, I was quoted just under $100 CAD for a 2X4 sheet of 18 gauge stainless

THe 4X4 (half sheet) of mild I bought a while ago ran me $40, and I'll get lots of stuff out of it. Seems a good deal.

~Wil

If you think that steel is expensive, you should go and buy 32 square feet of 8-14 ounce leather. All of a sudden, steel looks like a bargain.