Getting special metals from the USA

[Cogsy]

I'm about to attempt my first one piece crankshaft and I need a piece of 1144 stressproof to carve it out of. I could not find any in Australia and even the steel suppliers couldn't offer a suitable alternative.

Ebay wasn't giving any decent results either, so I had to try the online US suppliers. For some reason they mostly don't like shipping to Australia, so for a 1" bar of stressproof x 12" long (about $10 worth) they were quoting me around $200-$240 shipping. I've have far heavier shipments from LMS and they cost less than $50. Eventually one supplier quoted me an almost reasonable $55 for shipping for 12" and I was going to order it until I stumbled upon - Amazon.

I thought they only did books but they have a wide variety of common and specialised metals. I ended up ordering a 1" x 24" round stressproof bar for $16.95 and the shipping was a whole $23. So for less than the cost of shipping for a 12" piece at the cheapest online supplier, I have a 24" piece paid for and on the way.

If you live in the US their prices may be too high as your online suppliers seem cheap, but if you live outside the US I suggest you check Amazon the next time you need some hard to get metal.

 

[Herbiev]

That's interesting Cogsy. I too thought Amazon only did books

 

[abby]

Why do you need special steel ? you are making a model , almost any cold drawn steel will suffice. If the chance of stress related distortion is an issue then stress relieve the steel before machining.

 

[Swifty]

I also have bought other things from Amazon, I needed a part for the Ford F250 that I had at the time, after the original supplier stuffed things up, a further search and I found that Amazon could supply the part. I was amazed at the range of things that they can supply.

Paul.

 

[Cogsy]

Why do you need special steel ? you are making a model , almost any cold drawn steel will suffice. If the chance of stress related distortion is an issue then stress relieve the steel before machining.

I don't have the equipment to successfully stress relieve steel, especially a 1" bar. Also, It's a multi-cylinder crank that I anticipate spending many hours on and I would hate for it to warp.

Anyway, 1144 is supposed to be nice to machine as well.

 

[AussieJimG]

Next time you are after steel Cogsy, try Bohler Uddeholm. They have a branch in Canning Vale. I have purchased steel from the NSW Branch and found them very helpful - they even cut to length to fit in the boot of the car. I think they have 1144. They certainly have 1215 free machining steel.

For me, it is a 400km round trip so I make a day of it and order everything I can think of in advance. I just ring up and tell them what I need. It is a pain but it is the only way I have found to buy what I want.

Jim

 

[Cogsy]

Thanks Jim, I do normally use Bohler and I got most other things for this engine from them but they said they couldn't help with 1144 or an alternative. I'm not up to speed on all the material designations so I just asked for 1144 or equivalent. Maybe I should be a bit more descriptive next time, but they can be a grumpy bunch here when you're disturbing them for a $100 order.

I am excited to try the 1144 though. Hopefully I will only need about 5" out of the 24" on order, so I'll have lots left for future projects.

 

[Mosey]

Amazon has purchased a number of industrial suppliers, such as SmallParts, so they are a good source now of materials in small quantities with decent shipping rates.
Mosey

 

[rmd55]

I just checked some prices and for 12" quantity of 1" rd 4140 cr annealed it is $0.25 cheaper ($11.50) than the supplier I have used before. But the real kicker is that it is a amazon prime item and 2nd day delivery is free(with prime membership) and the 24" piece is $10 cheaper. lengths up to 72" can be shipped prime, so a 72" piece is the same cost as a 24" piece plus shipping taking a week to get here

Richard