Use steel bar in shop

I like to use, and pay for, 2 inches of steel round bars in the shop. Is there a procedure for that?

Best case, you should bring your own, the supplies in the 'shop are for classes or internal DMS use, but you can always work something out with @rlisbona or @Mrholthaus

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For 2" put a few bucks in kiosk on left side of the door. If you happen to find a piece you can use in the scrap bin you can have it.

If you need to buy steel metals4uonline or metalsupermarkets usually have drops so you might only have to buy a few feet.

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By “kiosk on left side of the door”, do you mean the 3D filament payment box in the 3D Printing lab?

Are you talking Machine Shop or Metal Shop

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This is a machine shop topic. I am talking about the steel round bars near the circular saw. I have paid for 3D filaments a few times and find this procedure very convenient. Perhaps we just need a similar procedure to pay for materials used in different areas of the Space.

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Metal is much more expensive than 3d filament. It’s also much more annoying to obtain depending on the alloy. I don’t agree with Randy’s sentiment above. It depends on what you want and how much you want, and how much you do for DMS. It costs a lot more money to ship steel than it does for plastic.therefore it is much more expensive. Bring your own materials unless you get Approval from me or Randy or Tim(if it’s machine shops pile)

Apologies. I didn’t see the length mentioned above. Also depends on the diameter of the bar and the alloy of known. 6 inch round is way more expensive than 2 inch round…etc. stainless is way more expensive than steel

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Metal Shop has its own kiosk, inside Metal Shop. At least, if Randy referred you to it, I am ass-u-me-ing that it’s still there and functional.

Pretty much, each group has their own Square reader and/or “tombstone” box for cash payments. The Square is set up for that group’s charges only.

Metalsupermarkets.com in Plano (near where Frye’s used to be (75 and 190) is another option.
They will sell various steels precut to length and often have a number of short drops available for cheap(ish).

Metals4U probably have more selection of drops, but if you live on the NE side of the Metroplex metalsupermarkets might be a better option.

Looks like there are several around the metroplex - check their site for details.

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If you go to Metal supermarket they are the most expensive by far for new steel. The Dallas location has decent prices on drops(selection is limited) local scrapyards are good places to find cheap steel. Coremark is my favorite in town. They are in Saginaw though so it’s a bit of a drive. They have lots of drops @ .75 a pound.

If you ever wonder why Metal Supermarket is more expensive than others.

I don’t really like to sell our stock, however if it meets fair market value, that works for me. Ie if it looks like a nice piece of stock, pull up what the equivalent is on Coremark’s website. Now if it actually looks like a piece of scrap, .75lb for steel & 4.00 lb for aluminum. On the side of the grey cabinet in machine shop, there is a blue donation box. Either drop the appropriate cash in the box or PayPal donation the appropriate amount.

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