metal tubing

[paulski]

hi am after some info on anywhere to get some 25mm-25mm square metal as i want to have a go at building a frame for my brew days as im getting fedup luging bits around and my back started to get old i live in the southeast, just wondered what sites you guys have used

[Subsonic]

I got my welder to do mine in angle as it was a lot cheaper!! I'm in north kent so probably not much use re supplies. My frame can be seen on picasaweb.com/subsonic40grain

[boingy]

Mail order is not ideal for buying steel stock. The postage rate is a killer.

An expensive way is to buy it from B&Q.
The cheapest way is to locate your local ferrous stock supplier. This will be a grotty factory unit on a grotty industrial estate! The best way to find them is to ring your local welding suppliers (yellow pages) and ask them to recommend somewhere that will deal with Joe Public and will supply fairly small quantities. Make sure you ask the supplier about minimum order prices. If you are lucky they will have some offcuts they will let you have cheaply, especially if you are prepared to be flexible with the exact size you need.

(If anyone needs ferrous stock in the North Cambs/South Lincs area I can highly recommend A1 Steel in Peterborough - www.a1steel.co.uk)

Btw, if you do not have welding skills you can make a decent frame out of wood instead.

[paulski]

thanks guys

[befuggled]

http://cpc.farnell.com/jsp/search/brows ... 562+500001

Square tube and slotted angle. Also try http://www.rswww.com, http://www.pro-store.co.uk for Dexion etc.

Carriage is free on orders over about £45 from CPC, free an all orders from RS if you have an account. You can pick up from RS centres.
Otherwise, as Boingy says, carriage will be v. expensive!
The square tube uses knock-together connectors which can be drilled and bolted if required.
Expensive but very quick and easy.

I used slotted angle for flexibility and future additions. You can also bolt all sorts of extras on at will.

[Blackaddler]

hi am after some info on anywhere to get some 25mm-25mm square metal as i want to have a go at building a frame for my brew days as im getting fedup luging bits around and my back started to get old i live in the southeast, just wondered what sites you guys have used

It's worth checking out your local scrap metal merchants. [But probably not car breaker's yards].

If you're lucky you might find some box tubing.

My local one stocks new angle iron, and I've also bought secondhand box tubing from him as well.

[haz66]

Try a local welding firm as they will have loads of spare off cuts, if you were futher North i could sort you out with a few
local firms that would sell you their off cuts.
But box section (SHS= Square Hollow Section) is very expensive compared to Angle Iron (RSA=Rolled Sectional Angle)
Even the small SHS is expansive because the process to produce it is quite expensive, if you just wanted a light weight frame
i`d go with 30x30 RSA it will work out miles cheaper than 25mm SHS and probably be just as strong as the wall thickness of the
SHS will only be 2mm but the RSA can be either 3 or 4mm thick, plus if you are not over familiar with welding light gauge material
you will blow holes in the SHS as it melts very quickly.
Just my personal opinion, because its your money and chose at the end of the day.

PS My frames are made out of 50x50x5mm RSA it was £12 for a 6m length (mild steel)
But thats to support 200ltr vessels.

[paulski]

yeah the angle iron is worth considering, so do you still weld or drill and bolt?

[Blackaddler]

yeah the angle iron is worth considering, so do you still weld or drill and bolt?

Welding is a lot easier, if you have an arc or mig welder.

If you think that you'll want to dismantle it anytime, then drill and bolt.

Drilling does take an while, though.