What stock to store for mill/lathe work?

[Michael Corsetto]

Originally Posted by Cory

For us this is a totally loaded question as we've probably used 30 different sizes of stock so far this year, in addition to a bunch of stuff we have stocked that we haven't used yet or have used in the past.

This is what we've purchased this year

Cory,

That is an impressive list!

Question for you, is this a typical amount of stock purchased for 254 for a season? I'm looking at some of the quantities and it's pretty daunting. Almost 200 feet of 1"x1"x.063" Tube? That seems to me like a ton!

Maybe it's just the game this year. I'm impressed when my kids work through just 20 feet of 1"x1"x.063" Tube!

Does 254 keep records on an spread sheet of all stock material purchases? Seems like your list was copy paste

-Mike

[AdamHeard]

Originally Posted by Michael Corsetto

Cory,

That is an impressive list!

Question for you, is this a typical amount of stock purchased for 254 for a season? I'm looking at some of the quantities and it's pretty daunting. Almost 200 feet of 1"x1"x.063" Tube? That seems to me like a ton!

Maybe it's just the game this year. I'm impressed when my kids work through just 20 feet of 1"x1"x.063" Tube!

Does 254 keep records on an spread sheet of all stock material purchases? Seems like your list was copy paste

-Mike

I can send you ours, it's similar qty.

We build lots of spares, and tubing gets eaten up fast. We seem to alternate between 2x1 and 1x1 seasons, but easily go through 100' of 1/16" wall each year.

We pay per pound, and it's relatively cheap (free shipping by truck as well).

[Michael Corsetto]

Originally Posted by AdamHeard

I can send you ours, it's similar qty.

We build lots of spares, and tubing gets eaten up fast. We seem to alternate between 2x1 and 1x1 seasons, but easily go through 100' of 1/16" wall each year.

We pay per pound, and it's relatively cheap (free shipping by truck as well).

That would be great!

Are you purchasing through Coast Aluminum? We just recently started buying from them and have been pleased with the pricing and next-day free shipping. Just got into the large-quantity production game, so we're still learning

[AdamHeard]

Originally Posted by Michael Corsetto

That would be great!

Are you purchasing through Coast Aluminum? We just recently started buying from them and have been pleased with the pricing and next-day free shipping. Just got into the large-quantity production game, so we're still learning

Yes, we love dealing with them as well.

It's actually cheaper in the long run to order all these random sizes you might not need, and then always have a variety of surplus on hand to design around.

[Michael Corsetto]

Originally Posted by AdamHeard

Yes, we love dealing with them as well.

It's actually cheaper in the long run to order all these random sizes you might not need, and then always have a variety of surplus on hand to design around.

Good to know!

+1 for Coast Aluminum, in one of our first orders we only wanted a 4x8 sheet of .125" 6061, and while they typically sell in 4x12 sheets, they made an exception for us. A great company!

[pmangels17]

Also, for lightweight shafting and spacers, Igus sends out some 5/8" linear bearing stuff every year. 5/8", 1/2", and 3/8" Igus shaft is a staple for us, the ceramic coating makes it really easy to slide through stuff. It is also smoother and holds better tolerance than regular aluminum in our opinion. Its good looking, and easy to machine the inside, just be careful when cutting the ceramic coating. Oh, and lots of 1x1, 1x2, and 1.25x2.5 box tube as well as all sorts of angle sizes (mostly 1x1) are really nice to have.

[Cory]

Originally Posted by Michael Corsetto

Cory,

That is an impressive list!

Question for you, is this a typical amount of stock purchased for 254 for a season? I'm looking at some of the quantities and it's pretty daunting. Almost 200 feet of 1"x1"x.063" Tube? That seems to me like a ton!

Maybe it's just the game this year. I'm impressed when my kids work through just 20 feet of 1"x1"x.063" Tube!

Does 254 keep records on an spread sheet of all stock material purchases? Seems like your list was copy paste

-Mike

This is pretty typical. We have probably 4x this in inventory from previous years in assorted sizes. Some of this will likely last until next year also.

I don't keep an inventory of what we have in stock, but I did make a spreadsheet to organize what I needed to get quoted.

We too use Coast Aluminum. Pricing is pretty good, but after 8 years their truck driver still can't understand that we are not available at 7 AM in the morning to accept deliveries when they show up to the real NASA shop with their metal.

[Peter Matteson]

To add to the above suggestion:
These are good for shafts and spacers that we use regularly.
.750"x6ft delrin
1"x6Ft delrin
.5" hex 12ft