quick question about steel purchase

C

Colt T

Joined
Jun 26, 2006
Messages
5
i'm looking to buy some 1075-1085 or 5160. does anyone know of a good source for some other than admiral? i'm getting started gathering materials for a gas furnace and i don't want to be without steel when i'm done.

thanks, Colt T
 
Check out the for sale section and look for Aldo Bruno's threads. He had a run of 1084 made and I believe he still has some. It's widely recommended as one of the best steels for beginners for ease of heat treating and quality of blades it produces.

--nathan
 
If you plan on forging get it from Aldo here on the forum. If you need stock removal thicknesses, look elsewhere. Admiral is good but you need to order a fair amount to justify the shipping fees.
 
Another good source for 5160 and 10xx steels is Kelly Cupples. I just bought a bunch of 5160 from him. He's a great guy to work with and from what I could tell his prices were more than fair.

Rick
 
Admiral sucks,

Aldo is great, his email is njsteelbaron@gmail.com
Kelly Cupples is almost as good as Aldo, his email is octihunter@charter.net

oh yes, Admiral sucks unless you're buying in multi ton lots, they might suck then too, but their attitude is that if you're not a big corporate customer you're an annoyance. the steel I bought from them was horrible

-Page


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sunshadow said:
Admiral sucks,
-Page
Click to expand...

I have heard similar comments/complaints before. Bad steel, service, etc. I haven't had the same experience at all. They have always been prompt and polite to me, and I've never purchased anything unusable (although I have straightened a piece or two - nothing dramatic). I recently purchased some CPM 3V directly from Crucible, and the experiences were very similar (not bad at all). I didn't have to straighten any, but one piece had some machine marks that were pretty deep. That took some grinding to remove, but I didn't think too much of that either.

This isn't to take away anything from the other recommendations here - I just never get these complaints. I could understand if they were dishonest or rude to people. But, you get what you pay for - they are a less expensive option, but they also er big. I have often ordered 18" and received ~24". The last time I think I paid for 60" and got nearly 72".

Just thought I'd share my opinion, since it seems like I'm in the minority on this subject...
 
When I ordered from Admiral, I specifically asked them if there would be any "hidden" fees. "No" was the answer.

My invoice included a $25 packaging fee (plus shipping) that was not discussed. That brought my 25-lb piece of 1075 from $4 per pound to $5 per pound.

Now I just buy 1075 from McMaster Carr. Price is straightforward, and I have it in 48 hours. McMaster-Carr's 1075 is cold-rolled, while the stuff I got from Admiral was hot-rolled.
 
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