Some long cuts in plate

[hswaters]

(03-22-2014, 09:21 AM)Sunset Machine Wrote: It'd be a shame to saw it up, someday you'll regret it. It'd make nice gear blanks for one thing, a milling fixture for another. Hell bent on cutting it up, I wouldn't even look at a vertical mill for that cuz I'd bust the blade. Piece of cake on a horizontal.

But consider this: a 1/2" x 2" x 24" bar of 1018 runs about $15 at Speedy Metals.
http://www.speedymetals.com/ps-473-39-12...-1018.aspx

Yeah when I asked I was pretty sure the right answer was to just get the right size at the store. It is just that I have had this stuff since the early 70's and have moved it from place to place and not used it and by the look of things maybe never will. Back in the 70's I got the wild idea to build hydraulic presses and sell them around town. And I did sell a few but the oil embargo happened about the same time and the price of steel went up like a rocket and then I couldn't make a profit so I stopped. I just happened to have some of the 1x6 metal and a small bit of the 2" thick stuff left over.

Speaking of getting the right stuff at the store I looked around for the metal supermarkets and the main company website does not list one for Houston. But the Houston yellow pages does, so I called there and got a beep in my ear like a fax machine was about to start up. Their is a steel supply miles closer anyway. Just curious has anyone been to one of the metal supermarkets? Was it worth the trip?

Thanks for the replies.