Steven Sharpe Posted June 7, 2007 Share Posted June 7, 2007 Hi guys ! I noticed some of you live in Canada just like me ! I am looking around for steel at reasonable price in the 1070 to 1095 range. I looked and phoned many places near me in Montreal and i hit walls all the time, prices are ridiculous and basically they try to empty our pockets with a shop-vac ! I called to get an estimate yesterday for 1075 HR 3/16" X 1" X 96" and i got a completely ludicrous fixed price of 335.00$ which equals at around 320.00 US dollars, so i felt the need to laugh heavily in the sellers hears ... Now tell me at this price should i start making knives out of gold ??? I checked many places in the US including Admiral Steel (which seems the best choice) and for a similar size bar of 72" instead of 96" - for they have a selling price of 12.91 US a bar !!! Then answer me this if you can ? Where do you Canadian smiths order or buy your steel from ? (tool steel) Thanks for looking ... Steven Steven Sharpe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Joyce Posted June 7, 2007 Share Posted June 7, 2007 Hi Steven, I buy my steel from this place: http://www.toolanddie.com/~smgr2/Merchant2...mp;Store_Code=T Last time I checked they had flat ground W-1. They have been very reliable shipping material to me. James Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Turner Posted June 8, 2007 Share Posted June 8, 2007 (edited) I don't know if Kelly Cupples can send to Canada or not but drop him a line. octihunter@charter.net Edited June 8, 2007 by Mike Turner Mike Turner http://www.turnerknives.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Sharpe Posted June 8, 2007 Author Share Posted June 8, 2007 Thanks guys for the swift replies ! James, Tool & Die looks like a very good source and more so, who else has flat w-1 ? lots of different sizes also, very interesting ! Thanks again ! Steven Steven Sharpe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.Browne Posted June 8, 2007 Share Posted June 8, 2007 Hi Steven. This might kill two birds with one stone for me. I am heading over to Toronto on the 22nd of this month, hopefully if all goes well. And I was hoping to pick up some steel while I was there W1 and 52100 in particular. Steel supermarkets has W1 rod listed , are they any good to deal with? Is the steel quality? Jas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Sharpe Posted June 9, 2007 Author Share Posted June 9, 2007 Hi Jas ! I know there was a franchise of these stores in Canada (Montreal, i think) which closed it's doors around 2 years ago that got reopened soon afterwards under a new name (Metaux Solutions). Most of these small steel suppliers around here get their steel from Crucible (usually very good quality) and since they carry almost nothing of which is used in bladesmithing, it as to be ordered in - hence the ridiculous prices on steel. My friend works in an electrical motor repair shop (all size stuff) and he used to buy from them when they need it ASAP - but only when necessary ... But try it out you might get lucky ! As for 52100 i get it from the same friend - most bearings are made from 52100 from what i was told so he keeps the outer races of some huge bearings (9 inches and over) and we cut them to sections and work them from there... unfortunate that you're not closer - i would give you some .... Give me some news if you go there - feedback needed Steven Steven Sharpe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beuford23 Posted June 9, 2007 Share Posted June 9, 2007 I live back on Vancouver Island after a 1 year stint living down in Mexico. I am also aware of the troubles in finding a good steel supply. Metal Supermarkets - I stopped bothering with them because of the Special Order 'prices'. I used to buy from Victory Spring (1095) here in Victoria to make Salish woodcraving blades. The stuff they supplied me with was absolutely amazing, however, it came at a price. I spent 18 bucks on a 6x1x1/32!! Working now on a spring steel (VW steel) blade that I'll be posting pics of sson. Friends up here that are all metalworkers have told me I'm in for some headaches trying to find small suppliers up here. I tried ebay and there's one seller that always has 1095 in different gauges (lists them all at 18 inches) I've sent him a couple messages inquiring into longer lengths and have still had no response. I'll keep you updated as I go. As I had mentioned in an earlier post, I work at a motorbike shop and have started gathering old worn out chains - the connecting pins and roller bearings in them seem like some real nice stuff. Just have to burn off the o-rings in them. Cheers Bradford STANDING AT THE EDGE OF THE GENE POOL WITH A BOTTLE OF CLOROX IN HAND......... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.Browne Posted June 9, 2007 Share Posted June 9, 2007 Oh well thats a bugger. I was hoping to not to have to pay freight. I guess its back to ordering from tool and die again. Ta. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matkins101 Posted July 26, 2007 Share Posted July 26, 2007 Have you tried www.metauxprofusion.com, I've never dealt with them but they do seem to carry some of the steels we use. Mike Michael Atkins Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.Browne Posted July 27, 2007 Share Posted July 27, 2007 Ordered some stuff off Don Hanson. Saved ALOT on freight to Canada instead of Australia . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.Browne Posted August 31, 2007 Share Posted August 31, 2007 Just an update Steven. Yesterday I called Metal Supermarket (google search) and ordered 1" Diameter W1 rod in 36" lengths it turned up today and I picked it up in Mississauga, for $39 Canadian including all those silly taxes you guys have. It looks like nice stuff but wont know for sure till I get back home and play. The only problem seemed to be no stores in Montreal though, maybe you could call one and sort something out. Jas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Sharpe Posted September 1, 2007 Author Share Posted September 1, 2007 (edited) Thanks Jas for the info ! always good to know a second supplier ! I ended up ordering from Admiral Steel and i am very satisfied, even with shipping, customs and other BS fees it ended up around 120$ US (130 CAN) for 1095 and 1075 in flatbar (1/4x1X1 1/4) ... Had i bought the same steel here in Canada would have been around 650 $ not shipped Shipping took 4 days to get here ... pretty fast ! Steven Edited September 1, 2007 by Steven Sharpe Steven Sharpe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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