Once again, current aluminum prices?

[moonlight machine]

I bought 6 12' of 1"x1" 6061T6 from Alro Metals. they ripped me for 90.00 each, 2x what it was 1 year ago. It was labeled "Hydro" and it was SHIT, all twisted and useless as I needed 4 straight non twisted 72" lengths for this job and lots of 1' and shorter pieces so I can use some of it.

 

[kustomizer]

3500 lbs of 6061 yesterday @3.90 mostly Kaiser except some 3/4 x 4 Hydro, I have to bend it 45 deg with a 1/2" inside radius and Kaiser wont do it as it cracks

 

[DavidScott]

Heat it up to 300-350f and you should be fine.

 

[triumph406]

Heat it up to 300-350f and you should be fine.

Of course, it's only 3/4" thick, a little of bit MAPP would take care of it.

 

[kustomizer]

I do 90% of the machining, heat them to 500ish in an oven, set them in a purpose built bender bender then heat them to closer to 700 with a torch as I bend them. Kaiser will crack more often than not and Hydro bends nice. I prefer machining Kaiser, it is flatter, straighter slightly harder, makes better chips, stays flatter when machined but it don't bend as well.

 

[DavidScott]

6063 forms better if it would work for the part's other needs.

 

[kustomizer]

6063 forms better if it would work for the part's other needs.

It would, but it is no fun to machine and there are a lot of chips on this part

 

[david n]

$2.71/lb today for 5k lbs.................RFQ always goes out to 3-5 vendors. Sales guys were very quick to follow up on the competition's prices. I don't play the price war games, ever. Some were quick to offer lower pricing. I told 'em they should have been at those prices on their first quote.

 

[Milland]

$2.71/lb today for 5k lbs.................RFQ always goes out to 3-5 vendors. Sales guys were very quick to follow up on the competition's prices. I don't play the price war games, ever. Some were quick to offer lower pricing. I told 'em they should have been at those prices on their first quote.

A good sign? Unless this means suppliers foresee a crash coming...

 

[BT Fabrication]

$2.71/lb today for 5k lbs.................RFQ always goes out to 3-5 vendors. Sales guys were very quick to follow up on the competition's prices. I don't play the price war games, ever. Some were quick to offer lower pricing. I told 'em they should have been at those prices on their first quote.

lol nice.... some have been playing that game all year.

 

[SND]

Y'all might was to be extra careful that it's not Asian garbage aluminium they're quoting/selling, there's a lot of that around here, China, Indonesia... even free that junk would be too expensive.
I guess some north american aluminium mills shutting down due to high energy costs didn't help the Aluminium quality situation.

As to price, Stainless has only gone down a few cents a pound here and al not much change either, perhaps because the CAD has also gone down and we always like to get screwed more than average up here anyway.