ferretlegger
Aluminum
- Joined
- May 15, 2009
- Location
- San Jose, CA
Hello all,
I was speaking with a manufacturer of specialized off-road gearing and transfer cases, and they were telling me that they cannot find aluminum plate to make the interface plates they use to mate transfer cases and other gearing. They were reluctant to share the alloy details, but on a part of their website they mention "6061 billet". The interface plates come in several types, but the thickest looks like 2" to 2.5", with a footprint, for the sake of discussion, of 1 foot square before machining. The thinner plates look like .75" to 1" thick, perhaps thinner. They seemed to believe that since the tariffs went into effect, aluminum plate in this size is unobtainable, and that unnamed mega investors had essentially bought up all of it in order to drive up the prices (if I understood them correctly).
I did a quick search online, and was able to find stock in the 2"-2.5" thickness from a number of vendors. I thought that I would reach out to those of you who are machining lots of 6061 and/or 7075 to see what your experiences were, and if there are any vendors you would recommend. I would very much like to buy products from this manufacturer, and until they start making interface plates, I cannot.
If there is any useful feedback that I can give them to help with their material supply issues, I will pass it on to them.
Thanks!
Michael
I was speaking with a manufacturer of specialized off-road gearing and transfer cases, and they were telling me that they cannot find aluminum plate to make the interface plates they use to mate transfer cases and other gearing. They were reluctant to share the alloy details, but on a part of their website they mention "6061 billet". The interface plates come in several types, but the thickest looks like 2" to 2.5", with a footprint, for the sake of discussion, of 1 foot square before machining. The thinner plates look like .75" to 1" thick, perhaps thinner. They seemed to believe that since the tariffs went into effect, aluminum plate in this size is unobtainable, and that unnamed mega investors had essentially bought up all of it in order to drive up the prices (if I understood them correctly).
I did a quick search online, and was able to find stock in the 2"-2.5" thickness from a number of vendors. I thought that I would reach out to those of you who are machining lots of 6061 and/or 7075 to see what your experiences were, and if there are any vendors you would recommend. I would very much like to buy products from this manufacturer, and until they start making interface plates, I cannot.
If there is any useful feedback that I can give them to help with their material supply issues, I will pass it on to them.
Thanks!
Michael