Buying SHS and RHS Steel.

[birchy]

You're better off phoning them or going to see them. If you know anyone who works at a fabrication company, they might be able to get "mate's rates". Have you also tried online suppliers such as metals4u, Hub Le Bas or one of the many eBay sellers? Another option to consider is your local scrap metal merchants as they'll have "offcuts", sometimes up to 2M in length!

Looks like you have plenty of steel stockists locally: http://www.yell.com/s/steel+stockholders-stockport.html. You should be able to get some prices within half a dozen phone calls.

[Wal]

>You're better off phoning them or going to see them.

Yeah, I'll have to start doing that - trust me, I've emailed loads of 'em (just more convenient that way for me) and I'm not getting anything back...

I think the sizes I'm after (particularly the 6mm wall thickness) aren't helping. Only found 2 companies on-line that list it in their catalogue.

I'll stick at it.

Thanks again.

Wal.

[birchy]

Ahhh, yes...you might struggle to get those sections in 6mm wall thickness. 4mm is probably more readily available. Dunno how critical your sizes are, but perhaps a 150 x 75 channel section (a common size) could be used instead of the 160 x 80 box?

[Wal]

>Dunno how critical your sizes are

Well, I'm probably over-engineering it a bit, but it's 6mm for two reasons - a. weight (as it's a small squat design) and b. thread-engagement for the screws that are holding the bugger together. The chunkier the better, as far as I'm concerned!

Cheers.

Wal.

[birchy]

How about using a thinner wall and reinforcing with either plates or tubes inside the box? The tubes go across the inside faces to prevent the walls collapsing when you tighten the bolts...

[Wal]

Well, that's an option, I guess, but it'll probably be quicker and less hassle to bite the bullet and just drive down and collect the section I want - positioning a plate or a tube deep inside box section sounds like a bit of a ball-ache - especially as it'll have to be a tight fit for it's intended purpose (bracing the walls).

Cheers.

Wal.

[birchy]

Normal practice with the tubes is to saw them to about 0.5mm undersize a tack weld them inside the box. Obviously you can't do that if your holes are not near the ends of the box.