Talking About Industrial Machinery

Saving Money When Working With Steel

Steel remains a metal in high demand; your own business may need it to fabricate components for your client products or for work in your company facility. However, you may feel apprehension about affording all the steel you need. How can money be saved?

Using Recycled HMS #1 Steel

Using recycled pieces is typically a way to cut costs significantly. By negotiating good prices with scrappers, recycling centers and others, you can get loads of steel, melt it down, and custom-produce the steel parts you need.

When looking for recycled metals, you'll want to specifically use so-called "HMS 1" steel. Recycled metals are classified according to type, and the HMS 1 classification refers to the first class of "heavy melting steel", or HMS. Typically this will include steel and wrought iron of a certain thickness. Thickness is important when considering melting metals because thicker metals mean greater density; a "full melt" can happen more quickly and furnaces can then operate more efficiently.

When you seek HMS 1 materials for sale, ensure that you're not only comparing supplier prices, but that you ask how the steel was sourced and separated. Ensure that the steel isn't blackened or galvanized; that would be HMS 2 metal, which isn't as suitable for most applications.

Using Hot-Rolled Steel

If you've already been in the market for some time, you may already notice differences in price for different kinds of new steel. The cheaper, hot-rolled steel may seem attractive because of the price, but you may wonder whether it's inferior in some way. Hot-rolled steel, in contrast to the cold variety, is only heated and shaped once. It's generally unfinished, making it better for internal or unseen beams, planks and sheets. Hot-rolled steel is durable and safe; you may just want to use cold-rolled steel which could be polished if the appearance of the steel is that important to you or your customers.

Streamlining Design

Sometimes, saving money is more about the design than the metal that you'll need. Challenge your design team to come up with different mockups of the same steel components or pieces you plan to create and use, for instance. Look for ways to streamline design so that you'll need less steel to get the work finished. 

To save on steel, consider these methods. You should be able to keep your steel-acquiring activities within budget without sacrificing quality. Work with suppliers and recycling centers to keep the steel coming to you in a way that's agreeable to all players.


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