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Frequently Asked Questions

We help thousands of fabricators, designers, engineers and makers with their material needs each month. After more than 20 years, we’ve seen that many of our customers have very similar questions about our services and products. Here are some of the most commonly asked questions. If you can’t find the answer to your question here, try exploring our Learning Center section at the page footer for more resources.

PRICING FAQ

Q: How do I get pricing?

All of our prices are available online on the individual item pages. If you need longer lengths, larger quantities, or material you don’t see, we can offer custom quotes.

Please sign in to your account and use the Custom Quote form. One of our sales representatives will respond as quickly as possible. If you don’t have an account yet, creating one is simple and offers a wide array of benefits. Create your account here.

SHIPPING FAQ

Any stock items typically ship the same day if the order is submitted by 1PM. If not, then they generally ship the next day. If you have questions about expediting your order or want to know if a specific item is a stock item, please contact us.

Just put what you want in your cart then proceed to the checkout! Our system works with UPS to automatically calculate the shipping on step 3 of checkout. As you add or subtract items from your cart, the system recalculates. Also, you aren’t obligated to complete the order once you proceed to that step, so don’t let that deter you.

Where material ships from depends on where it is shipping to. We currently have six Online Metals fulfillment facilities and always try to ship from the nearest facility. For more info, check out our shipping map.

While most of our customers are within 2-day shipping zone via UPS ground, delivery will depend upon the shipping method chosen and distance it needs to travel.

For example, if UPS 2nd Day Air is selected, the order will be delivered 2 business days from shipment.


Delivery dates are counted in business days and the day of shipment is not included. For instance, if a ground shipment is supposed to take 3 days, and it is shipped on a Wednesday, it will arrive 3 days later the following Monday.

Unfortunately, no. However, we do offer UPS SurePost which is a similar alternative to USPS, though at present we only use the padded envelopes for shipping. As such, to qualify for USP SurePost shipping, your material must be 9” x 12” or smaller, and weigh about 3 lbs or less.

On "Long" product, like rod, tube, bar, or pipe, the longest piece of material we can ship via UPS is 96".

On "Flat" product, like sheet and plate, the biggest piece we can ship via UPS is 36" x 48"

Anything over 150 pounds has to ship via freight instead of UPS.

We use heavy duty cardboard tubes and boxes depending on the shape you are getting. You can find a fuller description of the shipping process here.

ONLINE ORDER PICKUP FAQ

We have six locations, here are their addresses and hours.

Seattle

Address: 1138 West Ewing, Seattle, WA 98109
Hours: 8:00 am - 4:30 pm, Monday - Friday

Atlanta

Address: 1500 Cherokee Parkway, Acworth, GA 30102
Hours: 8:00 am - 5:00 pm, Monday - Friday

Los Angeles

Address: 13338 Orden Drive, Santa Fe Springs, CA 90670
Hours: 8:00 am - 4:00 pm, Monday - Friday

Toledo

Address: 8001 ThyssenKrupp Parkway, Northwood, OH 43619
Hours: 8:00 am - 5:00 pm, Monday - Friday

Dallas

Address: 3001 Alouette Drive, Suite 100, Grand Prairie, TX 75052
Hours: 8:00 am - 5:00 pm, Monday - Friday

Wallingford

Address: 5 Sterling Drive, Wallingford, CT 06492
Hours: 8:00 am - 4:30 pm, Monday - Friday


If Online Order Pickup is not available as an option, it means that something in your cart isn't in stock at the closest pickup location to you. If you aren't sure which item is causing the issue, please contact us.

It depends on the material, but typically the turn around is 4 business hours. Certain materials, such as thick steel plate or larger quantities, may take longer.

No, you still need to place the order online.

We send you an email when it's ready to go. If you have further questions, please contact us.

No, you’ll still need to wait until the order is ready for pickup.

SERVICES FAQ

At this time we do not provide any fabrication services other than cutting material to size. However, here is small list of machine shops with a presence on the web that may be able to provide assistance with machining or fabrication:

Quick Cut Precision Machining
Isaac at QuickCut is one of our favorite people. He does prototype to production work. including CNC, tool & fixture building CAD/CAM, and mechanical part design.
Bothell, WA
[email protected]
(425) 770-4413
EDJ Precision
Everett, WA
www.edjprecision.com
[email protected]
(866) 745-3937
Simple Machining
Aloha, OR
www.simplemachining.com
[email protected]
(503) 705-8352
WJS Precision Fab
Philadelphia, PA
(215) 288-7944
[email protected]
Eric Gossard
Ontario, CA
(909) 467-0306
[email protected]

Due to the fact that we are an online metals service center, and we are constantly adding products, we do not publish a catalog. All of the information on all of our products (including pricing) is available on the web site.

Sorry, we do not accept COD orders. We accept Credit Cards, PayPal, and Purchase Orders.

No! We buy new material and cut it to your specifications. We know exactly where it came from and can provide certifications to prove it.

FABRICATION FAQ

Maybe! There are a number of different competing gauge standards, and, for example, 14 gauge brass is not the same thickness as 14 gauge copper or 14 gauge stainless. On individual product listings, we do have the gauge listed where that information is available. In general, we advise that you make your designs and order in decimals (i.e. .032") as there is less room for error.

Most of our customers have had good results in copper, brass, and stainless steel using material that is at or near .024" thick.

We've had reports of very good results using Liquid Nails. The material can also be screwed to the wall.