Building a Prototyping Materials List

New technologies in manufacturing have allowed small shops and individual fabricators to develop parts and products previously only possible for large manufacturers. For these smaller operations, building a prototyping materials list for a sophisticated prototype can be daunting. They may need metals with unique properties like titanium and nickel superalloys, but buying these materials new from a mill is often outside their budgets.

In this post, we’ll look at some metals with unique properties that might belong on your prototyping materials list, then we’ll explore the ways a local metal supplier and recycler can reduce your costs with options like verified metal remnants and sample pallets.

Metals for Your Prototyping Materials List

Small fabricators and machine shops have long shown they can compete with the big manufacturers when working with common materials like steel and aluminum. However, when creating a prototyping materials list and more exotic metals are needed, it’s difficult to know where to start. It’s important to understand your options if you need metals with extreme strength, unique thermal properties, or any other characteristic.

Titanium alloys are often used to make components strong while minimizing weight. These alloys are commonly utilized in the aerospace and automotive industries. Titanium is even biocompatible, rendering it invaluable for surgical equipment and implanted medical devices.

For extreme application conditions, nickel-based superalloys like Monel, Hastelloy, and Invar are useful options. These superalloys have outstanding corrosion and temperature resistance, which makes them effective for parts that will be exposed to corrosive fluids or extremely high temperatures.

Verified Metal Remnants

In the past, exotic metals like titanium or nickel-based superalloys were typically outside the budgets of smaller shops. However, these machine shops and metal suppliers have found ways to make exotic metals more available to them.

Many manufacturers in the Bay Area and beyond have found that verified metal remnants are a low-cost option for the exotic or high-spec metals on their prototyping materials lists. Large manufacturers generate massive amounts of high-quality, usable metal remnants as part of their normal processes. Though too small for the original manufacturers to use any further, these remnants are ideal for machine shops and fabricators that don’t require new, direct-from-the-mill metals. Local metal suppliers like Industrial Metal Service recycle these usable metal remnants and sell them at heavily discounted prices.

Industrial Metal Service uses x-ray fluorescence technology to verify the chemical composition of our metal remnants, so you can be confident in the type and grade of metal you’re getting. In addition to standard materials like aluminum 6061 and stainless steel, we offer verified metal remnants of all kinds including copper, titanium, tungsten carbide, and more.

Sample Pallets

Another cost-saving option to fulfill your prototyping materials list is purchasing a sample pallet. If you only need small pieces or a variety of alloys in small quantities for testing, Industrial Metal Service can assemble a customized metal sample pallet with everything you need. This is a great way to maximize your value when purchasing special materials for testing, prototyping, or short production runs.

You can customize your sample pallet with any combination of new or verified remnant metal we have in stock—no minimum order required. Our inventory is constantly expanding and includes high-quality metal stock sourced from leading national mills as well as a wide selection of verified metal remnants at discounted prices. We’d be happy to discuss your specific metal needs and quote a sample pallet for you.

We Are Your Full-Service Metal Supplier

With over two decades of experience supplying new and verified remnant metal to customers in the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond, Industrial Metal Service has earned a reputation as a reliable and trustworthy metal supplier and recycler. Our extensive inventory of new metals sourced from U.S. mills, verified metal remnants, and fast, convenient delivery ensures you get the right materials for your prototyping materials list.

Industrial Metal Service carries a wide variety of ferrous and nonferrous metal stock that we can deliver to fabricators and machine shops in the Bay Area and nationwide. Our inventory includes exotic and unusual metals such as:

• Commercially Pure Titanium
• Titanium 6-4
• Hastelloy
• Monel
• Inconel
• Invar
• Molybdenum
• Cupronickel