Throughout the United States, thousands of people with small, at-home machine shops and metalworking studios as well as hobbyists and jewelry makers use a variety of metals such as aluminum, brass, copper, steel, titanium, and many of their alloys to machine replacement components, fabricate custom creations, and craft unique jewelry.

For the most part, none of these activities require regularly scheduled deliveries of industrial quantities of metal. For some, a small supply of aluminum 6061 plate is the start of many projects. Carbon steel is a favorite for custom knifemakers, and copper finds uses in jewelry, garden sculptures, and architectural accents, especially in kitchens. A supply of angle iron is useful for artistic welders who can turn concepts into reality with a torch.

One of the challenges for fabricators, hobbyists, and artists is finding small quantities of high-quality metals for metalworking at home. Fortunately, metal suppliers that also provide industrial metal recycling services have access to a wide range of metals and can make them available in small quantities, often at discounted prices.

Take Advantage of High-Quality Metal Remnants at Discounted Prices

Major manufacturers in the San Francisco Bay Area produce significant amounts of usable scrap metal—remnants that are too small for any further processing or use in their operations but are nonetheless suitable for applications by small-scale manufacturers, machine shops, and metalworking-at-home projects. The recycler buys the metal remnants, trims them to standard shapes, and then sells them at discounted prices. In many ways, this is the ultimate way to recycle. Finding additional productive uses for scrap metal avoids the environmental impact associated with transporting scrap, remelting it, and producing new metal products.

For anyone doing metalworking from home, these usable scraps are the best alternative to new materials. Whether it’s a single piece of CP titanium or half a ton of aluminum for a small-run project, this approach is a very convenient way to purchase materials for metalworking at home for the following reasons:

• Metals are available in small quantities, which is useful if you need just a single piece for a craft project.
• There is a wide range of metals to choose from, in an equally wide range of sizes, which allows you to select the pieces and dimensions that fit your specific needs.
• The metals are available at lower costs than purchasing new metals directly from the mill or distributor.

Purchase from a Local Metal Supplier for Metalworking at Home

Industrial Metal Service is located in San Jose, California. For more than two decades, we’ve been providing metal recycling services to the San Francisco Bay Area as well as supplying local machine shops, fabricators, and welders with high-quality metals. In recent years, we’ve seen an increasing number of craftspeople who do metalworking from home take advantage of our discounted materials.

If you live in the Bay Area, you’re welcome to stop by our warehouse to look around. You’ll find an extensive inventory of aluminum, including 2024, 5083, 6061, 7050, 7075, and MIC-6; commercially pure and 6-4 titanium; carbon and stainless steel; copper; brass; and an assortment of high-temperature nickel and tungsten alloys. The quality and composition of the usable remnant metals we sell are verified using x-ray fluorescence scanners.

We’ve had first-time customers become repeat customers after discovering the convenience of buying from a local metal supplier that has a wide variety of metals available at discounted prices. We also serve the needs of hobbyists and craftsmen who don’t have the benefit of a local metal supplier. We ship single pieces as well as an assortment of metals nationwide. There’s no minimum order quantity when you purchase metals from us.