Aluminum shorts are both more fashionable and more comfortable than aluminum jorts. This article, however, is about aluminum plate shorts—remnant lengths of aluminum left over after a larger piece of aluminum is cut for another project.

Aluminum shorts have some big advantages over new plates, as they cost substantially less, and they can be more efficient for smaller projects. Consider using aluminum shorts for machining and other fabrication projects of all types.

Aluminum Shorts Have Great Value

Aluminum is a lot more expensive than steel, especially high-performance plates like MIC-6. Some alloys are highly engineered and often proprietary, meaning material costs can add up quickly when sourcing brand new plates from the mill.

However, aluminum shorts present an alternative to newly milled aluminum. Leftover material from large-scale manufacturing processes can be cleaned up, precision-cut, and reused for smaller projects. These aluminum shorts are significantly less expensive than new metal while providing the same quality as the plates they came from.

Shorts Are a Reliable Source of Aluminum

Metal supply chains are straining under the effects of energy shortages, COVID lockdowns, and the conflict between Russia and Ukraine—both major players in the aluminum supply chain. The result has been an ongoing aluminum shortage, and unfortunately, things will probably get worse before they get better.

There’s not much we can do about port closures in Shanghai or soaring energy prices. The last two years have exposed how fragile the global supply chain is and how dependent we are on global sources for raw materials.

This is another problem that can be solved with aluminum shorts. Buying close to home avoids congested overseas shipping lines and provides a reliable source of material. Plus, there is rarely a shortage of remnant metal—as long as production plants are running, they’re producing remnants that can be repurposed into aluminum shorts.

Sourcing verified aluminum shorts from a U.S. supplier is a great way to make sure operations keep running smoothly, no matter what else is going on in the world.

Ensure Quality with Verified Aluminum Shorts

The cost savings and availability of aluminum shorts make them the perfect alternative to new metal. However, it’s important to make sure you know what you’re getting.

Aluminum shorts don’t typically come with mill test reports, certifications, or any other documentation, making them unsuitable for applications with strict material specifications. However, shorts are just pieces of the same materials used in the original manufacturing process—and they can be very high-quality. If you can verify their composition, you can get highly valuable alloys at a fraction of their usual price.

How can you verify the composition of aluminum shorts? One of the most convenient methods is x-ray fluorescence (XRF), a technology that can accurately identify the alloying elements in a piece of material using x-rays. A handheld XRF analyzer can determine a metal’s exact composition with a simple scan, allowing fabricators to use it with confidence.

Get Affordable Aluminum Shorts from a Local Metal Supplier

Industrial Metal Service has been supplying manufacturers, fabricators, and machine shops with new and remnant metal for more than two decades. We’re proud of the reputation we’ve built as a trustworthy, reliable metal supplier.

We specialize in supplying aluminum shorts and metal remnants of all kinds, including steel, copper, and titanium. We use Thermo-Fisher XRF analyzers to verify the exact composition of all our aluminum shorts, so you can be confident they will meet your specifications.