Beginner material inventory dilemma

[DKMC]

New to me Torchmate 4x8 machine. This might be a dumb question, but how did you build up your inventory of sheet/plate materials?
I'm trying to figure out how to justify a full sheet of 3/8 or 1/2 if it only need maybe 1/4 of the sheet for the job. With accumulated left overs,
this would not be a problem, but just getting started, it's tough if not impossible to justify a whole sheet for a few parts needed.
Insight from seasoned pro's appreciated.

[acourtjester]

For the last 2X72 inch grinder I built the steel supplier sold me a 3/8" X 8" half length, I have bought other half sizes lengths too.
Easier for a hobby guy price wise and handling. Depending on the part size you may be able to get flat bar stock in place of a sheet.
Call in an order to give them time to cut before you go to pick it up.

[cutnweld]

By the time you pay your supplier to cut you a sheet you might be just as well off to purchase the whole thing.. You will always use the remnant another time. Once folks know you can make parts and stock the material, they will be by. My $.02.

[djreiswig]

By the time you pay your supplier to cut you a sheet you might be just as well off to purchase the whole thing.. You will always use the remnant another time. Once folks know you can make parts and stock the material, they will be by. My $.02.

I agree. Paying for cutting is usually not worth it. Buy the whole sheet. You could also see if they have drops from other people having things cut.

[adbuch]

New to me Torchmate 4x8 machine. This might be a dumb question, but how did you build up your inventory of sheet/plate materials?
I'm trying to figure out how to justify a full sheet of 3/8 or 1/2 if it only need maybe 1/4 of the sheet for the job. With accumulated left overs,
this would not be a problem, but just getting started, it's tough if not impossible to justify a whole sheet for a few parts needed.
Insight from seasoned pro's appreciated.

My local supplier offers 1/4" x 12" x 20 ft, 3/8" x 12" x 20 ft, and 1/2" x 12" x 20 ft. in HR steel and will sell me what ever lengths I need. By that I mean they will cut to the lengths I require and charge by the pound plus per cut. I use these thicknesses mainly for brackets and such, so certainly don't need a full 4x8 or 4x10 sheet of any of these thicknesses. I generally have them cut to 4 ft. lengths for ease of handling. I am a hobby guy and don't have a fork lift, overhead crane, etc. For the sheet metal - 11 ga thru 24 ga I generally buy full 4x8 sheets and have them cut in half to haul (minimal charge). My table is 4x4, so this works out great for me.

For you with your 4x8 table and assuming you will be running a commercial cnc plasma business, I would recommend purchasing full 4x8 sheets - assuming you have the ability to easily move them around your shop. Guys like Tom and myself are probably more hobby oriented, while some of the others here are doing this professionally - so it all depends on the intended purpose.

David

[acourtjester]

What David said

[SegoMan DeSigns]

You did not mention your proximity to your metal supplier, that can be a big factor on what you need to keep on hand. My closest supplier is a 2 hr round trip dive, the larger suppler with a 20x50 HyDef table is 4 hrs round trip. This falls project is to do an add-on to the building that will have an overhead gantry to load the plaz table with from metal stored in a container located outside the over head door. Some of the bigger burn shops will sell you their drops at a discounted price just to get rid of them.

[tinspark]

I have tac welded and ground a few pieces of thick flat bar together before burning my part to make a wider plate.
This worked fine for what it was for in my application, but may or may not work for a customer

[cutnweld]

I have 8 hours minimum driving time round trip to my supplier, I try to buy enough to make it a trip that's worthwhile. I can compete with the other local much larger shops because they buy from the same places. I know that for a fact. If I buy local there is nothing left over for profit. I don't buy much compared to some others, I usually get around 10,000 lb at a time.

[TJS]

I buy full sheets as well. Supplier is 10 minutes away. Before getting any steel do yourself a favor and make a cart. I made one similar to the Home Depot carts(carts with railings). I keep my sheets as well as skeletons on the cart. I paint marker the guage right on the sheet where I can glance at it and know what I have in stock full sheets as well as skeletons.

[cutnweld]

As far as what I get on a load... I don’t know. Anything I guess. We stock up to 1” plate in mild steel and also strenx 100. Some wear plate. Shafting from little rods up to 3” in 1045 and also induction hardened Chrome. All sort of HSS. There’s always something to bring home. I went on short notice last trip and had a smaller load, one thing I got tho was 10 5x10 sheets of 3/16” for a job that I think will go thru. If it doesn’t pan out we will always use them somewhere.

[SegoMan DeSigns]

Here is a storage / loading concept that you might be able to adapt to your set-up: