Question for the scratch builders

[Concorde]

What is a good place to buy a small quantity of Aluminum ?
Are all 6061-T6 the same no matter who sells them ?
When you cut a piece like a splice plate , does it matter to go with grain or against ?
Yesterday I bent my splice plate the wrong way (SNX -F26-06) and for this one I will order it from Sonex, but I was thinking about keeping a few pieces of aluminum like in this case 3/16 6061 - T6 plate on hand for all future screw ups .
Thanks in advance.
Ben

[Bruce593SX]

I bought the full sheets and sticks from a local metal supplier... Some of the thicker stuff that I didn't need big pieces of I got from Spruce.... HINT: Get the pilot card visa from spruce and you get free ground shipping over $100.(has size restrictions). Has saved me a fortune as I get close to finishing.

I didn't pay any attention to grain.

[Bryan Cotton]

Ben,
Always check your local suppliers. Many of them won't sell small pieces though so I end up at AC Spruce or similar for the "oops" pieces. My experience from a local supplier is the price drops rapidly as the number of sheets go up. When I bought extrusions for my hummelbird I bought double because they were so cheap.

Aluminum 6061-T6 is the same anywhere. If buying a quantity from a local supplier ask for mill certs (paperwork which says the tested material properties of the batch) but don't tell them you are building an airplane.

Bend across the grain if you can. For slight bends like a splice plate I would not worry about it. Also for a generous radius, like a splice plate you will be fine. As long as you adhere to making the bend radius 4X the thickness you should be able to bend with the grain, especially 6061. Finish your edges before you bend!

Check out ebay for small pieces too.

[NWade]

As Bryan mentioned, you always want to plan your pieces so that you can bend parts perpendicular to the grain, whenever possible. This and other important building information can be found in places like AC-43.13 and books like "Kit Airplane Construction" by Ron Wanttaja
(which I highly recommend reading. Its on Amazon.com here: http://www.amazon.com/Kit-Airplane-Cons ... n+wanttaja )

Another alternative is to go attend an EAA SportAir workshop. Their basic class on Sheetmetal aircraft is super-valuable, and they hold the classes all over the US throughout the year.

As for metal sources, I found http://www.onlinemetals.com to be a good supplier for sheets, angles, and channel-stock.

Good luck in your build!

--Noel
P.S. Be careful buying pieces from eBay and other secondary sources. You can get great deals sometimes; but you need to make sure the factory printing on the metal is still visible, identifying it as 6061-T6 (and check it thoroughly for any signs of corrosion, of course)

[Bryan Cotton]

I agree with Noel's PS on ebay. You won't get certs but if the printing is on there I would be comfortable.

[MichaelFarley56]

Just as an FYI, I've had no luck finding local sources for 6061-T6 around me but I did find that www.speedymetals.com has a lot of 6061-T6 available in different sizes. I've made several orders there and never had an issue.

[rizzz]

I thought these guys were pretty good:
https://www.shapirosupply.com/

I bought my all aluminium angle from them.
It turned out cheaper to buy the angle from them and get it shipped to Australia than buy from our one and only supplier we have here in the land down under (airportmetals).

[Concorde]

Thank you all very much for all your great suggestions.
Ben

[Gripdana]

I thought of one more thing. When I started buying metal I was given some angle that was not 6061. I purchased 6061 but I was given the wrong material. I bought it from a very large supplier here in Los Angeles. I posted a photo and someone warned me to check it out. The part was the angle that mounts the vertical stabilizer to the tail. Kind of important to have the right material. I was told and researched the fact that 6061 angle has a radius on the inside of the angle (acts like a gusset) and on the edges. There are NO "squared" or 90 degree edges except for the outside of the 90 degree angle.