On the other side of the coin, I haven't had a good history with metal suppliers. They seem uninterested in small orders and become somewhat impatient if you don't speak the language. The vocabulary required to specify thickness, hardness and the myriad of details needed to ask for a piece of metal is specialized to say the least. Those difficulties went away yesterday when I visited Metal Supermarkets.
Not only were they willing to talk to me about a small order, they told me that about half of their business is small orders. I was looking for a sheet of aluminum about 1/8 inch thick. They showed me their selection of end cuts. The one I bought was more than 5 square feet and priced at $2.50 per pound. They were just as willing to cut a piece to order which would have been priced dimensionally.
They spent a good amount of time with me explaining the various options and quality grades they had available. Thanks guys, I'll be back.
