What types of metal do you use in the metal shop? If you can know the specifics of the alloys you use, please include them.
I’m asking for several reasons, but partially because I’m getting pushback from multiple angles that people have cut stainless without issue on our saws before. I didn’t know that anyone other than Eric had used stainless here at all.
My own answer: probably 98% of what I use is 6061 Aluminum for machining. I’ve occasionally used pieces of the steel tube we use for MSS class, which is A36 steel. I recently got some C360 brass for Asmbly to do some tests on, but I haven’t used it yet. (It is dreadfully expensive, 10x the cost of Aluminum, which has foiled my plans to use it in some classes I’m developing.)
Almost exclusively 6160 aluminum, with a small amount of 1018 steel. I have used 314 stainless on the lathe before.
Mild Steel cutting (horizontal bandsaw, cold saw, angle grinder), welding, and occasional machining on the Tormach.
6061 Aluminum cutting (horizontal bandsaw), machining on the Tormach.
360 Brass cutting (horizontal bandsaw), lathe.
I have some stainless sheet welding projects, but they keep being back-burnered. If I were to cut things for that it would be on the fiber laser.
I work with almost exclusively mild steel. 6061 aluminum turns up every once in a while.
Mild Steel for welding projects
Aluminum for CNC
Stainless for CNC or Lathe (less common)
Almost everything I use is a drop, scrap or random amazon material - I don’t know the specific alloys.
I mostly use drop material too, but I’m fairly certain that Metals4U’s aluminum drops are overwhelmingly 6061. I did get something in the 7000 series from Westbrook once, which was noticeably harder.
Of course, there are different types of 6061, depending on their tempering history…