Where to get Steel Plate? Central Coast, NSW.

[Zeussy]

Hey Guys/Gals,

Didn't know where to throw this, so thought the pub sounded like a good idea
(If its not, can a mod plz delete/move it as you see fit)

Just wondering if any of you out there know a good place to buy some steel plate/checker plate, probably around 8-10-12mm thick??

Basically, I want to put it down in front of our driveway cause we have these ghey round/curvy gutters that have been bugging me and wearing out my towbar bolts

It will need to be 6 meters wide (can be in 3-4 bits, what ever it needs to be?) And about 400mm wide.
So, if the sheet comes in anything near 1200x2000 x 8-12mm thick that'd be great

It doesn't have to be pretty, so I was thinking there would have to be somewhere to buy second hand stuff?
Would anyone here have any lying around, or know someone that does, or where i could get some that'd be excellent!!

Would 8-10-12mm be thick enough, or too thick for what I need? (in your opinions?) Cars will be driven on it, but not sitting on it forever, and could probably reinforce it from behind if need be.

Cheers all

[Calaber]

Zeussy,

Try Metalland at Charmhaven, or their bigger branch at Lisarow, just near the Railway Station.

[Zeussy]

Cheers Calaber, just rang the guys at Lisarow, (after seeing your post, didn't even know there was one at charmhaven though?! lol)

For some 8mm smooth steel plate, 1200mmx 2000mm its like $330, so, a little more than I wanted to leave laying/dynabolted down, outside infront of the driveway

Probably a resonable price for it, but, I think I might have to see if I can get any secondhand or something??
Doesn't matter if its all rusty etc. A good wire buff, rust treatment, some primer, and some of that real 'grippy in wet' paint would be perfect to drive the cars over.


Soo, if anyone has some lying around at work that the boss doesn't want/need, or they know where I could get some, please let me know!

[vkberlina]

depends where you are on the coast
BJ Howles at lisarow, Metalcorp at West Gosford for down south

If you want to go thinner weld some pipe underneath to support it and allow water to flow through

[Zeussy]

Thanks for the tip vkberlina, a bit of water pipe under it might be a good thing -for some support

I found a place in Campbelltown, (they're like metal recyclers or something). Rang them up for a price and the guy said that 6mm would be heavy enough for a car to drive on, rekons 10-12mm you could drive a truck on (although I'm skeptical ) not sure if he just wanted to push that cause they want to get rid of it or not?

Anyway, he can do a 1800x12meter sheet of 6mm for $125 (its like 105kg of steel, they sell it by weight).

Bloody cheap I thought, but
A: how do I get it here, lol, he said just bring a box tralier and they'd cut it in half, but 6 meters on a 8x5 box trailer could be too long me thinks and
B: I don't need anywhere near that amount :/ lol,

Do you guys think 6mm with some big bore water pipe welded underneath would be strong enough?

Anyone else want some steel plate?

I'll keep looking around, see if I can find any closer, and smaller, or if anyone else knows anywhere I'll check that out too.

[vkberlina]

I have loads of thick walled gal pipe you can have kicking around I get quite alot of various sizes with work let me know sizes and lengths I will see what I have, you can have it most are off cuts.

BJs at lisarow may be able to supply some off cuts, also so it doesnt go missing get some ramset plugs and bolt it down so someone doesnt knock it off.

cheers
Scott

[Bravotwozero]

6mm will be plenty mate. Go with the advice.

[Zeussy]

I have loads of thick walled gal pipe you can have kicking around I get quite alot of various sizes with work let me know sizes and lengths I will see what I have, you can have it most are off cuts.

BJs at lisarow may be able to supply some off cuts, also so it doesnt go missing get some ramset plugs and bolt it down so someone doesnt knock it off.

cheers
Scott

Ahh for real, thats good to keep in mind Thanks heaps for the offer, will probably see how it goes, and if it looks like its going to flex a bit when the car drives over it then might work out work what size etc, and grab some off you - for a drink or something.

Are the ramset things you're talking about like a nail with a plug on it, or the explosive thingies? lol, I was going to use dyna bolts but with a with a counter-sunk screw head so they didn't stick up too far, but then you can still undo them, lol

BJ Howes was who I rang before, BJ Howes/Metaland, its the same place isn't it, or the metal recyclers beside Metaland?

6mm will be plenty mate. Go with the advice.

Cheers for that... Just wasn't sure cause you can bend 3mm plate with your hands, so just wanted to see what everyone thought
Never really used 6mm plate before,

[ari666]

yeah we used 10mm checker plate on our driveway at the old showroom, made the mistake of not supporting it, plate bent in the middle then ripped the dyna bolts out of the ground, then ripped a bar of a low RX7...

after that accident we got a galvanised pipe in the gutter, flipped the plate so the bend was facing upwards, dyna bolted the bottom back on the ground and drove a 4wd back and forth to bend the plate flat. dyna bolted the top and never had a problem again

until the council came and took it away.... you need council approval.

edit*

you can bend 3mm plate with your hands,

yeah right!!! whateveer you say arnold swarchxnegggiey

[nstone63]

until the council came and took it away.... you need council approval.

lol, did they actually take it or just make you remove it?

[Tsunamix]

Atlas Steels
Sandvik
CS Steel etc.

It comes down to whicgh steel you get. Mild steel plate is relativeley easy to bend. Gal less so, high carbon - impossible. Tool steel / spring steel / Chrome steel, Nickel steel, Chequer plate is harder to bend because the chequers resist bending.

Proper shaping would help you resist bending too. Those creases they put in steel speed bumps are there for a reason...

6mm Mild will take a good load but canbend if the unsupported distance is too long. Look up torque on wikipedia - distance from support multiplies loads. If your clever, you could shape the 6mm mild steel in such a way as that part of it sits inside the gap, and has a tapered top hat section above that puts the loads onto the side of the concrete rather than on the steel.

Or simply put a piece of timber underneath.

Oh - remeber to dynabolt it on just one side, too - steel when it heats expands alot and can pull / push on the dynabolts cracking the concrete. especially if the bolts are less than 50mm from the edge.

Cheers

[ari666]

lol, did they actually take it or just make you remove it?

lol, they sent us a couple of stroppy letters which we ignored, something about street cleaners and rubbish congesting. then one moring we arrived only to find we couldnt get up the driveway.

they must have sent some guys at around 5am.

[Ryley]

lol, they sent us a couple of stroppy letters which we ignored, something about street cleaners and rubbish congesting. then one moring we arrived only to find we couldnt get up the driveway.

they must have sent some guys at around 5am.

Lol, that's hilarious! "This is ours now!"

[Zeussy]

yeah we used 10mm checker plate on our driveway at the old showroom, made the mistake of not supporting it, plate bent in the middle then ripped the dyna bolts out of the ground, then ripped a bar of a low RX7...

after that accident we got a galvanised pipe in the gutter, flipped the plate so the bend was facing upwards, dyna bolted the bottom back on the ground and drove a 4wd back and forth to bend the plate flat. dyna bolted the top and never had a problem again

until the council came and took it away.... you need council approval.

Yeah, Dad's all like "what happens if some one trips over it and sue's me.."
Looks like it'l need to be re-inforced how ever thick its going to be, like, it might not bend the first time, but over a couple of years...

Didn't think of the council STEALING it!!

yeah right!!! whateveer you say arnold swarchxnegggiey

I'll be back...

Haha, well, maybe a knee and two hands and maybe 'flex' not bend!!

[Zeussy]

Atlas Steels
Sandvik
CS Steel etc.

It comes down to whicgh steel you get. Mild steel plate is relativeley easy to bend. Gal less so, high carbon - impossible. Tool steel / spring steel / Chrome steel, Nickel steel, Chequer plate is harder to bend because the chequers resist bending.

Proper shaping would help you resist bending too. Those creases they put in steel speed bumps are there for a reason...

6mm Mild will take a good load but canbend if the unsupported distance is too long. Look up torque on wikipedia - distance from support multiplies loads. If your clever, you could shape the 6mm mild steel in such a way as that part of it sits inside the gap, and has a tapered top hat section above that puts the loads onto the side of the concrete rather than on the steel.

Or simply put a piece of timber underneath.

Oh - remeber to dynabolt it on just one side, too - steel when it heats expands alot and can pull / push on the dynabolts cracking the concrete. especially if the bolts are less than 50mm from the edge.

Cheers

Cheers for that, was thinking of going chequer plate, to hopefully offer a tad more grip aswell and welding some 'ribs' underneath it out of angle or something else. But the Gal pipe sounds like a good idea - that way the water can still flow through easily, and it probably wont rust out too bad

Its only got to be 400mm wide, so not sure how strong it'd have to be?

Dynabolt/ramset plug thingy on one side sounds like a sensible idea, don't really want to crack up the gutter

[Zeussy]

Pic of what I need it for, incase any ones curious
I only had a bit of 2x4 laying around, but basically the bottom edge of it will be the level with where the mteal needs to be



You can see all the marks in the road from my towbar, whoopsie!

And by the looks of it 60mm o/d water pipe is what will fit under it nicely, but being a double driveway, its going to need to be a long bit or lotsa little pieces :/

[vkberlina]

Ok I suggest to use the orange plastic ramsetr plugs to secure to with gal bugal head screws for the fixing they way you can restore it back to original if you ever move or need to remove it. plus the gal bugals could be countersunkl in.

I checked this morning I have some 60mm pipe laying around heaps of smaller diam pipe and you could weld 3 together to quite easily get the desired height.

cheers
Scott

[gopher]

wouldn't it be easier and cheaper to just take the towbar tongue off when you're not using it?

[Zeussy]

Ok I suggest to use the orange plastic ramsetr plugs to secure to with gal bugal head screws for the fixing they way you can restore it back to original if you ever move or need to remove it. plus the gal bugals could be countersunkl in.

I checked this morning I have some 60mm pipe laying around heaps of smaller diam pipe and you could weld 3 together to quite easily get the desired height.

cheers
Scott

Sweet as, do bunnings sell them? Would be good to be able to remove it if the need be.
That'd be awesome, sounds like exactly what ill do I've got dads mate looking for some steel, but if he can't find any I'll get a piece from sydney, found some more at another place yesterday. Also need to check out those places that Tsunamix mentioned.

wouldn't it be easier and cheaper to just take the towbar tongue off when you're not using it?

lol gopher, yes and no, sure the towbar tongue wouldn't scrape, but the bit thats still attched to my car would, then so would the fuel tank, rear bar, etc...

If you go slow, especially reversing in, the car will get 'beached' for a moment until you get fair up it.
So, i suppose the 'smart' thing to do would be have a car thats not as low, but its really not that low anyway.
My girlfriends new stocko barina smashes the front control arm mounts everytime she goes in and out too. They're just ghey gutters

And it might make my bushes in the front end last a little bit longer too

[vkberlina]

Sweet as, do bunnings sell them? Would be good to be able to remove it if the need be.
That'd be awesome, sounds like exactly what ill do I've got dads mate looking for some steel, but if he can't find any I'll get a piece from sydney, found some more at another place yesterday. Also need to check out those places that Tsunamix mentioned.

Yeah bunnines sells them basically they are like a green wall plug on steriods. Either a zenith plugs or the better ones are ramset (orange in colour) and the gal bugal screws are used for decking.

I had a look I have a few lengths of pipe that would be suitable for what you need just need welding together.

cheers
Scott

[Fitzy09]

that much steel will stick out like a sore thumb the council will be all over it. mates got the same problem just two 400mm plates down where he drfives out of the driveway, save spending a sh**load on a massive plate

[kyl3]

Hi OP, did you end up getting a plate? i need one for my driveway badly... scrape my bum if i have more than one person in the car >.< cars not even lowered! (vx)

[Zeussy]

Hey mate, nahh I haven't got any steel plate yet, was going to go halvies with a neighbour and they kept putting it off a few weeks in a row so kinda forgot about it

But, I will need to get some as my cars getting painted soon and most likely an SS kit put on, so that will make it a little lower - and I DON'T want to rip it off after paint!!

Where abouts are you, I found some alright places in Sydney, metal recycling type places, big sheets for resonable prices...

[vkberlina]

Just a thought call a guy Steve at CNS Engineering at north Wyong on 43511001 he may have some or advise you where to get it.

Most driveways I have see are using about 4mm thick checker plate

cheers
Scott

[ausrs]

there is one other option other than plate ,find someone that does ashpalt and get them to fill in t he "dip" in the gutter ,i did that one time and never heard a word from the council !