Sheet Metal at Wickes

[Reelman]

Happened to be in the local Wickes the other day and discovered that they have a new product line - sheet metal. They do steel, aluminium and perforated stretched steel which looks just right for vintage loudspeaker grilles.
The aluminium, although a bit thin at 0.8mm, looks pretty good for making an ali chassis.

http://www.wickes.co.uk/search?text=metal+sheet

Cheers,

Peter

[stevehertz]

Nice one, well spotted.

[dseymo1]

Pretty good prices for 'retail' sizes, too.

[Ed_Dinning]

Hi Gents, I think the other DIY stores stock something similar in their "metal bars", as well as a range of plastic sheets.
There is the car parts suppliers, they stock "repair plate", usually, but not always galvanised steel in a variety of thicknesses from about 0.5mm and thicker.

Ed

[emeritus]

A visit to my local Wickes is now on my "to do " list. I had seen perforated metal at various local DIY stores and builders' merchants, but only as long narrow strips for use by plasterers in making archways etc.

[David G4EBT]

Originally Posted by emeritus

A visit to my local Wickes is now on my "to do " list.

I'd check the stock levels first! I checked in my area and there is none in stock in any of the stores for miles around, so out of curiosity, I checked the stores in Essex:

None in stock at Brentwood, Braintree, Maldon, Rayleigh, Colchester, Bishop Stortford - just a few bits in stock in Chelmsford.

I suspect that it will be more a case of 'click and collect' which is fine if we know that what's on offer is what we need, but it would be nice to be able to browse if we're unsure.

We have two very large B&Q stores here, who seem to sell most of the metal that Wickes list, but it's expensive, and the mesh metal is no use for such things as speaker grilles as it's much too coarse. I suspect that it's mainly used for plasterwork and the like, and I guess that which Wickes are selling (which is 3.5mm x 6mm mesh spacing) is intended likewise, given that Wickes is basically a builders' merchants, like its parent company, Travis Perkins, (who also own Toolstation).

Still worth knowing about Wickes though - it's getting harder and harder to find local retail stockists of such stuff as sheet steel, which motorists' discount shops often used to stock.

[emeritus]

Thanks for the warning: I had intended to do some shopping in Chelmsford later this week, and will drop in in the local branch there on my way.

[Radio Wrangler]

Large white goods otherwise destined for the skip are good donors of thinnish sheet steel and at far better prices.

The front panel of one oscilloscope I built as a kid was aluminium, it had a coat of arms on the inside. The sheet had been the front panel under the windscreen of a Huddersfield Trolleybus, but it had been stripped off before it was given to me. It has to be one of the more unlikely things to wind up in a bit of radio gear.

David