I would not recommend A&M as a supplier. They dont have the best price and they dont walk their
talk.
I purchased my aluminium from A&M in Vancouver B.C. I had also had quotes from Wilkinson Metals in Nanaimo and from Reynolds Aluminium in Washington state. Wilkinson had poor prices and could not get me what I wanted. Reynolds had the best pricing but some sizes ( particularly the 24'x 6' x 1/8" plate ) were not available from them. I dealt with Scott Perry at A&M over a 10 month period getting 2 or 3 quotes on various bits as the design was modified to available material, requirements and budgets ie. what was practical. Just as we were inking out the deal there was a 'price increase' ... I felt I was getting the car salesman / sales manager treatment. It may have been just the timing of it. The quotes had been ongoing for a while and things do change. The increase amounted to about 10% and we talked it down a bit and I was happy to have been working with Scott on this.
The order was cut and delivered mostly on time and terms. There was a problem with two damaged tubes, the jib boom and the 3" x 1/2" wall rudder stock ( which I dont think I got a good price on at $7.xx per pound ). They got me replacements for these with no problems. The 3/16" plate was not certified to H116 but only to H32 so we agreed to an independant test for this which it passed nicely. A few other minor adjustments on billing for weight and mill run overshipment of the 3/16" 2x2 tbar ( which was the only last minute hitch as they could not get 2" x 1.5" ).
They were unable to find me 9" OD 3/16" wall tube in long lengths for my mast so it was not on the initial order. I sourced it through the Thomas Registry on the web from Cresona Aluminium in the eastern U.S. They would not sell direct though and gave me their distributers in B.C. Sure enough A&M was their distributor. So I ended up buying a small mill run of 3 48' tubes through them for $3300 delivered to Gabriola Island. This was ordered in November of 1997 for delivery in April of 1998. Well it seems the sales department had made a mistake and not figured the flatbed and ferry to Gabriola... anyway they tried to stick it to me by just delivering to Nanaimo. The Purchase Order very clearly stated that it was to be delivered to the ground on Gabriola ( maybe a crane truck would be required ). They relented and it got here and the driver and a buddy and I humped them up my drive way from the road.
I placed another order in the summer of 1998 for $500 some shapes and a chunk of 3/4" plate. This was quoted at about 25% higher rates than my large order even though aluminium prices had fallen considerably. Probably this higher price was due to the small volume. I had this sent FOB Nanaimo as it would cartop fine.
In October I requested a quote on about 80lbs of shapes. I expected this would come in at about $250 but received a quote of $647. When I talked to Jeff ( the guy who quoted all my purchases with A&M ) and asked why this was so high and if pumping up the volume would help ( one piece of 2"sq tube I purchased for $56 in June was $137 in this October quote ) he said 'Take it or leave it' I spoke with his boss and all he sited was high shipping costs but said the price was correct.
Next day I called Russel Metals a small supplier in Nanaimo and got a quote for $281. They got the business.
A&M was bought out by Atlas Alloys in the summer and maybe they have changed some policies. In any case my efforts to build a relationship with them on the inital order rather than grinding their ass for every $ were wasted. As well their sales force was unable to source my mast tubes, even though I was able to do it in 30 minutes and 3 phone calls.
Been buying my argon and welding consumables from Mike at Canada Liquid Air in Nanaimo. They have good pricing and and have been able to get me some of the speciality stuf. I would recommend these guys. They go the extra mile to do phone orders and get it to the courier, and stay honest on prices ( despite interesting accounting problems and computer system change overs ) and have got me all the oddball bits I need. Buying my hinges there as well. I dropped in on a couple of other welding supply outfits in town and was not happy with the service available at them. Praxair in particular was pathetic. When I was getting quotes on the welder I even provided Praxair with the Miller part #s in person but they would not give me the time of day because ' its not in the computer'. I bought the actual welder from Mainland Welding Supply in Vancouver B.C. and had it in five days at $300 less than anyone else I talked to.
Dan Danknick gave me a nice leather jacket to help disuade the dingleberries when welding overhead. Check out his Combat Robot site.
My very nice ( what a great idea ) Optrel automatic helmet. Havent had to learn the welders nod or develop new neck muscles. Well worth the $400. Room in there for a little respirator and a great field of view with adjustable density. Added the leather beard to handle flash on my neck in some postitions.
Miller Regency 250 CV box. This works well for me. No complaints. Rugged unit, even Loomis's worst efforts only bent the bottom of the frame.
Miller Spoolmatic 30A spool gun. Also got their 50 degree curved nozzle kit. Mostly pushing .030 5356 wire and some .035 and .045. Works just so nice. Had one ugly jam in the early days when the wire pushed the liner forward and snargled in the body ( a little help from operator error eh!). This is a nice gun.
'Ahh' the genuine 'Skil' HD77 wormdrive circular saw. Made in the USA and made well. Its heavy which is no fun when backchiping overhead but is sure nice when wacking 200 feet of cut through a 4 stack of 1/8" plate. Been using mostly 5 degree negative rake triple chip blades. Havent lost a tooth and only one kick ( that operator guy again ). This is a great tool, bought it for a great price at the Home Depot. Only down side is having to punch the diamond out of the blades, which is also an upside kickback wise.
The grinder brothers. Got a high priced seems good quality Milwakee (top), and a low priced Canadian Tire 'Mastercraft' house brand cheapy. They both work great the pricy one blows dust further and has a swivel guard. It would be nice if they used the same *&^%@ wrench.
Sad to say the 'Mastercraft' died in June 98. Still had a year and a half left on the warranty. Canadian Tire did not have a replacement for that model in stock so they upgraded me to a Dewalt unit for $20. It came with an additional 1 yr warranty. The dewalt lasted about 9 months. Took it back and got a refund on the unit and bought another $69 mastercraft ( with 3 year warranty )
My dads old beat 1970s two speed jig saw. Trigger switch died so wired dual speed for single speed on/off. Plastic handle cracked so welded it back together (sorta). Dont expect this will last the job, so will plant it under the big tree when it dies. May keep the top knob as a drawer pull on the boat.
The meat axe. Got this from Eastside Saw in Bellevue Washington tel 454-7627. US$63. This does a really nice job of backchiping welds ( thought a little wide for 1/8" butts ) and is also great for smoothing down beads. Gotta be real carefull.
Copyright © 1997, 1998, 1999 Tony Bigras.