Metal Guides
Straight answers about buying, cutting, and shipping metal in Canada, written by the sales team that cuts it.
Start with your question
Buying answers
Where to buy, what it costs, and how ordering by the inch works.
Material guides
6061 or 6063, 304 or 316: what each grade is for, with real prices.
How-to
Cutting, welding, drilling, and finishing, the way we'd do it at the shop.
Shipping & trust
How metal moves across Canada, what MTRs are, and what ±1/8″ means.
Halifax & local
The counter, free pickup, and buying metal in Atlantic Canada.
Latest guides
Metals 'R' Us vs marketplace metal: what that Amazon bar listing doesn't tell you
For one small common piece arriving tomorrow, a marketplace listing is honestly fine. For anything welded, machined, loaded, or reordered, a metal supplier wins: chosen lengths cut free, printed alloy and temper, MTRs on request. The listing's gaps are fixed...
Metals 'R' Us vs the steel service centre: small orders or skids?
Service centres win volume: skid pricing, mill lengths, processing, accounts with route trucks. Cut-to-length online wins everything under their radar: any length from 1″ at a listed price, $40 minimum, mixed materials in one cart ($130.70 measured basket, $42-55 shipping,...
Metals 'R' Us vs Metal Mart: the West Coast counter and the East Coast saw
Metal Mart is a Surrey, BC walk-in supplier that sells by quote, call, or visit, with no online prices as of June 2026. We list every price and ship exact lengths: a $130.70 six-piece basket live-rated $54.73 to Calgary, our...
Metals 'R' Us vs McKinnon Metals: build-a-quote or see-the-price?
McKinnon Metals (Woodbridge, ON) runs a build-a-quote model with no public price list as of June 2026, which suits repeat GTA trade lists and will-call. We list every price: our six-piece basket rang up $130.70 with $50.99 live-rated shipping to...
Metals 'R' Us vs Mr. Metal: Toronto same-day or shipped exact lengths?
Mr. Metal is a quote-based Etobicoke supplier built for fast local GTA service; there's no public price list as of June 2026. We list every price and ship exact lengths anywhere: our six-piece test basket was $130.70 plus $50.99 live-rated...
Metals 'R' Us vs Millennium Alloys: per-foot out west, per-inch out east
Millennium Alloys lists sharp per-foot prices from Kelowna ($5.32/ft on 1″ 6061 round in June 2026) with free local delivery. The trade: 4 ft minimum lengths, 3 of our 6 basket items priced online, and freight confirmed after you order....
Metal hardness scales explained: HRC, HRB, Brinell, and Vickers
Every hardness scale measures one thing: how well metal resists a dent. HRC covers hardened steel (a finished knife blade runs 60-62 HRC), HRB and Brinell cover soft steel and non-ferrous metals (1018 bar sits near HRB 71), and Vickers...
How much does metal weigh? Weight per foot for bar, tube, and sheet
Steel weighs 0.284 lb per cubic inch: a 1″ round bar runs 2.67 lb per foot, and a 48″ x 96″ sheet of 1/4″ plate about 327 lb. Aluminum is about a third of that. Multiply cross-section area by 12,...
Fractions, decimals, and millimetres: the metal buyer's conversion chart
Multiply inches by 25.4 to get millimetres, exactly: 1/4″ is 6.35 mm, 1/2″ is 12.7 mm, 1″ is 25.4 mm. The full chart covers every 16th and 32nd to 1″ plus key 64ths, with tape-reading basics and what to buy...
Sheet metal gauge chart: steel, stainless, and aluminum in inches and millimetres
Gauge thickness depends on the metal: 16 ga is 0.0598″ (1.52 mm) in carbon steel, 0.0625″ (1.59 mm) in stainless, 0.0508″ (1.29 mm) in aluminum, and 0.0635″ (1.61 mm) in galvanized. A higher gauge number means thinner metal. Full 7-26...
Metals 'R' Us vs the scrap yard: when used metal is the right buy
The scrap yard often wins on price: used metal sells by the pound for a fraction of new-stock cost, and for art, practice, and jigs it's the right buy. Buy new when the grade matters. A known 44W flat bar,...
Metals 'R' Us vs Metal Pros: Canada's two online cut-to-size metal stores
The closest call in Canadian online metal, June 2026: our six-piece basket cost $130.70 with cuts free; the same pieces at Metal Pros land in the $140s after per-foot list, $3.00 first cuts, and their tier discount, plus shipping they...
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Each guide covers the grades we stock, what they're good for, and what they cost. Or skip the reading and go straight to the shelf.