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
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: our six-piece basket cost $141.42 with cuts free as of July 2026; the same pieces at Metal Pros land in the $140s after per-foot list, $3.00 first cuts, and their tier discount, plus...
Metals 'R' Us vs McMaster-Carr: can Canadians even order?
Canadian businesses can order from McMaster-Carr; their June 2026 terms exclude individuals buying for personal use. On the same six-piece basket we ran $141.42 CAD plus $46-60 measured shipping against their $139.72 USD (about $195 CAD) before border costs.
Metals 'R' Us vs Metal Supermarkets: store counter or shipped cut-to-length?
Metal Supermarkets is the better choice in one case: you need metal in hand today and you're not in Nova Scotia, where their only store sits a 10-minute drive from our free-pickup Dartmouth shop. Buying to a spec? The same...
Metals 'R' Us vs OnlineMetals.com: what a US metal order really lands at in Canada
OnlineMetals publishes no Canadian shipping path we could find as of June 2026, and self-importing its US$120 six-piece basket lands at about $340-380 CAD after the exchange rate, 25% surtax, GST, and brokerage. The same six pieces from our rack:...
Why is Metals 'R' Us cheaper than big box metal chains?
One Dartmouth warehouse instead of 25 storefronts, no franchise royalty, and a B2B engine that's paid for the racks since 1997. The same 1″ 6061 bar at 36″ ran $27.63 here against $59.68-71.38 at the chain in June 2026. Usually...
Steel grades across countries: 44W vs A36, CSA vs ASTM vs EN
Close enough to buy, not identical on paper. 44W is Canada's structural steel at 44 ksi minimum yield, A36 is the US name at 36 ksi, and EN S275 sits between at 275 MPa. Most North American merchant bar is...
Pipe sizes explained: NPS, schedule, and why 1/2 inch pipe isn't half an inch
Because pipe sizes are names, not measurements. A 1/2 NPS pipe measures 0.840″ outside, and the schedule 40 bore is 0.622″. For any size the OD never changes; the schedule sets the wall, so one fitting fits every wall thickness....
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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.