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
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, 1/8″...
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 $133.38 with cuts free as of September 2026; the same pieces at Metal Pros land in the $140s off their June per-foot list, $3.00 first cuts, and their tier...
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 $133.38 CAD plus $30-58 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 round 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 lengths are...
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....
What can you build from one bar of metal?
A shop's worth of first projects. One 36″ length of 1/8″ × 1″ 6061 flat ($8.89 CAD, September 2026) becomes shelf brackets, drawer pulls, a bench square, and a griddle scraper with hand tools. Six pieces from our rack do...
Why buy metal from a Canadian supplier? Duties, exchange rates, and lead times in 2026
As of June 2026, a US metal order usually lands in Canada at 1.85-2.4x its sticker price once the exchange rate, the 25% surtax on US-melted steel and aluminum, GST, and courier brokerage stack up. Our comparable six-piece basket landed...
Anodizing, brushing, or polishing: how do you finish aluminum after you buy it?
Brush it with one-direction grit steps, buff through tripoli to white rouge for a mirror, or anodize it for hard permanent colour. 6063 anodizes cleanest, bare polish needs wax to hold its shine, and prep decides every result. September 2026...
Already know your metal?
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.