Need to buy large sheet of aluminum... Where to buy?

[acdc96]

I just pulled my 66' Lonestar Del Ray out of the water to begin to restore it. Upon fully inspecting the boat the bottom of the boat was coroded (mainly the stern) from sitting in the salt marsh for 30 years. It's a 2' x 4' section of aluminum that would need to be replaced (it was smaller but I cut a lot of thin metal out).
I would like to get either 1/16" or 1/8" 4x8 sheet of aluminum. Anyone know of a good supplier?

 

[jbcurt00]

There are plenty of sources online, but shipping a 4X8 may make it unreasonably expensive.

Posting where YOU are may help someone point you to a relatively close supplier/recycler, esp if you can make do w/ 4pcs of 2X4

Good luck w/ your project

 

[smokeonthewater]

Yellow pages... Look for steel and or metal.... Also most welding shops can order whatever you want.

 

[gm280]

Another possible source or a place that could offer some guidance is a local machine shop. They deal with all types of metal and can give you some ideas as well...

 

[robert graham]

My 2nd on the welding shop...that I presume will be doing the repair?....seems like 1/8 inch might be good...or the same gauge/thickness as the existing hull....

 

[bruceb58]

I have a metal supply place that is 20 minutes from my house that would carry that. Just have to look online to see what is close to you.

 

[dwco5051]

Before you buy a piece do a little research. You would not repair a piece of fine furniture and go to Home Depot and ask for just a piece of wood. It would help to find out what alloy the original maker used. I would guess it would be something in the 5xxx or 6xxx series. More than likely 5052 or 6061. If you buy it through a good weld shop that works on AL boats they can point you in the right direction. Different alloys require different filler wire and it is not always a good idea to weld diffferent alloy together with out knowing their composition. How much bending or working of the piece are you planning on doing? That in itself might determine what alloy and temper you need.

Add 5083 & 5086 to common boat grade alloys. As a retired shipfitter my memory isn't what it used to be and didn't recall these two while I was typing..

 

[acdc96]

I'm doing the repair on the boat. It's going to be a combo of riveting, epoxy/fiberglass, and rubber gasket. I did get a couple of quotes from local AL boat repair and they were quoting $800 to $1500. I did look online for aluminum sheet metal (.080") for a 4x8 sheet it would be $150 plus $150 to ship it freight. Most of the local metal suppliers in the area did not have the type of aluminum I needed (5052) and it was special order and cost the same or more.

There are two spot on the boat that need new metal the whole transom ( the bottom is full of holes and needs to be fully replaced) & the 2ft of the bottom stern. Only 3 bends on the transom and that's it so not really hard. I estimated that I will need to replace/install 400 rivets.
Original metal thickness is .080" or 5/64.

I'm ordering the material I need this coming week. If anyone knows of a supplier in Connecticut that has a fair price let me know.

 

[dwco5051]

Glad to see you are on the right track. Many decades ago when I was stationed at Groton I could have just walked out of the shop with the piece you needed. As a matter of fact back in those days if you would have thrown in a keg for my guys we would have took it in the shop and installed it for you and wrote it off as a training exercise for the welders. Good luck on your project.