EU materials suppliers?

So, unlike most of you folks, I'm in the EU (Portugal), and finding it a bit difficult to source materials for my growing workshop. Under ordinary circumstances I'd go make friends with the local scrap dealers and machine shops, but with covid lockdowns, making new pals is rather difficult at the moment.

Since Portugal has a vigorous outside-the-eu enforcement regime with their customs department, I'd rather buy within the economic zone for fiddly "need this and that" bits like this. I should be OK for brass sheet, cast iron, drill rod and aluminium rod from the below suppliers, I'm particularly hard up for bar and square stock of all kinds and mild and/or free machining steel sheet and square stock. The latter for my first project; my take on the Harold Hall dividing head.

This is going to be all small stuff: I'm Cowells-ME and Proxxon FF-230 in a small workshop. If anyone knows more good places for the EU hobbyist to pick up bits and pieces of metal, that would be great. Otherwise, if anyone is in my position, the below firms have been helpful so far.

https://www.fohrmann.com/ -little bits and pieces

https://www.hobbyland.eu/eng/shop/jewelry-and-metals/metals/c-00001003/ -mostly useful for tools, but again bits and pieces

https://www.rcm-machines.com/en/materials -best shop I've found yet, out of Luxembourg; for the hobbyist

Thanks for the links.

Thor

Morse, have a look at this link for more suppliers

French model engineers

You could try a couple of the German suppliers like GHW and Knuppher though the later does not do so much in the way of barstock

Both will tend to be metric as will most of Europe so you may have to modify the old imperial designs to suit what's available.

Hi Morse,
Did you look in Portugal?
What area of Portugal are you in?
I cannot guarantee you that you will find all the materials you are looking for in Portugal, just as easily as in England, but I can tell you that I never failed to find material here. You'll have to search...
As an example, at F. Marques da Silva (http://www.fms.pt/en/company.html) you will find some of what you are looking for.
It seems to me that your greatest difficulty may be to know which terms you should use in the search.
If you need help and I can I will help you.
Dias Costa

Conrad may be with a look:

**LINK**

Some of the catagorie are a little strange in English. Most of the useful materials are in 'wood, timber, wood pieces' and then in profiles.

I once visited many toolmaking companies in the Marina Grande area. Mainly tool steel stockists in that area from memory serving the mould making trade.

Muito obrigado Sr. Costa, I hadn't come across FMS yet. There are a few places here in Lisboa which sell tools and large industrial supplies, but they're not well equipped with little bits of metal. At least none I could easily locate. You're right the language is a big barrier for me; Germans have simple english-like words for something like mild steel (along with a specification) -here, I mean, how does one say "mild steel?" aço macio?

Some of those tool vendors:
http://www.oficina-digital.com/catalog/index.php
https://www.mpaiva.pt/index.html (in Marina Grande area)

https://www.chavevertical.com/
https://centrocor.pt/

I would of course prefer as local as possible, for the postage, and to help out local firms in these times.

Conrad, I saw their tools, but I hadn't seen the materials as I guess I hadn't thought of "rails" as including bar stock.

From the French thread, these look useful:
https://www.tartaix.com/538-aluminium
http://www.sidermeca.com/machines-outils-matieres-premieres,201.html (again, saw the tools, not the material)
https://www.octantenligne.com/04537d9dc40f7690c/index.html

Thanks a million, guys; please keep them coming as you think of any.

Some of the RC machines translations are also a bit strange, I use English and German (and live in Switzerland).

Looking at you machines you are working in the smaller sizes.

These people are good for small screws etc. but only in French, German and Italien (also with some dubious translations.

https://micro-model.ch/de/812-miniaturschrauben

Another supplier for small bits but again the translations are not complete.

https://www.mikromodellbau.de/artikelauswahl.php?kid=173&sprache=2

Another good French online supplier:

**LINK**

https://www.blockenstock.fr/

Hope that helps

Russell (in France)

Edited By Russell Eberhardt on 06/02/2021 14:48:57

I have bought material from IBL Metallhandel & Sägeservice GmbH.

https://shop.ibl-raimund.de/

Finde most of my shops/"suppliers" through amazon.de, for instance:

https://www.paulimot.de/

https://www.wabeco-remscheid.de/

Best regards

Anders B