Where to Source Hard Plate

[djed]

Can someone recommend where to purchase hardplate? I'd like to purchase a 4" x 6" piece to reinforce a hole that was drilled in a safe I own.

Thank you.

David

P.S. - Sorry for not posting for some time - work has kept me busy for what seems like six months straight.

[TORCH [of KCK]]

If you don't have a metal supply or fabrication shop locally, only thing that comes to mind is McMaster Carr.

Good luck

[mseifert]

This is my locate supplier .. Not sure if they ship

https://www.westbrookmetals.com/

[jimu57]

Try Lockmasters.com

[billdeserthills]

Might be a good time to add a glass plate relocker

[Jacob Morgan]

If there is a steel yard in your area you could ask them if they carry AR (abrasion resistant) plate. They'd probably want to sell you a 4' X 8' sheet, but there might be a drop piece they would sell. AR plate is used in mine refinery equipment, gravel pits, and such.

It would be costly, but you could repurpose a steel shooting target that is rated for rifle fire, which is just a piece of AR plate, if none of the suggestions pan out.

[MartinHewitt]

Is AR plate really comparable to "manganese plate"? AR plate sounds to me like a 1.1730 which is surface hardable, more tough than really hard. I never found what "manganese plate" really is, but I would have expected it to be at least some kind of tool steel with 1% of carbon. But AR plate is surely better than any mild steel if that is the alternative.

[Jacob Morgan]

There are a number of AR plate grades, 400, 500, etc. The number relates to the Brinell hardness of the material (the higher the harder). Brinell 500 is close to Rockwell C 51. Rockwell C 50 is about as hard as an axe head or an inexpensive knife.

Some AR 500 does contain manganese, but it is one of those things where the designation is about how hard it is, not why it is that hard. If a steel mill gets there with manganese, fine; if by high carbon and heat treat, fine.

AR 500 and higher would be no fun to drill. I do not know if that is what is in safes, but it is common in steel yards and fab shops.

[Jacob Morgan]

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00OKLYQIM/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1488840348&sr=8-2&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=temco%2Bar500%2B1%2F2&th=1&psc=1

Here is place selling small pieces, looks like people buy them to make shooting targets. Industry uses it for bulldozer blades, rock crushers, etc.

[djed]

Thank you. I'll try the local metal shop.

I saw the price on the link. Is hard plate really that expensive?

[C locked]

How big is the hole?
Small holes can be "patched" with ball bearings
If you are needing to repair the existing hardplate

[billdeserthills]

Or you could just use a digital lock and locate it in a place other than right behind the spindle hole
Bet that glass relocker is looking more affordable all the time

[Regina]

Where are you located and what distentions do you need?

[tpark]

How do you cut shapes out of this stuff? Also, how do you join it without ruining its hardness?

[GWiens2001]

How do you cut shapes out of this stuff? Also, how do you join it without ruining its hardness?

It is actually quite easy. You just gnaw on it with your teeth. Your progress will be based on time - about 150,000 years to the inch, if your teeth last that long.

As for other methods available to the common person - get an angle grinder and a lot of discs.

Gordon