Frequently Asked Questions

For your convenience, we have assembled the answers to the most frequently asked questions to our Sales Department.

Payment:

Q: Can I pay for my purchase with a credit card?

A: Yes, we accept Visa or Master card.

Freight:

Q: How do I arrange freight and what will it cost?

A: We will ship on your nominated freight account if you have one, or we will arrange freight for you. If you tell us what you want to purchase and the delivery address, we will calculate the freight cost and send you a pro forma invoice that shows all the costs.

Sheet Metal:

Q: Do I have to buy a full sheet of metal?

A: No, we will cut sheets down to your required size and charge by the square foot. Our full sheets are sold at our wholesale price. Cut sheets incur a cutting fee. Please be advised that aluminium sheets are only sold in quarter (3’ x 4’), half (6’ x 4’) and full size (12’ x 4’) but can still be cut to smaller sizes for your convenience.

Q: How can sheet metal be packaged to avoid damage?

A: We have a range of packaging methods. Please ask our Sales Department for options.

Q: How do I bend or fold sheet chrome moly?

A: 4130 chrome moly steel sheet is usually only bent cold. To avoid cracking, a bend radius of not less than twice the sheet thickness is recommended. When making bending blocks to control the bend radius, ensure they will allow over-bending to permit some spring-back. If possible, bend across the grain – the strip printing on the sheet runs with the grain.

Tube/Rod/Bar:

Q: Do I have to buy tube/rod/bar in full lengths?

A: No, chrome moly tube and all rod and bar are priced per foot and we will cut to length. Aluminium tubes are only sold in 6 foot or 12 foot lengths. Carbon steel tubes are only sold in full length.

Q: What lengths of tube do you stock?

A: This depends on the material type. Chrome moly tube comes in random lengths anywhere between 17 feet and 24 feet. Usually stainless steel tube and aluminium tube comes in 12 foot lengths, although we sometimes have these available in longer lengths. If you require a particular length, call our sales department and they will happily check current stock availability for you.

Q: How can I select tubes in sizes that will enable one tube to neatly slide inside another?

A: Because mills produce tube to the standard allowable tolerances for wall thickness, outside diameter, and roundness, the actual finished tube dimensions can vary up or down from the nominal size. This makes it difficult to predict which sizes might be a good sliding fit. The old rough rule of thumb for a sliding fit was to always pick the larger tube with a 0.058 inch or 0.120 inch wall thickness and the smaller tube with a 1/8 inch or 1/4 inch respectively smaller outside diameter than the large tube. Unfortunately, we have encountered rare cases where the maximum allowable wall thickness on one tube and the maximum allowable outside diameter on the other tube coincided and this rule would not work. Be prepared to request our sales department to check the actual dimensions of stock for you before you buy.

Q: What is the tensile strength of chrome moly tube?

The Short Answer: For Airport Metals (Australia) stock sizes, the UTS will typically be better than 100,000 PSI or 690 MPa.

The Long Answer: For Airport Metals (Australia) stock sizes, the UTS will typically be better than 100,000 PSI or 690 MPa. The chrome moly tube stocked by Airport Metals (Australia) comes only from major US or European mills, which always supply us with test certificates for each production run. On these mill test certificates the tensile strength results are expressed in either pounds per square inch (PSI) or Megapascals (MPa), which are equal to PSI divided by 145.0377, or sometimes in newtons per square millimetre (Nmm), which is a less popular unit that is actually equal to Megapascals. The mill test results for Ultimate Tensile Strength (UTS) can vary quite a bit from batch to batch but typically fall in the range of a low of about 100,000 PSI or 690 MPa to a high of about 132,000 PSI or about 910 MPa. Take the low figure for approximate safe design purposes. If you critically require a particular minimum ultimate tensile strength or yield strength, ask the Airport Metals (Australia) Sales Department to provide you with a copy of the mill test report for the current stock we hold of the particular tube size you are interested in.

Make An Enquiry Today

Phone: 03 9310 5566
Fax: 03 9310 5577
Email: [email protected]
Address: 26 Lillee Crescent, Tullamarine, VIC 3043,
Australia