Thank you very much.
I've actually been rebuilding a bit lately. I found a GREAT tongue box for $20 at a yards sale, but when I installed it, It was too big. I didn't have suficciant clearance to make tight turns. when you add to that the fact that I've never been happy with the tongue extension's flexibility and disturbing "bendiness," it was time to rebuild the tongue. The problem I originally had was finding a steel dealer who didn't have a massive minimum order. The only one I knew about that would sell small quantities basicly had what they called a "cut off bin" full of the stuff their big customers didn't want. Well, what I really wanted wasn't to be found in that bin either, so I made do with what I could get, and got an unsatisfying result.
Here's where I caught a lucky break. Back around Thanksgiving at a company party I met the husband of a lady I work with. He and I got along well, and spent the night joking back and forth. Turns out he owns a business where designs and builds safety railings, fall restraint gear, and safety barriers for industrial and government customers. All of that stuff is made of steel, so he has a major relationship with the steel dealer that wouldn't give me the time of day. He told me that whenever I needed steel, just go down there, and tell them I work for him, and he sent me for one last piece to finish a job, and that there wasn't time to cut a check or issue a P.O, so he sent cash. I pay cash for my steel, it doesn't cost him a thing, and I suspect my steel usage most likely ends up folded into his tax deduction for material cost at the end of the year
Everybody wins.
So I went to the big steel dealer, did what he said, and told them I needed a piece of 2 1/2 by 2 1/2 by 3/16 cut to 12 feet long, and a piece of flat stock 1/4 by 3/4 that was 6 feet long.. They happily did that with a smile for their "major client" and told me to tell my boss the cuts were on the house this time and happy holidays.
Couldn't have went better.
It was a productive day
by jeff0520 » Tue May 14, 2013 8:08 pm 
