Cheap practice plates

[thughes]

Hello all, just a quick heads up on a cheap practice plate alternative. These credit card bottle openers are a pretty good, cheap, practice plate alternative. They are about 2" x 3" and they do have the bottle cap opening in them. I'm sure they are some kind of crappy Chinese stainless steel, and if you want to get them perfectly flat the need some sanding. But they cut pretty nice, you can engrave them right out of the box, they don't rust, and did I mention they are cheap. you can get them in bulk on Amazon for 50 cents.

Todd

 

[FuriousJulius]

YMMV but if you're looking for something a little different onlinemetals.com will sell you 2x2 plates (or whatever dimension you want) in mild steel or brass or copper or what have you. I recently bought a bunch of brass plates to work on stone setting/pavé and they were about 5 bucks each for 2x2 plates and 3/32 thick . Seems more suitable than the 8 dollar "stone setting practice plates" sold by GRS and similar that are 1x2 and 12 gauge.

 

[tdelewis]

I get my practice plates from Tractor Supply. I polish their 2 to 3 inch wide steel on my belt sander, at least to 320 grit. Then I cut whatever length I need. The 3 inch wide gives room to put all parts to be engraved for a single action or a 1911. They can be used to show how the finished gun might look. It is mild steel and cuts well.

 

[fitzo]

Check weldmetalsonline.com under "Welding coupons."

 

[Crossbolt]

Exactly. Welding coupons are probably the best bang for the buck. You do have to prep them more but that's a skill worth honing