Does anyone know of a source for very thin steel sheets? I’m thinking thinner than a typical tincan, something that could more easily be shaped. I could use aluminum but in some cases it would be nice to have material with natural rust.
Do you have the latest GR? I think there was an ad for steel corrugated roofing. They might also sell flat sheets.
Lessee…I think they sell rolls of steel shim stock at most hardware stores…errr mebbe its tin or aluminium…
Oh, and speaking of this months GR. Ray’s letter was published 
The shim steel that I’ve seen at Home Despot isn’t as thin as I’d like.
I did some searching online today and found that they actually make stainless steel foil, and carbon steel foil. Never knew those existed. The stainless foil is expensive but readily available. I have no use for it though – I want something that will rust. I don’t know if carbon steel foil will rust, but so far I haven’t found a source for it except in bulk quantities.
So I may just have to stick with aluminum and paint it to look like rusty steel.
Check out the rolls of flashing at home depot, too. They have it in thin aluminum, and even copper!
You can get rolls of craft foil at craft stores. Pretty thin, buy some rust kit and you’ll be doing fine.
Or take aluminum turkey pans from the supermarket and flatten them out, cut them to size, paint them and bada bing, there you go!
You can also get sheets of carbon steel shim stock from McMaster Carr at thin as 0.001" in 8x12" pieces.
They also sell shim stock sheets and rolls in brass, copper, bronze and various plastics.
Brian
Thanks!
Ray,
See if you can find an old-school print shop that still uses the offset plate method. They use thin aluminum sheets and are usually quite willing to give them away when they’ve been used. The plate image vanishes in no time if left outdoors. I got a stack of used plates 10-12 years ago and still haven’t used them all up. Great stuff and easy to work with.
Cheers,
Matt Hutson
Gunnison, CO