Source for jack plate aluminum?

I work at a machine shop and have access to lots of materials but not what I want. I need 5ft of 4x4" x 1/4 or 3/8" aluminum angle. There's a recycling yard 30mi from me that would be cheap and they might have some but havent had a chance to check. Another option is ordering it but can get expensive. Where do yall get your metals from?

I grew up not far from you, dinwiddie county. I used to get metal from gale welding shop in petersburg. But that is still 1.5 hours away from u.

I picked up some at Fastenal, of all places. Not cheap but they had it in stock and I needed it ASAP (work related stuff).

good to know. they just opened up a fastenal in town. havent been in there, but now i may just have to see what they have.

turbotodd said:

I picked up some at Fastenal

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X2. I've purchased stock there and also ordered some 1/4" aluminum channel to make my jackplate, it can be ordered by the foot.

Ictalurus said:

turbotodd said:

I picked up some at Fastenal

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X2. I've purchased stock there and also ordered some 1/4" aluminum channel to make my jackplate, it can be ordered by the foot.

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I actually have some 4" channel 1/4 thick but I was trying think up how to make it adjustable and thought angle would be a little easier. Do you have pics of your jack plate made from channel you could share with me?

vahunter said:

I actually have some 4" channel 1/4 thick but I was trying think up how to make it adjustable and thought angle would be a little easier. Do you have pics of your jack plate made from channel you could share with me?

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Sure do. I think the channel is the way to go. I didn't need it adjustable, but if needed I'd run some angle inside the channel, it would be extremely strong. I used 2" channel that was 1/4" thick. I had a piece of 1'x'1'x1/4" steel around, that was painted black and used as the backing plate. The wood is there for further setback and a thicker mounting for the outboard. I spaced it to the width of my knee braces so there would be no additional holes in the transom. All bolts are 5/16" SS. The jackplate is very stout, and keep in mind it is for my 8HP 'Rude that weighs a total of 58 lbs. My main goal was setback and raise so I could store my bimini to the very stern and have the tiller clear it. The raise is also nice for shallow water, I can get my 1448 into 10 - 12" of water with no problem. If I was attaching a heavier outboard, I'd probably run the channel up a little higher and use 3/8" bolts. If spacing is no concern, you could also do without the backing plate and bolt the motor directly to the channel. Hope this helps.

vahunter, try onlinemetals.com they might be able to fix you up.

That's a nice site. It's cool shipping is already included