Here’s a which I found via my referrals.
Where can I find stainless steel for outdoor garden use and how do I buy it?
I’ve seen lots of British garden shows that feature really slick looking garden accents done in stainless steel. Sometimes it’s a 6-inch wide cap for lawn edging, sometimes it’s used for crazy water features.
I’m building some long low planter boxes to put on a deck and if I could clad them in thin stainless sheets I think it’d make an amazing contrast and look. Googling around for stainless steel turns up all sorts of industrial suppliers making round tubing and the sheets I can find come in zillions of thicknesses and grades. I’ve looked at large general home centers like Home Depot and Lowes, but haven’t found anything there either.
Any ideas where to find sheets of stainless steel that isn’t too pricey? Any idea how easy it is to bend with proper tools?
Somebody in the comments linked to The Tinbasher’s post about making sure you line stainless steel planters if they’re exposed to the sun as they can dry out the root systems if you’re not careful.
I’d have been more than happy to post a comment if the site didn’t want $5 dollars off me for simply registering. Yeah, right.
Subsequently, I have no other option than to respond here as it might be a question others of you might be asking.
I accept this is an American enquiry, but I’d tell him to get in touch with a small sheet metal jobshop similar to us at Butler Sheetmetal.
We’re always willing to sell someone a sheet and/or cut it to the required sizes.
You can get away with 16swg 304 grade stainless steel or even thinner depending on how you’re going to clad it.
I wouldn’t bother investing in a brake press or a hydroform though. A small jobshop should be able to bend it up for you for very little.
I’m always a bit worried when someone puts ‘stainless steel’ and ‘not too pricey’ in the same sentence. This is where you ask for the amount they want to pay and dimensions and/or a drawing.
You could even go with glavanised or aluminium sheet, seeming they’re about half the price of stainless, but you have to warn them how both materials tend to tarnish when exposed to the elements and aren’t the same finish.
So basically, find a local sheet metal shop and ask them.
