Keep your eyes open, there is free stuff all over the place. Bed rails and frames, washers and dryer cabinets (18 Ga. Steel), street hockey nets (1 1/2" tubing), chromed table legs (1" round tubing), misc tables and plant stands that yield more tubing and rods. all from garbage day, 3 1/2 X 1/2" X 4 Ft bar and 5 Ft lengths of 1/2" dia SS rod that came out of a neighbour's old fence. Found some free 4" X 3/8" X 5 Ft. bar that was dumped by a go cart track locally. Watch for those stand up office dividers being tossed out, they are usually full of 1" sq. tubing, and chrome plated yet.I picked up some smaller sheets of 18 ga. steel, 3/8 X 1 in bar, 15 X 24 in 14 ga. tread plate at a scrap yard very cheap a number of years back and am still working on it.
My latest project is a trailer for my bicycle, so I can bring in more, and of course get groceries and beer. See my small stash here:
Check your local fabricators too. I have one that makes filing cabinets and has a box of 14 to 18 Ga pieces that he lets me go through........I keep his wooden crate pile cleaned up. Not just junk spruce skids, these are heavy duty crates made from 2 X 4 and 4 X 4 hard maple. My firewood for the winter, in addition to trees that are cut down (and also free)
