Aluminum Printing Plate Source?

[bigfatforty]

Anyone know of a source for small quantities of used aluminum printing plate?

[kitbash1]

How much are you looking for and what thickness. 

[Danger]

I also might be interested in some printing plates. I've used them in the past for many things around the house and modeling. I think I have one left. 10 or 12 thou thick, 20x30? could go bigger. Hell, I used to work as a Platemaker in Pickering. 

Danger 

[crazyjim]

I've seen people using that stuff in their builds but have no idea where to get any.  I'd like some myself.

[Scott Colmer]

This may seem obvious, go to a small print shop for the thinner plates. Large printer for thicker plate. (I used to be a printer.)

[iBorg]

I fear the small print  shop solution may be a bit of a challenge. The thin .006-.008  plates were used on offset duplicators with a 11 x 17 sheet size. Those have pretty much disappeared and been replaced with digital technology. If you're wanting thin plate, may I suggest tooling metal. My favorite sources is Maid-O-Metal at http://www.stlouiscrafts.com/

Typically they sell their metal in a roll but I've had luck in the past calling and asking them to sell it in flat sheets. This is a lot softer than printer's plate. Larger offset presses use a thicker plate, about .012-.015. It has a coating on it which can be a challenge to remove. I'd use aluminum flashing from a home improvement store instead of printers plate.  

I've worked in the printing industry for almost forty years. A lot of what we used to do with film and plates is done digitally.

[Straightliner59]

I use 5"X7" aluminum flashing. It has a plastic coating that needs to be sanded off, but it's worth the effort. Once it's annealed (if your application requires it), you can do anything with it, if you're patient. It's .005" thick, which, while a bit out of scale, looks better than plastic for things like dragster bodies, and provides more rigidity for things like firewalls, interior panels, dashes, etc.

[Dave Van]

I had a buddy that was in the offset printing biz. I'd help out at times......I'd always grab a few plates. That was the 1980's and I know burning big plates is long gone. You may want to check the metal craft area of Hobby Lobby....I bought some sheet stock there in the past. 

[Force]

A source for thin aluminum is regular soda cans, they work fine if you don't need large pieces.

[Casey]

I know people like cheap things, so...

[Straightliner59]

26 minutes ago, Casey said:

I know people like cheap things, so...

Been using that stuff, for years, now! It's what I built the dragster body with.

[Vince66]

Thanks for this topic it helps a lot.

 

[Bainford]

38 minutes ago, Straightliner59 said:

Been using that stuff, for years, now! It's what I built the dragster body with.

Have you measured the thickness? I’d be curious to know how thick it is. 

I use a lot of pie plate and beer can aluminum of various thickness, but always looking for new sources of material. 

[Straightliner59]

48 minutes ago, Bainford said:

Have you measured the thickness? I’d be curious to know how thick it is. 

I use a lot of pie plate and beer can aluminum of various thickness, but always looking for new sources of material. 

.005". Technically, that's a little thick for dragster bodies, but, it looks great. WAY better than kit provided plastic bodies. I use it for dashes, interior panels, and the hood scoop on my '34 coupe.

[Bainford]

Cheers Straightliner. .005” will be good usable material. I like the work you’ve done there. I agree that sheet metal is much better than plastic for replicating panels and thin metal parts. 

[89AKurt]

It's been decades since I got a lifetime supply from the local newspaper.  First time they gave me a sheet for free, second time I paid for it.  It has to be the traditional printing press sort of print shop.  I love the stuff because it bends without breaking, unlike roof flashing.

[iBorg]

Remember you always heat aluminum and reduce the temper and make it softer. Printer's plate has a fairly high temper and is not very malleable.

[Straightliner59]

Thank you, Trevor. My biggest complaint with the flashing is its plastic coating. It doesn't take too long to clean off with steel wool, or a Scotch-Brite pad, but, it takes some elbow grease! I've never tried printers' plate, simply because I never had a source for it.

The flashing is easy to anneal. Once the plastic overcoat is removed, rub a bar of Ivory soap over the surface to cover it, heat it with a torch, and quench it, as soon as the soap film turns black. Then, you can work it to whatever shape you want!

[Bainford]

12 hours ago, Straightliner59 said:

The flashing is easy to anneal. Once the plastic overcoat is removed, rub a bar of Ivory soap over the surface to cover it, heat it with a torch, and quench it, as soon as the soap film turns black. Then, you can work it to whatever shape you want!

Thanks for this, too. Very interesting annealing procedure. I'll give this a try.

The beer can aluminium also has a plastic coating, but is easily removed with scotchbright pads, fine sand paper, etc. I've never tried annealing it, though.