FAQs

Yes. All five of our branches are ISO certified.

The Defense Federal Acquisition Regulations Supplement (DFARS) requires certain goods purchased by the Department of Defense (DoD) to be made in the US or a “qualifying country”. In the case of our industry the goods we are speaking about are metals. Other than the U.S., countries that supply DFARs compliant metal are the following: Australia Belgium Canada Denmark Egypt Federal Republic of Germany France Greece Israel Italy Luxembourg Netherlands Norway Portugal Spain Sweden Switzerland Turkey United Kingdom of Great Britain & Northern Ireland

Yes. Please call the branch nearest you and sales representative will be happy to help you out and answer your questions.

Our shipping methods depend on your requirements. We make every effort to get your order shipped within one to two business days of receipt, but will work with you if you need your products immediately.

With five retail stores and over 400,000 square feet of warehouse so we are well equipped to handle everything from selling one piece to truckloads of metal. We work well with all types of customers from the large government contract supplier to the one person welding shop. We are unique in that we offer free next day delivery as well as same day pick up in our will-call or retail center. There aren’t any other metal distributors that can handle the range of customers and their needs like IMS can and does.

Yes, we have a broker department that helps our customers get hard to find metals all the time. We treat every order as a priority whether we have it in stock or not.

All web inquiries are responded to same day if they come in during business hours. If a web request is sent after hours or on the weekend we will respond first thing when we open the next morning. If you phone in your request or come into one of our branches you will be responded to immediately with the information you need.

If you have a registered account with IMS, we work with COD, Net 10, and Net 30. If you do not have a registered account with IMS we accept all major credit cards, as well as checks and cash in our retail stores.

A filled out standard credit form issued by IMS is all that we require to get an account opened. (Click here for online version)

One piece - any size and weight.

The majority of our metal is from domestic mills including SAPA, Alcoa, Searing, Hannibal and Nucor (See our Partners page for more information.) Some product we carry is imported and if it is important you receive only domestic, please let us know when you place the order and we are happy to accommodate your needs.

Yes, all of our branches are open six days a week (see store locations for hours). We offer Will-Call pick up or you can come in and shop our retail stores. If you want to get your metal today, please call or come in to your nearest branch. All online orders are available for pick up or shipping.

IMS prides itself on quick turnaround. The majority of orders will ship within 24 hours of your purchase. If this is not the case we will inform you via email about when you can expect it to ship, as in cases where there is excessive processing required.

IMS has been selling and packaging metal for over sixty years. We make great efforts to package your material so that it arrives in the same condition it leaves our warehouse. If you need special packaging, please let us know when you place the order.

Does IMS carry any wood or glass products? Answer: We don’t sell any glass or wood products at this time. We do stock some products that are metal-related accessories such as patinas, tools, rubber mats, vinyl floor treadplate and metal cleaners.

According to AA standards the flatness tolerances for TX1 tempers are 1. Longitudinal - .1875” in any six feet of material 2. Transverse - .375” in plate .250-.624 thick and widths between 48 and 60 inches.

Cold rolling increases the yield strength and hardness of a metal by introducing defects into the metals crystal structure. Cold Rolling is most often used to decrease the thickness of plate and sheet metal in the manufacturing stage.

Since cold-formed steel is formed at room temperature, the material becomes harder and stronger. The cold roll process results in improved gauge tolerances, as well as a smooth, attractive appearance. Cold rolled steel is generally free of rust or scale and is easy to work, paint or chrome. Not only are the tolerances (thicknesses) looser on hot rolled steel, but often the "squareness" (edges and finish) of the product are not as precise as well.

Ferrous metal is one that contains iron. Non-ferrous metals are those other than iron and alloys that do not contain an appreciable amount of iron.

Common ferrous metals include carbon steel (i.e. 1018, 12L14), alloy steel (4130), and stainless steel (304, 316.) Common non-ferrous metals include aluminum (3003, 5052, 6061, 6063), Copper (including brass and bronze alloys), titanium and nickel.

IMS owns and operates some of the most sophisticated, in-house, state of the art sawing, shearing and cutting equipment available. Depending on your needs we can meet process precision to non-precious tolerances. Just let us know what you require and we’ll make it happen.

No, ferrous and non-ferrous gauges are not the same thickness. If you are unsure about what thickness to order we have included gauge charts which you will find located in the Reference section of this website.

Just because. Quite frankly, we don’t have a better answer for this one! The ounce represents the weight per square foot that the material weighs. For example, 32oz (.042) thick is twice as thick as 16oz. (.021) thick.

Unfortunately, it would be hard for us to guarantee that the items you order will all telescope. If this is important to you, we do carry two lines of products that are guaranteed to telescope. One is our 6063 T8 Brite finish, aluminum grade tube – starting at ⅜” OD (outer dimension) and ranging up to 1 ¾” is manufactured to telescope so this product will fit together. All wall thicknesses are .058 thickness and are stocked in ⅛” OD increments. We also stock a product called telescoping tube that is made to slip-fit. You can find this steel tubing in the products section of our website

We are proud to have employees who know a lot about metal, but we are not in a position legally or professionally to offer technical advise. We are happy to answer any questions we can but any technical advise given is without charge, and we will have no obligation or liability for the advise or the results. Any recommendation we offer is being given and accepted at buyer's risk.

Please refer to the Glossary section of this website. We have listed many of the common alloys and their definitions to help you out with this answer.

Which is stronger?

Steel is stronger than aluminum pound for pound, but there are different alloys, tensile strengths, etc that play a roll in determining this answer. Within the steel category, cold rolled is a little stronger and harder than hot rolled.

Which bends better – hot rolled or cold rolled?

Hot rolled bar or sheet will bend slightly easier with a tighter radius than cold rolled steel will bend.

Which is more corrosion resistant?

The content of carbon is a main factor in what determines how fast a metal will rust or corrode. Because of this Aluminum is much better at resisting corrosion than steel. Cold rolled steel is more corrosion resistant than hot rolled because the process of cold rolling smoothes the surface, refines the grain structure and causes differences in the mechanical properties along and across the rolling direction. The smoother the surface finish, the higher resistance to corrosion it will be.

Yes, we bend material but it’s never intentional! Okay, seriously, we do offer punching and notching, which is done on purpose using our Iron Worker.

We have five branches with high end equipment in each warehouse. We do metal processing for our customers everyday and can do anything from Ironworker through 6-Axis 3D laser cutting.

Yes, but only tubes and shapes using our new state-of-the-art Mazak laser cutting machine. For more information on its capabilties check out the Laser cutting capabilities on this website in the Services section.

Unfortunately we cannot cut woven wire sheet to size at this time, but we will have this capability soon (look for it late summer 2009.)