Navigating Hard-to-Find Thicknesses: Our Inventory Advantage
In the world of stainless steel plate supply, availability isn’t just about having material on the floor, it’s about having the right material, in the right thickness, precisely when it’s needed. At Sandmeyer Steel Company, we go beyond standard offerings to stock hard-to-find thicknesses that others simply don’t carry.
Take 1-1/8” 304L stainless steel plate, for example. This thickness rarely shows up in competitors’ inventories. Yet it’s frequently specified in pressure vessel repairs and OEM applications where exact wall thickness must be maintained. While many suppliers would require a mill run or recommend machining down from 1-1/4”, we keep 1-1/8” in stock and ready to ship.
More Than Just a One-Off
That same philosophy applies to a wide range of non-standard thicknesses. We stock 1-3/8” and 1-5/8” in multiple grades, helping customers eliminate costly excess machining and scrap. Even sizes like 7/16” and 9/16” are readily available – ideal for jobs with legacy specs or design constraints where close tolerance and minimal waste are critical.
Going even heavier? Our plate inventory includes unique thick-gauge material like 4-1/4”, 4-3/4”, and even 5-3/4”. These are the types of sizes that regularly delay projects due to long lead times or lack of availability from traditional service centers. Not at Sandmeyer. These live on our floor, in grades like 316L, 317L, 321, and 347.
A Real-World Advantage
Stocking these uncommon sizes gives our customers something the competition can’t: flexibility and speed. When an engineer specifies 1-7/8” 316L for a pressure-retaining component or a fabricator needs 2-1/4” plate for a critical load-bearing structure, most suppliers scramble to source it. At Sandmeyer, we’re already ahead – we’re cutting it and loading the truck that same day.
But material availability is only part of the equation. What sets us apart even further is the ability to process that plate in-house, quickly, precisely, and under our own roof. Whether the job calls for tight-tolerance waterjet cutting, plasma beveling, or precision flattening, we handle it without the delays or variability that come with outsourcing.
Our state-of-the-art plate flattener is key to that reliability. It allows us to flatten thick-gauge material, including these hard-to-find sizes, to half commercial flatness tolerances, helping customers avoid costly rework or warping issues during fabrication. That’s a major advantage for applications like pressure vessel segments, structural bases, and components requiring flush mounting or uniform contact.
With Sandmeyer, you’re not just getting a piece of plate, you’re getting a solution that’s been cut, processed, and flattened to spec, ready to hit your production floor with minimal prep.
Built to Solve Sourcing Challenges
Sandmeyer Steel Company isn’t just a plate supplier, we’re a problem solver. Our decision to stock hard-to-find thicknesses isn’t a marketing tactic; it’s a response to real customer challenges we’ve helped solve time and time again.
Facing a sourcing challenge for a non-standard thickness? Contact our team today – we’ve likely got it in stock and ready to move!
What can Sandmeyer do for you?