Metal Cost Estimator
Turn a part’s weight and a price per pound or kilogram into a material cost — per piece and across the whole run.
Costing stock, from weight to quote
Metal is bought and sold by weight, so the material line of any quote starts with how much a part weighs and what the alloy costs per pound or kilogram. This estimator does that multiplication and scales it to a batch, giving you a per-piece figure and a run total in seconds.
Get the per-piece weight from the Metal Weight Calculator, and use the Cut List Calculator to see how much stock — including drop — the job actually needs.
Frequently Asked Questions
How is material cost estimated?
It's the weight of one piece multiplied by the price per unit weight, multiplied by how many pieces you're making. If a bracket weighs 3.85 kg and steel costs 2.50 per kilogram, one bracket is 9.63 in material, and ten brackets are 96.25. The tool keeps the weight and the price in the same unit — both per kilogram, or both per pound — so the figures never get crossed.
Where do I get the weight to enter?
Use the Metal Weight Calculator first: pick the shape, metal, and dimensions and it returns the weight per piece in kilograms and pounds. Bring that number here, enter your price per pound or per kilogram, and set the quantity to get a total.
Does this include cutting, drop, and finishing?
No. This is raw material cost only — it doesn't add saw drop and scrap, cutting or machining time, consumables, finishing, or labour and overhead. Treat it as the stock-cost baseline of a quote and add those other line items separately. For the drop side, the Cut List Calculator shows how much stock a run really consumes.
How do I price scrap or offcut back in?
This estimator doesn't apply a scrap credit. If your supplier or buyer credits drop, work out the offcut weight (for example from the Cut List Calculator's drop figure and the Metal Weight Calculator) and subtract its scrap value from the total separately.
Educational estimate of raw material cost only — no cutting, drop, finishing, or labour. Prices are whatever you enter, in your own currency.