SteelMind
Steel estimating software built by someone who bids steel
SteelMind reads structural drawings and turns them into takeoffs — shapes, lengths, counts and AISC weights, ready to price. It was built inside a working Denver fabrication shop to win its own bids, not sold to it by a vendor who has never done one.
The takeoff is the bottleneck
Every steel bid starts the same way: a drawing set, an RFQ deadline, and somebody counting every beam, column, angle and embed plate by hand. Look up the weight, multiply by length, times quantity, page after page — then catch the addendum that changed a sheet you already counted. Do it slightly wrong and you either lose the job or win it at a loss. In most shops that work lands on one person, at night, after the real work is done.
SteelMind automates that: drawings in, structured takeoff out. Estimators check numbers instead of generating them, and bids that used to take days go out in hours — which means the bids you never had time to finish get finished.
Steel-specific, not construction-generic
Generic construction estimating software handles the demo project and falls apart on a real drawing set. The difference is domain knowledge:
| Generic estimating software | SteelMind |
|---|---|
| Steel is one line item among thirty trades | Steel is the whole product — shapes, grades, connections |
| You type quantities in after counting by hand | The takeoff comes off the drawings automatically |
| Weights come from whatever you paste in | Weights come from AISC shape data, extended to tonnage |
| A BY OTHERS note is your problem to catch | Out-of-scope items are flagged, not silently priced |
Proof, not promises
The steel math under SteelMind is the same math running the free reference tools on this site — used daily by estimators and shop people who found them through a search and bookmarked them. Kick the tires before you talk to us:
- •Steel gauge thickness chart — every gauge, with galvanized and stainless series
- •Steel plate weight calculator — lb per square foot and per plate
- •Steel shape weights — W, C, L, HSS and pipe, straight from the designation
- •How to calculate steel beam weight — the arithmetic and the mistakes that cost money
Frequently asked questions
What is steel estimating software?
Software that turns a structural drawing set into a priced bid: counting members, looking up AISC shape weights, extending lengths into tonnage, and applying labor and material costs. The takeoff — counting every beam, column, angle and plate on the drawings — is the slow, error-prone part, and it is the part most worth automating.
How is this different from general construction estimating software?
General construction estimating software treats steel as a line item. Steel-specific software knows that the 50 in W21X50 is pounds per foot, that HSS and angle designations are dimensions that need a lookup, that galvanized and plain steel use different gauge series, and that a BY OTHERS note moves scope out of your bid. Those details are exactly where generic tools produce wrong numbers.
Does it do structural steel takeoffs?
Yes — that is the core of it. SteelMind reads structural drawings and extracts the steel into a structured takeoff: shapes, lengths, counts and weights, ready to price. It was built to replace the version of this done by hand at night after running crews all day.
Who built it?
A structural steel contractor in Denver — an ironworker who came up through the trade, runs a fabrication and erection shop, and built this software for his own bids before offering it to anyone else. It exists because the estimator it was built for was the builder himself.
What does it cost?
SteelMind is in early access — pricing is per shop, based on bid volume. Custom tool builds start at $8,500. The reference tools and calculators on this site are free, no signup, and stay that way.
Put your next bid through it
Bring a real drawing set — not a demo project — and see what the takeoff looks like. If it does not earn its keep on your bids, do not buy it.
Early access · Per-shop pricing · Free 30-minute walk first