|
NCWayne
05-13-2008 14:58:50
|
|
Re: OT: bulk fasteners in reply to dubber, 05-13-2008 14:02:36
|
|
| |
Working on equipment for a living and living nearly 30 miles from the nearest place with a good fastener supply Dad and I looked into several different things to keep us from making those hour long trips for a $1 bolt. We started out getting some stocked bins from Karr products, as well as some from Valley Industrial. The reps were pretty good keeping us stocked in the beginning but we were so far off the beaten path for them it wasn't really worth them making trips out for us to order one item so if they have something we need we just call it in. Often they don't have what we need, odd size and length, etc so we then rely on several different places. First and foremost is McMaster Carr. They have most anything you might need in the way of bolts, hex nuts, square nuts, washers, (all in grade "nothing" to grade 9), plus pipe fittings, valves, gasket material, etc, etc. They're priced comparable to most every other place and, at least for us, we have everything we order the next day because we're close to a distribution center. Between McMaster and MSC we rarely have to leave the shop for anything other than OEM parts. Typically these two places sell in package quantities of 1 to 100 depending on fastener type and size. Usually the smaller or more common the fastener the larger the quantity and conversely the larger or odder the fastener the smaller the quantity. Now if your really wanting to "buy in bulk" or need alot of fasteners in large sizes like 1" plus, then somewhere like Earnest Machine Products is a good alternative too. Their primary business is all types of fasteners and with them you can buy a 50 lb keg of bolts or whatever if that's what you need. Like the others their priced comparibly with other places like them and typically they offer price breaks for large quantity purchases. All that said, to get setup with a distributor your usually gonna pay a premimum price, but if you need it, the service is there and helps take some of the load off you because it's in the best interest of the Rep's wallet to keep the bins well stocked. My recomendation, unless your in business and can pass some of the cost on, or use A LOT of different size fasteners on a REGULAR basis my recomendation would be to stick with simply calling somewhere like McMaster Carr or MSC and ordering a pack or two of 25 or 50 or each item as you need it. Doing like this it won't take long to build up a pretty sizable stock of assorted sizes. One thing I have discovered over the years, it's always better to have a bunch of assorted sizes than a bunch of all one size because no two projects ever seem to need the same length or size. Hope this bit of insite helps some.
|
|
|
