Buying Bolts

[minytrker]

I need a good bolt collection for my shop, metric and sae. Im willing to spend around $200-$300 and found these on Amazon. Anyone know of a better deal or solution?

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01MY6L3XC/ref=ox_sc_sfl_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A2JV7SCXYDD697
https://www.amazon.com/Metric-Washer-Assortment-Screws-Washers/dp/B01N4RTEQ7/ref=pd_sbs_469_3?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B01N4RTEQ7&pd_rd_r=RRDYK8T1Y50WK5MY8XD2&pd_rd_w=LE3fb&pd_rd_wg=sCmnJ&psc=1&refRID=RRDYK8T1Y50WK5MY8XD2

 

[neonlazer]

boltdepot.com has an excellent assortment and some sets I believe.

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[scissorman]

I've bought alot from this place. https://www.nutsandbolts.com/

 

[Skin]

Depends what you're doing, but you can get a reasonably sized bin organizer (the type with pull-out drawers) cheap. I use McMaster mostly since the site is a pleasure to use and they stock a lot of essentially OE fasteners (most vehicle fasteners are flanged). I simply keep what I most often replace on hand. Im sure most don't care but my OCD goes off replacing OE fasteners with plain hardware store bolts (usually the wrong length) and junk split lock washers.

 

[Art From De Leon]

NAPA

Tractor Supply has a good selection of bolts, nuts, and washers in Grades 2, 5, and 8 that they sell by the pound, but I don't know where they are made now a days.

What does piss me off is not being able to find the correct length, and having to settle for a finished piece with more than two threads showing above the nut.

 

[drink]

I need a good bolt collection for my shop, metric and sae. Im willing to spend around $200-$300 and found these on Amazon. Anyone know of a better deal or solution?

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01MY6L3XC/ref=ox_sc_sfl_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A2JV7SCXYDD697
https://www.amazon.com/Metric-Washer-Assortment-Screws-Washers/dp/B01N4RTEQ7/ref=pd_sbs_469_3?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B01N4RTEQ7&pd_rd_r=RRDYK8T1Y50WK5MY8XD2&pd_rd_w=LE3fb&pd_rd_wg=sCmnJ&psc=1&refRID=RRDYK8T1Y50WK5MY8XD2

Those assortments look like they are a quick solution and a good idea. However, I have purchased some stuff from McMaster-Carr. They have a lot of really neat fasteners and other neat stuff.

https://www.mcmaster.com/#

 

[Wamsutta]

Those are just hardware store grade bolts; nothing special. Automotive grade is so much better if you're going to be using them on cars. Rockford or Auveco are OEM quality.

 

[GTO]

Find a good steel supply store near you,they might sell in bulk(by the pound).I have a couple near me.I buy Grade 8,Grade 5,SS,Black Phosphate,Zinc and Galvanized by the pound.

 

[Danglerb]

Wurth has nut and bolt assortments for shops and restocks as you use them.

On the cheap side, take apart some older Volvo's they have great nuts and bolts.

 

[Specracer]

+1 on bolt depot, they are very close to me, great resource to be able to find specialty fasteners, like aircraft grade, and order them, and have counter pick up. It used to be an great old school hardware store in Weymouth MA. Then they had fasteners only, then the showroom went, counter pick up only, now they moved to hingham, still counter pick up only.

 

[mike93lx]

NAPA

What does piss me off is not being able to find the correct length, and having to settle for a finished piece with more than two threads showing above the nut.

they do make tools that can help take care of that problem

 

[sberry]

Get an organizer and keep stocking with stuff you actually need. 2 and 5 and if you are not a heavy user of misc hardware stock all 5 so it doesn't get mixed up. Buy a few pieces of 8 on the super rare occasion you actually need them. I like some 2 for simple replacement and hangers etc, new is good and we toss rusty ****. I have a handful of fine, its not even highly organized, its rather rare too. I only keep enough metric to do replacement if needed, got a tray with it in it. Don't even bother to sort it.
The cart is piled a little higher, probably took pic after I rigged it up. I don't save rusty old stuff, small is often replaced if it isn't special.

 

[theoldwizard1]

Albany County Fasteners

Small quantities. FREE shipping on orders over $35 !

 

[sz0k30]

There's no such thing as "Automotive grade". There are grades: 2, 5 and 8.

 

[tvtaurus]

RURAL KING is the place to go if you have one near you. They sell bolts and nuts by the pound. I thing that they are all between $2-5 a pound. That is where I get my shop hardware from.

 

[kythri]

Outside of the OP's area, but for anyone else:

If you're got a Wilco near you (Oregon, Washington), bulk nuts/bolts are 35% off the month of February.

 

[Climatecreator]

Fastenal https://www.fastenal.com/

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[Ign]

Yeah honestly one of the best deals usually is to buy Fastenal's assortment and get them to throw in the 72 hole bin for free.

 

[minytrker]

I was hoping to find an easy to order assortment just to have a good variety. I dont know if I could go a hardware store and just buy all them individually and still get a good variety like the kit I posted.

 

[Ign]

As already mentioned there's always TSC by the pound. Then you get to choose exactly what you want.

 

[Treeman]

Some time ago, there were problems with Asian made fasteners. I am not sure if regulations have alleviated those quality control problems. On expensive equipment, you certainly don't want fastener failure.

Do a Google search to see if you have any quality local industrial suppliers. My experience with Fastenal is that they seem to be more expensive and often are only available in quantities that don't fit my needs.

In my instance, this Michigan supplier is simply excellent: http://almabolt.com/pages/catalog/bolts/hexheadcap.htm

Notice that their grade 5 bolts (fits most needs) are north American made. This company will custom make any assortment you wish. I.E., you want only 5 each of larger less used sizes, they will put it together for you. Not all of their products are U.S. made because its just not feasible.

 

[Advan]

I looked into this, and it gets out of hand very quickly! SAE, metric, cap screws, stainless, bolt length, fine threads..... If I was rich, I'd buy a complete assortment. In my current situation, I found it best to buy what I've needed, and grab a few extra varieties for good measure.

 

[T45]

I was hoping to find an easy to order assortment just to have a good variety. I dont know if I could go a hardware store and just buy all them individually and still get a good variety like the kit I posted.

The metric kit only has 25-35 lengths without flanges. Just something to keep in mind. Most of the variety seems to be in washers and nuts. But as folks have noted above, the "hard to get" pieces are the ones with flanges and higher quality finishes. So it just depends on what type of variety you need / value.

 

[sberry]

There are TSC stores in Texas I believe. I agree, find some storage, start buying some commons and what you need, get a handful extra and build a set.

 

[[memphis]]

I'll go against the grain and say go all metric. 90% of the stuff you see will be metric. Are you a shop or is this strictly home use?

If you are clamping two pieces together, fine... SAE is cheaper (usually). Are you cobbling together exhaust? SAE might be cheaper but it's always better to do it right or do it twice!

 

[sberry]

Are common muffler clamp metric? If a guy is building with it metric is a pain in the ***.

 

[[memphis]]

Are common muffler clams metric?

You like to argue for the sake of arguing
If the standard nut on that muffler clamp is so far gone, I am willing to bet the rest of the clamp isn't in that great of shape and *GASP* you can buy AN ENTIRE NEW CLAMP FOR UNDER $3 that comes with the necessary hardware and guess what... YOU CHARGE THE CUSTOMER and MAKE MONEY.

I'm surprised you stock hardware for how frugal you are. Why not just order it off amazon with prime shipping for cheaper than the local suppliers?

 

[ishiboo]

I'll go against the grain and say go all metric. 90% of the stuff you see will be metric. Are you a shop or is this strictly home use?

If you are clamping two pieces together, fine... SAE is cheaper (usually). Are you cobbling together exhaust? SAE might be cheaper but it's always better to do it right or do it twice!

Really depends what you are doing.

I have a decent assortment but I use it to build stuff, and I always use SAE. I'd rather use metric but 1) no local "buy the pound", 2) if you need any accessories locally the metric is 4x the price, 3) if you're not strictly working on cars, what you work on may be mainly SAE. The fasteners on all the implements and stuff I use are SAE. Plus cars seem to have a lot of specialty fasteners, the few times I actually work on a vehicle, it's not something I could take off and replace with something in a bolt assortment anyway.

Theisens (http://www.theisens.com) has one of the coolest assortments I've found, but they're a few hours away. They not only have metric by the pound, but they also have stuff like flange nuts at reasonable prices. I usually swing by when I'm in the area and pick up a few things for my bins.

 

[PureLeaf]

Yes, avoid cheap asian screws. I'm so tired of having to drill out ones that break the heads off and then replace with a slightly larger self tapping screw.

 

[anndel]

McMaster Carr +100

 

[derosa]

Napa and the local ace seem to have the best selection and sell in bulk. I was pleased see the local fastenal closed, they can be a good place but often aren't friendly to random walk ins. Last time I went in I asked about a particular bolt and was asked if I was making a crib, which I was. I was then told that they get someone in every couple weeks asking for the same bolt for a crib or kid's item but that they didn't bother stocking them because the sales wouldn't have been good enough. Bought 10 at the local ace, had to go past that fastenal to get to the ace every time, amazing how much business they lost because they couldn't be bothered to stock a reasonably common bolt that people came in every couple weeks for. But their attitude about it saw to it I never went back for anything else and based on their closing I suspect a lot of other people. I've found that attitude at most of them I've walked in and now just avoid them.

 

[jd_1138]

I was hoping to find an easy to order assortment just to have a good variety. I dont know if I could go a hardware store and just buy all them individually and still get a good variety like the kit I posted.

The assortment in the link you posted is 25 pounds of hardware. Could probably get more of what you need if you go to TSC and get them by the pound.

How much is grade 5 hardware by the pound? Family, Farm & Home is $3 a pound I think. So 25 pounds would be $75.

But one of the kits you posted would be an easier way to obtain an assortment of a wide variety. I wonder if TSC has an assortment pack? If there's a TSC nearby you can get the assortment, and then when you're running low, just go there with the part # and buy more.

 

[sberry]

I am not really frugal, this is not my point in most cases. These things I rally on are places I usually have a lot of experience and have done it wrong as much as right and in this case have a lot of stocked hardware never used. I look at others shops too, see what they have left when they kick the bucket.
I stock a lot of stuff and anymore try to hit on the things we will actually use. I repair a lot of cars too, the need for replacement metric hardware is rather minimal, most of it is re used. We do use hundreds of 1/4 and 3/8 nuts however, when putting a hanger on an exhaust no one cares if it is millimeters or sae. I probably toss a 5 gallon bucket of old bolts and nuts away every year, if its affordable there is a lot of incentive to replace vs fart with rusty stuff.
Same for a lot of tools, when its affordable it takes a lot of pain out of getting stuff a guy needs. Mo point in doing without cause he cant afford a wrench he needs, when it cost 3 dollars it is a good option and he is foolish for not getting it, same for occasional tools, a guy may not go for a 400$ ball joint press but at 50 it pays for itself and is cheaper than messing with "rentals" or free loaner **** he has 10 in gas returning on someone elses schedule and from experience we know it works. Its investment with return is what I am about, not cheapness.
I built my metric collection mostly a few extra pieces at a time as it came by, got enough to replace something damaged in a bind.

 

[jd_1138]

Napa and the local ace seem to have the best selection and sell in bulk. I was pleased see the local fastenal closed, they can be a good place but often aren't friendly to random walk ins. Last time I went in I asked about a particular bolt and was asked if I was making a crib, which I was. I was then told that they get someone in every couple weeks asking for the same bolt for a crib or kid's item but that they didn't bother stocking them because the sales wouldn't have been good enough. Bought 10 at the local ace, had to go past that fastenal to get to the ace every time, amazing how much business they lost because they couldn't be bothered to stock a reasonably common bolt that people came in every couple weeks for. But their attitude about it saw to it I never went back for anything else and based on their closing I suspect a lot of other people. I've found that attitude at most of them I've walked in and now just avoid them.

Wow, that's nuts. The place is called FASTENAL and all they sell are mostly fasteners and they don't even bother to stock every fastener? They should push some of that other **** out of the store to make room to stock all fasteners. I think they sell random industrial supplies like mop buckets, brooms, etc.. With a name like Fastenal, I wouldn't stock anything other than fasteners, then after stocking every fastener then maybe think about stocking other product categories.

 

[machine_punk]

I do order some online (particularly from Enco, when they were still around. I haven't checked into prices at MSC yet). I also go to Home Depot and Ace Hardware and buy by-the-box. Ace Hardware is very expensive by-the-piece, but not so bad, when you buy a whole box. This is for repairing and maintaining stuff around the house--having a few basics of most common sizes. I usually keep longer bolts (1 to 1.5 inches) and clip them off to the length I need.

I like to keep the basics of each size in stock (nuts, bolts, washers, socket-head cap screws), but have a few sizes I keep a much deeper assortment (T-nuts, jam nuts, locking washers, wing nuts, different lengths of bolts, different materials and finishes, square-head bolts, etc.) These are usually in the sizes I use most when designing and building something new (10, 1/4, 5/16, 3/4).

If you are going to have a broad assortment of bolts and nuts, I also recommend the THREAD DETECTIVE, which makes it much easier to figure out which size you need.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IJ89CAE/?tag=atomicindus08-20

KDub

 

[sberry]

I cant even remember the last time I bought a few of anything, maybe a handful of stainless? I have some I collected over the years and I get by. Same for wire, rolls and spools and recepts and switches by the box, same for connectors.
Paper towels and coffee cups by the case. Common paint by the gallon, rarely a quart and stock common colors, thinner 5 gallons and if I can solve a problem with a purchase and make it pay I don't hesitate.
I love discount auto parts and even cheap ****, no way am I going to a junkyard for a tie rod end even for an old yard truck when a new one from China is 17$, takes a lot of pain out of it and don't end up with a truck sees 50 miles with 50$ moog part on it.
Same for brake pads. Today I understand the concept is to keep it running and have the tools, its not to fill the tool box and see how much I can toss at it.

 

[sberry]

I'm surprised you stock hardware for how frugal you are. Why not just order it off amazon with prime shipping for cheaper than the local suppliers?

I certainly price it a lot this way and know my way around a parts store and how much it cost. Bought a part the other day that way, only place local had one was near 200$ and got one for old truck for 63 shipped, planned ahead a bit and pocket 140 for drinking coffee and shopping on here for an hour.
I dont do a lot of customer stuff but often can mark it up to parts store cost without screwing them and the goal for me isn't to see how much I can spend on it but often charge for the savings. I would just as soon charge 50 for 20 minute weld as to buy a part for 60 and mark it up another 30. just to run up a bill.

 

[sberry]

Had a woman bring 500$ in brake **** the other day, I sent her back with all of it and she was kind of pissed I charge her a 100 or 2 for fixing the problem in a couple hrs. I dont bother with her really, too stupid.

 

[chrisexv6]

Im blessed with a good old mom and pop local fastener supply shop, only 1/2 mile from my house.

If I have a heads up as to what I need before i need it, Ill order from mcmaster. But onesie-twosies for something I want now? Right down to the local supply. I just used them to fix my grill, needed 4 stainless socket cap screws, thick washers and flanged nuts.

Since its so convenient, I dont keep "stock" of any fasteners anymore.

 

[PugetDude]

Had a woman bring 500$ in brake **** the other day, I sent her back with all of it and she was kind of pissed I charge her a 100 or 2 for fixing the problem in a couple hrs. I dont bother with her really, too stupid.

Back in the 70's, I worked at a full-service gas station in KC. We had a local guy who used to bring in his own oil and filter (because we charged "too much" for ours) and have us do an oil change.

A couple of years later, he opened a restaurant, so my boss took three of us in there with a dozen eggs, a pound of bacon, a loaf of bread, and a stick of butter and told him we needed him to cook us breakfast...

Everyone got a good laugh, he served us a great breakfast, and never again came in for an oil change carrying a K-mart bag with 5 quarts of oil and a filter.