Buying Bolts

[Ree75]

I buy a lot of grade 8 fasteners from john deere. around here they are a lot cheaper than napa and the john deere boys dont pay that much attention between grade 5 and 8. they sell bolts by the weight. its probably the only thing cheap from john deere

 

[T45]

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

its called METRIC,

and they run 8.8, 10.9, 12.9 etc

https://www.boltdepot.com/fastener-information/materials-and-grades/bolt-grade-chart.aspx

 

[landlord30]

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.

That's where I go too. Most hardware is $1.29 per pound. I buy about $10 worth every time I go. You can pile it up fast at those prices.

I believe TSC near me was $1.69 per pound, still not a bad price.

 

[dnschmidt]

McMaster-Carr. They have what you need. If they don't have it you don't need it. Simple as that.

 

[pi_guy]

McMaster-Carr. They have what you need. If they don't have it you don't need it. Simple as that.

Wrong

There are many others hat supply what McMaster can not & I could not live with out Coast Fabrication.

http://www.coastfab.com/

Outside of better grades of hardware
Do not think they have floating nut plates....

 

[Wakefield]

ASMC Industrial ?

 

[Teenager with old tools]

Just but extra. Say you need 2 1/4 20 bolts. Buy four. Get couple extras each time you need to buy. That's what I do. Don't have large stock but I have enough extra to replace bolts i've put in. Plus the dollar here and dollar there doesn't seem to really add up when you think about it. But $200 today that's a hit on your finances especially if you don't use half the sizes you bought


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[WittHay]

The above comment about only buying the size of bolts you need makes a lot of sense. You don't need a huge assortment of bolts unless you are doing a lot of fabricating or equipment repair.

Beware of poorer quality imported fasteners. Ask a machine shop in your local area where they get there fasteners from

I have never heard of automotive grade fasteners. Just SAE and metric in various grades and styles

 

[dbabicky]

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.

Not sure what you are meaning by "more than 2 threads" according to USAF Acft maint. standards, you should have minimum of 3 threads showing past the nut when torqued. I always use that as the standard.

 

[minytrker]

I live 20-30 mins from any place that sells hardware so stopping and running into town for a bolt is not practical. Anytime I do have to go to town for bolts, electrical, plumbing etc I do buy extra but it takes years to get enough stuff in stock. Thats why I figured a kit with a variety would fast forward having different sizes and lengths in stock and save some trips. My time is worth more to me than the price of the kits BUT if there is a better option I am all for it. Im afraid me going to tractor supply or ace and buying bolts by the pound will get me several pounds of hardware and not a big enough variety. After typing that I just had an idea that might work, I could print out the inventory list of the kits I posted and just go buy them by the lb. and start there. I am looking at some durham cabinets was another reason the kits were appealing if they fit in the cabinets I was looking at.

 

[j-guenth]

I use Fastenal

 

[slip knot]

I get my generic bolts from TSC, especially when they send me a 20% off coupon. Specialty stuff from bolt depot.com and when I'm really desperate Fastenall.

 

[T45]

Wrong

There are many others hat supply what McMaster can not & I could not live with out Coast Fabrication.

http://www.coastfab.com/

Outside of better grades of hardware
Do not think they have floating nut plates....

I don't understand the tone of this post at all. Have you read the OP and tried to answer the question of the thread? Are you suggesting you cannot get aerospace HW from industrial supply houses?

Most people buying "beyond category" high grade hardware are buying to spec. That's not what the op is looking for and certainly not in his budget.

 

[pi_guy]

I have between 40 to fifty Duirham steel parts drawers. A dozen of the small steel drawers & I have close to 40 plastic parts bins. Two GM steel stock shelves filled with parts bins loaded with hardware, how much is a parts bin weighing 25 lbs filled with heim joints or one filled with allen head screws. 3 or 4 of the steel drawers are filled with new allen cap screws and the like.
I normally buy in quantity of 100 with the exception of AN bolts I try to stock about 20 per length. Washers, rivets and nuts get cheaper at 1k
I stock AN plumbing fitting and often aircraft hardware supply will have good prices.

I tend to fill a range so if I need alum 45 degree pipe fitting in 1/4 I would get a range from 1/8 to 1/2 or 1 inch depending on other uses and cost.
It is important for me to stock as the lack of a single piece of hardware can shut down a project. A couple of overnight shipping expenses could have bought more hardware.

But I will say this buy good hardware, it really makes a difference.

 

[pi_guy]

I don't understand the tone of this post at all. Have you read the OP and tried to answer the question of the thread? Are you suggesting you cannot get aerospace HW from industrial supply houses?

Most people buying "beyond category" high grade hardware are buying to spec. That's not what the op is looking for and certainly not in his budget.

That was not what I answered.
the post I answered was the only place you need to go is McMaster if they do not have it you do not need it.

so that is wrong

 

[Advan]

Not sure what you are meaning by "more than 2 threads" according to USAF Acft maint. standards, you should have minimum of 3 threads showing past the nut when torqued. I always use that as the standard.

Every industry has different standards and specs. You typically only want some stickout because the first thread or two on a bolt won't be full diameter.


Here's a quote from eng-tips.com regarding the DIN 78 standard for ISO thread forms:

The content of DIN 78 is summarized by 3 equations and 4 images. The equations are:

total length = clamp length + protrusion

protrusion for standard parts = nut height + 2P (P is thread pitch, so "2P" effectively is 2 threads)

protrusion for lock nuts = nut height + 3P

 

[sberry]

A modest kit isn't a bad place to start. You can add from there. I essentially did that to get bins.

 

[MikeF2316]

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

its called METRIC,

and they run 8.8, 10.9, 12.9 etc

https://www.boltdepot.com/fastener-information/materials-and-grades/bolt-grade-chart.aspx

I find that the bolts on European cars (by that I mean Volvo, Mercedes and BMW which are primarily the brands at my buddy's shop) have better coatings on them so they don't rust as much and still come undone after 10 years under a car. This is important for those of us in the rust belt.

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

I have been known to do this.

 

[sberry]

One reason they come apart so well is that there was a QC program in place during assembly, they were oiled and coated and didn't seize when someone rammed it together with a hi speed air gun.
We actually spray almost every bolt we install with simple pen spray so they don't dry seize.