Tough subject...fasteners

[mercifiknow]

Been irritated lately with the quality of fasteners I’ve bought. They have been purchased from the big box stores and have found them to be less than stellar for the usual reasons, stripping the head, bending, crappy threads, etc.

I’ve gotten the Dewalt $10 containers and want to fill them up by asking for good fasteners for Christmas and Birthday . What are good brands to get? Where to get them?

As always,
Thanks and hopefully all are well!


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[jonshonda]

You REALLY need to be specific w/ regards to application. Are you looking for wood screws, metal screws, bolts, lags, etc. Most places I have worked have been on a keep fill program from Fastenal. Not many issues with the hundreds of thousands of fasteners I've spec'd on projects.

 

[CTyankee]

You REALLY need to be specific w/ regards to application. Are you looking for wood screws, metal screws, bolts, lags, etc. Most places I have worked have been on a keep fill program from Fastenal. Not many issues with the hundreds of thousands of fasteners I've spec'd on projects.

Agree. Will throw my 2 cents in on wood fasteners and vouch for GRK torx head screws. Also have been happy with PowerPro trim screws. They act more like a mini full size screw and have better pulling force than the typical mushroom head trim screws.

 

[bwringer]

I've built up a large collection of metric hardware for motorcycle work, much of which is from McMaster-Carr or Boltdepot.com

The selection and quality at the big box stores is seriously lacking, especially in metric. Real hardware stores do a little better on both counts, but they're eye-wateringly expensive. You can often order a box of 50 or 100 for what five or six individual fasteners cost.

Of course, if you're into some other specialty (for example, McFeely's for woodworking), there may be other better suppliers. For general fastener needs, boltdepot.com is hard to beat.

 

[superduty1]

I recently had to purchase some metric fasteners. I need grade 10.9 flange head and a specific length. I ordered from

https://www.belmetric.com/

They have a huge selection, good www, and pricing was very good.

Mcmaster Carr has a great selection and pricing is decent for sae and metric.

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[BlakeTheCarGuy]

Ace Hardware, Tractor Supply and Rural King and Fastenal in my area always have the best fasteners and hardware. Definitely don’t do the Harbor Freight lol.


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[LeeG]

I use SPAX screws almost exclusively. The small packs they sell in the store at HD makes them very expensive, but you can buy larger quantities either online (McFeely's) or at a pro desk in the store for much lower cost/fastener.

GRK are really good as well.

 

[APEowner]

In addition to what you're working on and what kind of fasteners you're looking for a less amusing but more geographically precise location would help. This is an international board and suggestions from our Russian members aren't going to be very helpful if you're in Australia.

 

[Phantomd]

McMaster is where I would go for small quantities of bolts. Fastenal for large quantities.

The fastener world is quite the rabbit hole, lots and lots of options.

 

[mercifiknow]

Nuts, Bolt, washers, screws


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[dnschmidt]

The source of all good things of course: McMaster-Carr.

 

[mercifiknow]

A lot of my work is around the house and I’m usually making something or repairs to my f150. I bought a miter saw yesterday and will be making an extension for the long boards. This will require some wood screws and possibly some bolts as I may make something using t-tracks.


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[mercifiknow]

In addition to what you're working on and what kind of fasteners you're looking for a less amusing but more geographically precise location would help. This is an international board and suggestions from our Russian members aren't going to be very helpful if you're in Australia.

USA


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[theoldwizard1]

I am fortunate that I have an old fashioned fastener store less than 5 miles from my house. They gladly take my business for small quantities (no space for my own stock).

My favorite online fastener store is Albany County Fasteners. Buy $100 and it is free shipping.

 

[vanapplebomb]

My go to brand for socket heads and button heads is YFS. Their grade 8 SAE and class 12.9 metric fasteners are excellent.

 

[cruzer75]

what grade/type of fastners?
you can get grade 2 bolts from HD/Lowes or you can get Grade 8. You can get metric.
I was also recently impressed with the type and quanity of hardware at tractor supply, they had 1x8 bolts grade 8, grade 5, (grade 2? maybe)

 

[vavet]

I typically buy Grip-Rite from the local big box stores for wood screws I need at home.
I use wood screws at work sometimes too and I try to keep a decent supply of them on hand. Our purchasing department can buy them in bulk from our Wurth affiliate for MUCH cheaper than I can buy locally, although sometimes there are minimum quantities of 1000. It all depends on whether the local supplier has other customers for a particular size. Even if I have to buy 1000 screw, if they are $0.003 (1/3 of a penny), it's a better deal than running to HD, even if it means I'm going to have enough of those screw for the next 20 years.
We have plenty of machine screws on hand in the building here at work, but they're almost all SAE. If I need metric, then I'm buying locally or McMaster-Carr.

 

[Dave455]

A lot of my work is around the house and I’m usually making something or repairs to my f150. I bought a miter saw yesterday and will be making an extension for the long boards. This will require some wood screws and possibly some bolts as I may make something using t-tracks.

I share your frustration, there’s some real **** around!

For years I survived on the stocks my Dad and Grandfather built up, but sooner or later you need something different, or a lot of something.

Fastenings are not always good value online as the cost to weight is so low. I’ve found a couple of places locally where the various trades get their stuff, and whatever brands they stock seem to be pretty good at reasonable money. They’re certainly way better than DIY places.

Looking at the spec works o.k. for nuts and bolts but I find with wood screws you have to get certain brands. Small boxes are little money so I get boxes of the less used sizes, and provided I know they are good, I tend to get big tubs of the popular ones.

I’m reluctant to recommend particular brands, but I find both Reisser and Timco are good and I believe both are worldwide. I tend to be a little disappointed with Spax. The cost is high but I don’t find them that good, and some old Spax screws I’ve removed have corroded badly.

If I’m doing electrical work I use Orbix a lot now. They’re a bit more money but worth every penny. The blade recess goes into the shank of the screw to give a flat head that’s perfect for everything from light fittings to electrical sockets!

 

[Monte]

Spax, Heco, Würth... for wood screws

 

[APEowner]

McMaster is my go to for stuff that doesn't fly or hold suspension parts onto race cars.

 

[matt_i]

If large enough qty or other things added I use McM.

Otherwise its the local Ace Hardware, I don't really want to pay $7-10 to ship $2 worth of fasteners. So far its worked out.

 

[mercifiknow]

I think most, if not all, of my complaint is the quality of the steel. Some of it, yes, is the type of fastener head and the bit you put in it. But I’m not going to hunt and peck (especially at night in my car or truck) looking for a star headed bit or square head or some other bit. They have their places but I guess I’m old fashioned and would rather have my Philips or Flathead turning the bolt or screw.

We need OUR steel mills back up and running. Going to be pricier on front end but better for all of us here in the long run. Probably the short run too...

Oh well..

Thanks again everyone!


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[jonshonda]

I like how the OP totally disregarded the info provided. I mean it's not like I have seen hundreds of thousands of fasteners be used on products. And honestly, out of all the complaints production staff has, fastener quality is pretty far down the list.

If you want high end, just ask Fastenal. If they can get it, they have hundreds of machinists that will make it for you.

 

[mercifiknow]

I like how the OP totally disregarded the info provided. I mean it's not like I have seen hundreds of thousands of fasteners be used on products. And honestly, out of all the complaints production staff has, fastener quality is pretty far down the list.

If you want high end, just ask Fastenal. If they can get it, they have hundreds of machinists that will make it for you.

Hmmm...I wasn’t aware that I did...


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