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Screws

wirejock

Well Known Member
Does anyone know a source for screws other than Vans or McMaster?
McMaster wants as much for shipping as the order. Ridiculous.
 
McMaster shipping

Follow up
I called. The reason, in my case, is McMaster ships from the closest warehouse. Since the two boxes of screws were not available from the same warehouse, it basically doubled the shipping to ship one box each from separate warehouses. Clearly it pays to call. They can adjust to ship from one warehouse and reduce shipping. Half as much on my order. They really need to give options to customers.
 
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Does anyone know a source for screws other than Vans or McMaster?
McMaster wants as much for shipping as the order. Ridiculous.

I have also found McMaster shipping to be ridiculous. Often much more than the order. My biggest complaint is that you don't have much visibility into the shipping charges and options until after your order is on the way. Their shipping charges seem much higher than other vendors for similar items. But.....they do have a lot of goodies all in one place, easy to find on their website, with good support info. Just wish their shipping was more in line with what other suppliers charge.
 
I think their intended customer is large organizations. Every engineer at every large commercial or government engineering outfit I have ever known had a McMaster Carr catalog front and center. Kind of a “if you have to ask how much you can’t afford it” deal. Everything I ever bought was high quality. In the So Cal area it is often same day delivery.
 
I am one of the fortunate people who live within 30 minutes of driving to McMaster and Aircraft Spruce. To pickup parts from these places used to be economical when I started building but with today's high gasoline price in California, a trip to each place will cost me about $10 worth of gas. This is probably one of the reasons for the high shipping cost. But if I select ground shipping, the cost is less than me picking up from the McMaster warehouse.
 
I am one of the fortunate people who live within 30 minutes of driving to McMaster and Aircraft Spruce. To pickup parts from these places used to be economical when I started building but with today's high gasoline price in California, a trip to each place will cost me about $10 worth of gas. This is probably one of the reasons for the high shipping cost. But if I select ground shipping, the cost is less than me picking up from the McMaster warehouse.

Yep. I used to drive (or fly) down to the Aircraft Spruce facility near Atlanta. Ultimately I realize that whatever the shipping cost was, it wasn't worth 2 hours of my time AND the gas, unless I needed to be in Peachtree City anyway.

I've learned to do a better job of batching stuff now. I keep a list of "next time I need something" items, and reorder a bunch of stuff when I have an immediate need for something. Also, I try to bundle stuff with Aircraft Spruce so I can build a $300+ order and qualify for free shipping. A case or two of oil and a few oil filters gets me most of the way there...
 
20 years ago I was not a big fan of AC Spruce, but I'm a happy customer now. Their shipping costs were ridiculous. They have really tightened it up and give the option of USPS. I just ordered 50 screws for $6. Shipping was $2.48 and I got them quickly. Ordered them on Sunday, they went out yesterday and I got them today. I'm 45 minutes away, but it's not worth driving there, time, traffic and gas costs. Really mostly time and traffic.
 
I've learned to do a better job of batching stuff now. I keep a list of "next time I need something" items, and reorder a bunch of stuff when I have an immediate need for something. Also, I try to bundle stuff with Aircraft Spruce so I can build a $300+ order and qualify for free shipping. A case or two of oil and a few oil filters gets me most of the way there...

I do same. If logged into your account you can add stuff to your cart that stays there it seems indefinitely so just add stuff that I need in future and when I get enough I buy what I have in cart. Typically do not get to the $350 free shipping (appears to recently been increased from $300) though but still save on shipping.

20 years ago I was not a big fan of AC Spruce, but I'm a happy customer now. Their shipping costs were ridiculous. They have really tightened it up and give the option of USPS. I just ordered 50 screws for $6. Shipping was $2.48 and I got them quickly. Ordered them on Sunday, they went out yesterday and I got them today.

I also have found their shipping is much faster and can usually get in a day or two. I think them opening a warehouse here in the Midwest has made the difference.
 
On Field

Does anyone know a source for screws other than Vans or McMaster?
McMaster wants as much for shipping as the order. Ridiculous.
Depending on what you need, I could grab some from the shop we have on our field and ship them to you. I can’t imagine the shipping cost would be that much through USPS. Doesn't hurt for me to look for you.
 
I've had reasonable success buying on eBay, usually with "free" shipping. Most suppliers there have quality stainless and have even gotten some small AN hardware. I compare to all sources as best I can to make sure I'm not getting taken.
 
McMaster

Depending on what you need, I could grab some from the shop we have on our field and ship them to you. I can’t imagine the shipping cost would be that much through USPS. Doesn't hurt for me to look for you.

Thank you and everyone else for all the suggestions.
In this case, I wanted some Black Oxide Torx screws for the plenum and a few other places. I really hate Phillips AN hardware. Anyway, I called. The reason for the ridiculous shipping was two packages from two warehouses. The young lady fixed it so it shipped from one warehouse. That dropped the shipping to 1/2 of the previous. Pays to call.
 
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