finding specific hardware

[Plymouthy Adams]

I often get more frustrated over not being able to find hardware in the grade and style I wish......we have a huge supply house next to me that has a huge variety but alas they do not stock it all.  So off to e-bay...today's quest.....10-24 Slotted Cheese head screws...stainless would be great...but nothing comes back 10-24....the German industry offers these cheese heads in metric....largest user of this style fastener I guess....

[chrysler1941]

1 hour ago, Plymouthy Adams said:

I often get more frustrated over not being able to find hardware in the grade and style I wish......we have a huge supply house next to me that has a huge variety but alas they do not stock it all.  So off to e-bay...today's quest.....10-24 Slotted Cheese head screws...stainless would be great...but nothing comes back 10-24....the German industry offers these cheese heads in metric....largest user of this style fastener I guess....

BA thread ?

Slotted Pan won't do?

[Plymouthy Adams]

yeah...it will do...odds are I will be how you say pushed in that direction....but not look the same...I know that is petty but often the look is prime to me....

 

BA thread....?    The 10-24 is a typical coarse thread and the 10-32 is fine thread...I normally stock lots of fine thread machine screws as most applications are as such.  Once in a bit you find a coarse thread application and finding hardware is a bit tougher.  And upgrade to stainless makes locating hardware bit harder at times.   Everyone has their own approach to look and such in rebuild/retrofit...

[Sniper]

10-24 is an oddball anymore.  I needed some to replace hardware int eh dash of the 51. 

 

I can find them in fillister head, in stainless form McMaster Carr

 

https://www.mcmaster.com/cheese-head-screws/18-8-stainless-steel-high-profile-narrow-fillister-head-slotted-screws/

[Plymouthy Adams]

I have about concluded that the Fillister head will be the closest I can find....would it be worth chucking in the lathe and cutting the slight roll off the top for the right look.....only 8 needed and I think I may test cut one just to see....

 

Actually I find 10-24 hardware at Lowe's in better selection than 10-32.   Its 12-24 that is a killer and I usually always have to order.   Last trip to Lowes was disappointing as the hardware was in poor supply and picked over and bins comingled to where it was best just to walk away.  I just bought 10-32 stainless to the tune of about 400 pieces.   I will inventory and bump my #8 hardware stock up next along with some 1/4-20 bolts and nuts...getting low there.

[Plymouthy Adams]

Got a few bits of the hardware to see me though this one mod only for now....got to put this section to bed so to speak and move on.  My local ACE had zero stock of 10-32....I do not know why in this area when you get larger than an 8  they drop the 32 TPI inventory and go 10-24 only....

[Plymouthy Adams]

Today I turned the 10-24 pan  head screws down on the lathe and they look a lot better than before....kinda a semi-Fillister look but not like a dropped cow patty of the panhead.  Trimmed my poly bushings to length for the dog bone stabilizers   and cut some anti-crush sleeves....rained a bit....machine shop time.  I need to shop where Sniper shops.....my hardware store had zero 10-32 stocked........but 10-24 hardware...multiple blister packs of various sizes.

[Sniper]

Sniper hits the local Ace first, then the internet for hardware.  Getting real hard to find US/Canadian/European made stuff that isn't real expensive and I don't trust Chinese made stuff to hold two pieces of paper together.  SAE hardware is getting to be a red headed step child.

 

Though lately  my local Ace has been coming up short.  Got a new engine stand, courtesy of a neighbor, for my 230.  Went down there to get hardware to mount the engine.  I wanted thick washers, they had empty spots where the washers had been but no longer are.

Edited June 8, 2021 by Sniper

[Plymouthy Adams]

seems our local ACE is quickly becoming predominately a 'ladies' store with the huge lawn and garden section, interior decor items everywhere....paint department is huge....hardware and plumbing dwindling to near nothing...no more items sold cut to length etc.  Almost a joke for the DIYer...

[RobertKB]

It all comes down to money. What sells well they bring in lots of. Items that are small sellers get dropped. The bigger the profit margin the better. That’s why so much stuff is outsourced by US/Canada firms and made in China. The general public is not willing to pay extra for US/Canada made products. Most people could care less where it’s made, just that it’s cheap. It’s called capitalism. 
 

i personally don’t find all Chinese products inferior, just some. 

Edited June 8, 2021 by RobertKB

[Plymouthy Adams]

you have not been to my local ACE....capitalism is alive and well and they say it themselves though incorrectly....we cost more because we stock more....that is not near the truth....only one inflated EGO    I drive by them going to Lowes...being local and closer I give them first whack...9 out of 10 times they do not have what I am looking for or anything close on the average and the only thing they seem to accel in is stocking some Rustoleum products.  The independent in next town over stock more hardware in my opinion/experience and at a better price just as the song lyrics say....So far away from me, you're so far...!

[Los_Control]

My Ace really is not to bad, so far they have a decent selection of hardware. One isle is dedicated to cookware, household cleaners, I bought a meat thermometer from there last week. They have about 3 lawn chairs near the cash registers ... A well stocked firearm section with weapons & ammo, out front is hunting blinds and wheel barrows.

Across the street is their lumber yard, is between 1/2-3/4 city block in size. & they have a decent paint department.

Just saying they are not all the same, I am sure they stock what sells, the lawn furniture/household items here do not sell.

 

Yesterday went there to buy 2, 3/8"x24 bolts ... 89 cents each ... spent $40 while there   ?  Almost makes me want to drive to tractor supply 30 miles away and buy a pound of them ... today I need to go back and buy 2 more 3/8"x24 bolts. I see TS sells in bulk, but they do not have the selection my Ace has.

[Plymouthy Adams]

they are not all the same for sure.....the Ace uptown change from Ace to Do It Best as they were told by the Ace suppliers that they could only stock what they provided....the store said bye bye......it is a true hardware store with an non attached nursery next door they also run. 

[Sniper]

Oh my Ace is not as bad as it could be, far better than Lowe's or Home Depot.  Heck they even have the proper screws for my boomsticks.  But when I go there to get something that is an item they normally carry but are out I get cranky, lol.

[Plymouthy Adams]

I had a number of stores to hit today....each one I knew carried a specific item I needed and today was restock day if for nothing else to call it.   Only thing I wanted out of the ordinary was 3/8 sweat fitting....not much call for 1/2 heater hoses on our old cars but the LBC's this is the norm(1/2 OD heater stubs being made).  NO sweat fittings...one store had emptied their shelves for the PEX and Shark-bite stuff.  We old school folks are sucking eggs finding stuff these days.  The one items was in the box with a price sticker on it...got to the register...it was more than double...left it on the counter.  Did what I should have done to start with....e-bay....got to wait a day or so....but I refuse to be 'gouged'  Just wait till those PVC eating mosquitos or termites arrive from these offshore manufacturers, you will wish you stayed with copper.....?   

 

my rant over....back to work now......

[Los_Control]

I would have to agree to some point, the copper sweat fittings are really not that common today or a big seller to keep in stock.

Then with todays shortage of metals, the old copper fitting been sitting on shelf for 3 years is now worth 4 times more.

 

I personally have no use for copper in a car ...

28 minutes ago, Plymouthy Adams said:

not much call for 1/2 heater hoses on our old cars but the LBC's this is the norm(1/2 OD heater stubs being made).  NO sweat fittings...one store had emptied their shelves for the PEX and Shark-bite stuff.

 

I am in the process of converting my home to pex. I feel it is the best thing going at the time for home or commercial water supply.

For automotive use not worth a crap.

I can see where copper or brass fittings you can use in home or automotive use will be hard to find. They will all be set up for clamp on plastic pipe. & not threaded or sweat.

 

I did check out my local tractor supply yesterday, The one 30 miles north has a great selection of hardware.

The one 30 miles East where I go to get my Argon gas bottles exchanged, their hardware isle sucks .... Like Ace hardware, store from store varies ...

48 minutes ago, Plymouthy Adams said:

my rant over....back to work now......

I think we should start a thread for daily rants .... today mine would be about the butterfly hood assembly & what level collage degree you need to assemble one  

 

[Plymouthy Adams]

you just need to be a full fledged member of the 'brother HOOD'  

 

the Brits used 1/2 heater hoses....on most of their engines they routed alongside the head a curved steel pipe that often may connect/run through an intake manifold.  These steel piped after some 50-60 years are less than what I call worthy.  I make these out of copper as this is suitable for the heat, works well with the coolant, easier to obtain material....just have no clue where to find a steel tube with 1/2 OD that one can easily shape.   Shaping the copper is easier, sweating or if  you prefer silver soldering last forever at these lower pressure.  One can easily roll the end for the hose in his flaring tool so to keep the hose on or even better I cut a small ring from a coupler and  sweat on the end for this purpose.  Painted black...they fit in and look great.  Usually cost effective and with the larger 1/2 copper which is 5/8 OD for US or later model foreign....that is still easy to find material.  The smaller stuff is the killer locating local.  And even with copper as high as it is...the 1/2 is more metal...cheap compared....its a "they got it and you need it" mentality on the less than popular as I see it....lol

[Dan Hiebert]

Going to Ace Hardware up here is pointless.  I had to figure out which stores carry what, sometimes I have to make multiple stops for a project, seems they conspire to not all stock the same stuff so you have to go to store X for this type of item, store Y for that.  I kinda already know what I'll be able to find up here, too, and when to head to the internet.  Lowe's in Presque Isle (45 miles north) tends to be productive, and there's a Fastenal up there, too.  About the only thing I miss from when we lived near Buffalo, NY is the Valu Home Centers, they stocked gobs of obscure hardware.

[Plymouthy Adams]

out on a limb here and may upset a few folks but if they  have not seen this very trend...it is because they not doing any work requiring a visit to the hardware stores.   I see lumber prices are dropping due to fact many folks are refusing to buy and or take on projects due to the higher cost that was totally preventable.....will not go to that rant.....

 

I have on my two visits to Fastenall, I not been impressed.....could well be my local store....this area has some very poor management in many different areas of business.  

[MackTheFinger]

At least one of the nearby ACE stores is fantastic. I still own a house and a shop building in the same town. The same family have owned the hardware store since the '60's. They still cut and thread pipe, cut glass, will put a screen in for you, all the stuff a good hardware store ever did. It was a movie theater before it was a hardware store. I built an addition on the store about 30 years ago which doubled it's size. They've expanded into an adjoining building on the other side and increased another 50% since then, For me it's kinda like "Cheers", and sometimes when I show up they'll say, "Hey, where you been? Someone was in the other day talking about you." Guess where I go for everything, even if it is a 35 mile trip.. ?

 

The patriarch of that store recommended a book to me a while back and if you grew up in the country or wonder what it was really like living on a farm in the good old days you should read it. It's "A Painted House" by John Grisham. Grisham grew up in a small Arkansas town and while he missed some things due to being a town kid he got a lot right. I know he's best known for lawyer stories but there's none of that in this book.

Edited June 13, 2021 by MackTheFinger

[Ulu]

I recently hit the local Lowes for SS hardware. VERY depressing situation there.
It's all Dorman stuff, all backordered and/or just out of stock.

I cleaned out everything they had in 1/4-20, which is the main body bolt on the plastic car.

 

It was grim, and I spent 30 mins looking thru all the miss-matched leftovers to find a few more bits.

A block from me is ACE, but they are getting picked over too.

 

In the next town, Fresno has two of the best though: National Hardware and Fresno AG Hardware.

Time to make a SS run to Fresno. The wife can shop in the houseares and knickknacks while I pick thru drawers.

 

Worst thing here is insulation. Hard to find bats, foam sheets, or even loose fluff. I went for some purple styrofoam for an experimental speaker project, and not a sheet to be had, nor very little of the white styrofoam either.

[Plymouthy Adams]

we have a local company that puts places like Fastenall to shame in what they stock but in price and mainly in attitude to the customer.   I just bought a bunch of stainless hardware this week from them.  It is however about 23 miles from me...I list my needs and fill my order as I drive that way on the average maybe once a week.   There are a number of places online that can fill your stainless hardware order for a low price and high quality...just got to hit the internet for this.  

[Los_Control]

Just now, Plymouthy Adams said:

There are a number of places online that can fill your stainless hardware order for a low price and high quality...just got to hit the internet for this.  

Kinda thinking same thing myself here .... For example I need a bag of body bolts, as good as my local store is, I really think I need to scour the internets to find what I need.

 

Location is everything. Along with changing times. 30 years ago when I lived in Tacoma WA, is irrelevant. I had no problems finding hardware. 6 years ago when I lived in Albuquerque, no problem finding hardware & Ace hardware was not on my list of places to shop. I did occasionally stop there as a remodel carpenter just because it was close to the job .... I never shopped at Ace because I thought it was the best.

 

Today I live in a small Texas town, The zip code shows under 8k residents, obvious the actual city limits is much smaller .... Everything around here is oil fields, ranching or farming. Ace hardware is my only option in this town, and they cater to what is needed.

The next town over offers a few more choices including a tractor supply and a builders supply along with Ace.

 

So when I say my local ace is cool, it simply caters to the local people. If I lived in Albuquerque I would not bother with it.

I would like to see a list of internet vendors who people like to order from ... but again because of the times (pandemic & lock down) we have a shortage of many things ... maybe another year and back to something close to normal.

 

Project for today is to save all the original hardware I can.

[busycoupe]

Boat/marine supply stores: Bliss Marine,  West Marine,  are good sources for stainless hardware.  It is usually in blister packs and expensive as the devil, but if you only need a few pieces and the marine store is going to save you a 30 mile trip it may be worth it. 

[linus6948]

I too am very lucky to have a family run hardware store in my small town that now has some of the 4th generation working there. They have everything you could ever need and are a vast wealth of knowledge and helpful information. The inside looks like a scene out of a Norman Rockwell Painting and it`s like stepping back in time when you cross their threshold.