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Nut and bolt assortment. And bins

tracyb

Well-known member
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May 21, 2020
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907
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San Juan Islands
i'm looking at something like this;

https://www.amazon.com/Piece-Grade-A..._t1_B06XSMD35R


i do already have a set of bins completely unorganized, have thought of dumping out and filling with new. but i imagine that would cost more than just buying the set up from amazon.


so is the linked source they way to go or anybody have advise for setting up a good organized nut and bolt area.
 
i'm looking at something like this;

https://www.amazon.com/Piece-Grade-A..._t1_B06XSMD35R


i do already have a set of bins completely unorganized, have thought of dumping out and filling with new. but i imagine that would cost more than just buying the set up from amazon.


so is the linked source they way to go or anybody have advise for setting up a good organized nut and bolt area.


Edit*. I just noticed that the link includes fasteners. I’ve got Used bins for cheap, just no time to sort. I can see the appeal.
 
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i'm looking at something like this;

https://www.amazon.com/Piece-Grade-A..._t1_B06XSMD35R


i do already have a set of bins completely unorganized, have thought of dumping out and filling with new. but i imagine that would cost more than just buying the set up from amazon.


so is the linked source they way to go or anybody have advise for setting up a good organized nut and bolt area.

I been eyeballing the usbolt kits too. Can't seem to get any feedback from anyone
 
I have a combo of schaller bins to organize bolts in drawers, and a vertical bolt rack that stores more, similar to the amazon link, just taller.

Schaller bins are great for small quantities and small pieces. The vertical racks are great for large quantities of medium-large components IMHO.

https://www.schallercorporation.com/
 
I can see that being useful in a decent sized farm situation where you’ve got 20+ pieces of equipment that needs to stay running and you’re an hour from a hardware store.

For general home/shop/fab use, I’m not a fan of those kits because:

1. Most shit these days is metric. I’m not necessarily going to order an OEM bolt, but I’m not going to drill/tap an M8 bolt to 5/16” or 3/8” on my daily driver just because I’ve got it. On a lawnmower, sure, no problem.

2, When you’re fabbing something, you’re likely to need a decent quantity of the same bolts, like 16 3/8”x3”, and they will give you 10 of them. I’ve found it’s better to buy bulk of the most common fastener sizes, even if they aren’t ideal, and then fill in the other stuff with small packs as needed.

3. You’re paying for some stuff that you won’t use for the rest of your life, it will just sit there taking up space.
 
For general home/shop/fab use, I’m not a fan of those kits because:

I'll disagree - depending on how much you actually work on / fix stuff around your house. I constantly find myself needing a handful of this or that and having a half dozen to a dozen of various things comes in handy a lot of the time - usually for something spur of the moment that isn't like I'm planning on doing such-n-such project and need dozens of the same thing.

Then I can take a quick look at things and restock every now and then on the ones I use most regularly. Sure, there are bins that I haven't touched or have only taken two or three items out over the past year. But it saved a trip for that one nut or two bolts and kept the project moving.
 
I buy bolts/nuts by the pound at TSC when they're on sale...fairly well stocked in SAE varieties and then metric I've filled in with a few of those buy a set. The other thing I have is almost an entire mazda 3 worth of fasteners from when I helped someone part out their car, payment was all the hardware off of it....that filled in a lot of the heavier grade 8 metric stuff for quick replacements when working on cars.

Can never have too many fasteners.
 
I buy bolts/nuts by the pound at TSC when they're on sale...fairly well stocked in SAE varieties and then metric I've filled in with a few of those buy a set. The other thing I have is almost an entire mazda 3 worth of fasteners from when I helped someone part out their car, payment was all the hardware off of it....that filled in a lot of the heavier grade 8 metric stuff for quick replacements when working on cars.

Can never have too many fasteners.

X2... I got 200 bucks of grade 8 and grade 2 bolts once. I put them in the harbor freight plastic toes and love it.

I will be making a cabinet to store my bolt in the near future.
 
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Bunch of pics.

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i keep forgetting to get back to this...

i should have mentioned this was my hobby and now a full time gig. so an organized bin with bolts bought outright is worth it to me. i constantly have more work than i can handle and time running to part store and shopping smaller deals is out. not to mention i'm on an island (to get to interstate 5 i cross 2 bridges and spend at least 1.5hrs round trip) fastenal is an hour round trip and the local shop blows, tacoma screw has been a good resource but is over 1.5hr round trip. my rate is way higher than i'd pay me, and why i do what i do, but i'm done giving the customer the option to run errands for the job at hand to avoid paying my shop rate for driving. i spent a long time building my metal supply currently around 50-75k lbs of sheet, plate and misc tube, pipe and shapes...

its hard to really say exactly what i do, mostly fab and weld type stuff. but i'm also the go to problem solver/ 'if nobody else will do it i will' guy. lots of custom home work, think panoramic doors, crazy range hood installs, metal features and accents. but also the go to guy for the local rock pit and all heavy equipment contractors, also depending on time of year fishing boats can be big money, everything from basic shipyard to full rsw refer systems.

i make money by not leaving my home/ shop unless paid to do so. work rig only gets maybe 3500miles a year on it.

so i need a good bolt bin, but really want a source to follow up for refill. the follow up i think is just as important. i've found good drill bit and such suppliers for intial purchase and follow up but not in the bolt biz. all i've heard so for is the big guys like fastenal but never heard a single good thing from any shop that uses them to stock parts. i can see when i'm low on whatever and dint need a shop rep stoping by to waste my time selling me garbage, and refilling/ nbilling as they see fit.


there has to be a way to buy a bolt bin, and have a good supplier that delivers. right?
 
there has to be a way to buy a bolt bin, and have a good supplier that delivers. right?

i use Fastenal to keep my bolt bins restocked. It’s a 3-500 a month bill but it is what it is. The time I save from having to run around picking up shit it’s worth it.

Click image for larger version  Name:	CF047F24-F9FC-4988-B96C-5AC6FAA12D5D.jpeg Views:	0 Size:	485.1 KB ID:	81829

I really like this place. I have like 30 of their assortment drawers. Everything from air brake fittings to electrical connections to pipe fittings, key way stock and drill bits. All their draws come with insert cards and once a month I spend 15 minutes opening the drawers making a list of what’s needed and shooting off a email to get coming.

they deal in bolt bins but I have never bought any from them other than a few drawers of heavy fender washers and Allen screws.

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I buy the assortments when they have the buy some get one free deal.

Sorry shops a mess but it’s money making time of the year. Well clean it up come winter.

https://m.imperialsupplies.com/home
 
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I get mine from tsc for the basic stock stuff. Everything else comes from McMastercarr. I order before 6 and it's at my place next day. Price is great too.
 
i use Fastenal to keep my bolt bins restocked. It’s a 3-500 a month bill but it is what it is. The time I save from having to run around picking up shit it’s worth it.

filedata/fetch?id=81829&d=1595673712

I really like this place. I have like 30 of their assortment drawers. Everything from air brake fittings to electrical connections to pipe fittings, key way stock and drill bits. All their draws come with insert cards and once a month I spend 15 minutes opening the drawers making a list of what’s needed and shooting off a email to get coming.

they deal in bolt bins but I have never bought any from them other than a few drawers of heavy fender washers and Allen screws.

filedata/fetch?id=81833&d=1595673981


I buy the assortments when they have the buy some get one free deal.

Sorry shops a mess but it’s money making time of the year. Well clean it up come winter.

https://m.imperialsupplies.com/home

I have the small center blue bin from Fastenal for my home shop..And a bunch of other unorganized crap..I'm mostly sae...
 
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