Bought myself a hardware store today

[belfert]

Okay, not really.  I did order about $200 worth of nuts and bolts and the like so I can hopefully avoid a lot of trips to the hardware store for 20 cents worth of hardware.  I don't have a Tractor Supply nearby to but in bulk so I found a place online that sells really cheap.  I paid .86 cents each for 50 1/4" flat washers.  (Less than 1 cent each)

I bought $250 worth of bins to store the hardware in from Amazon.  I got a bunch of Amazon gift cards for free by signing up for a credit card so I essentially got the bins at no cost to me.  Amazon was the cheapest place to get the bins after factoring in shipping.

I did look on Craigslist for any deal on bulk lots of nut/bolts and didn't find anything worthwhile.  One guy is selling 1,700 pounds of nuts and bolts sorted for $800.  He doesn't have any pictures or a list of what he has so I decided to pass.  I wouldn't have a way to get 1,700 lbs home unless I took the bus and I don't really have $800 to spend on hardware anyhow.

[buswarrior]

Yes, keep them sorted!

Hung around way too many shops with a disarray of hardware, can't find what you need, when you need it.

Some sort of system other than throwing stuff into the bin.

happy coaching!
buswarrior

[belfert]

The bins I bought are 12x18" metal storage trays with individual compartments inside.  The hardware will be placed in the compartments so it stays organized.  I am using these trays: http://www.durhammfg.com/catalog.html?id=44  A lot of work places use similar metal trays to organize hardware.  My employer has a bunch of these same trays full of hardware.

I have all of my electrical terminals and plugs sorted in plastic trays that have individual compartments too.

[luvrbus]

Do you own anything that uses American bolt sizes and washers I know your bus is full of metric crap

[belfert]

There is a lot of American stuff on my bus too.  I buy more inch size stuff at the hardware store than metric.  Metric stuff I use is mostly nuts and a few washers.

[Carbone]

I'm a nut (no pun intended) for hardware, organized, and plenty of it! Just like that odd tool when you need it, nothing beats going to your fastener stash and finding just what you need. So often I need a dozen and see the bulk price so I just grab an entire box. I have 1000 ways to justify just about anything....

[Iceni John]

Looking through my last few years' receipts from McFadden-Dale Industrial Hardware in Santa Ana, I've spent WAY more than $200 for all the myriad nuts, bolts, washers, plumbing fittings, valves, DOT airbrake fittings, and the countless other things I never knew existed until I needed them for some arcane project!   I now always buy a few more than I need, knowing that sooner or later I'll use those extras.   I wonder how many busnuts realize how many hundreds of dollars all these small odds and sods cost during a conversion?

Fortunately McFadden-Dale is only a few miles away, as also is Industrial Metal Supply in Irvine.   A typical Saturday morning is a quick trip to both those places to stock up for the following week's tinkering  -  too bad they don't have Frequent Customer rewards!   There's also a surprisingly well-stocked Ace Hardware just down the road, a Home Despot next to my bus's storage yard, and a wonderful used metals place nearby where I get all manner of weird stuff for cents on the dollar.   I guess this satisfies the primitive hunter-gatherer instinct in me.

John 

[Melbo]

As long as it's organized it makes sense --- once it falls into disarray it is no longer valuable.

I used to have an employee (note the used to) that always bought more than he needed an then proceeded to lose it in his truck.

I told him that having so much stuff you can't find anything is the same as not having it at all because you are going to the store to buy another one when you already have one (and yes I did pay for the first ten and then the new one and the trip to get it)

So keep it organized and it is valuable let it get out of sorts and it ain't worth anything

Just my way.

Melbo

[jjrbus]

Had a cousin that would not keep an xtra nut, bolt or screw.  Said if he needed 4 he had three, if he needed 1 1/2 inch he had 1 1/4 and 1 3/4 inch.  He was right!  JIm

[rv_safetyman]

Brian, you already know this, but most hardware type stores stock about the lowest level bolts in terms of strength.  Most come from off shore. 

Like you, I often use this level of bolt for general assembly.  However, I always go to grade 5 or grade 8 for critical bolts.

Jim

[belfert]

All the bolts I bought are grade 5.  They hardly cost any more than grade 2.  The hardware store closest to me only stocks grade 5 and grade 8 bolts. 

[Ericbsc]

When I hit the lottery, I'm gona buy me a Lowes, and a Best buy. Gona put em across the street from the house!!!!!

[Jeremy]

So often I need a dozen and see the bulk price so I just grab an entire box. I have 1000 ways to justify just about anything....

I'm exactly like that too - always going for the 'bargain' of spending three times as much to get ten times more than I need. Everything seems to get used eventually though.


Jeremy

[Uglydog56]

It has always been a fantasy to have a stocked bolt bin.  Someone gave me the bin a few years ago, but I've never got around to stocking yet.  Now I'm holding off because how do I carry a bolt bin in a bus?  Maybe mount it in the enclosed trailer, but I think I'm going to have to trade up to a shorter one (I'm at 71' and NC is a 60' state and gestapo about it) so I haven't done that either.  I am envious.

[Lin]

I have tried to stop stocking up and things that I might need in the future.  I figure that this way I can store the things at the store.  Isn't that why they call it a "store" anyway?
Of course, sometimes I just can't help myself.