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How to best stock up on hardware items...

3K views 24 replies 24 participants last post by  stloutdoorsman 
#1 ·
I would like to have more hardware (nuts/bolts, screws, etc) in order to be prepared for a time when a hardware store is too far, or supplies are limited.

I've started buying the "contractor packs", even when I need just a few bolts/nuts, and have started organizing them in bins by size (3/8-16, 1/4-20, etc).

This could take a while though! And buying everything at once in big box stores is still not cheap. Are there any good sites out there for buying bulk hardware? I'm resigned to the fact that most hardware is cheap Chinese-made crap, but it will be better to have something rather than nothing if a tool/tractor/car breaks down the road.

Any thoughts are appreciated.
 
#4 ·
Harbor freight sells assortments that are reasonably priced.

Ever since I was a kid, if I threw out an appliance, I would scavenge fasteners, switches, etc. I haven't done that in years, but maybe I should. I do tend to keep old stuff as spares. I have a bucket parts storage thing that is a good way to organize fasteners, plus a bin system, plus a few other containers. I still often seem to lack the thing I need on projects though.
 
#8 ·
Harbor freight sells assortments that are reasonably priced

I bought some of these not long ago thinking the same thing. I went to use some a week or two ago to fix a busted pulley mount on the tractor and I swear it felt like the bolts were made from cardboard. The were super light and didn't feel sturdy. I kind of want to buy the same sized boot from the hardware store and test them both. They certainly weren't grade 8 and actually didn't appear to have any grading at all on them.
 
#6 ·
I picked up a habit my dad had. He was a child of the depression. He would salvage anything of use from anything he found or threw out. He'd pick up a scrap of wire in a parking lot even. Consequently, when something needed fixed, he generally had the parts unless it was something specialized.

I tend to do that too, as well as pick up spares of things I end up using anyway such as plumbing parts, electrical switches and outlets, etc. I also salvage electrical components. You can often fix electrical devices with a simple repair if you can solder and desolder. I also buy extra when I do a project. So I always have extra wood, nails, screws, caulk, paint, adhesives, etc. Yeah, it keeps the workroom looking cluttered. But in the end, it's handy and saves time and money.
 
#13 ·
I've scavenged nuts, bolts, screws, etc from machines I throw away and I've done that since I was a teenager.

Where I've really picked up a ton of fasteners is garage/moving sales. It's not unusual to come across coffee cans full of assorted fasteners for a couple bucks.

Before my wife passed away, she came across a great deal on a floor display in a mom & pop hardware store going out of business.

She bought the two display racks off the wall, with all the fasteners in their blister packs for $200. The racks are 36" by 60", and they were loaded with fasteners and some drill bit sets as well.

I hung em up on my garage wall, looks like hardware store in my work area.
 
#14 ·
I pull stuff off of anything I come across before I trash in. Just pulled a knob a needed for my dryer off a trash one. Also got a new lint trap and other random pieces I can use on mine. But I have probably a dozen jars hanging with random screw nuts bolts etc. Craigslist also is a good source.
Also to save space i put 2*4 and the like in between the floor joists also spare pipe to keep it out of the way. Same with fishing rods. But any repair job I do I save the spare parts left for other stuff. Those odd pieces have save me time and money on side jobs
 
#15 ·
My wife got a bunch of those stackable organizers they were throwing away where she works, they came with dividers. The big ones will fit about 30 boxes of 100 3/8 nuts, the medium ones will hold about 20 boxes, and the small hold about 10. I recycle, upcycle or repurpose everything. If nut, bolts, screws or nails are too bunged up I put em in a canister until I have enough to make canister damascus. I'll usually keep a new 100 count box of most popular nuts, bolts, screws, etc. And then fill in the good used stuff of the same size and type stuff, if I don't have any used I'll get an extra box of new. If you keep round bar stock consider keeping an extra in the more popular bolt sizes, 1/4, 3/8, 7/16 etc, it's relatively easy to make studs and bolts in a pinch.
 
#18 ·
Except for harbor freight and ordering on line all of the above
If I need a lb of nails I by the next larger size container. I've been known to circle the block to fish something from a dumpster. I'll. strip every fastener off of something and toss the carcass on the scrap pile my grand parents went through the depression I remember the tool shed with baby food jars filled with bits and pieces the lids nailed to a 2x4 hung so it would spin like an axle
 
#19 ·
Contact your local garbage dump or recycling center. Or just check for handymen in your area.

My grandpa is a packrat, magpie, hoarder, whatever you call it. He is always on the lookout for scraps. If a neighbor throws something out and he thinks he can use it, he will take it (after getting permission). Saved him trips to the hardware store and he has gotten a few pieces of furniture serviceable enough to donate to the homeless shelter in town.

We canabalize everything here. Hubs even took the wiring out of an old speaker amp from the 70's and used the wires to fix an old lamp. We always buy contractor packs of whatever we need and save canning jars that are no longer usable or old peanut butter jars to keep everything in.
 
#20 ·
I was at a yard sale and the widow of an older gentleman was giving away the old large coffee cans full of sorted hardware (nuts bolts, screws, nails, etc.). I offered to pay and she said "no it just old junk". She also asked if I would handle getting rid of an old two ton press because she couldnt figure how to move it. I paid her for the press and hauled everything out before some other guy showed up and grabbed stuff.... two loads in an 8 foot pickup
 
#22 ·
I went the expensive route and set myself up as a retailer with Fastenal. I got boxes of every kind of fastener, from metric to stainless, and I have them organized in big, rolling bin racks (about 8 of them I think.) It probably put a $8,000 dent in my pocket, but it's nice not to have to run to the hardware store anymore.
 
#23 ·
Amazon has pretty good prices and pretty good variety. For less common parts, I go to bolts.com.

Look up Durham parts bins on Amazon for storage; they have slide drawers for these boxes, too; I've been using these for 30 years and they work perfect.

 
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#25 ·
I've always had good luck salvaging from broken stuff, or just buying by the pound at the farm store. Much cheaper and better quality than the bulk packs at a lot of places. For specialized items (o-rings, pins, keys, grommets, etc) I do rely heavily on harbor freight assorted packs

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