Where to find nuts & bolts these days?!

[renagde]

If the local hardware store doesn't have it, McMaster, Zoro or boltdepot.com will.

 

[displacedtexan]

McMaster-Carr
One of their big distribution centers is a few hours up the interstate near Chicago. I can order 1 bolt late in the afternoon and it arrives the next morning.
And they have virtually everything.

I'm real jealous!

 

[Jweaver24]

Fastenal

 

[AZDC]

How is this thread four pages long?

 

[OneGunTex]

I spent several years in the fastener business, QC, company trainer,... You aren't getting anything different from Amazon than you'd get from Ace, HD, local mom & pop, except maybe a different brand. Probably 95% of fasteners come from China or Taiwan. Very few are actually made in the US, and those that are use foreign steel/wire.

Hmmmm... I would assume that cheap knockoff Amazon bolts use a cheaper/weaker alloy. I feel like the ones I have are lighter. I should weigh them. I don't know much about fastener manufacture, but I do know a fair bit about counterfeit manufacturing processes in China that wind up on Amazon - essentially, it'll be the same factory making the name brand components, but they'll use lower quality materials and/or stuff that didn't pass QC

 

[mi650]

I don't think China is counterfeiting fasteners, that's just where the vast majority are made. There's no one to counterfeit from. It's been that way for decades. They supply virtually every place you would buy them from. Again, specialties aside.

I hate buying Chinese crap as much as the rest of us, but in this case, there really is no other option. And slightly off topic, but the mark-up is INSANE!! Importers buy 1/2" washers, for example, in 50 lb. boxes, about 1300 pcs. per. They used to be about $5 per. (I'm sure it's more now.) By the time they're repackaged and make it to the shelves at HD or wherever else, they're about $1 per 6.

 

[Winnie]

Slightly off topic and for that I apologize, but please allow me to share an experience with extremely expensive 4 bolts and 4 nuts, that ended up saving me $900!

Daughter is off at college 1.5 hours away. Clunk in front end of her car. Take it in to a local shop there where she is and get an estimate. Not knowing how much struts, stabilizer link and alignment cost would be, I thought the $1900 seemed high. But really didnt know. Going through the estimate, I come across 4 bolts-$56 and 4 nuts $24. Immediate RED FLAG. Get an estimate from my local guy....$1,000. So those little itemized pieces showing $14 for a bolt and $6 for a nut saved me $900! And, it showed me where NOT to bring any issues in the future.

 

[robtattoo]

https://boltdepot.com/

I've used this lot for years & even with some reeeeally oddball stuff, they've yet to let me down.