Charlotte Posted May 12, 2009 Share Posted May 12, 2009 I checked out a local Festenal store today. Looked like they had may things not commonly available at most hardware suppliers. That is the up side. Another up side is that they have no min purchase. The down side is that their prices seemed to range between barely competative with the local Ace hardware to the slightly outrageous. The wanted $9.41/ft @ 12 ft for 1x1 cold rolled 1018. They also had some 304 and 316 stainless as well as a limited amout of 1045 and 6061 AL. I didn't price those after the cold rolled 1018. Another down side is that nuts and bolts go in complete packages. However on the up side they had grades and sizes of nuts and bolts you don't see anywhere else. They also carry stocked taps and dies packaged by the each. I assume that they have a multi-tier discount system as may industrial supply houses do. They are on the web with a catalogue so failing all else you may be able to use them occasionally Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
petersenj20 Posted May 12, 2009 Share Posted May 12, 2009 I don't really care for Fastenal. If you are in a pinch and need that thing right now, they're ok. Nuts n bolts are fair priced, but everything else is pretty high. MSC is much better, but they have far fewer locations. McMaster -Carr has even more exclusive items but at a much more exclusive price. Fortunately living on the West side of ATL I have access to all three big dist centers. Mild steel will always be higher at a hardware supply house as they like to deal in small items. That large storage and transpo comes at a price. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Dean Posted May 13, 2009 Share Posted May 13, 2009 I bought some 6" cutter disc a while back (1/32" thick with 1/2" hole, fits DeWalt 4 1/2" hand grinders) The disc where on the discounted counter @75% off, I paid $1.25 each for them! got all they had too! They have some good stuff but you really need to know prices. The store in our town has very nice folks that work there. They also have that "odd ball" drill bit and it's quicker in-n-out than the 'Big Box' stores. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
divermike Posted May 13, 2009 Share Posted May 13, 2009 They are listed as a supplier of one of the nicer anvil makers, yet when I went to the store near here, they had no idea what I was talking about, go figure!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian C. Posted May 14, 2009 Share Posted May 14, 2009 I went there once to get some steel rivets, and also some copper belt rivets. They were lost, kept showing me all their nice pop rivets. :( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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