Stainless Steel nuts and bolts for Observatory

[W. eWatson]

I finally discovered someone who can put a control system in my
observatory. To get prepared for the big day the work begins, January, I
need a fairly large number of nuts.

The contractor suggests that EBay is the place to get them at much lower
prices than the big h/w stores. Googling: "stainless steel nuts bolts
ebay", gives a ton of distributors. Can someone single out one or so of
these that has good prices?

Maybe DigiKey or Grainger have competitive prices.

In the meantime, I'll be looking for local prices in our small town.

 

[Tom Biasi]

--Be aware there are a *lot* of counterfeit nuts and bolts out in
the wild and if you're counting on this hardware to hold something heavy
over your head ...well, be careful. ;-)

Amen! An associate of mine bought "grade 8" bolts from a Chinese
supplier that would break at hand torque.
(Not to disparage all Chinese suppliers)

 

[notbob]

Amen! An associate of mine bought "grade 8" bolts from a Chinese
supplier that would break at hand torque.
(Not to disparage all Chinese suppliers)

I can't tell you their prices are the lowest, but I can assure you
their inventory is top notch. This little vendor has supplied giant
Silicon Valley corporations with the oddball gotta-have-it-yesterday
stainless steel fasteners for decades. I spent so much time at their
counter, I felt like an employee.

http://www.olander.com/

nb

 

[W. eWatson]

As a means of comparison, I went down to our local h/s store. Here are a
few prices for 100 boxed items. (I found the button bolts did not come
in boxes of 100. Probably not a big seller. I changed to Phillip heads.)

100 2" 1/4" Phillips, $48
100 1/4-20 fender, $29
100 Nylock 10-24, $21
100 Nylock 1/4-20, $12.50

 

[P E Schoen]

"W. eWatson" wrote in message

I finally discovered someone who can put a control system in my
observatory. To get prepared for the big day the work begins, January, I
need a fairly large number of nuts.

The contractor suggests that EBay is the place to get them at much lower
prices than the big h/w stores. Googling: "stainless steel nuts bolts
ebay", gives a ton of distributors. Can someone single out one or so of
these that has good prices?

Maybe DigiKey or Grainger have competitive prices.

In the meantime, I'll be looking for local prices in our small town.

Try www.mcmaster.com. They have decent prices and fast service. I've also
dealt with MSC and Fastenal.

Also try surplus places:
http://deepsurplus.com/HOME/Nuts-Washers/10-32-Hex-Nut-Stainless-Steel-Bag-of-100
http://www.surplusunlimited.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=1&Category_Code=2175-03
http://www.merchantcircle.com/business/B.And.B.Surplus.Inc.661-589-0381

or this:
http://www.nutty.com/

Paul

 

[chas]

I finally discovered someone who can put a control system in my
observatory. To get prepared for the big day the work begins, January, I
need a fairly large number of nuts.

The contractor suggests that EBay is the place to get them at much lower
prices than the big h/w stores. Googling: "stainless steel nuts bolts
ebay", gives a ton of distributors. Can someone single out one or so of
these that has good prices?

Maybe DigiKey or Grainger have competitive prices.

In the meantime, I'll be looking for local prices in our small town.

**************
Working in a chemical plant for a steel erector as an ironworker, we had to
use 'Anti-seize' on all the stainless connectors. Else we could not take
the nuts off the bolts without Air-arcing

 

[[email protected]]

McMaster-Carr is generally cheaper than Grainger.

McMaster has excellent service, too. For more woodsy sorts of
products, McFeeleys is also good.

 

[W. eWatson]

--Be aware there are a *lot* of counterfeit nuts and bolts out in
the wild and if you're counting on this hardware to hold something heavy
over your head ...well, be careful. ;-)

I suppose one way to deal with this is if one needs say 4-5 boxes, order
one box and check it out somehow. Maybe compare a few bolts with ones
bought locally. I'm not sure what simple test might work.

 

[W. eWatson]

I can't tell you their prices are the lowest, but I can assure you
their inventory is top notch. This little vendor has supplied giant
Silicon Valley corporations with the oddball gotta-have-it-yesterday
stainless steel fasteners for decades. I spent so much time at their
counter, I felt like an employee.

http://www.olander.com/

nb

This is interesting. I see they are in Sunnyvale, CA. I'm 180 miles
away, but visit friends there every few months. In fact, I should be
there around Dec. 10.

 

[tuinkabouter]

I suppose one way to deal with this is if one needs say 4-5 boxes, order
one box and check it out somehow. Maybe compare a few bolts with ones
bought locally. I'm not sure what simple test might work.

Stainless steel is not magnetic.

 

[P E Schoen]

"W. eWatson" wrote in message

I suppose one way to deal with this is if one needs say 4-5 boxes, order
one box and check it out somehow. Maybe compare a few bolts with ones
bought locally. I'm not sure what simple test might work.

The issues seem to have been strength. So you could clamp a bolt in a vise
and then thread a nut onto it and use a big breaker bar or torque wrench to
see how much it will take. If it survives, examine the threads to see if
there is any sign of distortion or damage. There is also the issue of
galling, which can be minimized by using an anti-seize compound.

You can also do a hardness test with a center punch and a hammer which
should be dropped from the same height to compare the new nuts to some known
good ones. A magnet test can determine if it is alloy 18-8, which is less
expensive and slightly magnetic, or alloy 316 which is essentially
non-magnetic and more costly.

http://www.ssina.com/overview/alloy.html
http://www.bosunsupplies.com/stainlessinfo2.cfm
http://www.onlinemetals.com/stainlessguide.cfm
http://www.americanfastener.com/technical/non-ferrous.asp
<https://www.kimballmidwest.com/cata...r Primer - Stainless Steel By Guy Avellon.pdf>
http://www.boltscience.com/pages/faq.htm
<http://www.fastenal.com/content/feds/pdf/Torque of Stainless Steel, Non ferrous Torque.pdf>
http://www.engineershandbook.com/Tables/torque3.htm
http://www.designnotes.com/companion/manual-1.html
http://www.stainless-steel-tube.org/Hardness-Testing.htm
http://www.bssa.org.uk/topics.php?article=1

Some interesting material in some of those links.

Paul

 

[Jasen Betts]

Stainless steel is not magnetic.

mostly non magnetic, it'll stick weakly to stong magnets.