Alright, after much looking around and re-educating myself about the various types and hardness of steel, here is what I went with. All hardware bought locally from Tacoma Screw (Cole Road) and Fastenal (Orchard St.). As noted by FrankNeon, Industrial Hardware probably has everything if going strictly SAE, but it is out of my way and I wanted a metric stainless steel threaded rod for my z-axis travel.
-Zinc plated 5/16" threaded rod. Eight 3ft pieces. This is for the framing. If cutting your own and following the Mendel metric BOM be aware that 3ft is ~90mm shorter than a 1m rod and you will need to buy an 8, not 7, rods get your frame pieces. Bought at Tacoma Screw for $2.14x8=$17.12
-Stainless Steel M8 threaded rod. One 1m piece. I wanted to use stainless steel for my z-axis travel rod. I had heard that the zinc plated eventually binds as it wears down. Plus, stainless steel is stiffer. Tacoma Screw $6.48x1= $6.48.
-5/16" Oil Hardened Drill Rod to use where bearings will be traveling. Drill Rod has a tighter tolerence on the diameter and is meant for applications that will receive wear. Plus, depending on how it is hardened, it should provide greater stiffness than plain steel or zinc plated and is 2x cheaper than stainless steel. Not sure if it is really necessary, but I convinced myself I needed it so anything less would not have felt right to me. Bought from Fastenal for $5x3=$15
So the cost of all rods was $40. Much better than the $70 I was looking at online, plus I think I got better steel and I was able to make sure the rods were straight.
Fastenal will cut the rods for $1/cut. I borrowed a neighbors air-powered handheld grinder to cut them. We used a vise and nuts to protect the threads in the vise. I used nuts to protect the threads and the cutting surface. Worked out really well and beat a hacksaw, especially on the tough stainless stell.
Okay, probably more info than you need, but there it is if you need it.
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/09/2011 10:01AM by AndyP.
