Screw assortment

Looking for a good assortment of M2 M3 M4 & M5 screws and nuts to have around for future rep rap projects.
Looked through eBay and didn't find much.

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Michaelj
Looking for a good assortment of M2 M3 M4 & M5 screws and nuts to have around for future rep rap projects.
Looked through eBay and didn't find much.

If your in the UK check out Stainless screws etc

Doug

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dougal1957

If your in the UK check out Stainless screws etc

Doug

Thank you Doug, but I am in the US shipping would kill it.

McMaster-Carr is the best source for Metric hardware in the US.

Tri-D Printing has an awesome bag of Kossel hardware, which includes all kinds of M3 allen screws. I picked up a kit (not even building a Kossel!) just for the quantity of M3 hardware. I order a box of M5's any time that I'm buying 2020 extrusions, and our local Lowes has a few M4/M5 items in a pinch.....

The best suppliers I have found are boltdepot.com and mrmetric.com. Both offer great pricing on single quantities and 100-pc boxes. Every time I need one or two of something, I buy 4 or 6. After building 4 repraps, I have amassed a selection that would rival most hardware stores.

There are folks selling screw sets for specific printer kits on ebay. I saw one for 19.95 for kossel mini screw set. I calculated the local cost for the same assortment and it was 15.47 but you have to buy boxes of 50 and 100 which comes out to 70 ish.

Worth it imho to save time and money.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/27/2015 10:57AM by thetazzbot.

Hit up your local Tractor Supply. Even Home Depot and Lowes carry the 3MM stuff. I use it on quadcopters as well as the printers and am always able to find what I need locally.

I have tried TrueValue, Menards, and possibly Lowes, never Home Depot. But most of the metric seems to start at M4/M5, and even when I do find M3 it is philips, not allen key. But I appreciate the recommendations from everyone as I have thought about building my own assortment as well for printing and quads.

Any thoughts on a good assortment of lengths? Perhaps more of one size then another?

What about ebay. Just a quick search turned up this [www.ebay.com]

The "www.boltdepot.com" is a good source. You are allowed to purchase by the piece or by the box. Their web sit is easy to navigate.

Amazon.com have really increased their selection of small parts in the last couple of years. It can be a problem actually finding what you want though...

Just checked out [www.boltdepot.com] and [www.mcmaster.com].

Really liked the look of Bolt Depot, seems to be based out of Boston. Prices were really reasonable and you could order sets in plastic cases, individual screws, and screw in sets of 100 (possibly cases as well, not that I need that many screws). Not sure about the cost of shipping, seems to be based on the weight of the order thru UPS, though you would think the USPS's "if it fits, it ships" service might be cheaper. Interface was nice and easy to navigate, with diagrams for the newbs like myself.

McMaster's website was a little more complicated to navigate, steeper learning curve, but seemed to have a wider assortment of screws and included other products for your project (i.e. 2020 extrusions). Prices seemed to be slightly more than Bolt Depot, but still reasonable. Again, not sure about the cost of shipping, but I would guess you have less of a chance of arranging USPS shipping.

As for eBay/Amazon, still having trouble navigating those to find what I want, especially compared to the previous two companies. Chance at free shipping, though the prices I was able to find seemed to be up to 4 times as expensive, with fewer options on the size of your order.

Hope this helps anyone else looking for screws.

Boltdepot, mrmetric and McMaster are all USA only I think. I have similar problems finding good sources for metal stock - most of the good places either won't ship international, or the shipping is astronomical.

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JamesK
Boltdepot, mrmetric and McMaster are all USA only I think. I have similar problems finding good sources for metal stock - most of the good places either won't ship international, or the shipping is astronomical.

Dougal1957 mentioned Stainless Screws in the UK earlier if that helps you.