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Buying from McMaster Carr

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Downwindtracker2

Super User
Good Morning guys .I'm working on my Delta Rockwell Toolmaker, a light duty surface grinder . On the second generation models one of the repairs is replacing the Teflon tape they used on the ways . Keith at Toolmaker Groups has kindly given me McMaster Carr part numbers. I have never ordered from them. I take it hey have some hoops. I do have an American address half a block across the line. Yes I know they are American but it's pretty odd parts . Any suggestions.
 
I have not made an order in over a year, maybe two, but I always just used my Wife's business name. They were particular in that they only shipped to Canadian Businesses. That being said, they never asked for any proof, her email is a @gmail.com account, and the address is our house.....Not sure if that's changed with the recent declaration of war or not....
 
I have a business name that I use for my orders but I haven’t ordered in a couple of years. Parts arrive quickly and they are definitely not the cheapest but often they will be the only option
But if you have a McMaster part number then you may be able to cross reference from a Canadian supplier.
 
Downwindtracker2 said:
I take it hey have some hoops. I do have an American address half a block across the line. Yes I know they are American but it's pretty odd parts . Any suggestions.
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Ya, they only sell to businesses. I provided them with my HST number and they were happy with that. Just find a friend with a business to order for you.

Yes, they are expensive. But they are also AMAZING! Next day delivery all the way from the USA all day every day.

Don't let the current craziness make you crazy. Just keep your head and do what makes sense.
 
I’m not a business for my garage activities but regularly bought from Mcmaster for items I couldn’t find elsewhere. Pre March 2025 when I stopped buying (as much as feasible) from American companies I just got them to ship to a Pembina ND address. No fuss. Much cheaper shipping than to Canada. Not sure where the OP is located, but if close to the border it may pay to batch shipments and go down a couple times a year to pick them up.

(Obviously this was pre tarrif era, please do the math to ensure still logical)
 
Another thought if McMaster doesn’t work out is biying some of the thinnest turcite or rulon and gluing it. Remnants of both are often found on Canadian ebay. Suggest 16 thou since you don’t need to carve oil slots. Also gives you the advantage of being able to scrape to 50% contact for less stiction (and some wiggle room alignment if needed)
 
Can you describe the tape dimensions & allowance? I assume its a semi rigid tape kind of like feeler gauge stock except you are after sliding / lubricity? Adhesive backed or no? I've seen similar in different forms. McMaster is a gathering of many things with excellent catalog & shipping, but often many of those 'things' come from Asia or elsewhere anyways.
 
These are not one tenth machines, more like one half. That is why Rockwell cheated with the PTFE fiberglass reinforced tape. I don't have the tools and I have never scraped except once , a babbit bearing. I only paid about $300 CDN, $200USD at an auction.
 
It always felt like McMaster had discovered and perfected the flux capacitor and found out how to time travel, but it keeping it a secret from humanity for good reasons. The website is perfect, and the standard by which I judge all others, the supply chain logistics perfect, the only negative you could say is that the prices are higher, but when you need something yesterday, it's on your doorstep. I have no idea how they do it, but it always got us out of jams so many times. It was easy to get sucked into just buying there instead of calling around local suppliers even when I had lead time on stuff.
 
Unfortunately McM is still my only source for some steel stock such as A2 and 12L14. They also have 41L40 which I have never seen elsewhere.

If anyone knows of a Canadian supplier of 12L14 or 41L40, I'll happily buy you a beer. Or two.
 
I order from McM-C all the time. Use my personal charge card, just use my previous employers business name. This Tuesday I needed to find a truly oddball pipe fitting - 3/4” male garden hose one end, 3/8” male British Standard Parallel Pipe BSPP one end. Try finding that at Home Depot! Ordered from McM-C Tuesday evening, in my hands 10:30 AM Thursday. Today’s order will be an adapter to couple a 5/8” keyed pump drive shaft to a 1/2” hex bar. I don’t have a broach big enough to machine in my shop, I’m sure I can order bits n pieces from McM-C and have them here for cheaper and quicker than I can make them.
 
I use my old business name (which we closed in 2016) and my residential address in Calgary, never a problem.
Agree, they'll never be the cheapest but I've found obscure industrial stuff on their website that I couldn't find anywhere else.
And yes their shipping is almost un-believably fast and not the most expensive. Record is 19 hours for a tool steel order from their warehouse in USA to my front door in Calgary.
 
Mcgyver said:
They insist if out of the US you have to be a business

DWT Machine. There, you have a business and a business name. Businesses don't have to be inc or ltd, sole proprietorships are a perfectly valid form of business organization. They will never know or care that DWT has zero revenue. It's just a filter they have.
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That's exactly what I did. I registered the name in BC so I had the registration number but that was probably not necessary.
 
Downwindtracker2 said:
These are not one tenth machines, more like one half. That is why Rockwell cheated with the PTFE fiberglass reinforced tape. I don't have the tools and I have never scraped except once , a babbit bearing. I only paid about $300 CDN, $200USD at an auction.
Click to expand...
A friend, now unfortunately passed, had one like yours and although slow and fussy, he could hit one tenth tolerances on small surface grinding projects. Think you will be pleasantly surprised.
 
I like your name better .... the brilliant marketing geniuses Trout and Ries (perhaps the only marketing geniuses lol) say that, unless you have billions to make them mean something, a name that says what you do is far better than initials :)
 
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