• Scam Alert. Members are reminded to NOT send money to buy anything. Don't buy things remote and have it shipped - go get it yourself, pay in person, and take your equipment with you. Scammers have burned people on this forum. Urgency, secrecy, excuses, selling for friend, newish members, FUD, are RED FLAGS. A video conference call is not adequate assurance. Face to face interactions are required. Please report suspicions to the forum admins. Stay Safe - anyone can get scammed.

CA-ON McMaster-Carr

Ontario
Type
Supplies
Any business that is unwilling to sell / honour the non-business hobbiest, willing to spend hundreds of dollars or more, can stick their ideology where the sun doesn't shine......

I would never, honour such a business with a single dollar, based upon principal alone, period.
Nor do care less if i am missing out on any savings, etc, with doing so.
My principals are not "for sale".

And those are my thoughts on businesses such as Master-Carr.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
For what it's worth MMC will sell to individuals in the US no problem. So they are not totally horrible ;)
 
Any business that is unwilling to sell / honour the non-business hobbiest, willing to spend hundreds of dollars or more, can stick their ideology where the sun doesn't shine......

I would never, honour such a business with a single dollar, based upon principal alone, period.
Nor do care less if i am missing out on any savings, etc, with doing so.
My principals are not "for sale".

And those are my thoughts on businesses such as Master-Carr.
Is it the fault of McMaster that Canada's government makes it so difficult to import goods? What about our "free trade" agreement?

I'd be happy to do the same if there were an alternative supplier. Suggestions?
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Any business that is unwilling to sell / honour the non-business hobbiest, willing to spend hundreds of dollars or more, can stick their ideology where the sun doesn't shine......

I would never, honour such a business with a single dollar, based upon principal alone, period.
Nor do care less if i am missing out on any savings, etc, with doing so.
My principals are not "for sale".

And those are my thoughts on businesses such as Master-Carr.
I don't see where ideology or principles come into play here. Lots of businesses have decided to not sell to individuals. Some of them legally can't sell to individuals. Sometimes it's regulatory requirements imposed by govt or by professional governing bodies.
Simply having the money to spend and the willingness to spend it doesn't get you what you want from a business all the time.
Luckily, more often than not, you can take your wallet someplace else and be happy, principles intact.
No harm, no foul, on either side.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
As a MMC customer for over 30 years, I absolutely rely on them for correct high quality parts. Amazon has its place, but when you must be certain about the product it should be traceable and replaceable. McMaster is IMHO the premier supplier of engineering parts.

In Western Canada, an order on Friday before 3pm EST will arrive Monday at 10:00 am PST by Purolator.

An order placed on Monday morning will arrive Tuesday am or at the latest, Wednesday am.

Small packages are about $22. There are no additional fees involved.
 
Is it the fault of McMaster that Canada's government makes it so difficult to import goods? What about our "free trade" agreement?

I'd be happy to do the same if there were an alternative supplier. Suggestions?
Spaenaur is pretty good, when you can’t find it elsewhere

It depends on what you’re looking for, I’ve had good luck with Bolts Plus and Fort Gary stores, Traction and Napa too
 
My needs tend to be slightly exotic. For example, a current requirement is 4mm (M3 threads) socket head shoulder screws. Suggestions for a Canadian supplier willing to sell a few dozen with delivery tomorrow?
 
From the TSME supplier pdf:
or
Mini Bolt Company 540 Fife's Bay Road
Peterborough, ON
705-876-8645

Round, flat and socket head screws
and nuts in small sizes (0-80 and up).
No Hex sizes. In steel, alloy steel,
brass and stainless steel

and
 
My needs tend to be slightly exotic. For example, a current requirement is 4mm (M3 threads) socket head shoulder screws. Suggestions for a Canadian supplier willing to sell a few dozen with delivery tomorrow?

Takes a few weeks to ship, but lots of hardware like this on AliExpress
 

Attachments

  • SNAG-1-19-2023 000.jpg
    SNAG-1-19-2023 000.jpg
    99.3 KB · Views: 2
My needs tend to be slightly exotic. For example, a current requirement is 4mm (M3 threads) socket head shoulder screws. Suggestions for a Canadian supplier willing to sell a few dozen with delivery tomorrow?

Fastenal has been very good to me.

Bolts depot is also good.

So is Amazon.

If you live close enough to a member with a business account they might be willing to order from MCarr for you. I certainly would.

For your needs, I'd get longer than you need with a full threaded shank and buy a box knowing they can be easily shortened to whatever length you need that day.
 
Fastenal has been very good to me.

Bolts depot is also good.

So is Amazon.

If you live close enough to a member with a business account they might be willing to order from MCarr for you. I certainly would.

For your needs, I'd get longer than you need with a full threaded shank and buy a box knowing they can be easily shortened to whatever length you need that day.
Shorten shoulder screws?

There is a Fastenal a few miles from me but sadly they stock almost nothing in the way of small screws (#4 or M3 and smaller).
 
Hopefully suppliers know the needs of their customers and that is not metric stuff. Of course there is considerable demand for 1219x2438mm pieces of plywood and drywall.
 
For being a country that is supposedly metric, I've always found it funny how a lot of the supply places stock very little of it lol.
That’s funny, but you make a good point. If I’m building something there’s zero chance I’m using metric fasteners. I don’t understand metric threads or grades, so I avoid them when possible. Much easier to have grade 8 and stainless in imperial instead
 
Shorten shoulder screws?

Nope, I said get full thread (ie no unthreaded shank) and shorten those as required.

Maybe I misunderstood what you are after.

There has been the odd time they had to bring something in for me but it's usually two business days. Buying longer thread seems to improve the odds that it is in stock. I have purchased m4 in stock, but never m3 or smaller.

In case it matters, I find it a lot easier to find #6 or smaller imperial instead of metric in stock.

Last but not least, some members on here have had bad experiences with Fastenal. Especially them not wanting to help non-commercial customers. My experiences have all been great.
 
I'm not a real "commercial" customer but my Fastenal experience has generally been excellent. Particularly their closeouts have included some amazing bargains over the years. My purchases have been mostly fasteners but have also included Lista cabinets, saw blades and other items.
 
Just a few words to add some more data on ordering from McMaster.

I placed my first order yesterday at about 5:20 PM, specifying ground shipment. They have several options but they don't price them in advance - odd. Anyhow I picked ground and much to my surprise the package arrived at my door via Purolator today at 12:15PM. Either they subbed delivery out to the Wood brothers or it came by air! That beats Digikey's 2 - 3 day "overnight" shipping! Oh, I'm in Nova Scotia so not exactly centrally located.

The other tidbit was I filled in my company name on the order which seems to have met their commercial customer requirement.

All of the tax & border bureaucracy was included in the transaction so no dinger fees etc.

That definitely opens up more options for parts ordering although they're not the lowest cost option. That said, they also don't sell cheap goods either.

D :cool:
 
Back
Top