Ah Nuts!
Tired of spending hours on end trying to find the right nut, bolt, or screw for your latest DIY photo project or just to replace that rusty old one? How about the one you lost – did you check your underpants drawer?
Well tire no more! Now you can have someone else do the work for you… someone at The Bolt Depot.
How much does this cost, you ask? Well, just an average of 7-15 cents! And they’ll throw the screw in for free! Wha? Huh?
I had some DIY ideas but couldn’t find short enough 1/4″ screws. Did I let that get me down? Sure I did. But I didn’t give up. Eventualy I found The Bolt Depot and they had what I was looking for and more. The best part is they’ll sell you just one of almost anything they have. You want just one combo round head zinc 1/4 – 20 screw and you only want it to be 3/8 of an inch long? No problem. 7 cents please.
An aisle of nuts and bolts in their warehouse.
(image from boltdepot website)
Look at all those NUTS! And that’s just one aisle.
How do they know where everything is? I imagine computer controlled robots give the orders to well trained muskrats who oversee an army of field mice that skower the hundreds of shelves covered with thousands of containers for the wee little parts I put in my online cart with my stubby little fingers.
The mice then take each type of screw, bolt, or nut and pack them together in a little zip-top baggy. Then all the various baggies (each with a different group of length screws or size bolts or whatever – how am I supposed to know what you are going to order?) are packed in a little box and mailed right off to you. What fun!
They do sell the screws for less money if you buy them by the box of 100, but I just went with 5-10 of each of the types I wanted. My grand total was around $13 plus another $8 or so for shipping. I know. That’s a bit high. But I could have gotten a lot more little shiny screwy bits without the shipping going up much more, I just didn’t need it. Besides, they have to cover all that mice food somehow.
–Z–
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Not sure how I stumbled onto your blog (mag?) but I love it!
I thought the Bolt Depot would be just the thing I need for all my photo DIY projects — 1/4-20 stuff is hard to find in my little corner of the world… But the choices are just overwhelming!
Could you give an overview of “the types you wanted” that you bought 5-10 of each?
TIA,
W
Hi Wogo,
Thanks! To help you with your picking process I’m going to paste in my entire order. I’ve only used a few of these so far, but it’s really nice to have them around when I do need one instead of fruitlessly searching the bins at the junky mega-stores.
Here you go:
Product #12114
Coupling nuts, Zinc plated steel, 1/4-20 x 1-3/4
Quantity: 4 pieces
Price: $0.48
Subtotal: $1.92
Product #8511
Socket set screw cup point, Alloy steel, 1/4-20 x 1/2
Quantity: 2 pieces
Price: $0.10
Subtotal: $0.20
Product #8512
Socket set screw cup point, Alloy steel, 1/4-20 x 5/8
Quantity: 5 pieces
Price: $0.14
Subtotal: $0.70
Product #8513
Socket set screw cup point, Alloy steel, 1/4-20 x 3/4
Quantity: 2 pieces
Price: $0.16
Subtotal: $0.32
Product #2878
Machine screws, Combination round head, Zinc plated steel, 1/4-20 x 3/8
Quantity: 10 pieces
Price: $0.07
Subtotal: $0.70
Product #2879
Machine screws, Combination round head, Zinc plated steel, 1/4-20 x 1/2
Quantity: 10 pieces
Price: $0.08
Subtotal: $0.80
Product #2880
Machine screws, Combination round head, Zinc plated steel, 1/4-20 x 3/4
Quantity: 10 pieces
Price: $0.08
Subtotal: $0.80
Product #2881
Machine screws, Combination round head, Zinc plated steel, 1/4-20 x 1
Quantity: 5 pieces
Price: $0.11
Subtotal: $0.55
Product #2883
Machine screws, Combination round head, Zinc plated steel, 1/4-20 x 1-1/2
Quantity: 5 pieces
Price: $0.15
Subtotal: $0.75
Nice!
Thanks!
Looks good. I wouldn’t have thought of the socket set screws & coupling nuts (whoa… sounds NSFW) . I think I’d also like to add some wing-nuts and maybe eye-bolts.
Nice indeed!