Two thumbs up for McMaster-Carr

[Alan H]

During this COVID time, I've ordered several things from McMaster-Carr. They're an industrial supply place, not a "marine outlet". The Teflon tubing for the windvane project came from them. I just ordered really small, light-load stainless steel wire clamps for the windvane wires, which arrived today. I ordered a pair of s.s. / nylon low-load pillow bearings from them a while ago.

The company's prices seem reasonable to me, their customer support has been responsive and they ship stuff super-quickly.

Two thumbs up for McMaster-Carr.

[Garret]

Definitely a good company to deal with.

[Paul Schweiss]

Used McMaster-Carr for decades, they not only have everything, they ship fast. And you can noodle through slightly different spec items, like different alloy stainless, to pick most cost effective item.
Pricing may not be cheap, but when you factor how many other websites, or stores you would have to go through, sometimes it is more effective to just get it coming.
Their website is real good, I still have a Mark I, full on catalog to help my old brain trying to think of the correct name to the thing-a-ma-jig I am needing.

[rgthom]

The website is excellent, particularly for drilling down on features to get exactly the screw/bushing/whatever you want. Amazon now carries a bunch of hardware type stuff, but it's impossible to select for the features that are useful. McMaster quality is also consistently high, no junk. Lastly, if you just need help by phone the person who picks up often knows the answer or knows who does.

-Rick

[mmd]

M-C is da bomb. Been using them for decades.

[Garret]

From a slightly different perspective - another reason to shop @ McMaster. I have a client that makes reamers. They sell to all sorts of distributors & some OEM (Northrup-Grumman, etc,). They have been selling to McMaster for years & the purchasing folks there are really great to deal with.

They also sell to competitors of McMaster (my customer is the largest US mfg. of reamers - possibly the world's largest) & while I won't name names, most of the others are a PITA to deal with. One of the biggest sends an email every month or so saying "unless you give us X% better pricing, we'll stop buying from you". They say "no" & they still buy - but wait a month to make sure & then order a huge order that's a pain to deal with.

They also sold on Amazon for several years & recently stopped. Amazon made the above PITA look good - absolute horror show from the vendor point of view. Yes, I'll buy from Amazon when the price is unbeatable - but it's my last stop.

[cracked lid]

They are my go-to for industrial doo-dads. They will have it and ship it to me quick saving my a ton of time vs. going to a big box store and trying to see if they even carry what I am looking for.

[Bill Perkins]

The website is an encyclopedia of hardware

[Hugh MacD]

Been using them through two businesses and my personal stuff and can't say enough good about them. They've always come through and if they didn't have what I needed would try to help me find an equivalent. Good folks!

[GregH]

A bit repetitious, but thumbs up from me also!

[Hugh Conway]

I’d used them for years at work where I didn’t see the bill but found recently that there shipping prices are quite reasonable (although not disclosed at checkout) and shipping is quite quick (faster than Prime)

[Garret]

Ain't it great to see 10+ posts about a company where every single one is positive?

[Tom Lathrop]

The number of good suppliers of metal stuff and precision measuring devices has dwindled greatly over the last decades due to availability of cheaper imports and Amazon but MMC is still the best.

[JimConlin]

+ 1

[BobW]

I, too, like McMaster-Carr for their great selection and prompt shipping. One quibble... overnight shipping seems to be the default method as no shipping options are offered and shipping costs are not provided until the order is confirmed. I don't always (often/ever) need overnight delivery so other shipping options would be nice. Also -minor quibble - a small order of fasteners, washers, and nuts came out of two M-C facilities (fasteners from Ohio, washers and nuts from Illinois) and the shipping costs were about double what they would have been had the entire order come out of one facility. Oh, I'll still order from M-C because of their selection. I would rather know the shipping costs before placing the order.

[Canoeyawl]

I, too, like McMaster-Carr for their great selection and prompt shipping. One quibble... overnight shipping seems to be the default method as no shipping options are offered and shipping costs are not provided until the order is confirmed.

Mc Master Carr has a UPS dock and shipping facility in each warehouse.
If you try to call back and add to a previous order and it is more than 15-20 minutes, that previous order has already shipped.
I have two accounts with them, one personal and the other business, maybe 40 years now I guess. Online ordering has later hours and items will still ship same day.
And did you know they have replacement springs for all sizes of Vise-Grip pliers? And they have excellent technical support including contacting the manufacturer for items similar to but not listed in the catalog.
That big yellow catalog has been a good friend over the years, I still smile when the new issue shows up in the mail, it is a tome and good reading in the head.

[Paul356]

Funny how that works. I hadn't heard of them, but checked the website. Hey, I wonder if they have those table-saw arbor-reducing rings I need? They do, and I ordered 'em!

[DoctorB]

You know you're a somebody when they eventually send you a paper catalog.

Other McMaster magic: My end-of-semester ritual is to collect the students' various unused bits and pieces, throw it all in a box, and send to NJ - no POs, no packing lists, no RMAs, nothing - just a box of stuff. It all gets correctly credited against the original orders. I have yet to stump them.