Fasteners: Part Two

The putative subtitle here was to be "Let's Do Lunch"...  Well, the best-laid plans all go south when wives are involved.  Short version?  My wife and daughter were present at the unboxing, and talking Tony's ear off while I counted fasteners.  It wasn't an unpleasant meeting, but it definitely wasn't our usual printer talk that went on.

I had called Tony a couple of times yesterday to see if we were still on for lunch, and got no answer.  (I think I mentioned we both work some crazy schedules, right?)  Finally, my family and I went to lunch (we're down to one vehicle, and everyone wanted to go out...).

I grabbed all the hardware, just in case, and we headed out.  Sure enough, I got a call from Tony while lunch was just landing on our table.  I told him, "Yeah, come on, we're at McAllister's.  You want anything?"

"No, I've already had lunch with my Dad." came the reply.

So, just as we had finished lunch and were nibbling nachos and cheese to fill in the corners, Tony arrived and we got down to the unboxing.  I didn't bring the camera as it would have slowed down everything anyway.  Tony listened to my wife and daughter talk about Japanese cinema and Anime' (common interests for us all, to my pleasant surprise...) while I counted and divided the various sizes of fasteners at the table.

Tony presented me with another pleasant surprise:  the printed parts for the lower frame are ready, along with other parts I'll need down the road.  With these and the fasteners, this thing can finally start to take shape.

I have to say, the stuff from Marshall's was of exceptional quality.  The coatings on all the black fasteners were hard, glossy, and complete, and the zinc plating on the washers was bright, clean, and covered well, not the cheap "wash" type of zinc plating I've seen on more expensive stuff.

The packing of certain items was disconcerting, as various sizes of fasteners ordered in small quantities were mixed together in two bags which required some sorting, but most other items were ziplocked or boxed, and all boxes had their fasteners in an inner plastic bag and were coated with light machine oil to prevent rust.

So, all in all, it went well.  When I got home, I counted out my stuff again to make sure I'd gotten it right and discovered four extra 5 mm nuts in my kit.  I'll get those to Tony today at work if I can remember where I put them...  I'm also bringing some movies for him to watch.

So...   A pleasant outing, overall.  Now to get building.  Oh, and total cost for this purchase?  $87.04 for both of us, including shipping.  Not too shabby, seeing as it could easily have been twice this much.

Next:  Extrusion Prep and Lower Frame Construction.

Fasteners: Part One

Well, I changed course here a bit.  Bear with me, folks, as I did it with good reason.

After much research and shopping around for a supplier of metric fasteners at inexpensive prices, I found Marshall's Industrial Hardware out of San Diego, California.

Their website layout is kind of first-generation, but their prices are hard to beat anywhere.  I won't bore you with the numbers yet (saving that for Part Two), but they were at worst half as expensive as their nearest competitor.  Needless to say, I made the order.  Tony went in with me on this one also, so we got the quantity discounts that really made it a sweet deal price-wise.

The only thing that has me a little irked so far is that they charged me almost $19 for UPS Ground shipping and then sent the order in two packages by USPS Priority Mail.  I'm still awaiting delivery of the second package, and a response to my inquiry about why they switched the shipping on me without telling me or remitting the difference.

After all the kvetching I did earlier about how fastener prices could be a force multiplier, when I saw how low prices were at Marshall's, I was emboldened to splurge a little and buy a few extras of certain low quantity items.  I figure most of these are small, easily damaged or lost, and the extra expense of having spares might pay for itself in time saved during the build phases.

I also looked at the frame assembly and realized that it would be more pleasing to the eye if built with button-head screws instead of socket heads.  We have plenty of both styles on hand, so we can "plan B" and go back to socket heads if it adversely affects the frame.

That first box got here today, and I've kept it sealed until such time as I can meet up with Tony (seems like a good tradition).  We'll divvy up the goodies over dinner at Bear's Bar and Grill or maybe Hooter's.

So... one more box, one more post, and then we start putting frames together.  It's going to be tough waiting - I wanna get buildin'!

Update:  The second box arrived the next day while I was sleeping (I work nights).  Bigger box, and now the difference in shipping cost is only about $4 and change.  Oh, well.  I guess them's the breaks - I haven't heard back from their customer service yet.  I guess it's like Steve Martin once said, "I've got four dollars - I guess I'll throw it in the street..."  Still, this switcheroo kinda bugs me just a little.

Next:  Fasteners - Part Two:  Let's Do Lunch!