Who do you use for consumables? Blades, belts, coolant, gas, wire...etc Grainger Praxair Fastenal Praxair MSC Airgas Am I missing anybody?
Doing a little market research? Any of those listed, plus auto parts stores for spray lubes and cleaners, Harbor freight for grinding and sanding stuff. I have never used just one. None of them have everything on my list and most "pro" shops are over priced for a small volume guy like me. HF cutting and grinding wheels are very cost effective against the name brands. I am still searching for the best source to get 3M Rol-Loc discs. They are just expensive and the HF knock-off sucks. Home Depot or Lowe's for saw blades. I use a reciprocating saw a great deal. Milwakee blades and bits seem to be the best value when you put life span against cost.
we used to use 3M rolocs, they were too damn expensive and too soft/flexible. we were going thru them like crazy. we have a paint rep come out to the shop every 2-3 weeks. he turned us on to Trim-Kut discs by GEMTEX. these discs are a little more but they last a lot longer and are very durable. they could also be used as cutting wheels if you had to. i highly recommend trying them http://www.gemtexabrasives.com/grind.php
http://www.lehighvalleyabrasives.com/servlet/StoreFront thats who i use for roloc type discs they last a long time dont blow apart and the more ya buy the cheaper they get
Haggard & Stocking There website isn't the best, great prices on abrasives. Ask for Randee 260.490.4107
I've found outstanding deals on Ebay. I bought a overrun of single edge razor blades, unpackaged. I think it was 10,000 or so and paid $5.00 for them.....there are so many of them I'll never use them all. I give them away all the time. There is a section on Ebay that deals with wholesale lots. Many times no one bids on the stuff (What the Hell are most people going to do with 10,000 razor blades?) Also bought a lot of 200 4.5 inch Hitachi grinding discs...I kept 100 and sold 100 to a bud that has a manufacturing biz. It worked out that I had no cost on my part and my friend still came out right. I've bought large lots of Adell clamps and AN fittings....some of this stuff makes it's way out of defense contractors I think. Maybe in lunch boxes?
I use a local company, Vern Lewis Welding supply for my welding consumables. I use Klingspor for my abrasives.
Klingspor is tops in abrasives. I am however trying a new one from Fastenal with good success, I forget the name tho.........
I use Klingspor for a lot of my abrasives. But don't like their cutoff wheels. Yeah, Flop's link. Hope it's not Blackstone, that's their house brand, I'm not impressed.
I am no big fan of cut off wheels but we have some here. The smaller 3" wheels for the air arbor are about average with the Metabo and other brands carried by Copperstate Bolt and Nut around the corner from us. However the larger 4.5" cut-off wheels for my 4.5" angle grinders are pretty sweet for undoing welds and taking apart stuff fast. I berate anyone in my shop for using cut-off wheels on body sheet metal. I have plenty of saws, snips and other means of cutting sheet metal that are a ton cleaner and a shit load cheaper!
no one mentioned MSC? we get all kinds of stuff from them at work . you can also still get a paper catalog from them, excellent for thumbing through,or as a forklift counterweight. http://www1.mscdirect.com/industrial-equipment.html
I not sure you are convinced. This is one of two boxes I got. I haven't even opened the other one. I think I paid about .50 a pound.....there may not be 10,000, maybe only 9,000. But really, I use these for a shit load of applications. I figure in 5 years i've used 3 or 4 pounds.
Traverse tool runs monthly ads, sometimes you'd swear they were just trying to dump the stuff for cost...HF cutoff wheels have worked well for me, I treat them like I am doing surgery, so maybe that's why they work well...I'm too poor most of the time to afford brand name consumables, which is depressing because I know you get a much higher quality result in half the time...since I don't get paid for the work I do, it means I have to work that much cheaper to be able to afford my bills and parts...
There are 2 places I use for Co2/Argon locally here in the Detroit/Downriver area. Wyandotte Welding Supply is the best. The other, Bakers, I dont care for their gas mix. It welds wierd and the bottles are always short!
i went through my links to find this... i shoulda just looked in the thread.. oh well.... x2 on lehighvalley
McMaster-Carr is the best for me. They have by far the largest selection, and everything is in stock and ready to go. Grainger always has to get stuff from a warehouse, which adds a day or two. Fastenal is the worst. They have to get most stuff from a warehouse and they charge you for shipping. Airgas is good for welding supplies.
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