1. McMaster-Carr in Santa Fe Springs, CA. They have their entire catalog on
their website. They primarily sell to industry and have a big part of their
sales going to other countries. Really have their act together. Fast shipping.
Accept major credit cards for retail phoned in sales. Somewhat pricey; but
this is how they support their great service. They print a big fat catalog
but are pretty stingy about who they give it to. The website, however, has
the entire catlog page by page with prices and a reasonbly good search
function. Phone 301-692-5911. www.mcmastercarr.com
2. Aircraft Spruce & Specialty co. West-Corona. CA; East Griffin, GA. Sell
aircraft supplies but have a special catalog specifically for the auto racing
market since a lot of the applications cross over. Call them or apply on
line. They'll send you a free catalog. 1-877-4spruce, 1-800-861-3192.
www.aircraftspruce.com
3. Small parts Inc. Miami Lakes , FL. Lots of unusual tools and materials
for modelmakers, scientists and engineers. Pricey but sometimes the only
retail small quantity source. Present yourself as a serious customer and
they'll probably send you a free catalog. 800-220-4242, www.smallparts.com
4. WW Grainger - hundreds of locations nationwide. Very large range of
electrical equipment, hardware, tools and industrial supplies. Wholesale
policy covers all items in their extensive catalog. BUT--if you present
yourself with some kind of identification like a business card from a company
that manufactures or builds stuff or even might resell their products or use
them in maintenance management then they'll sell to you. They'll want to set
you up with an account number but that doesn't mean it'll be an open order
account. So you pay by cash or credit card. Or get a freind in the right
kind of business to set up an account and give you the number. Then you call
in your order, pick it up at the "will call" desk and pay for it including
sales tax with cash or your major credit card. Has no effect on your friend's
business or his resale number. The trick to this is that you really need to
get a catalog from them. It's huge. Like 4000 pages. www.grainger.com Note
that WW Grainger has a seperate parts source for replacement parts for the
private branded stuff sold in their catalog. This operation sells parts to
anyone on a retail basis. So if you buy a piece of equipment from them, for
example an air compressor; 10 years from now when you need to buy a repair
part for it they'll be no wholesale-retail hassles.
Ed Weldon
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