Rick Karlquist wrote:
> Jim Lux wrote:
>> They want a bit more than $8 for some .090 thickness 3003 alloy.. roughly
>> the same price as McMaster Carr..
>>
>> It *is* a commodity, so all the sources are going to be in that ballpark.
>
> My experience with McMaster is that their prices
> are all over the map. Sometimes competitive, often
> prohibitive unless you MUST have some item. For
> example, a screw with a slotted head might be
> cheap, and the same screw with a Philips head might
> be very expensive. Long screws are much more expensive
> per inch than short ones. Sheet metal, etc is all
> over the place in terms of $/lb. Again you will find
> that certain dimensions have a threshold where the
> price suddenly goes way up. You need to have the right
> paradigm to deal with McMaster. Be flexible. Plan on
> spending a LOT of time searching and comparing prices.
> Maybe even change your design to work with what they
> have. I have done that many times.
>
It also depends on what your time is worth. If you're buying something
at work, and you're burning $100/hr burdened cost, spending an hour to
save $10 is a poor economy. I think McMaster-Carr is well aware of
this. Their big virtue is that they seem to have an amazing variety and
fast delivery.
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