why are local stores always a let down?

schmittie

schmittie

Joined
Nov 28, 2009
Messages
2,977
Well, I drove all over town looking at hardware stores, Lowe's, even the craft places (just walking into one of those makes you feel you don't belong) and I could not find what I was looking for.

What do you guys do? Do you order everything from specialty suppliers? I was hoping to find something to use as pins or screws for my handle and something that would work for the lanyard tube. The closest thing I could find for the lanyard was some aluminum spacers but they seemed too thick.

I also found some steel rod at Lowes to use for pins but I was hoping for a smaller gauge, everything they had seemed to big as well. Then I came across some black flat hex head machined screws that would have worked nice, but no threaded sleeve or coupling that would work with them. (You know, like the RAT knives have)

Needless to say, I'm frustrated from waisting hours of my time.
 
I had the same issue, you can always order online... I did find that Local Hobby Shops (ie: Remote Control Toys, Toy Train sets etc...) carry Stainless Steel Tubing and Rods.

You may give that a shot!
 
I now what you are talking about. I live in a small town with a population of 900.
Its about imposible for me to find anything unless I order it or drive 2 hours to a city!
 
Well depending on what you're wanting for pins/tubing..... large guage solid copper wire and tubing is available at most Lowes, they have stainless coupling in the specialty fastener section, usually in the little labelled boxes, sometimes called "standoffs".
 
ive used nails, just make sure they are stainless.
I've also had an old rack from a bbq that u cut up into pins, i reckon ive got enough 3mm stock to last me a lifetime!
 
Fastenal and welding supplies have more than you can imagine. Fastenal has stainless all thread - drill rod in several sizes, Welding supplies have filler rod that you can use for pin material .
 
If you have a rural king near you, they could have something that could work. I've noticed they have some different metal bars than lowe's does. You can also get some stuff in bulk for pretty cheap.
 
I can find alot of stuff local but I look for the industrial suppiers, there are small steel suppliers that have SS and other steel in bar, pin and sheet stock. HD and Lowes are a waste of time unless you need a faucet just like your neighbor.
 
Based on your location, I think I can offer a few places

The Fastenal on Madison has a decent selection of stainless rod.

The ACE on Walnut(and pretty sure the one on Wabash) have an ok assortment of copper,brass and stainless in a display rack. not huge quantities, but pretty good. they also have the little bins of specialty hardware that can be used.

Hobby Lobby has some metal in the modeling section that wors. I wouldn't bother with Michaels or Jeffrey Alans.

Big R, TSC, and Farm and Home are also pretty good.
I prefer the Menards over the Lowes around here. Not really for hardware though. I tend to hit the ACE at walnut(my wife works around the corner and gets off work a half hour after I do so I have time to kill often

PM me if your looking for something really specialized and I might be able to help you out.
It would be cool to find another person in the area doing knives.
 
Once upon a time, a long time ago, America was an industrialized country with factories and machine shops and other industrial engines. Believe it or not, we once made "stuff" here. And at that time a person could go to one of the many industrial supply companies that served industry.

As our culture has changed from pursuing constructive endeavors to seeking entertainment and leisure, those supply houses have disappeared and have been replaced by video game vendors etc. Rather than purchase your construction materials, perhaps you'd rather buy an X-box and pretend like you've done something.


...sorry, I'm in a funk...
 
Wow, that's cool. Talk about the meeting at the waterhole. Ask a question and find out you have a kindred neighbor.

I recently discovered a local hobby store, geared toward model makers, remote controlled airplanes and the like. They have a fairly good selection of rod and tube.
 
Kindyr said:
Based on your location, I think I can offer a few places

The Fastenal on Madison has a decent selection of stainless rod.

The ACE on Walnut(and pretty sure the one on Wabash) have an ok assortment of copper,brass and stainless in a display rack. not huge quantities, but pretty good. they also have the little bins of specialty hardware that can be used.

Hobby Lobby has some metal in the modeling section that wors. I wouldn't bother with Michaels or Jeffrey Alans.

Big R, TSC, and Farm and Home are also pretty good.
I prefer the Menards over the Lowes around here. Not really for hardware though. I tend to hit the ACE at walnut(my wife works around the corner and gets off work a half hour after I do so I have time to kill often

PM me if your looking for something really specialized and I might be able to help you out.
It would be cool to find another person in the area doing knives.
Click to expand...
Kindyr, thanks for the local help. It sounds like you've been in my boat too. I'll check out what you listed. Big R and Farm n Home are close to my end of town.

Right now my knife projects are at the beginner level for sure. I read a really interesting article on Woodsmonkey.com on how to make a knife out of a file. That was a cool idea, but a bit too much work for me considering my tools and experience. So, as a compromise I bought a blank of Ebay that was already annealed. I modified it slightly and hardened it, then put a handle made out of some old hardwood oak. I don't like how the handle finished, and the blade needs more attention so I'm gonna strip off the handle and start over.
In the meantime I ordered a killer bushcraft knife blank kit from the UK that I am still waiting on. When I get it, it only needs a handle and it's finished. Don't know if this is what everyone else would consider cheating, but it's all I can accomplish for now. I've got some curly maple for the handles and a buddy works on corion countertops who can supply me with all the scrap corion I could dream of. All I need are some pins and lanyard tube and I'm ready to finish!!
 
Nathan the Machinist said:
Once upon a time, a long time ago, America was an industrialized country with factories and machine shops and other industrial engines. Believe it or not, we once made "stuff" here. And at that time a person could go to one of the many industrial supply companies that served industry.

As our culture has changed from pursuing constructive endeavors to seeking entertainment and leisure, those supply houses have disappeared and have been replaced by video game vendors etc. Rather than purchase your construction materials, perhaps you'd rather buy an X-box and pretend like you've done something.


...sorry, I'm in a funk...
Click to expand...

That's awesome Nathan! I got a good laugh out of that one. I totally agree with you. The technology nerds are taking everything over. After wasting an afternoon, I think I'm in the same funk.....
 
a northender eh? I'm down by the wabash curve(or where the wabash curve used to be.)

I haven't got very far in my own knifemaking hobby, but it is one of several metal shaping hobbies.

For hardwoods locally, I've dealth with Baileys down in southern view. and up your way is a cabinet builder, but I've never dealt with them. the lowes and Menards both have an ok-ish selection of common hard woods.

for stainless pin material, i'd go fastenal or Ace.
for screw type fasteners, somoen posted an image of using roller blade screws. no idea if that actually works.

you can get chicago style screws locally. I go to TSC, but I think Big R keeps them in their equine area.

Corian? Never thought of it as a handle material, but it should work very well. and the price sounds right.
 
Nathan, I feel your pain. I used to work in a hobby store, we had all the copper, brass, ss bar, tube, sheet and piano wire you could every want. Mail order destroyed the home town hobby store, ARF (almost ready to fly) and the desire to fly now and not worry about building contributed to the industy's death. I know guys now that claim to be "scratch builders" because they put together a laser cut kit. Scratch building used to mean taking 3 views, drawing plans, planning the structure, developing the various patterns needed AND building it after that. I don't know if their claims or the fact there aren't many people able to challenge their assertion is worse. We've spiraled a loooonnnggg way down in our collective ablility to actually use our hands much less our minds.
 
Definitely try the specialty RC hobby shops. I had the same problem. Spent a good few days driving all over town trying to find brass bar stock, pin and tubing. Checked every single hardware store in town, but they just did not have what I wanted. I was just about to give up when I decided by chance just to check out the local Remote Control supplier. They had a wide range of all sorts of brass and even some copper stuff.
 
RC shops and the like
but all my 1/8 SS rod is tig rod from the welding shop
brass frome lowes copper from heavy gauge wire

you learn fast to ask odd questions and find end arounds

impervise adapt and overcome
 
schmittie said:
...Don't know if this is what everyone else would consider cheating, but it's all I can accomplish for now...
Click to expand...

Hey ... another IL guy! Sounds like you have some good advice as far as supplies. Personally, I do tend to mail order just about everything these days, but if you can find it locally, all the better. As far as cheating, I made a number of kits when I first started, but almost immediately after I found this site, I knew I had to move on to making my own. As far as tools go, you'd be surprised at what you can do with very little. I made my first several knives with a hacksaw, dremel, files, rasps, a drill press and lots of sandpaper, etc.. Don't let the tools you don't have stop you. Yes, it's more work, and takes longer, but it is within pretty much any persons capabilities if they have the desire to see it through. Don't get me wrong, if you get into it, you WILL want a nice grinder (and LOTS of other stuff), but it's not a necessity.... you will go further with patience than tools.

These aren't perfect by any means, and I've progressed a lot since then I think, but here are a few earlier knives I made a before I got my grinder. These are all in A2 that was heat treated by TKS.

Jameys.jpg

Tanto.jpg

JillsKnife.jpg
 
kinder we dont have one of them stores here. You think we live in igloos we ya pretty much . Its -32 tonight and dropping. I aint goin to look for pins no more around here I went literally mental trying to find pins . Next time I buy I will go right to the maker and buy a 500 bucks worth and not worry about it any more. Im sick of not having any selection of pin stock . I have enough pin to make 50 knives so I m starting to worry and thats not good to only have a few pins in each size. 5 months ago I had 10 pins of every size I use about 5 sizes im running low.
 
Yup, Hobby shops. If they don't have what I need I go to MSC or McMaster-Carr. They ship next or almost next day (2-day) at no additional cost. McMaster has a great selection of SS screws etc and they will break a box on most items.
 
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