A new tool cabinet came in yesterday, along with a tool chest that can sit on top of it. It arrived without the necessary mounting hardware, so I dug into my fastener boxes to grab suitable hardware.
Shown here are 1/4″ socket head cap screws, one in alloy steel in 3/4″ length, and the others in 1/2″ length made from 316 stainless steel.
I went with the alloy steel screw first, but wanted a shorter profile and went looking for my stainless hardware.
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I bought the stainless screws nearly 14 years ago, in late 2009, via Small Parts on Amazon. I also have a couple of small boxes of grade 5 zinc-plated hex bolts that I bought around the same time.
They do get used, albeit rarely, often at times like this, saving me a trip to the store or the wait for an online order.
The other day I asked about whether “buy as you need it” lean manufacturing principles will work for DIYers. Principles? I think so. Practices? Nope.
I also have small store-bought socket head and button head cap screw assortments, and an assortment of machine screws that I put together with individual fastener sizes from an industrial supplier.
I am embarking on a massive workshop cleanup to reclaim space. I’m not getting rid of ANY of my fasteners; my plans here involve better organization.
I tend to use socket cap screws for different things, and as such they’re in a couple of places. My goal is to coalesce them and maintain one organized section for wood screws and another for machine screws, set screws, and things like that.
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I have all kinds of fasteners from back when Amazon was fire-selling their Small Parts inventories, such as Grade 5 1/4″ and 5/16″ hex bolts for under $1 per 25-count boxes. I haven’t used every size yet (such as 1/4″-20 in 1-3/8″ length), but they have definitely earned their drawer space in the nearly 14 years since then.
“Lean” – for me – isn’t about reducing inventory, but avoiding waste. In this case, having to stop everything to buy fasteners that might work would have been a wasteful interruption. Having the fasteners on-hand was incredibly convenient. Having to look for them was not.
I might not always have the exact fasteners on hand, but I try to have ones that can get me through unanticipated needs with minimal delay or hassle. Even if what I have isn’t perfect, a solution-in-place can buy time until I can get something more suitable.
Do you keep any fasteners around for just-in-case purposes?
SuperCoupe
Throw them away, then you will need them the next day.
Stuart
I needed them yesterday.
Robert
Absolutely. I’ve gotten lots of good quality fasteners at garage sales cheap. Often in the old style vertical “organizers” with the pull out transparent little bins. The drawback is going through the bins and filtering and organizing the fasteners better.
Yadda
Ditto, I buy NOS at estate sales and yard sales. Not just anything. Only stock that I believe I can use in the future.
Jim
Stock fasteners and hardware? Oh heck yes!
Growing up rural, working on equipment at 10:00pm, and other early experiences made me appreciate having “stuff” on hand.
That said, if it’s not organized and easy to locate then it’s a waste of money.
Jared
I’ve got tons of fasteners on hand and I can’t ever see wanting to thin that collection out. It makes a huge difference to have what I need on-hand. Maybe part of that is because I also live rural, so it’s going to turn into a big time waste if I need to drive to town to get some fastener to finish a job.
Nate
Yep, I grew up in rural Idaho. Fasteners on hand is critical. I live in a major metropolitan area, but would never get away from having some fasteners on hand.
Aaron SD
This still follows lean and sorting is the first step of 5S. Wanting all of a type of fastener together makes perfect sense. All you need is a defined purpose and space to keep them. You don’thave to red-tag it.
Wayne R.
Fixing things is very satisfying and doing it with what’s on hand extends that satisfaction.
Needing to fix something and knowing it’s going to be an extra hassle because you just know there’ll be more than one trip for “stuff” is a major drag.
BigTimeTommy
More fasteners laying around = more better.
I always save any decent hardware I find and almost always use them. I don’t believe I’ve ever thought about relatively inexpensive, very useful things that don’t take up a lot of space as a significant source of dead loss.
Charles Stopccynski
I learned many decades ago that a small quantity of fasteners and other associated hardware items are a must have. I cannot count the number of times an item has paid off.
I must admit I turned into a bit of a pack rat. Have several of those cabinets with the clear drawers with various items saved.
Buy an electronic label maker. 1/2″ take is adequate to start until you find new uses for the thing. Saves a lot of search time.
Stuart
https://toolguyd.com/epson-handheld-label-maker/ =)
Bob
I’ve had a large metal old school fastener cabinet for years. Problem was it became a disorganized mess of new and used nuts and bolts. Best thing I ever did was buy a complete set of grade 5 nuts, bolts, washers from 1/4 to 1” and then organize it with labels on the pull out drawers. Makes it so much quicker to find what I need.
I have been slowly filling out a full set of less frequently used stainless, grade 8, metric, wood and metal screws etc. Just have to be diligent about restocking as they get used.
I kept some of the old fasteners especially the larger stuff. But tossed anything that was really junky looking. No need to reuse drywall screws lol
I’d first spend money on an organizer system you can expand and fill in the fasteners as deals/needs arise.
MM
Keeping fasteners on hand makes tons of sense. I store all my extras from projects and I try and make sure I’m always stocked up on my most commonly used ones even if I don’t have an immediate project in mind. Same with common electrical and plumbing parts like wire nuts, outlets/switches, conduit & pipe fittings, etc.
If you work on vehicles or machinery it’s also super handy to have some bulk assortments of fuses, cotter pins, keys (woodruff / square), O-rings, roll pins, electrical terminals, etc too. This is especially true the father away from a hardware, farm, or auto parts store you are.
Steve
I like where this series is headed…I’m about ready for a purge. I have a ton of tools, and they are all stored pretty neatly. However, a lot of my garage and shed have “stuff” in them. Excess raw materials in weird lengths and sizes, oddball collections of parts and pieces I thought I’d keep for doing metal sculptures, etc. etc. etc. I keep those bags of fasteners from toys, furniture, etc. I really just need to get rid of it all because they are filling totes on shelves and in cabinets that I probably wouldn’t need if I didn’t have “stuff”. George Carlin’s bit about “stuff” is perfect….
fred
As I’ve grown older, I’ve come to realize that the big house that we purchased back in the 1970’s was both a blessing and a curse. When we moved from a more modest house, I looked over the new space and thought that we’d never fill it. By some corollary of Parkinson’s Law – that proved untrue. The 2400 square feet of basement, after adding some good entryway – became my shop. The 2000 square feet of stand-up attic got filled with family memorabilia and bric-a-brac storage. The 1400 square feet of garage morphed into secondary shop and garden benches. Two large sheds were added at different ends of the property for more “stuff” (as Carlin would have said.)
Ted
Salient points! Thanks Fred!!!
Mark M.
A great rainy day activity is to sort/organize/purge fasteners, washers, etc. One of the keys, I think, is to start small. If you have a 5-gallon bucket of everything it’ll feel daunting to sort it all. I inherited a bunch of “stuff” and it sat for a long time, and finally I was like “Ok, I’ll just pick out all the washers and throw out anything that’s rusty.” That got me started and now it’s all organized and I very rarely have to dash to the store.
M
Get it organized and clearly labeled. When you use it up, don’t replace it till the next time you need them.
Stuart
Generally, if I use up a fastener size, there’s a good chance I’ll need more for a future project or fix.
Aaron SD
To follow the Kanban and Lean systems you need to replace it so you have it just before needed. That could be when it runs out or with some minimum quantity left – whatever you decide is appropriate. Waiting until you need it is too late as now you have to waste time getting it and waiting for it to arrive.
kent_skinner
If I need a piece of hardware, there’s a good chance I’ll need more of them some day.
Rather than buy 3 screws in bag for 25c each, I’ll buy a box of 50 for less than $5. I have a large set of metal drawers, like the ones in the hardware section of the store. With those, I have roughly 100 different sizes of screws, washer, nuts, etc – all organized and easy to find.
Yeah, I probably spent a little extra money but I really don’t care and it’s 15 miles round trip to the hardware store. It takes an hour to put things down, drive to the store, look for the part, drive home and get started again.
To me it’s worth having the drawers, and my estate sale is going to make somebody *really* happy some day.
Scotty.
Every kitchen has a junk drawer and every garage/shop should have a bin with random nuts bolts washers screws etc.
Saves the day once a week. 😁
kent_skinner
My brain can’t handle a can of random hardware. I have to keep them sorted, or not at all.
Some days I wish I could do that, but oh well.
OldDominionDIYer
I’m solidly in the keep all fasteners and I almost always buy extra’s given the chance. Still sometimes come up short which just spurs me on to buy more fasteners.
Jp
I think I have fastner anxiety. I have a collection, some 30-years old. 95% never needed any. But that 5% was vs is valuable. They don’t take much room at all, but unsure it’s a rational thing. Even if they fit,, maybe load-bearing ratings are different, etc. You know the fastener I never have? The ones I need for eyeglasses. I keep losing the !@#$ things.
fm2176
I need to get off my posterior and organize it all, but I’ve still got hardware from my mechanic days, as well as various stuff picked up for cheap over the years. I know “someone” who may have saved a bunch of grade 8 and stainless bolts, electrical connectors, and more from the dumpster back when a military unit got new equipment installed in their vehicles. The contractors couldn’t take the leftover stuff with them, and the units didn’t want it, so it might have gone home with an acquaintance. I don’t know, it’s been years now.
It’s amazing how a salvaged or spare part can save time, money, and stress. Years ago, I came home from leave to find my hot water recirculating pump had frozen and blown an O-ring. The yard was flooded, and it was 10pm on a Saturday night. I went to the garage and found a quick-connect hydraulic fitting from my forklift repair days that fit to bypass the pump. It worked for years until I finally got the repair done correctly.
Jim Felt
I’m still jealous of the hand lettering (and subsequent speed) skills of whoever Adam Savage has label every darn thing in his shop/cave. It’s so match faster than label makers.
But only if you’ve got an assistant on the payroll with great hand printing skills.
Scott F
Always! Really only throw a fastener away if it’s in bad shape or seems unusable (galled, stripped, bent, etc.), Otherwise I pile them up and do batch -sorting when I have one of those “feel like doing tedious tasks” kind of days.
My father has a large, maybe 100-drawer HEAVY DUTY (removable) metal drawer set in the front of his garage. It is used for 1/4″-1/2″ nuts/washers/bolts in the first 5 rows and a large variety of other ‘stuff’ in the others. I still don’t know exactly what is in probably 40 of those bins, but I remember him always having what he needed on hand for most situations.
And I think that is why since moving out I was always obsessed with small parts organizers/always looking to mimic those first 5 rows of drawers… I bought various types at yard sales over the years but never quite had anything with the depth to get a good array of bolts. Until this year when the auction popped up a set of 2 (empty) Lawson 40-compartment organizers. I knew I needed them as soon as I saw them, and damned if I didn’t bid as much as it took to win!
I filled them out buying random zinc hardware at tractor supply – $4-5/lb let me stock up on a basic amount of a nice assortment without breaking the bank, and I could buy enough (at least 4) of each which seems like a reasonable need. … And for small parts (e.g. 1/4″ washers) it was way cheaper than buying boxes online.
But with all things, now I am trapped in thinking “how can I best use the rest of these compartments I bought”, and many of them remain empty while I wait for that lightbulb… and all the while a giant backlog continues to pile up waiting for a “tedious task” day.
Whenever that day comes it will also involve emptying out all/many of the yard sale organizers. And then, hopefully, maybe, there will always be a defined place to put the things that currently pile up. Utopia.
… Yeah right!!
Mike
I recently bought a box of 100 galvanized washers from amazon for $0.26. I mean at that price its worth having a lifetime supply. If the price is right, stock up.
Saulac
Interest to know what Stuart’s plan for better organization is.
My current system is about 30 “small part organizers” from Dewalt and HF in two wooden shelves/cases that I built. Not for just “fasteners” but are for all hardware such as power tool accessories and small parts. I organized it into “types” or “jobs” such as auto electrical, home electrical, plumbing…or “grinder accessories”, “masonry”.
I found it is impractical to keep each type of nuts and bolts in separate little bins. I found bolts are the most problematic as bolts in the same thread can have different length, head, material, finish…I resort to putting bolts in the same thread but different length/head together depended on situations.
Stay away from cheap nuts and bolts. Only keep full thread bolts (?) as you can cut then shorter, if needed.
Mimic how big box stores are organized is probably not a bad idea.
Stuart
I’m still working on it.
In summary, I’m sorting through everything and being deliberate about what goes where and why.
Kurt
Funny, I have a bag of 4/40 hex head x 3/16 that I picked up many years ago for 50 cents. Must have been a couple of hundred in the bag. While I rarely use them as hardware, I’ve found them to be useful in bottles of hobby paint as agitators.
For modeling, I keep 000-120 though 6/32 on hand in a variety of styles. For storage, I use Akro-mills organizers, the kind with clear plastic drawers.
At the other end of the shop is a stack of Stanley organizer boxes in a metal rack. These hold screws, miscellaneous hardware, and bolts and nuts from 8/32 to 3/8″. These cover most projects I do, coupled with inevitable trips to the hardware store.
Nathan
Like I was saying from the diy hobby life I’m making time. So yes I might buy extra hardware or material just to save waiting
Or I might take apart flat 0ack furniture that was damaged to salvage unique hardware
Philip John
5s. A good portable organizer with transparent lid is a must for every work location. Milwaukee or dewalt. Should have the removable bins inside. I re capture screws with the magnet hex adapter. I usually have a second organizer for electrical and small L brackets etc… a little mixing in the organizer is okay. Most regular users can get good at spotting threads. IE metric vs imperial. I recommend not going to heavy. I also use same organizer for all my flap wheels die grinder stone bits wire wheels… etc. I like to mount on a wall for the visual… but shelves work also.
Frank D
There is value in being able to fix something on the spot, because you have a spare component or extra parts on hand. Nothing is worse than missing parts or needing fasteners or 1 part … and now you have to go through traffic to the nearest big box store or hardware store. 20min 30min 60min round trip. Bad luck if it is a holiday weekend and things close early.
Or you have to go through the hassle of customer service, getting the part mailed; or boxing it up and shipping it back for exchange, …
There have been bunches of flat pack and other things that I simply remedied with hardware on hand, from other purchases that included spares, or extra parts I bought at big box or ordered online.
Sure, you will fill up a bookshelf with bins and organizers.
I have my own ” Adam Savage Sortimo ” knockoff … more or less.
Ed Francisco
I had sever large jars random screws, washers, nuts and bolts in my garage. I had them for more than 3 decades. Three years ago I decided it was time to get rid of most of that junk. I figured, if I needed a screw or bolt I could just buy what I needed rather than keep all that junk hanging around. I sorted through the multiple jars. Putting aside items I thought I might actually use in the future. That narrowed it down to one jar.
Fast forward a year. My daughter announces she and her husband are expecting. I’m excited and drag out my daughters old crib. I’ve been saving it for over 30 years for just this event. I went looking for the hardware. I wasn’t as organized back the, or it would have been in a bag attached to the crib. But you guessed. The hardware was in the stuff I had thrown away a couple of years ago. In my defense. I couldn’t remember what the odd looking bolts were for.
It wasn’t too bad. There weren’t many I needed to replace. Half I was able to buy off the shelf. However, there were 4 odd shaped bolts I had to make that held up the mattress platform.
Eric Selander
Some resources-BoltDepot, “you can buy any quantity”, they do have metric fasteners.
BelMetric, my favorite place for metric fasteners by far. you can order smaller quantities.
I love the small zip-loc bags with the proper id on them from Bolt Depot.
I sorted a lot of hardware in my dad’s garage, but for some oddball or extra fastener needs I go to one of these two. I do have a fastener place locally (The Nutty Company), but they have minimum requirements.
Emilio+Gonzalez
OMG. I Have so many fasteners yet I never seem to have the one I need. I have thousands and I prefer Holokrome USA and other USA fasteners to cheap Chinese. I now buy as I need. I have too many already. There are just too many types. Taps and drills? I have a good assortment. Mostly Guhring. The best imho.