Every list gets a written reply.
Send the thread, the length, the grade and the count. We reply in writing with what is on the shelf and what is not. Then the parts are picked, counted by weight, gauge-checked if graded, bagged under a lot label and handed over at the counter or sent by freight.
Seven steps from your list to the bag in your hand
Send a parts list-
You send the list
By the form, by email to [email protected], or out of the configurator. One line per part: thread and length, grade or alloy, finish, count. For blanks: alloy, section, size, cut length, count. A photo of the old part with a ruler beside it helps when you are not sure of the thread.
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We reply in writing
Each line marked in stock, short, or not carried. The price basis per line: per box of 100, per box of 50, per foot cut plus a per-cut charge, per blank. Lead time, and whether it is pickup or freight. If we think the spec is wrong for the job, the reply says so and asks.
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You confirm
Reply to accept, change a line or drop one. That written confirmation is the order. Until then nothing leaves a bin and the saw stays off.
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Pick and count by weight
Parts come out of the labelled bin. Ten are counted by hand and weighed; the rest are counted on the scale against that sample. Short counts on a box of 100 are the complaint we hear least, and this is why.
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Gauge check graded threads
Grade 5, Grade 8, A574 and B7 lots get spot-checked with go/no-go ring gauges on screws and plug gauges on nuts. A ring that will not start on a screw means the lot goes back on the shelf with a tag on it, and you are told.
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Bag and label the lot
Every bag or box carries a printed label: thread, length, grade or alloy, finish, lot, count. Blanks get the cut length in paint marker on the piece and a label on the bundle.
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Pickup or freight
Collected at the counter, 46 Market Street, Büro 5, Austin, or sent by the carrier named in the written reply. Freight is quoted as its own line before you confirm, not added afterwards.
Why graded threads are gauged before bagging
Plating builds up on threads. A heavy zinc run, a dinged bin, a lot from a different mill: any of them can leave a screw that starts tight and galls halfway down a Grade 8 nut. You find out on the job, with a torque wrench in your hand.
A ring gauge finds it at the counter in about ten seconds. We do not gauge every piece in a box of 100. We gauge a sample from each lot picked, and a failed sample stops the lot.
Stainless and low-carbon rod are checked by eye and by a nut run on by hand. Rod cut to length has the cut end chased clean so a nut starts without a fight.
How to read a lot label
Bag label, actual layout- 01Lot. Ties the bag to the bin and the box it came from. Quote it on any return or question. The example lot number is illustrative.
- 02Thread. Diameter, threads per inch and series. Metric shows diameter and pitch, M10-1.5.
- 03Length. Under the head for cap screws, overall for flat heads and studs.
- 04Grade or alloy. The standard and grade. For stainless this is the only place the alloy is written, since the head is blank.
- 05Finish. Plain, black oxide, clear zinc, yellow zinc or hot-dip galvanized.
- 06Count. Counted by weight against a hand-counted sample.
- 07Gauge. Present on graded lots that were spot-checked.
What slows an inquiry down
"Some bolts, about this big"
No thread, no grade. We reply asking, and a day goes by. Measure the shank and count the threads over an inch, or use a pitch gauge.
"Or equivalent"
We do not substitute without asking. If you would accept a Grade 8 where you wrote Grade 5, say so in the list and the reply can use it.
Single pieces of box sizes
Commodity sizes go by the box. Three 3/8-16 Grade 5 screws are a hardware-store errand, and we will say that rather than open a box for them.
Calling for a price
No phone quotes without a written spec. Call to ask whether we carry something, by all means. The price comes back in writing.
Send the list. Get it in writing.
Thread, length, grade, count. Or alloy, size, cut length, count. The reply tells you what is on the shelf at 46 Market Street and what it costs per box or per foot.