6 ms·
Mechanical Engineer and product designer here. I've been using mcmaster daily for 20 years to do my job. It is definitely the standard by which all others are
by iancmceachern 4y ago
Mechanical Engineer and product designer here. I've been using mcmaster daily for 20 years to do my job. It is definitely the standard by which all others are judged. I'll gladly pay 2, 3, 5, even 10x the price to get it from McMaster. The service, the CAD models, I have what I need the next day. As an example of the level of their service, you can send them a box of loose parts, no part numbers, no markings, and they'll go through it, figure out what's what, and refund you for it. They make it so easy, you just have to do the engineering. Thank you McMaster-Carr.
- thechao 4y agoWe had piles of their yellow books laying around the house when I was a grad student. Definitely good toilet-book material.
- WhyCause 4y agoLucky. When I was in Engineering school, the Mechanical Engineering department had one catalog. We couldn't get any more - something about limited numbers printed (though, I'll confess I never tried to get my own). It was passed around among the students in Machine Design as if it were some sacred scroll.
- iancmceachern 4y agoTotally, it used to be a right of passage. You'd get your first job and (usually share) a copy of the machinerys handbook, and a yellow mcmaster book. I used to keep at least one at home long into the days where you don't need it anymore "just in case the internet goes down". It was those 2 books, the pemn 3 ring binder, and the ryerson catalog to know what mill sizes there were in what metals.
- TomSwirly 4y ago_Rite_ of passage. :-)
- benj111 4y agoReally? I always found that the ink came off, then you need a bidet anyway...
- InitialLastName 4y agoElectrical Engineers traditionally use the Mouser catalog for that.
- walrus01 4y agomcmcaster carr is also extremely popular in the hobby drone building market for buying bolts/nuts/fasteners/standoffs to attach circuit boards (ESCs, flight controllers, etc) to carbon fiber plate, and for attaching cnc cut carbon fiber plate piece together to build the whole frame of a small UAV. people in the film/tv/production industry also use them to buy various fasteners and hardware for rigging lights, microphones, building complex camera systems onto gimbal platforms, etc.
- Mistletoe 4y agoMaybe your customers or employer would like you to save 2, 3, 5, 10x the price… My memories of McMaster from doing my hobbies is that it is outrageously expensive.
- TaylorAlexander 4y agoIt depends on what you need. For basic metric nuts and bolts it seems to be the same price as a local hardware store but I don’t have to leave my office to buy the stuff.
- systems_glitch 4y agoThey also have the weird stuff the local hardware stores don't, and usually it's higher quality.
- DrudgeCorporate 4y agoTime is money and buying from McMaster has always been faster and easier than any other site. I also have yet to get an incorrect item.
- loonster 4y agoI have had an incorrect CAD model from them. (Which they fixed when I brought it to their notice). Once burned, twice shy.
- deathanatos 4y agoThis would be an immediate positive in my book. Most the bug reports I upstream to vendors go nowhere. Getting in contact with someone who can actually fix the problem, instead of just papering over it? Completely negates any downside from the original problem, in my book.
- steve_adams_86 4y agoReally, I hear nothing back from a large majority of my bug reports. It must be around 3/4 are ignore or get a template response with no solution. Solving the problem is amazing. We all make mistakes, we don’t all fix them.
- tomcam 4y ago> you can send them a box of loose parts, no part numbers, no markings, and they'll go through it, figure out what's what, and refund you for it That is insane. Mad props to them
- phasetransition 4y agoI'm sure they have internal horror stories of the practice, but they do it. When we sold an old company to a PE group, all the McMaster loose stuff in the warehouse went back to them stacked in boxes on a pallet for them to work through. I wouldn't be surprised to learn our CM did the same thing after the sale.
- tomcam 4y agoThat kind of service must require tons of human intervention and employees who worked there for decades, no? I mean the catalog is humongous.
- unixfg 4y agoI even buy home supplies (air filters, cleaning, etc) from them. They're wonderful.
- jwr 4y agoAlas, for some reason they only cater to the US market and have no presence in the EU, for example. So while it is possible to order from them, it's rather inconvenient as you need to deal with customs/taxes. Digi-Key got this right: you can order DDP, which makes things quick & simple. Incidentally, I am amazed that they don't have a meaningful competitor in the EU. It seems most companies here are stuck in the 80s and dedicate next to zero effort to their web ordering process.
- donbox 4y agoand Canada, though only to business and school addresses only.
- bookofjoe 4y agoPro tip: Use M.D. after your name and you're a business. I AM an M.D. but friends I've given this advice to over the years have had success in impersonating a business with this title.
- iancmceachern 4y agoYou could also put "Trucking". Joe Blow Trucking
- kube-system 4y agoSole proprietorships are businesses. One could just put their name in the “company name” field.
- bookofjoe 4y agoSometimes there is no company field. In that case go to M.D.
- lokimedes 4y agoThe B2B vacuum of Europe. So many voids to fill, for the ones daring to share product details and, gasp, prices, online.
- JohnGB 4y agoOh how I wish Mcmaster would open an EU branch... I don't even mind if they charge us more, but PLEASE for the love of all engineers in Europe, just open a branch here.
- nbadg 4y agoA friend of mine worked there right after college. I happened to buy some girl scout cookies through her, and joked with her that you can get everything from McMaster. When she brought me the cookies, she brought me a fake McMaster invoice for them too. I've heard some mixed reviews about what it's like to work there, but I completely agree: as a customer, despite the (sometimes very high) prices, I was always incredibly happy with McMaster.
- bluedino 4y agoHigh school shop/engineering teacher held a copy high: "Everything you will ever need, is in this book.".