Hi all, When you want to see if there is something that is readily available in the market, where do you look? I am a new mechanical design engineer in my first job. I work for a small company, we typically buy as much of parts as we can and make the others in-house. So, say I want a threaded stud, with left hand thread on one side and right hand thread on the other...where do I search for it. Google is of little help as I am not able to find many things that I want. I have a couple of catalogs in my office (Mcmaster-carr and Misumi) that are pretty good. Typically, How do other engineers find what they want for prottyping? Regards, kaar
Those sites seem to just offer CAD files. I think kaar wants to know where to get hold of physical parts. I usually go to RS or Farnell for bits and pieces
McMaster is great... not always the cheapest but they probably have it and you'll have it tomorrow; you pay for the convenience and service.. Their website is excellent, too. "Small Parts" was great but they seem to have been bought out by Amazon. Stock Drive Products and Berg are good for small mechanical parts, though Berg's stuff is often a bit weird.
If metric, go with Misumi Misumi has the worlds largest selection of configurable parts. Go to Misumusa.com and get a catalog. They also have a great website, but I find the catalog easier to navigate. It is around 3000 pages. The delivery on custom made parts is nothing short of astounding. The greatest selection of components are metric. They have a smaller selection of standard parts. In case you are wondering, I don't work for Misumi, just a big fan and customer.
MisumiUSA.com Used them, loved them, and every part is perfect. The catalog takes some getting used to but so far, I have been VERY pleased with the quality of each part I have purchased. Initial cost of the parts always seems to scare someone, but when you look at the time it might take to design, quote, get a PO and wait for even a simple part, Misumi becomes a bargain.
McMaster-Carr and Grainger have already been mentioned. On the Internet also, GlobalSpec and Engineering ToolBox are good places to start.
Good info above. I also use WDS (http://www.wdsltd.co.uk/) and Rose & Krieger (http://www.rk-online.co.uk/, other national sites available). Manufacturers who put their CAD data on their websites get a big plus point with me.......
