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Any Canucks ever use them? They look like they have neat stuff that is not available locally - but apparently won't ship to Canada due to Homeland Security restrictions.

Anyone have any thoughts or experiences from nath of the border?

I ain't "nath of the border" - but I have used them for years. Very good company, a little high on price, but good quality stuff and usually have it the next day.

I use them a lot, but never tried to from Canada.
Decent prices on most stuff and really nice that they have so much available. Mostly I get hardware and materials that I either plain can't find elsewhere or can't find in small quantity. Yes price may be a tad high on some stuff, but when the other guys will only sell you way more than you need McMaster is a good choice.

Grigg

The big problem I have with McMaster Carr is due more to my ignorance than their product. You need to know the technical name of the fastener if you want to find it without having to browse dozens of pages looking for it. Since most of the fastening done in my long career was by using adhesives I am not well versed in the "correct" names of many esoteric fasteners. My frustration in trying to find items in McC leads me to stay away unless absolutely necessary.

That's the fun part!
I can't begin to count the number of times I've flipped through the catalog not looking for anything, just curious to see what they have. There's always something else to find that you never knew existed to start with. Then there are things you see and could use but didn't know what they were called.

Start at the beginning and over a few evenings or weeks you'll get to the end, and then you'll have a better idea of what's available and where to find it when you need something.

There's really no substitute for the paper catalog but the online one has improved in leaps and bounds over the past 10 years or so.

Grigg

Thought I'd just sit and listen for a while. Since I'm interested in just about everything under the sun and I'm always trying to restore something, I need a good supply for raw material. I order from McMaster on the average about once a week. If I order monday night I usually get the order the very next day, the day after at the most. Never had a problem with cutomer service when the wrong item was sent, damaged or order was short. They are always prompt and pleasant. I still have a hard copy of the catalog, probably 20 years old by now and I find it much easier to find something in it also. But since I've been around fabricating and mechanics all of my life I usually don't have a problem finding items using the online catalog. Yes their prices are kind of high, but if you only need a small number or amount of something for a one item project or if your prototyping then they are a great source for hardware.
For my Urethane, Epoxy and Silicone supplies I use Smooth-On lots of local dealers, good products and good support.
McMaster gets an A+ rating in my book.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

Sounds good I'm going to call them and see if they will ship to one of my US shipping addresses. Apparently in the past this has not always gone well, they will not ship to a US address if they know it is going to Canada.

I like the idea of a hard copy catalogue, sounds like a fun read..like the old ones i used to get from Edmunds scientific as a kid. Hours of good reading there.


Well I see a paper one is out, hard to get and selling on Ebay for decent money.

Yep, I'm not even sure that they are still printing then any more, I can’t get a straight answer out of the phone people. I've been involved with businesses big and small over the past couple of decades and haven't been able to get one shipped to me. Seems like when they went online with the catalog they made an all out effort to discourage the use of the hard copy. When I was working at the National Laboratory, they used to blanket the lab with catalogs. Almost every employee, janitors, secretaries and such would find a catalog in their mail cubbyhole. At the end of the day the recycling bin next to the mailboxes used to be full of the catalogs. If I'd have known how scarce they were to have gotten I'd probably have horded a few hundred of them.
DG

Denny, I still get a new hard copy every year(at work). Like you, I order from them at least once a week. I too love to browse through the book. I find the online version very helpful too. At work we consider it our "bible". A couple of guys that I work with used to swear by Grainger but have seen the light and rarely even pick up that book. I know I don't!
I always laugh when dealing with another company of some sort and they say it will take a week to ten days to get my delivery when I know my McMaster Carr order will be there the next day. I have ordered as late as 2pm and still have my item by noon the following day.

They are quick. Usually a mid day to early afternoon order shows up less than 24 hours later.
At work I also get a new catalog yearly, and usually at home too.
The key to getting one if you don't already is ask for a real catalog with every single order you place. They'll "forward your request" and one day out of the blue you'll be surprised to see a catalog on your door step.

Grigg

If anyone has a recent MC catalogue for sale, PM me. I'd love to have one for easy reading.

That is exactly my experience. As soon as they saw that my credit card had a Canadian billing address, they politely called and declined my order that I had asked to have shipped to the UPS store across the line.
I have not tried this but it has been suggested to buy a money order while in the US, mail it from the US and ask to have product shipped to US so that there is nothing obviously pointing to Canada.
It is frustrating when they have a product that I would like to buy and they won't sell it to me. I suppose it is their choice to turn down a chance of profit if they want to, but I don't understand it.

This whole Customs, Homeland Security, blah blah blah fiasco reminds me of my youth when the neighbor kids would not go down a street because of the booty buster.

Out of curiosity what would happen if mailed from an individual citizen in US to an individual citizen in Canada.

Dan Bentler

I'm sure that's ok...it is just a policy of MC apparently. Some sort of Homeland Security thing.

You are right. Another way to solve it is for one of your (US) friends to order the parts for delivery to his address and then for you to buy them second hand from him for shipment to Canada. This has worked.
I was really hoping to find a solution that would work for those who aren't as close to the border.

An alternative supplier might be: http://www1.mscdirect.com/cgi/nnsrhm
From their FAQ: "Q: Does MSCdirect.com accept international orders?
A: If you are ordering from an international location, please call International Sales, Monday through Friday 7am-11pm ET and Saturday 8am-5pm ET at 1-888-880-2048 or fax at 001-248-200-4045. Delivery, duty, and tax are the responsibility of the customer and warranties are void outside of the U.S."
I have not ordered from them but their online catalog seems to have a large variety.

I'm thinking someone at MC must have had a bad experience with a beaver somewhere along the way.

Odd tho, I was just listening to a US report on business where companies identified lagging sales as their #1 concern. Not sure why you would turn away sales, particularly if there is no cross border shipping.

But that is their business, no pun intended.

the on-line catalog is what they have

www.mcmaster.com.

I use them often for prototypes or when things are needed in a hurry. where else can you get tinnerman nuts and a forklift on the same purchase order. the pro - they have everything in stock. the con - their prices are a bit higher because they do have everything in stock.

the shipping issue to canada is customs related

Update: just picked up my item from MC in Maine on Monday..they shipped it to an address there no problem and I paid with my Canuck Visa. Too bad Maine is 5 hrs away LOL.

All in all a good purchase.

Mapleleaf & other Canucks;
Try this site; www.spaenaur.com/products.asp
This is a Canadian company situated in Kitchener Ontario that I used many times to find fasteners, clips, welting etc. They used to carry a lot of automotive parts but I have not used them lately so I don't know if they still carry all they used to.
Stan