[sdiy] alternatives to McMaster

[Danjel van Tijn]

The most time consuming aspect of all my DIY stuff is the mechanical
parts. Whether it is designing and sourcing panels or simply procuring
the necessary nuts and bolts that I need.
A huge complication for Canadians is that McMaster does not ship to
us! The reason has something to do with strange export laws that
changed (which I do not understand given that we supposedly have a
free trade agreement). McMaster is such a tease since it has the
absolute best web interface for finding parts as well as the biggest
selection.
There is one loophole for getting parts: longterm Canadian customers
of McMaster are still able to order from them but no new customers are
allowed to. As a result it is sometimes possible to find businesses
that will order in parts for you under their name but they will tack
on an admin fee.
I would have thought that with the economic crisis they would change
export laws so that they could increase sales/business and help
stimulate the economy, especially when it affects such a massive
industry.

Does anyone know of any alternatives to McMaster or any other tricks
for getting parts from them into Canada?


cheers,
Danjel