Parts Suppliers - Master List [Archive]

sanddrag

27-12-2004, 19:52

The purpose of this thread is to make one central complete list for all the suppliers we all use to buy parts for our robots. Hopefully this can be made a sticky so rookie teams and other can find it easily during the build. Let's keep it to places that sell and ship to the whole country, not places like "Uncle Larry's Bearing Supply on the corner of Fourth and Main" Post the name, URL or Phone #, and a short description of what they sell. Hopefully this thread will become a valueable resource for rookie teams and everyone.

Please read the previous posts before you post, no duplicates. Let's keep this thread usefull and efficient.

Hunter

27-12-2004, 20:08

SDP-SI https://sdp-si.com/

They are a great source for spur gear stock (which is way cheaper than buying indivual gears), small bearings, including flanged bearings, chain, sprockets, and lots of other miscellaneous small stuff.

Jay H 237

27-12-2004, 20:08

MSC Industrial Supply Co.
http://www1.mscdirect.com/cgi/nnsrhm

McMaster-Carr
http://www.mcmaster.com/

Grainger
http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/wwg/start.shtml

Small Parts, Inc.
http://www.smallparts.com/

SMC Corporation of America
http://www.smcusa.com/default.asp

Festo Pnuematics
http://www.festo.com/INetDomino/coorp_sites/en/index.htm

Max Lobovsky

27-12-2004, 21:03

I will be adding anything mentioned here to http://www.firstwiki.org/Suppliers. Short descriptions of the source would also be nice. The page currently has:

General

McMaster Carr (http://www.mcmaster.com) (http://www.mcmaster.com) - probably the widest selection of FIRST related stuff. Raw materials, power transmission, tools, etc.
Small Parts (http://www.smallparts.com) (http://www.smallparts.com) - large selection, smaller than McMaster, but focused on smaller and more precision engineering.
Power Transmission

Boston Gear (http://www.bostongear.com) (http://www.bostongear.com)
Martin Sprocket & Gear (http://www.martinsprocket.com/) (http://www.martinsprocket.com/)
SDP/SI (http://www.sdp-si.com/) (http://www.sdp-si.com/)

Electronics

Digi-Key (http://www.digikey.com) (http://www.digikey.com)
Innovation First (http://www.innovationfirst.com) (http://www.innovationfirst.com)
Newark in one (http://www.newarkinone.com)

Raul

27-12-2004, 22:26

AndyMark - for power transmission and drivetrain products.
http://www.andymark.biz/

Pic Design - for those hard to find 0.7M metric gears to mesh with the drill motor pinion
http://www.pic-design.com/

Jay H 237

27-12-2004, 23:00

Here's some more links to companys that have supplied/donated parts to the KOP

Connector Concepts, Inc.
http://www.connectorconcepts.com/
supplier of the breakers and fuse panels for KOP

Tyco Electronics
http://www.tycoelectronics.com/
supplier of connectors

Skyway Wheels
http://www.skywaywheels.com/
supplier of wheels for KOP

Banner
http://www.bannerengineering.com/
supplier of sensors

Terminal Supply Co.
http://www.terminalsupplyco.com/
electrical terminal supplier

Clippard
http://www.clippard.com/
supplier of electrical and pnuematic devices

Parker
http://www.parker.com/
supplier of some of the pnuematics used in the KOP

Norgren
http://www.norgren.com/
supplier of some of the pnuematics used in the KOP

Autodesk
http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/index?siteID=123112&id=331041&wac=IL18067
CAD software included with KOP

Solidworks
http://www.solidworks.com/
popular CAD program

Kevin Sevcik

28-12-2004, 13:40

Mouser Electronics
http://www.mouser.com
Various electronics

W.M. Berg
http://www.wmberg.com
Various gears, sprockets, bearings, etc.

GlobalSpec (Registration Required)
http://www.globalspec.com
Not a supplier, but a huge database of suppliers. Register and you can enter specs for a part and see who has something that fits. Warning: If you click on links to parts you've found, you'll be getting catalogs in the mail.

Fe_Will

28-12-2004, 15:36

Grob Inc.
http://www.grobinc.com/
Hard to find pulleys and pinion wire as well as custom broaching.

JimWright949

28-12-2004, 17:57

AP Circuits
http://www.apcircuits.com/
For custom printed circuit boards.

CadSoft Online
http://www.cadsoftusa.com/
Home of the Eagle Layout Editor, for designing the printed circuit boards.

Max Lobovsky

28-12-2004, 18:24

dlavery

28-12-2004, 18:31

Several dozen metalworking-related suppliers are listed on the Metalworking Web Sites Index (http://ranier.hq.nasa.gov/Metal/MetalSites.html).

-dave

Kevin Sevcik

28-12-2004, 18:42

Isn't there a rule restricting electronics suppliers to Radio Shack, Digi-key, Newark-in-one, and Future Active? Aren't all these other electronics suppliers (except perhaps if its a duplicated of something from the kit) illegal?

Additional electronic components for use on the robot must be currently available from or equivalent to those available from Newark InOne...
They're legal as long as they can be found at or are equivalent to parts found at the official suppliers.

JimWright949

28-12-2004, 18:49

Isn't there a rule restricting electronics suppliers to Radio Shack, Digi-key, Newark-in-one, and Future Active? Aren't all these other electronics suppliers (except perhaps if its a duplicated of something from the kit) illegal?

Max,

Eagle (from CADSoft) is the Autodesk Inventor Tool for Electronics Design, you can create your schematic, and then layout your board with it, and there is a free version on the Web site. I would encourage anyone interested in electronic design to take a look at it. APCircuits would be something like sending the Mechanical Design out to a Machine Shop to be created. The cost of manufacture of the circuit board is part of the build cost. The components to put on the board need to be taken from the restricted electronics supplier, and also count toward the cost of the robot.

-Jim

Max Lobovsky

28-12-2004, 19:17

eugenebrooks

28-12-2004, 19:51

The rule isn't so clear. It's being discussed right now in this thread: http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=31983

I guess you could argue that a PCB is only wire and solder, so it doesn't count as an electrical component, but i can't really think of any electrical component that isn't just wire and solder when it comes down to it. I had thought that a custom PCB would be illegal.

By buying suitable supplies from Digikey, and other sources,
you can expose, develop and etch your own printed circuit boards.
It is so much fun that any other way ought to be illegal...

George

28-12-2004, 23:47

Hi,
Don't forget MSC subsidiary ENCO ( http://www.use-enco.com)
Have Fun!
Geo.

Jay H 237

06-01-2005, 19:38

Please do not start a discussion in this thread. This thread's intent is to list parts suppliers ONLY, and there's several other threads where you can discuss whether or not a certain part is legal or not. This will allow this thread to remain orderly and to the point.

Jason

Drok00

10-01-2005, 11:55

http://www.robotmarketplace.com/

I'm not sure if this is what you guys were referring to, but heres a site with quite a few products for general robotics as well as repair services for some of the things that you may have accidentally fried.

Dave Campbell

12-01-2005, 12:13

Great measurement tools at a VERY reasonable price:
Allen Designs LLC (http://www.SHAN-Precision.com)
Digital Calipers, Micrometers, Dial Indicators

sanddrag

22-05-2005, 22:21

www.bocabearings.com has lots of hard to find sizes of ball bearings. A bit pricey though.

mechanicalbrain

29-06-2005, 17:29

http://www.allelectronics.com/ absolutely great for anything electrical and lots of things that aren't. they have things not even they know what they are (I'm not joking either). rating: 5 stars (ive bought tons of things here)

http://directron.com/switches2.html nice for various neat switches. rating: 2.5 stars

http://www.superdroidrobots.com good for general robotics rating: 3.5 stars

www.supercircuits.com if you ever want to mount a camera on your robot and i recommend it go hear latterly the worlds best supplier. rating: 4 stars

ArmoredFairy698

29-06-2005, 20:31

Capitol Metals -- Metal supply company. All of our Aluminum comes from there.
http://www.imsmetals.com/

Port Plastics -- Plastics supply company. All of our polycarb and Delrin comes from there.
http://www.portplastics.com/index2.html

Copper State Nut & Bolt -- Nut and bolt supply company. We get all kinds of screws, nails, nuts, and bolts from there.
http://www.copperstate.com/

Hope these may be of some help!

mechanicalbrain

29-06-2005, 20:45

ooh also http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/category.asp?catalog%5Fname=USPlastic&category%5Fname=62&Page=1&utm_id=1&utm_term=plastic+sheet&cookie%5Ftest=1 good plastic supplier its like the only place you can get square plastic rods.

Veselin Kolev

30-06-2005, 00:24

wierd bearings for cheap:

www.pacificbearingsales.com

Not2B

30-06-2005, 08:30

www.bgmicro.com (http://www.bgmicro.com)
Surplus electronics and a few mechanical tidbits.

www.onlinemetals.com (http://www.onlinemetals.com)
One of many on line metals companies that will cut and sell small hunks of material. (Check out the FAQ and RAQ) (That's frequently asked questions and RARELY asked questions.)

DonRotolo

24-04-2006, 22:18

Good source of hardware like nuts, bolts, washers and screws - cheap.
BoltDepot.com (http://www.boltdepot.com)

Good source of connector bodies for your own PWM cables is Jameco (http://www.jameco.com), for example Part Nos 157382CK, and 100765CK for female sockets, 145357CK for male pins.
They also sell a LOT of other electronics!

Don

IanH1977

25-05-2006, 15:09

This may be of interest - directory of materials and components suppliers for builders - mainly mechanical with some electrical stuff but all online and most deal with small orders. Separate lists for US and UK based builders.

http://buggies.builtforfun.co.uk/Links/index.html

ChuckDickerson

17-09-2006, 22:19

http://www.jackssmallengines.com/gokart_alumsprkt_35f.cfm

Heat treated ALUMINUM #35 sprockets in any number of teeth from 19 to 94 priced competitively with IFI and AndyMark sprockets but with more choices in tooth counts. Drill your own hole pattern.

Superstitions

14-11-2006, 15:39

Hi, does anyone know who makes the leadscrew & nut setup kit #KR210; part # listed BZ6050?
By the way, I can not find it on Igus who gave us some of the other slide system components
http://www.igus.com/

Andy Baker

14-11-2006, 16:47

M. Mellott

07-12-2006, 01:24

Here's a couple others we used in the last few years:

Banebots - source for gearboxes for the Fischer Price motors
http://banebots.com/osc/index.php

Brecoflex - great source for transmission belts (i.e. tank treads)
http://www.brecoflex.com

Mulco - European company that is similar to Brecoflex
There's a great program here called Belt-Pilot available free online...calculation options will help you determine pulley diameters, the number of teeth, belt lengths, etc.
http://www.mulco.net/eng/index.html

mn1101

01-03-2008, 18:10

does anyone happen to know how I would get information like price on things on last years KOP, like the suction cups?

David Noll

10-04-2008, 12:03

Motion Industries
www.motionindustries.com
By the way this is a great idea even for older teams.

Dick Linn

07-10-2008, 10:51

This gear supplier site looks interesting, especially the section on "breadboarding". There are several components that might be very useful in fabricating a "widget" for some mechanism, especially for those of you without machining resources.

http://www.wmberg.com/

R.C.

07-10-2008, 12:13

I am sorry to post this question here, but our team really needs hex bearings. I don't know where to get them, could someone please help. We use to have a nearby supplier, but they went out of business.

yarudl

01-04-2010, 23:39

Our team had to work on a lower budget this year so we ended up looking around a lot and fabricating parts so we ended up finding surplus center (www.surpluscenter.com) and they turned out to have a lot of parts and great deals too.

jason701802

02-04-2010, 00:43

www.hansenhobbies.com (http://www.hansenhobbies.com/products/connectors/)
The best price I've found for PWM connectors and wire as well as quality tools.

www.powerwerx.com (http://www.powerwerx.com/)
Source of Anderson Power Pole connectors, much cheaper than McMaster. Once you use Anderson Power Pole connectors, you will never want to use anything else.

Molten

05-07-2011, 01:24

Reported.

davidthefat

31-07-2012, 20:47

http://www.amazonsupply.com/

Free 2 day shipping for orders over $50, or free 2 day shipping for Prime account holders, regardless of price. College students can get free Prime account.

Oblarg

24-08-2013, 14:44

B&B Manufacturing (http://www.bbman.com): All things pulley and belt related, bushings, gears, chain sprockets. Fantastic online catalog.

Oblarg

22-10-2014, 17:19

Stumbled upon this supplier for various fasteners. Seems to have cheaper prices than boltdepot, on the whole:

http://shop.stafast.com

sanddrag

22-10-2014, 23:24

I recently stumbled upon FMW Fasteners. They sell a lot of specialty stuff and sizes McMaster doesn't.

IKE

23-10-2014, 08:16

I never knew this thread existed. Two more metal suppliers:

Aircraft Spruce for thin wall tubing and some plastics/composites:
http://www.aircraftspruce.com/menus/me/index.html

In the Michigan area:

Metal:
http://www.metalmartusa.com/

Plastics:
AIN plastics for Polycarbonate:
http://www.tkmna.com/tkmna/TKMNADivisions/AINPlastics/index.html

Another Plastics:
http://www.totalplastics.com/
I have used them a lot of Polycarbonate and poly core board

MrBasse

23-10-2014, 08:48

Allison K

23-10-2014, 09:24

The Metal Mart USA link gets flagged for malware by Google. Oddly not by our schools security software, but actually by Google...

Give the guy a call. They are easy to work with and have great prices, but their website is super old. I get the idea that perhaps the person who made it retired (just conjecture, no concrete info there) and it hasn't been updated? In any case I'm a satisfied customer.

Kwolfe

23-10-2014, 15:18

I made a Google doc with all of the submissions from this thread on it.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1UHREtD0TTg-Hur2nJ6om1B3OcAGkWxHl8V6RYl4s7kk/edit?usp=sharing

tomasuciu

09-04-2015, 16:48

Just as a point of reference, is there any (reliable) bulk supplier for aluminum that your teams use? For angles, channels, brackets, 1x1, etc. Preferably not local stores.

R.C.

09-04-2015, 16:53

Just as a point of reference, is there any (reliable) bulk supplier for aluminum that your teams use? For angles, channels, brackets, 1x1, etc. Preferably not local stores.

Why not your local store? Sales Tax?

The freight cost for out of state will probably end up more than the cost of tax. But to answer your question, in California we use Coast Aluminum and Ryerson for all our metal. They are fantastic suppliers and do same day/next day delivery of in stock products for "Free".

I've also used online metals and yarde metals (online resellers) with great success.

tomasuciu

09-04-2015, 17:43

Through that, I had asked users to not recommend their local sources or suppliers. I recognize the poor wording choice (I wouldn't have posed the question if I had nearby options). Nonetheless, thank you for the info. I will scour and find the best options in terns of price, location, and selection.

MasterSon

10-04-2015, 09:40

You can also add the company I work for. We supply network based CMOS image sensors that are available upon request. We've already helped the Berkeley team and Univ of Buffalo by supplying them equipment.

Company name: CCTV Camera World
site: http://www.cctvcameraworld.com
description: ip based image sensors and cameras