We’re getting ready to start our first build season in a few months, so as the Mechanical Director, I’m devising a list of hardware/stock that we should order before the season starts. Anyone got some suggestions? I’m thinking about VexPro sprockets, versaplanetaries, and bearings that are usually the first to go out of stock, but how many, and anything else I might be missing?
Versaframing. Versatubes, versagussets. Even if you have the machining resources, they’re a godsend in time savings. Get plenty of #8 and #10 hardware as well, and stock up on plywood.
Rivet Man may have some ideas for you too!
Motors, especially the 775Pro. Also, AndyMark’s 500 EX hub was out of stock for a while during the last build season. I know because I needed two of them. It really comes down to what your team is familiar with/wanting to become familiar with.
(Speaking of AndyMark, this week’s Tuesday Deals are amazing.)
My thoughts:
Not exactly hardware, but when you mentioned things that go out of stock quickly, I instantly thought about 775pros 
Plenty of people and teams love that motor, and I am one of them!
I would say to have a nice supply of different gear stages for the VP so you can do quick swaps when prototyping or for the actual robot. Ring gear sets, output stages, all of that. If there’s one thing I have learned by now, it’s having all the things you know you are going to use on hand. Nobody has time during a build season to wait for an order of some sorts to come in.
The VersaFrame plethora of offerings seems to be quite great, yet I have never used any of it myself. Gussets, tubing, and mounts for all your VersaPlanetaries. The different kits they have these days are great again for rapid prototyping or robot assembly. More stuff to have on hand to make your life easier during build.
If you use 1"x2" box tube, 1"x1" box tube, or other sizes of whatever wall thicknesses, get your big orders in now. Maybe you like to use the VersaFrame tubing or maybe you do some custom stuff yourself, either way, order the standard tube sizes you know you will probably use anyways now.
Spacers and Shaft stock! Some of the ThunderHex stock that has been sold for a while now is slightly oversized. Buy it now and turn it down or sand it so that the shaft will actually fit nicely into a ThunderHex bearing. Again, another thing to do now instead of during the season. The acetal spacers in nominal lengths for 1/2" and 3/8" Hex has saved us plenty of time in the past. Invest in them for your own spacing needs.
Common fasteners. 10-32 or 1/4-20 fasteners. Maybe you used some #8 in there too. You know you’ll need them. Oh, and something that you will probably end up using on your fasteners: Loctite or comparable thread locker.
We resurrected this year so we are basically rookies, with the exception of me and our head mentor who have done frc before. We ordered a kit chasis from Andy mark, and were given some Cim motors, Batteries+chargers, victors, and some pnuematics from 1719, the team who had let Rex members join them when we died in 2011. If you have the funding, a kit chasis is great to practice on prior to the season for programmers, electrical, and practice building.
I’m on the programming and wiring side, so a bit of a different look at things. For wiring you can use what comes in the Kit of Parts but I do not recommend it.
I recommend the following (PM for sources/part numbers)
- Zip-Cord and Anderson Power Poles for the power
- 6AWG high flex (welding cable) wiring for battery cables and main power distribution
- High gauge crimper for 6AWG battery & power wiring
- Hansen Hobbies sells good signal level connectors
- Zip Ties galore & Zip Tie mounts for securing the wiring
- Soldering iron & Solder
- Decent wire strippers & flush cutters
- Additional Battery Chargers (e.g. multi-charger from Andymark)
- Additional Batteries (at least 3 more in addition to rookie Kit of Parts)
- A decent laptop for the driver station & a separate one for programming (class mate is terrible)
- Tool/Component storage cases for everything you take with to competition (this includes nuts, bolts, screws, electrical connectors)
A side note, for many years we basically took the work shop with to competition. We’d bring parts with us even if they weren’t used on the robot simply because we weren’t organized enough to only bring what is needed. We’re much happier now that we’ve started only bringing what is used and aren’t bringing along several tens of pounds and cubic feet of extra useless (to us) material.