Stainless Steel Screws

[asianflava]

I was at West Marine buying something (I don't remember what) and I decided to look at their stainless steel screws. 40 cents each! I stopped by Lowes for something else and checked their inventory. Their prices weren't too bad.

When I got home I thought I'd try eBay. There is a guy in FL that is selling variety packs of stainless screws for a really good price. He had a pack of 300 assorted screws for a buy it now of $12.25. I went ahead and bought a couple. I don't know if there is a big difference with all these stainless fasteners, all I know is that there is a big difference in price.

The guy I bought mine had a username of twopalms and has an ebay store. You can probably find it if you search by sellers. I have no affiliation with him: he just treated me right, sent e-mails promptly, and shipped quickly.

[Geron]

Fastenal has them for around $5-6 per hundred if you have one close to you.

Geron

[Mightydog]

You get the Super Shopper Award for the day!

When they arrive, post pictures and let us know what you think of them.

Having grown up on the Oregon Coast, I discovered that anything with marine (or aircraft for that matter) attached to it will inflate the cost by a magnitute of ten.

[asianflava]

Fastenal has them for around $5-6 per hundred if you have one close to you.

Geron

I just looked and there is a store near me. Not counting shipping, his prices are pretty comparable. He does combine orders for one shipping price. I'll post some pics when I can.

[GeorgeTelford]

Hi all

do beware that there are stainless screws and stainless screws as I found to my cost.

There are many different grades of stainless steel, I bought a pack of stainless screws for a job (based on price), this particular chassis was to big to be made in my shop (luckily), a few days after fitting the fold out balcony I noticed that the the screws holding the hinges were going orangey brown not at all what you would expect with stainless, I had chance to get the better quality (and more expensive) screws and replaced the lot, it would have been embarrasing if this had been delivered and rusted.

I learned a lesson from my friendly fastener guy, before using take a magnet and check your screws, lower quality Stainless will jump to the magnet and will also rust!, the good quality ones are totally NON magnetic.

[Geron]

Hi all

I learned a lesson from my friendly fastener guy, before using take a magnet and check your screws, lower quality Stainless will jump to the magnet and will also rust!, the good quality ones are totally NON magnetic.

Glad you mentioned that. I wondered why my magnet would not pick mine up. That's how I separated them if they became contaminated. The SS are Non Magnetic.

Geron

[GeorgeTelford]

Hi Geron

Some SS are magnetic though, poor quality SS, I am not sure how they get away with it but the poor quality ones are still classed as stainless steel.

[doug hodder]

To anyone contemplating buying stainless screws....you're much better off buying quantities through a fastener distributor, better quality/ grade....I had a bunch left over from the last 2 boats....so used them....buying a hundred or so from the local Ace...will get you about 500 from a distributor...and you can use them on lots of other projects...West Marine typically has a better price over True Value, Ace...etc..at least that is what I found..You are still probably going to have to pick up the odd one here and there, so the local guy will be the best bet...I buy Sharkz, marine rated, 1 inch flat phillips head...they have a double screw to them and are serrated to cut into the wood without predrilling....I use them over and over....as I hold the material in place with them while the epoxy cures...then back them out and put in a plug...then reuse the screw somewhere else, a lot of them do get left in however, especially in structural areas...If working with Oak....I definately would recommend stainless as the tannins in oak will cause a steel screw to rust really quickly...especially in Red Oak....PS....Sharkz screws really go into a tire well!...Just my experience....Doug

[TonyCooper]

I bought mine from Fastenal as well. By the bag of 100. We have several stores in the RTP, NC area and even one way north of Raleigh where I live. They are high quality SS.

[Cutterpup]

If you can't find anybody that sells good quailty screws try http://www.chesfast.com/
Chesapeake Marine Fasteners, Inc.
they will ship and the screws are very strong, they don't deform when your pilot hole is too small.

Dan

[asianflava]

OK here are the pics:
My package included 300 total screws 25 of each:
6X1/4 8X1/4 10X1/4
6X1/2 8X1/2 10X1/2
6X3/4 8X3/4 10X3/4
6X1 1/4 8X1 1/4 10X1 1/4

They are all non-magnetic, my winning bid was $10.00



Guess which ones are the regular ones. I ordered oval heads on accident, I didn't need so many. I went ahead and ordered pan heads and flat head sets .

[Paulyboy]

Looks like u got a good deal. For future ref, www.mcfeeleys.com carries square drive screws in 2 grades of stainless, as well as regular and galvanized.