A Lesson In Smart Shopping

January 24, 2007 | Filed Under Blog 

So where do you guys usually buy your hardware? By hardware, I mean hinges, screws, shelf pins, handles, drawer slides, etc…. For years, I did most of my shopping online or at the local Rockler. I really didn’t think too much about the cost of the hardware simply because I didn’t know any better. During a big job last year (a bookstore), a good friend of mine took me to a local hardware supplier called Clyde Hardware. We needed shelf pins, and we needed A LOT of them. I expected the bill to be really high, and much to my surprise it wasn’t. After looking around I realized that I had been overpaying for years. In fact, I was pretty pissed. Ever since then, Rockler is my absolute last resource for hardware. Don’t get me wrong, I love Rockler. They are a great company. But in the case of hardware, they really take advantage of hobbiests who either dont know about or dont have access to a local hardware supplier.

The reason I am bringing this up is because I just made a purchase at Clyde today and I thought it would be a good time to give you an example of the insane price differences. I made a relatively small purchase of 18 Blum 1/2″ overlay hinges and 100 1/4″ brass shelf pins. At Rockler, the hinges are about $3 each and the shelf pins are about $0.15 each. If my trusty calculator is right, thats a total bill of $69 before tax. At Clyde, I was able to get the hinges for about $0.77 each and the pins for about $0.05 each. My actual total was $18.72. So a savings of about $50 on small order of 100 shelf pins and 18 hinges!!!

Moral to the story? Pick up the yellow pages and look for a hardware supplier. You might have to find a friend who has a tax ID number because some of these places might not deal with the public, but some of them do. The potential savings is significant enough that its worth the extra effort to find these places. Spending less money on hardware means spending more money on the stuff that counts……….WOOD!

Comments

10 Responses to “A Lesson In Smart Shopping”

  1. Ron on January 24th, 2007 8:05 pm

    Marc,
    Have you ever done business with Outwater? I was just curious how thier prices compare with Clyde?

    Ron

  2. TheWoodWhisperer on January 25th, 2007 7:40 am

    No I haven’t. I will have to check them out. Thanks for the tip Ron!

    Marc

  3. Ron on January 25th, 2007 8:41 am

    Ooops I just noticed there is an Outwater Hardware Co. of which I have not done business with to date. I was actually refering to Outwater Plastics located here in Phoenix:)

  4. Travis on January 25th, 2007 10:38 am

    Wow Marc, I am impressed. I expected you to tout how great Rockler was for hardware because they are a sponser of yours. I worried that with your new sponsership, you might just become someone who says how great they are regardless of the facts. That you spoke your mind shows that this is not the case, and that you will give us an honest opinion- even when it might not be so kind to a sponser.

    Thanks!

  5. TheWoodWhisperer on January 25th, 2007 11:00 am

    Thanks Travis. I will always give my honest opinions concerning products and services. My primary goal is to make sure that you guys are as informed as possible. Now just for the sake of full disclosure, Rockler is not a sponsor. My only sponsors at this time are Festool and FineWoodworking.com. I am, however, a Rockler affiliate. For future reference, I will always have a list of our sponsors in the left hand column of the page. The right hand column is generally for ads and shopping.

    Marc

  6. Gene on January 25th, 2007 3:40 pm

    Depends on what I’m making, etc. Common hardware - the local big box. Small box hinges, etc. Brusso, usually Lee Valley website. For period reproduction pieces, I use Vandykes usually. For real antique hardware, I have a source up in WA that I’ll look to first. She’s known locally as “The Knob Lady”, since she probably has the most extensive collection of antique furniture pulls and hinges in the known universe. I don’t get up there often - long drive - But when I do I’ll spend hours there. She also has lots of antique hand tools and other things of interest to woodworkers and their wives.

    Loretta Johnson
    Cobweb Antiques
    360-794-4256

    21928 Yeager Road
    Monroe, WA 98272

    resppuuv@verizon.net

  7. Ethan on January 25th, 2007 6:13 pm

    Marc,

    How do the Blum overlay hinges compare to, say, Brusso hinges and the really thin brass hinges you can get at a big box store?

  8. TheWoodWhisperer on January 26th, 2007 8:18 am

    Hey Ethan. Its hard to really compare Blum to Brusso since they are really two different types of hinges. The Blum hinges are Euro-style cup hinges. They usually require a 35mm hole in the door and the other end of the hinge attaches to either the face frame or the side of the cabinet. They are pretty “industrial” looking. Now Brusso, on the other hand, makes some mighty fine hardware. Their hinges are better reserved for your finest projects (jewelry boxes and the like). And you will pay out the nose for them. But they are heavy duty and beautiful at the same time.

    And hinges from the big box stores? Well, I use those for shop furniture. :) The metal is usually much thinner and the hinges are just flimsy feeling. I prefer not to use them in fine furniture. But you probably could find a relatively nice set at a big box.

    Hope that helps!

    Marc

  9. Dave on January 29th, 2007 7:15 am

    Where was this article 8 years ago when I started in woodworking? I too bought $5 hinges from Rockler before I knew any better.

    I’ve always received great products, prices and service from Woodworkers Hardware. I live in the midwest, and my order is delivered to my door usually the next day (they are located in Minnesota).
    http://www.wwhardware.com

    Dave

  10. dave mccracken on February 4th, 2007 8:22 pm

    my vote also goes to woodworkers hardware they have good prices and they are super nice .Also i really enjoy your site marc it reminds me of the furniture guys

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