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Thread: ... Retail????

  1. #1
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    Default ... Retail????

    I have a few in house fabrication projects coming up next week and I decided to start buying supplies and parts that I know I'm going to be needing. My shopping list consisted of:

    1) 24 ft of 1"x1" 10-12 gauge stainless steel tube, grade not critical
    2) 10lb roll of stainless steel mig welding wire and small tank of proper gas
    3) 6 x 6" c-clamps
    4) 4-6 x 4" c-clamps

    It's a simple order aside from the tube. Most farm/welding supply stores should carry everything but the tubing and I should be able to get that from my local steel supplier. I can't believe how wrong I was.

    1) I had to settle for 19 gauge unknown grade stainless tube (yay mystery metal) since I can't wait 3-4 weeks for delivery.
    2a) Had to contact a local welder and buy the wire from him.
    2b) Have to change my process from mig to tig since I can't get the gas any quicker than the tube (two of these places never heard of tri-mix welding gas).
    3 & 4) Had to go to 3 different stores for the clamps and still only found half of what I wanted. Not to mention that at 2 stores the employees there didn't know what a c-clamp is (tried to sell me U-bolts).

    Being told that they will only bring in these "specialty" items on an as ordered basis was frustrating as I live in the dairy capital of Canada and there are countless backyard fabricators here.

    I understand that companies are reducing inventories and these retailers are entry level jobs, but this was just ridiculous.
    Brad Miedema
    Fulcrum Saw & Tool

  2. #2
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    Brad, did you try a welding supply house (gas distributor). We have a number of them around here and would think you would too and they would have everything except the tubing.
    Ray Badger, Turbo Technologies, Inc.
    www.TurboTurf.com www.IceControlSprayers.com

  3. #3
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    We don't have any dedicated welding supply houses locally. We have 2 major companies that control the bulk of the welding supplies and they only deal through depots attached to other businesses. I only deal with them if I have no other choice. I tried both of them to find what I needed and came up empty. I'll just slap my argon tank on and tig up everything - I could use the practice anyhow. Worst case scenario, I'll silver braze everything.

    I only know of one "family owned" outfit (bought both of my welders off them), but their truck comes by once a month and he was here this past Monday.

    What really got me going was being offered u-bolts instead of c-clamps at an international farm supply store. I'm good at puzzles but I still haven't figured out how to make the bolts work. Not to mention the store's lack of anything, aside from clothes and toys, on the shelf.
    Brad Miedema
    Fulcrum Saw & Tool

  4. #4

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    I'm shocked by the C clamps fiasco. I already have a drawer full of clamps in my work bench (mostly bought at estate auctions) so I haven't had to look at the local Home Depot or Lowes, but I can't imagine that they wouldn't have a sizable stock of them and employees who know the difference between a C clamp and a U bolt.

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