Hardware anxiety

[TomE]

My strategy is to hoard what I need.  Weaver Leather Supply has good email notification when a backordered item becomes available - I snap up a few dozen.  My favorite vendor for heavy brass and stainless hardware - Batz Corp - is not long on customer service so I regularly troll their online store to check status.  Using the broken supply chain as an excuse to learn some new tricks.

[Thescandall]

I order chicago fasteners like they are on the endangered list for some reason. must have thousands of them.. i usually plan my build out in advance and order everything then. since i hand stitched for so many years the stuff came in before i was finished anyway. now that i got the MACHINE i do a lot of thumb twiddling.  

[fredk]

Having learnt a bad lesson about having not enough hardware on hand years ago I now buy in bulk. 

If I'm going to make just a few of something I buy in enough hardware for 10, 20 or even up to 50 of that item or similar.

I buy bargains / discounted hardware whenever I spot it even if I have no immediate need for it. 

As I see it, the hardware doesn't have a 'use by' or 'best before' date on it like bread or meat, so it'll stay fresh until I need it.

In the past, I too went to Charity shops [aka thrift stores to you heathens!] and bought cheap belts or handbags et cetera. Good for one-off hardware but occasionally I hit good where a major store had off loaded quantities of certain fashion belts. All made in that cheap pretend leather/PVC, but with quality buckles.

I have no leather supply place near me and getting anything posted to me costs a fortune. It costs as much to post 50 SB buttons as it does 500. Thus, by pro-rata the hardware item works out cheaper in quantity

[Spyros]

1 hour ago, fredk said:

I have no leather supply place near me and getting anything posted to me costs a fortune. It costs as much to post 50 SB buttons as it does 500. Thus, by pro-rata the hardware item works out cheaper in quantity

Tell me about it, I just paid USD$68 shipping for hardware from buckleguy...

[fredk]

Ouch! that hurts

32oz bottle of dye, 20 x 20mm brass loop & 20 x 30mm brass loops. Weight, approx 1.5kg, £18.50 from Le Prevo to me. [not Le Prevo's fault] It was the same price for just the dye, or just one set of brass loops

[Spyros]

37 minutes ago, fredk said:

Ouch! that hurts

32oz bottle of dye, 20 x 20mm brass loop & 20 x 30mm brass loops. Weight, approx 1.5kg, £18.50 from Le Prevo to me. [not Le Prevo's fault] It was the same price for just the dye, or just one set of brass loops

I had a look Fred, I don't think I could shop from there.  For example lets say I want my typical order: a solid brass set with a matte metal finish for a bag:  loops, dees, roller buckle, rivets, trigger snaps, sliders.  All 1 inch, but the finish needs to match because (maybe it's just me) I think it's a bit of an eyesore to have an expensive bag with a shiny buckle with matte snaps and sliders on the same strap.   You go to buckleguy, you select the finish and size you want, and boom everything they have in that size and finish is there, with only very slight variations in finish, a selection of 3-4 options for most things, and big photos with a ruler in the background so you can understand every dimension.   In LePrevo not everything has a clear description of the finish and I can't always tell from the photo (if there even is a photo).  Maybe it's a simple matter of shopping from there a couple of times and then it all gets clearer but I already have too much redundant hardware from doing exactly that: experimenting with various hardware vendors' archaic websites, and I just don't want to do it any more.  And then it's their variety which is not great, if one thing I want is missing I have to go through the same process somewhere else.  And then hope their shipping times are reasonable and their mail service reliable.

The issue with buckleguy is their crazy int'l shipping prices for small items, I can't be paying USD$68 shipping for what is probably a third of a shoebox worth of hardware.  I've contacted them a couple of times to tell them they need to offer cheaper options for smaller packages but no luck, they've linked their system to a couple of couriers that give them automatic quotes which then flow through real time to your online order, and they don't want to touch it.

Edited March 21, 2022 by Spyros

[fredk]

Le Prevo have been cutting back on their buckles, loops and dees type hardware. Its not a 1/10 of what it used to be

Another reason why I have bought in bulk - whilst its available

[Handstitched]

10 hours ago, JayEhl said:

Probably not the best resource for bulk purchases to answer your question but I've found small one off ideas and solutions from our local Salvation Army thrift stores and the like

Op Shops are a good source of old or unusual , weird & wonderful  buckles,  & hardware and various haberdashery .  My Mother sews & knits a lot, she finds buttons,  knitting needles etc. patterns ( sometimes rare) that she can use. Good way to recycle too  

@Spyros I also take advantage of ' specials' , and any discontinued  items that are heavily discounted, I may not need them at the time....but..

HS 

[Handstitched]

On 3/22/2022 at 11:00 AM, Handstitched said:

I also take advantage of ' specials' , and any discontinued  items that are heavily discounted, I may not need them at the time....but..

@Spyros Just ordered  x 16 black  roo hides  from Packers Qld.  It was a " last chance offer" . Some are o/runs, and some are rejects. Don't need them right now, ...but...

....they are good for soft phone  & assorted cases, bags  , repairs , etc.  and black being a popular and common  colour . ' Black  goes with anything' . 

HS 

[Spyros]

2 hours ago, Handstitched said:

@Spyros Just ordered  x 16 black  roo hides  from Packers Qld.  It was a " last chance offer" . Some are o/runs, and some are rejects. Don't need them right now, ...but...

....they are good for soft phone  & assorted cases, bags  , repairs , etc.  and black being a popular and common  colour . ' Black  goes with anything' . 

HS 

Yeah roo is great.  I find it visually a bit boring and yet it keeps finding it's way in my projects because a) it never needs skiving because it's never thicker than 1mm, and b) it's practically indestructible, that's why they use it for football boots, high end motorcycle jackets and whips.