Parts store follies.
- Thread starter Chris142
- Start date
Just wanted to add, we make exceptions to that policy. A lot involves how the person approaches us. If they are cool and willing to work with us, we make the exception. If they come in guns blazing they get "sorry no exceptions."
The entire world other than the US works in metric, but when it comes to drilling a hole, super high precision is rarely necessary. If a 6mm hole is called for, in the US, most people will grab a 1/4" drill bit.
I guess I am just used to industrial.
When I started 30 years ago, all foreign equipment was metric, USA built equipment was fractional measure. Now I would guess even 50% of US made industrial equipment is metric. I have a few metric drill bits. I think I just ordered them from ebay or amazon - never even thought about it. I don't deal with much mechanical.
I have a drawer in which I keep taps, dies, thread chasers, Time-Serts, and Helicoils. In my drill bit drawer, I have a set of 1/8-1/2 by 1/64ths. I have a set of Metric bits.
I’ve got the ability to do the thread repair and move on. If I worked full time in a shop, or owned a shop, I would certainly keep that stuff on hand. I keep it on hand regardless. Just like I keep an organized set of fasteners on hand.
Wasted time, is, well, wasted time, whether I am getting paid for the job or doing it for myself. I hate wasting time.
I’ve got the ability to do the thread repair and move on. If I worked full time in a shop, or owned a shop, I would certainly keep that stuff on hand. I keep it on hand regardless. Just like I keep an organized set of fasteners on hand.
Wasted time, is, well, wasted time, whether I am getting paid for the job or doing it for myself. I hate wasting time.
The number of times I have needed anything like a heli coil is pretty rare. I don't see a reason to keep that stuff around especially with what it costs. It was $65 for the kit and drill bit.
Now if I worked on motorcycles with aluminum parts or worked with ham fisted baboons I could see having stuff like that in stock
How much is 2 hours of your time worth?
Buy a couple common sizes from Zoro, or Grainger, or Amazon, for less than $65 and save yourself a couple of hours of wandering around getting frustrated next time.
the best parts store experience I have is when you go up to the counter and tell them what you need and the year/make/model of car you want the part for, then they ask you at least a half dozen times walking around in a daze what year etc is the part for ,like it does not mentally register,,,,so finally when I need parts for a specific car I write on a piece of paper and give it to the clerk instead.
I stocked up a bit when AutoZone was recently blowing them out.
But yeah, inevitably if I have 1/4-20 I'll need 1/4-28. If I have M10x1.5 I'll need M10x1.25
As for bits, I don't actively stock metric but you can find a fractional, wire or number close enough 99% of the time.
I just figured everyone has Houts fully stocked??
I've also got a separate set of Huots for screw machine.....U-joints are the worst. It may be better at the dealer level. I've had O'Reilly go so far as to say "does not fit selected vehicle" but I'm holding the part in my hands, all diameters and cross widths verified by me with calipers -- and clip styles/positions also of course.
In that case it's like "Just give me the part number I asked for."
It might not have the correct width clips. If you can re-use the originals probably OK.
I went on a deep U-joint dive years ago. Everything I read and found said you need to size the retaining clips I believe by 0.0005. Problem of course is they come with 3 sizes if your lucky, and usually 1. Supposedly Dana somewhere makes an assortment of retaining clips for such matters, but I can never find them.
I have a full tap and dye (fraction and metric), and likely every size drill bit including the metric sizes, but I don't keep helicoils around. I have needed so few, and as mentioned, especially with metric, there are so many sizes.
However one thing I would not do is drive around looking. I would just order one from Mcmaster and move on to one of my other hundreds of projects till it arrived.
https://www.mcmaster.com/products/helical-coil-inserts/threaded-inserts-3~/
However one thing I would not do is drive around looking. I would just order one from Mcmaster and move on to one of my other hundreds of projects till it arrived.
https://www.mcmaster.com/products/helical-coil-inserts/threaded-inserts-3~/