BA nuts and bolts

[MikeWilliams]

I recently needed some 8BA nuts but was surprised when my usual suppliers didn't have any.  A quick scan of the web found the following were the cheapest, but ...

Modellers Mate £3.27/100 but they don't seem to answer e-mails or phone calls.
Maidstone Model Engineering £3.60/100 but are out of stock and say they have supply problems.

A further search found the following prices:

HSWalsh £2.19/100 steel
Modelfixings £5.40/100
Doug Hewson £5.69/100
MacModels £5.84/100 brass
MacModels £6.00/100 steel
BA-Bolts (Mainland Enterprises) £6.88/100
Eileens Emporium £8.00/100
MK Metals £21.60/100
Allfix £41.00/100
Fastfixdirect £14.15/1,000 steel (note:1,000 and plus VAT)

Since I wanted 1,000 anyway, I've placed the order with Fastfixdirect, but others might be interested in the huge price differences and check before buying.

Mike

[Andy B]

I have used EKP (http://www.ekp.supplies.btinternet.co.uk) - both from exhibitions and (very prompt) mail order.
Price comparison - 8BA steel nuts £3.71/100 + VAT. or brass £3.44 + VAT
I expect you would get a better rate for 1000 if you asked!

They do a good range including lock nuts, 1 size smaller A/F, and a good range of head types on screws.

Useful list of alternative sources though - thanks Mike!

[IanT]

Squires do quite a good range of smaller BA nuts & bolts - 6 BA down to 16 BA - but they are not as cheap as some of the suppliers listed below e.g. Last year Qty 100 x 8 BA cost 6.75.

I seem to be using a lot of 12 BA brass nuts currently (on wagons etc) - and just for info - these were 11.25 for Qty 100.

They have a pretty comprehensive 'Tools & Materials' catalogue (450 pages +) - which they used to send you for 'free' (always an attractive word that!) if you phoned them up - phone number 01243-842424

[MikeWilliams]

An update to this old topic.  I buy 14BA screws and nuts about every year to put into my kits and each time I check the main suppliers and their prices.  This time the best price was BA-Bolts  sales@ba-bolts.co.uk  Friendly, easy and with a quantity discount a very good price too.  Recommended.

Mike

[John Branch]

Not sure if they are still around, but "Items" were good,  but not on web, "live steam Models" also had good range-catalogue on web, but order by phone.  Have run down own stocks, and am now metric.

John Branch

[Peaky 556]

I haven't tried anyone other than EKP, from whom I continue to get a very good service. 
I just thought I'd mention they are still operating and satisfying their customers. 👍
Regards, Tim

[IanT]

A quick check on the BA-bolts site Mike - 14BA (brass) nuts are £6.60 (inc. VAT?) for Qty 50. Works out at 13.2p each, which is OK (I suppose) but I do wish I could come up with a simple/quick way to produce something similar for myself.

I have experimented with making short lengths of hexagon (down to A/F 0.9mm) from the round but it's quite fiddly and time consuming. I'm not aware of any commercial source of very fine hex materials but they may be available (??). I'm sure there's a workable way to make very small scale nuts (a miniature lathe with an even smaller CNC controlled tool-turret re-occurs in my day dreams!) but I've not done anything about it recently.

I have tried Andy's etched scale nuts which worked fine but do need care (I squashed my first two attempts and then read/followed the instructions!).

With regards 'metric' fasteners, I'd be interested to know how small the ones you are using are John? I've a metric tap & die set that goes down to M1.0 - which is quite fine and it should be possible to make smaller threads (including taps) using a watchmakers die-plate. They would be very fragile of course but the material tapped would be relatively thin and the % thread engagement needn't be very high (say 40-50%) - as there would be negligible load involved.

OK, just ruminating - it's time for bed!

Regards,

IanT     

[MikeWilliams]

We do seem to be lucky in having several suppliers with a good reputation.  BA-Bolts worked out at £132/1000 and EKP tp £115.7/1000 but that latter charges VAT.  BA-Bolts then offered a discount on top.

They are just another good supplier worth considering.

Mike

[IanT]

Thought I should follow my own advice Mike (from Oct 2009) and went and looked at the Squires site. It's a bit more of a faff, as you have to download the catalogue and search through it.

However, I was pleasantly suprised to see they are competitve on 14BA and also still offer 16BA which I haven't seen available elsewhere recently that I can recall (assuming they actually have stock). All prices include VAT and I assume the postage would be reasonable (if you don't live near Bognor Regis!)

BN-14BA 14BA Brass Nuts - Pack of 10.............................. £1.19
BN14100 14BA Brass Nuts Pack of 100.............................. £10.29
BN-16BA 16BA Brass Nuts - Pack of 10.............................. £2.75
BN16100 16BA Brass Nuts - Pack of 100............................£24.20

Looking through their catalogues was also quite fun (from a railway modelling point of view) and they have a very good range of brass & aluminium metal stock in sizes/shapes very useful to a small scale modeller (better/smaller than most model engineering suppliers offer).

IanT

[LankyTank]

IanT

With Squires' catalogues one has to be careful, depending on which catalogue you're looking at, the prices can be up to 7 or 8 years out of date.......

If one was to be looking for brass profiles (blatant plug alert) one could probably do no worse than to look at www.metalsmith.co.uk - where Squires offer 305mm lengths, we do them at 500mm as standard - other material suppliers do 500mm as a 'Special', our Specials are a metre long.

Just saying.

All the best
Barry

[IanT]

Yes, I was aware that you might not be able to get everything Barry - hence my comment "assuming they actually have stock" - I've not used Squires recently but have done so in the past with no problems. I guess it's a matter of picking up the phone and asking them.

I've had a quick look at your website btw - and liked your range of materials too. Made a note for future needs.

Regards,

IanT

[Spitfire2865]

Im guna throw my 2c in
Screw-shop.com
Best bulk prices Ive found that ship to US, though restock is slow.

[IanT]

Useful info Trevor, always good to have!  :-)

Thanks

IanT