[Towertalk] Buying Hardware

[Don Havlicek]

In the small town of Connersville, IN, is an OLD hardware store .. still
privately owned by a guy in his 80's [one of the wealthiest people in
town, I may add!] .. where I buy ALL my 'replacement hardware'.  There
are row upon row of shelves, bins, and boxes .. the 'help' knows exactly
where everything is located.  
When I want U-bolts [stainless or galvanized], I simply ask .. and they
have 30 or 40 different sizes!  Same goes for stainless steel
hose-clamps [this guy owns an auto supply next door!].
I've replaced all the [stainless] hardware on my 3-element 10m and
3-element 15m Telrex yagis for less than $5.00 !
Once, I walked in and went to the back room where they keep the reels of
rope/etc. .. found a nice roll of black Dacron rope .. 3/8-inch
..labelled 19-cents per foot .. picked it up .. walked to the front of
the store .. asked 'how much?' .. was asked if how much rope I THOUGHT
was on the roll .. when I answered "Oh, about 300 feet", was told .. 
"How about $20" .. Almost tore my jeans pocket getting the cash out! ..
Got it home .. found 700 feet of Dacron rope on the reel!  Called and
told them .. they said .. "You got a bargain!" .. and that was that!
Don - N8DE

n4kg@juno.com wrote:
> 
> I second K1IR's suggestion to check your local
> YELLOW PAGES under FASTENERS.
> 
> I've found several local listings in Huntsville ALA (pop. 150K+?)
> who would sell small quantities of Stainless Steel and / or
> Galvanized hardware, including U bolts,  to individuals.
> 
> One supplier even told me if they didn't have it, they could
> order from Chicago and have it a day or two.
> 
> Several years ago I checked SS U-bolt prices at Cushcraft,
> Mosley, and other suppliers and found them to all be fairly
> close.  SS U-bolts don't come cheap!
> 
> Tom  N4KG
> 
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