Fastener bill of materials
 

I know we've discussed the merits of a bill of materials. With regard to the large items, I agree that it is important for builders to understand the plans before waving the credit card.

I suggest however, that there is one place which every builder will have problems which a bill of materials could help without much risk: fasteners.

I used a BOM created by a former member as a template, and I found the fastener section (particularly because I used imperial bolts) useful.

I made one big order of bolts from Fastenal. This covered 90% of my fasteners, but there were several bolts in my list which were wrong. (e.g. substituting 7/16 bolts for 10mm bolts). Those errors forced me to buy stuff from the local hardware store. The 10% I bought at the hardware store was easily equal to the price I paid at Fastenal.

An accurate fastener BOM would have saved me about $100. Unfortunately, when I started, I wasn't smart enough to be that accurate.

So let's have your BOM!:)

Thanks

Joe in Coupeville

I'd be happy to pm you my list. I'll send it to you when I get back to my work computer.

I'd like to get a bit more feedback before I post it for general consumption though.

Jeff,

When I was building #26, I had copies of JR's spreadsheets. One for everything except the bolts and one for the bolts. I also had a couple of parts lists, with suppliers, from a couple of previous builders who were kind enough to share. They were very helpful. I began with those and modified them to suit my own needs. It was especially handy to have the bolt information, since I was also building in the US and I used "Imperial" bolts when appropriate...much cheaper by the pound at Tractor Supply. By the way, because I didn't do enough research, I bought bolts that I DID NOT NEED and didn't buy, initially, some that I DID NEED.

I'm providing this since you asked for additional input. I see nothing wrong with BOM spreadsheets, especially once a builder has reviewed the plans, begun to acquire parts and is trying to complete their own plan. I'm more reluctant to do extra work to provide information to someone that has just started and seems to be just gathering data. If the information here on the forum, fine. However, if you ask me to do some work, you should demonstrate that you have done your due diligence and are a serious builder. I would happily help anyone that is BUILDING a MechMate in any way that I can.

Another fastener BOM?
 

John #26: I am building (just grinding the angles on the rails today) and have already started acquiring the rollers, bushings, etc. I have all the steel as well. I did my own BOM for fasteners by going through every page of the plans and noting each fastener listed but am not sure I got everything or that I understood each item correctly, hence my interest in seeing Jeff's list.

For the record, attached is my fastener list which is not offered as being definitive but which might be useful to someone. To clarify: the first four columns on the sheet are merely the list of fasteners as found on the drawing sheet indicted in each row. Columns H through J contain the totals of each type of fastener, (they are not in addition to columns B through F). Hope this helps someone.

Joe

Joe,

Great Fastener BOM. This should come in handy for builders.:) Nice work.

thanks Joe, sorry I haven't gotten it to you yet... life intrudes. I'm hoping to get to it very soon.