| Company |
Catalog |
Product Line &
Comments |
|
All Electronics |
Catalog Request Online Catalog |
A haven for tinkerers - lots of odd
surplus parts and components (not as odd as American Science and Surplus,
but more than Jameco). If they happen to have what you're looking
for, you can usually get a pretty good price on it. |
| American
Science & Surplus |
Catalog Request Online Catalog |
Surplus of a lot of weird...
...well, crap. Some of it is just plain useless (unless you
really have a pressing need for a bag of 500 orange crayons), but there
are some goodies in there (always lots of interesting electromechanical
modules). Plus, the frequently humorous product descriptions makes
for fun reading. If you're lucky enough to live near one of their
retail stores (located in northern Illinois and Milwaukee), be sure to
visit - sometimes that killer idea doesn't strike you until you're holding
some weird obscure gadget that you dug out of one of the bins... |
| Clippard |
Catalog Request Online Catalog |
A tinkerer favorite for pneumatic cylinders
and fittings. |
|
Digi-Key |
Catalog Request Online Catalog |
Electronic components - very
nice selection, almost always has what you need in stock, fair pricing,
free shipping if you pay via check or money order. I almost
always get my prototyping components from here (and then hunt around
for better prices elsewhere when I shift into production mode). |
| EEM |
EEM (Electronic Engineers Master) is basically
the Thomas Register of electronics. It currently comes in 4 paperback
volumes that cover everything electronic (passive components, LEDs,
ICs, connectors, wire, power supplies, etc.). Not quite as useful
to the tinkerer as a Digi-Key or Mouser catalog (since it lists companies
who want to sell you 5000 widgets at a time), but still not bad to have
around - if you can get it for free. You can order it online, but
it'll cost you over a hundred bucks. Somehow, I get a new set each
year for free, and I'm assuming that I managed to get on some sort of
special list. As best as I can figure, it's because I'm on
the mailing list for Electronic
Products , which is basically just a collection of ads. So
who knows, maybe filling out the
subscription request form (while pretending that you deal with
purchasing large numbers of various components) will net you a set of the
EEM books. Be sure to also check out
EEM Update , which is a site that will let you request a ton of
free catalogs from various electronics vendors. |
|
|
Enco |
Catalog Request Online Catalog |
Great catalog for the home workshop.
Not always the best quality stuff, but excellent prices (think
hobbyist-grade, not professional-grade). Tooling, raw materials,
tools, small import machinery. Good stuff for getting started
in metalworking without taking out a bank loan. They also send out
monthly flyers with even lower prices. |
| Grainger |
Catalog Request Online Catalog |
Industrial supply, a lot like McMaster-Carr.
This and the McMaster catalog are probably the two most popular books
at industrial sites. |
|
Jameco |
Catalog Request Online Catalog |
Electronic components - not
nearly as good of a selection as Digi-Key and others, but great
prices, and more 'tinkerish' offerings than other suppliers (more
electromechanical bits - motors, solenoids, etc.) |
|
J&L |
Catalog Request |
Machine tooling, primarily -
end mills, drills, daps, reamers.... Some raw materials, fasteners,
etc. |
| MCM Electronics |
Catalog Request Online Catalog |
Electronic components, lots of home audio visual
stuff. |
|
McMaster-Carr |
Catalog Request? Ha ha
ha ha!!! Online Catalog |
McMaster-Carr is one of those
mainstays of industrial supply. Thay have a huge selection
of just about everything you can imagine that might be used in industry
(raw materials, fasteners, building supplies, janitorial - you name
it, it's in there). The problem is, getting a catalog takes
nearly an act of Congress. You can spend over $1000 a year with
them and still not be deemed worthy - heck, copies regularly sell on
Ebay for a good $25. Their online version isn't too bad, but
it's murder to navigate on a slow connection. Thus, after much
scripting, leeching and concatenating, I finally was able to offer
these massive .pdf versions: McMaster-Carr
catalog |
| Mouser |
Catalog Request Online Catalog |
Electronic components - good selection
of swiches and jacks. |
|
MSC |
Catalog Request |
Another big industrial supply
catalog - mostly the same sort of stuff found in McMaster-Carr, but
much much easier to get a catalog. |
| Newark Electronics |
Catalog Request Online Catalog |
Electronics supplier, has pretty good prices and
a very large selection, but doesn't always have the stuff in stock. Nice
big catalog, though. |
|
Small Parts |
Catalog Request Online Catalog |
Just what it says - small parts.
Tiny screws, fasteners, ball bearings and other small stuff. |
|
The TAB Electronics Yellow Pages |
Recommended by Timberwolf |