What to do with 5 gallon bucket half full of stainless bolts, nuts, and washers?

[scottieb]

I've got a five gallon bucket slightly more than half full of stainless hardware. Sizes range from 6-32 up to 3/4" and anywhere from 1/2" in length to 8", mostly hex head, but a lot of allen, phillips, and straight blade - even some pentagonal head. I've been collecting the stuff for years. I get the stuff from work (they just throw it away, blows my mind) from Quasite boxes (underground electrical boxes), electrical hardware, shipping crates, etc.

I scrap quite a bit but it would sure be nice if someone had a use for this. If one were to buy all this retail, or wholesale for that matter, it would be considerably expensive.

Thoughts?

[eddie]

Every time I throw something out I find a need for it years later. Im the kind of person who likes sorting stuff, so id probably do that and then hold onto all of it.

[XEMON]

I save a lot of stuff from the dumpster at work ... People come ask me if I want it before throwing things away now ...
For the hardware, I like to sort it and keep it in bins ... Last round I 1gal ice cream tub of 8-32 stainless bolts ... New never used ...

Sorting pits in front of the TV is easy and mindless

[Deus Machina]

Keep it. It's rare I need a random bolt but have the time to run to the store and find one. I have all the stuff I can find there anyway.
If you're a little more OCD, break out some old jars and sort it by thread. Or a big stack of those little drawers and thread, style, length, etc.

[Siress]

Sounds like an opportunity for devising a series of simple sorting machines.

Or just sell it for scrap. You'll probably lose more money looking for that one set you need every single time rather than ordering an organized set to keep on hand.

[THE SHOOTIST]

Scrap it.

[Mr. Hick]

Do you have children that often need to be punished? Make them sort it, then scrap it after they are done.

[punkncat]

Do you have children that often need to be punished? Make them sort it, then scrap it after they are done.

Before even coming to your post....

When I was a kid my father saved EVERYTHING fastener related into buckets, pails, drawers (before the overflow, etc.) and had this AMAZING recall on which bucket it was in. I cannot say how many hours upon hours of my lifetime I have spend pouring through buckets of used fasteners, clips, nails, screws, and such looking to find THAT ONE that he needed from a job 15 years ago.

[Mr. Hick]

My father built firetrucks for a living. Seriously. All the bodies, pumps, tanks and compartments are usually manufactured in a shop. He has 4 tool boxes full of tools and always had about a ton of fasteners in coffee cans, buckets, paint pales and shoe boxes. When he brought home more of them in a 5 gallon bucket from work my brother and I would often have to sort them when we were being little weasels. It was an excellent way to punish us and do something for him. SILENTLY. hahaha.

[Grendel]

Spent a lot of time as a kid sorting nuts and bolts for my father to the point I still do it. I save my cans of nuts and bolts for those crappy winter days, put a familiar movie on and sit and sort hardware while "watching" the movie.

[moving_target]

everyone else upon seeing this - Do the logical thing and sort them out for usefulness and relaxing sorting

me - Wonders what a damascus pattern using all that stuff would look like



probably better to go with everybody else here

[CrowsFeast]

I thought you couldn't use stainless to make damascus?

[moving_target]

@crowsfeast

Making Damascus out of JUST stainless would be difficult or possibly impossible, you certainly wouldn't get a great pattern since they're all a similar steel, but if you used a powdered high carbon steel filler in a canister Damascus you should be able to get at least a decent looking steel, if not a good functioning one as well. Obviously you'd need to fold it around a high carbon core for the cutting edge since the Damascus might not hold an edge very well

[Knuckle Dragger]

Look at the bucket as half empty. Then fill it up

[lew]

Scrap it, then put the money to something more useful like hooch or paintball crap.

I can place an order with McMaster Carr and have the exact item I need 24 hours later. The shipping charge is a small price to pay for not having my garage and closets cluttered with parts I won't need, cuz the garage is already filled with brass cartridge cases, and the closets are full of militaria and paintball paraphernalia.

[Hobbes]

Step 1: Dump the contents of the bucket into the trash
Step 2: Fill the bucket with concrete
Step 3: Sit down and enjoy the intense feeling of regret

[freedummy]

Heck, if my local options are any indication, you could start your own fastener supply store!

Me: I need 100x, 50y, and 75z.
They: We don't have x or y. We have 1z. It'll take 2 weeks to order the rest in.
Me: You mean like from eBay?