Quote:
Originally Posted by widebody911
What's funny is that the list the guy gives is mostly just a bunch of big-box also-rans.
From what I can tell, most of the real hardware stores are gone. The ones run by the grizzled old-timers, where you can bring in a fitting from your 19th-centure house and he'll hobble over to a dusty cabinet and fetch all of the parts you need to rebuild it, or better yet, an exact replacement for it. The guy working there will know the difference between metric, SAE, and Whitworth. Those guys are gone.
Luckily I have two ACE stores not too far from my house; the closest one is kind of small, but they have 95% of my random hardware needs, and I can usually get the remaining 5% at the other one. If I need bulk materials (ie fencing, lumber) I have to go to Home Depot or Lowes.
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^^^ This.
We've got two Ace stores close by. One has the almost anything I need for house/ranch projects and can give good advice on what will work or not. Love going in with some strange part and going through the pull out drawers to find it. I was working on one of the ranch ponds Saturday and was having trouble with a fitting. Walked in, greeted at the pipe section and showed them my part and was told they don't make that one any more but we have one that will work. It did. One of my better buys for $7.
There is talk of a Tractor Supply Store going in about a half hour away, but I don't know much about them.