Canadian Suppliers

Intro

(This is based on quoted text from Wade)

Belts and Pulleys

• SDP/SI - "they work fine, but were pretty expensive, the shipping was expensive, and the brokerage fees were expensive too. I'd love to find a Canadian source for MXL belts and pulleys, or anything that would work."

Specific SDP-SI MXL pulleys that work on a Darwin:

Z axis - A 6A16-060DF2508 - 60 tooth 1/4 " bore pulley. Can be tapped out to M8 directly.

Electronics

• Makerbot
• Digikey.ca
• Mouser (not really)
• robotshop.ca
• sparkfun.com
• gadgetgangster.com
• alltronics.com/

"Also, if you need electronics, Makerbot is my favorite, but if they're out Digikey is pretty good. They ship to Canada for $10 if you order from digikey.ca, and no brokerage fees. Mouser sent me 50 pages of customs forms detailing every single resistor, cap and chip I ordered for a Darwin, and the brokerage fees cost almost as much as the parts, so I'd stay away from them if you're in Canada."

Steel

• Metal Supermarket

As for other Canadian suppliers, I found Metal Supermarket usually has stock of 5/16" stainless rod, which works for 8mm smooth rod.

• Generic Steel Suppliers

Check in the telephone directory under "Steel". Your average construction steel supplier sells quite a bit of steel for prices we consider to be very cheap.

Fasteners

• Fastenal here in Vancouver
• Peavey Mart - good general store though they are more in the smaller cities and towns.

I've been getting M8 threaded rod from Fastenal here in Vancouver; they usually need to order in larger quantities, but it's usually pretty fast. I also get all my metric nuts and bolts there. I'm quite happy that Mendel uses fewer types of bolts, btw - that makes life a bit easier.

Also try: brafasco/CTF, Canadian Tire (although be sure to check the parts are actually what they're labeled as -- I found their inventory a little disorganized), Metal Supermarket, Atlas Machine Tools on Queen, Jacob's Hardware on Queen, and even Home Hardware in a pinch for metal rods.

Motors

• alltronics.com/

computer parts

• memoryexpress.com/

Working Notes

This page may duplicate another page

We should put up a page on the Wiki regarding Canadian suppliers. I had a look at the Builders Wiki, but I wasn't sure exactly where to stick it. There's a section in the Mendel BOM regarding suppliers, but this might be more general than just Mendel parts.