What, are you nuts?

In reply to Cousin_Eddie (Forum Supporter) :

Every plater I have dealt with (1/2 dozen or so) treats you better if you bring clean parts in the door. I saw one chase another customer off for dirty parts too. So for obsolete, send them clean.

In reply to Cousin_Eddie (Forum Supporter) :

Thanks. Is this the place? https://arrowplating.com/index.html

I appreciate the info. I have some OEM hardware I'd like to save, but there's nobody closer than an hour from me that will plate small batches, so if I'm going to ship stuff out, sending it to Texas is about the same as sending it anywhere else in the country.

I haven't worked with a plater before so I wasn't sure what their expectations would be for prepping the parts.

In reply to obsolete :

Yes, that's them. It's a great operation. Super quick turnaround and cheap.

Great input so far everyone. I really like the storage solutions y'all have shown.

Now here is a question, for the cats that are keeping them organized and purchasing them (the non-bolt bucket guys), what do you all keep "on the shelf"? Ask as there are a lot of times that I don't know exactly what I need, but I sure as hell know it isn't something I have. I'm knocking on the door of 40, but I'm not gonna lie here, I don't even know where to start to try and graduate from the bolt bin.

I keep 1/4-20x3/4 through 1/2-13x3 in the SAE and M6-1x16 through M10-1.25x35 as well as nuts, flat washers, and lock washers for each thread. I restock them by the box when a cubby gets low. Used fasteners go in the bolt bucket if they are something odd sized and weird, or the scrap bin. Usually the scrap bin because anymore I despise digging through junk for a fastener.

In reply to Steve :

I don't really stock much for cars, but I also don't fabricate as much as many others here do.

I have two of these 40-drawer bins from H-F, one for SAE, one from metric. I went on BoltDepot.com and made a list of common sizes for each type, then made two p-touch labels for each size for the drawers. One for bolts (and threaded screws) and one for nuts and washers.  After that, I went through my hardware bin over a couple of evenings in front of the TV and sorted them with a sizer and thread gauge (from tap sets).  Many of the drawers were/are empty, but at least now I know if I have a size or if I need to go buy it along with a place to store any extras quickly and easily, which is helpful with staying organized - make it as easy as possible so you're more likely to do it.