Tools, parts, equipment, and supplies

Places to buy tools and supplies

Electronic Interface and Control

http://www.jameco.com/

http://www.digikey.com/

http://www.mouser.com/

http://www.nteinc.com/ NTE (sells the NTE521 high voltage tripler)

http://www.servocity.com/ Wide range of RC servos plus gears, drive shafts, and chains.

http://pololu.com/ Controllers and parts for RC servos, motors, sensors. Good prices. They don't screw you on little stuff. As a result I end up going to Pololu for buying bulk stock of power plugs, jumpers, headers, RC cables and connectors.

http://www.phidgets.com/ USB interfaces to sensors and controllers. Good stuff, but more expensive than Pololu.

http://www.atlas-scientific.com/ environment-proof sensors, sensor boards, data collection. They have pH, ORP, flow meters, power isolation. All boards provide I2C or UART serial with ASCII data format. Everything is plug-and-play, dead simple for microcontroller interfacing, potted in epoxy to be dirt and waterproof, and reasonably priced.

http://www.imagesco.com/ Geiger Counters, servo control, kits, hobby projects.

http://schmalzhaus.com/EasyDriver/ Stepper motor drivers.

http://www.sparkfun.com/

http://www.elexp.com/

http://www.mfactors.com/ Adaptors for PCI, USB, memory cards, mini-PCI. Lots of embedded adaptor cables

Tools

http://www.techni-tool.com/ Techni-Tool: hand tools

http://www.wihatools.com/ Wiha tools: hand tools, drivers

http://www.snapon.com/ Snap-on tools

http://use-enco.com/ Enco tools catalog

http://www.littlemachineshop.com/ Machine shop tooling

Mechanical Hardware

http://www.mcmaster.com/ McMaster-Carr: fasteners, fabrication tools, power transmission, mechanical parts.

http://www.smallparts.com/ Small parts similar to McMaster-Carr, but more lab oriented.

http://www.grainger.com/ Industrial tools and hardware.

http://www.amazon.com/b/ref=sr_aj?node=16310091 Amazon Scientific and Industrial

http://www.mscdirect.com/ MSC Direct

http://www.murphyandsimi.com/ Murphy and Simi Co. casters, wheels, hand trucks, pallet jacks, etc

http://www.hbbolt.com/ Harrison & Bonini -- bolts, nuts, washers and screws

Raw Materials

Alan Steel & Supply Company (650)369-2526 505 East Bayshore Road, Redwood City, CA 94063

Electrical Engineering

http://www.mastechpowersupply.com/ Mastech power supplies: lab and bench DC power supplies.

Parts search engines

http://octopart.com/

Computer and Network hardware

http://www.graybar.com/ Graybar: rack-mount hardware and networking parts and tools. Graybar is only decent place in San Francisco for racks and rack-mount hardware. 1760 CESAR CHAVEZ #A, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94124 415-970-5444

http://www.sweetmemory.com/ Johnny Shami is a nice guy. Sweet Memory will ship free in San Francisco via messenger, so if you need a memory or a drive and you can't leave your office then you can still get it the same day from Sweet Memory. Prices are decent for a storefront in SF. Mail-order stores may be cheaper, but that doesn't help you when you need a part ASAP. 415-281-8600. 100 First st., San Francisco, CA 94105

http://www.centralcomputers.com/ Central Computers. 837 Howard Street, San Francisco, CA 94103 415-495-5888

Parts resupply

Fixture Hex Nuts (Spherical End), or extra thick nuts or high hex nuts.

Sapphire Vee Jewel Bearing

precision low friction plain bearings.