Suppliers

Purpose of this page

List of suppliers for various materials and items and user reviews.

Please add new suppliers and user comment lines (with attribution / date) Suppliers can be rated by in the user comment lines. Convention is [1] = worst, [5] = best

Electronics

• Mouser Electronics
  • [4] Very complete line of electronics parts. Good searchability, fast service, decent prices on parts. Tools and some other items are expensive (alden 10/02/09)

• DigiKey
  • [3] Very complete line of electronics parts. I find it harder to navigate than Mouser, and more expensive. I generally don't use them unless I can't find something elsewhere (alden 10/02/09)

• Avnet Electronics Marketing
  • [4] US electronics parts distributor, like Mouser or DigiKey. Good searchability. Avnet Inc. also offers consulting, design, and FAE services (will 10/02/09).

• Hebei (China) LEDs only
  • [5] Best prices on LEDs I've found - but does have a $199 minimum (see Buy LEDs Online for smaller orders). Ship fast. Worked through a problem with them and they handled me fairly. (alden 10/02/09)

• Buy LEDs Online LEDs only
  • [4] US distributor for Hebei. Same stuff. Prices are more expensive but no minimum. (alden 10/02/09)

• Modern Device
  • These guys have pretty good arduino clones, the Bare-Bones-Board and the Really-Bare-Bones-Board, kits from about $10. Fast & cheap shipping, good customer service. (jackson 10/02/09 -- did a bulk order from them.)

• MPJA - Marlin P Jones Associates Surplus
  • [5] Great surplus. Nice printed catalog, Some specials are really good deals. (alden 10/03/09)

Plastics

• eStreet Plastics
  • [4] Acrylics, etc. Very good prices and good for small quantities (e.g. 1 foot lengths of tuning, etc. (alden 10/02/09)

• Delvies Plastics
  • [4] Acrylics, casting supplies. Good prices, shipping is OK, but not lightning fast. (alden 10/02/09)

• TAP Plastics
  • [3] Acrylics, casting supplies. Good selection, services; somewhat more expensive than some other suppliers (alden 10/02/09)

• AeroMarineProducts, Inc. ([email protected])
  • [5] Resin casting supplies. Got to love this place. One guy, very cheap prices, good delivery (alden 10/02/09)

Metals

• Metals Depot
  • [5] This has been a great find. Small quantities of steel, aluminum, etc; cheap prices, reasonable shipping, good service. (alden 10/02/09)

• Speedy Metals
  • [4] Good second choice to Metals Depot. Somewhat larger selection, somewhat higher prices. (alden 10/02/09)

Machine Tools & Fabrication Shops

• Enco
  • [3] Very complete source for machine tooling, can be expensive. Online specials can be good deals, however. (alden 10/02/09)

• Harbor Freight
  • [3] Some things are really cheap. Others are just "cheap". Not good for precision equipment such as lathes, rotary tables, etc. Still useful, however (alden 10/02/09)

• eMachineshop
  • [4] Will machine parts from proprietary CAD drawing package. I had a very satisfactory experience with them on a 200-part run. Can be expensive for very short runs (alden 10/03/09)

Printed Circuit Boards

• Advanced Circuits
  • [4] Reliable, quality fabrication, prices vary. Decent prices on bare-bones prototypes. Other volumes may or may not be competitive. I've ordered many times (alden 10/03/09)

• Custom PCB, aka Silvtronics
  • [3] Very cheap offshore (Malaysia). Not as good quality as others - hole alignment, plating finish..., but may be OK for simpler applications. (alden 10/03/09)

• Express PCB
  • [3] Prototyping shop with good prices. Has an easy-to-use, proprietary drawing package. At some point you'll want Gerber files and outgrow these guys (alden 10/03/09)

• Gold Phoenix
  • A lot of people use this company. I have no experience with them to comment (alden 10/03/09)

• Sunstone
  • [2] I never used them as they always price out higher than the alternatives. (alden 10/03/09)