UK supplier of 'multipack' machine screw/nut/washer sets?

Spalding Fasteners are who I use

Also on bay of ease

Avpx

I get all mine from china. Takes a week or two to deliver. But half the price of UK based suppliers of exactly the same thing

No. You have to go searching. Aliexpress mostly.

Once you find that its one particular screw you are mostly using, (in my case M3 x 6 pan head zinc plated pozi) buy a thousand of that sort and restock the trays.

Or if its some specially arcane Whitworth thread last used in 1947, try Mackay's of Cambridge....

Of course you could become the 'supplier of small quantities in the UK' yourself. By importing bulk from china. Many people presumably otherwise out of work do exactly that.

Lidl, and I assume Aldi, often have a selection of a varieties of screws, nuts and bolts, on the middle aisle.

Forgefix do various assortments

There are generally local fixings suppliers all over the place, e.g. All Screwed Up in Leicester or Bolt Worthy in Nottingham, find your local equivalent?

In message snipped-for-privacy@mid.individual.net>, jkn <jkn+ snipped-for-privacy@nicorp.co.uk> writes

I use Westfield Fasteners (in Oxfordshire). They quote relatively small quantities as a minimum / unit purchase, but I've ordered larger quantities which have arrived in one bag.

Adrian

Last time I bought sets (~10 years ago), I got them from:

I'd be wary of buying from China. You know the maxim of 'throw away the little packet of screws that came with the item, and use some proper ones instead'? Well that's because they're made of Chinese steel, and often quite soft steel at that. I recently bought some HDD screws from Aliexpress (I was making a 3D printed design and that was the item they recommended), and 2 out of 20 were bent. Because they were bent they didn't go into the aluminium HDD casting, but even after that the screw thread had worn off - despite steel supposedly being harder than aluminium.

I was buying from 10.9 high tensile bolts and I noticed some of the screws in my 'Blue Spot' bolt kit from Toolstation were only 4.8 which is pretty soft. No idea what happens if you order 10.9 screws from China but be prepared for them to be soft. No doubt the Chinese do actually make high tensile screws, but this is something that's easy to lie about on Aliexpress.

(An 8.8 bolt from that Blue Spot kit sheared and cost £350 of car repairs. I only fitted it because the OEM bolt sheared when I tried to torque it to spec. I've learnt my lesson about high tensile steel now)

Theo

For demanding applications, sure, buy from reputable sources and pay the price. but for 'sod it I need a longer M3.5 for an electrical socket' China is fine.

Thanks for the suggestions. Their website is a bit painful but I will pursue. I may do an Aliexpress order (I am not in a rush); It's the pain of assembling an order which pust me off a little.

I used to live near Mackays of Cambridge; a great place to loiter...

I have used

They also keep some BSF / BSW / UNF / UNC stock

As they have no minimum order quantity you could make up your own multi pack - and if you spend £60 it will be delivered free

In East Anglia, look out for Kebrell Nuts and Bolts. I use the one in Thetford.