Anyone ordering from McMaster?

Christopher Tidy wrote: Further to my post about wrinkle finish paint, I just couldn't resist

You know, that crinkle finish on the dispenser may be the texture of the cast iron, not of the paint. In fact, I would say that is the most probable situation. Wait till you get the dispenser before ordering the paint.

Bob

They will have to go UPS or some other carrier as the post office will not accept aerosol cans.

I also noticed that they have wrinkle finish powder coat available, and if your wife is not looking, the paint dispensers could fit in the home oven.

i order from mcmaster a lot. My next order will be maybe in a week or two. let me know if I can help.

It is not really what you asked, but McMaster ships internationally.

Thanks a lot for the offer, Igor. Unfortunately it seems that Roger is right, and USPS won't carry aerosols.

Oh well. I've e-mailed McMaster to see what it would cost to ship them direct to England. I'm guessing it will be prohibitive for a small order. Last time I got something small sent UPS from the US (something like a 1.5 lb package) it cost me something like $50+. Ouch.

Does anyone know of international carriers who are considerably cheaper than UPS for small items?

Best wishes,

Chris

I think that you are screwed, USPS does not take liquids and common carriers probably charge too much -- but if I can help let me know.

i8

I think you're right, but somehow I'm going to get green wrinkle paint. I'll let you know if you can help. Thanks for the offer.

Chris

Of course you have another option, mail the tape dispenser to the States, and then mail it back after painting, or get the green powder coat wrinkle and do it yourself.

You will probably have enough left over to paint lots of stuff besides the tape dispensers.

So I get a £400 air fare, a few nights in a hotel, a lot of food and a delivery of spray paint. I spray the dispenser in my hotel room, pack up and go home about £1000 lighter. If I was super rich with lots of free time, sure, I'd do it and enjoy it. But as it is I think I'd be better paying to get some paint UPSed from the States, if I really can't find any in England.

But paint is always useful!

Best wishes,

Chris

I can't remember how to do it but I saw a guy make standard paint wrinkle to look exactly like wrinkle paint. Im thinking that he put lacquer over the enamel while it was still tacky.

John

On Sun, 18 Mar 2007 22:29:20 -0500, with neither quill nor qualm, John quickly quoth:

That'll do it, alright.

-- Losing faith in humanity, one person at a time.

I've done it, not intentionally, by spraying a fast drying top coat over slow drying red primer without giving the primer enough time to cure.

Ned Simmons

Did that change recently? I was able to ship a small can of paint a while back by USPS, but that was domestic and pre-2001. I got instructions on what to do from the local USPS office.

Mike

Here's a USPS poster of what's legal:

If UPS or FedEx takes it it's going to cost like hell, HazMat charges are sky-high. Might have the same prohibition against going by air.

Stan

I just got the following e-mail from McMaster:

"Thank you for sending us this inquiry. Due to the ever-increasing complexity of U.S. Export regulations, McMaster-Carr has decided to only accept orders from a few, long-established customers of ours overseas. We are not able to provide a quote nor can we accept your orders. We regret any inconvenience this causes you."

If Amazon.com and millions of eBay sellers can do it, I don't get why McMaster can't. Especially since their website implies that they do accept international orders.

I used to like McMaster a lot. Now I don't like them so much.

I'll look around and see what it would cost to UPS them to England. I suspect Stan is right and it will cost too much.

If aerosols aren't permitted in USPS surface mail, I don't see why. If I spent half an hour looking at their list of prohibitions I'm sure I could think of something pretty dangerous to ship which was actually permissible.

Best wishes,

Chris

Don't take it out on McMaster -- they're a good outfit that takes care of their customers.

Export rules on ORM-D and Haz goods have become an administrative nightmare. We ship (explosives) regularly to GB, and it takes roughly five hours of clerical time per lot to get the paperwork, import/export agents, and FedEx documentation cleaned up.

I expect that because of the US Homeland Security Act rulings, every item of hard goods now invites close scrutiny. McMaster caters to the small-order crowd, and it's probably just not worth their time to do the chits on anything less than a few hundred dollars' worth of shipment.

LLoyd (BTW... AFAIK, CO2-propelled aerosols were last designated ORM-D, and not HazMat... dunno about butane and nitrous oxide propellants.)

I do not sell to any foreign buyers due to administrative hassles (having to go to post office, fill out paperwork etc).

Lloyd and Igor, you've got a valid point. But I don't like the way that their website suggests they're happy to ship internationally. It should make the situation clear.

Chris