Everything you'd find at a typical home improvement store. Primarily convenient because it's 24 hours. Get on the 210 and head East. Get off at Myrtle and go straight. You'll pass Juniors Tools on the Right, Home Depot will be there in a block or two.

Orchard is mostly like a slightly smaller, slightly more expensive home depot without any real lumber. It has a garden section and nursery. I go to the one on Colorado because it's on the way to Home Depot, so I can get on the freeway and keep going if OSH doesn't have what I want.

A great place with all sorts of funky components you won't find elsewhere, like rings and pulleys, an extensive selection of threaded rod, etc.

This is where the Caltech stockroom buys boxes of screws, bolts, etc. You can go straight there to get better prices, and to find items you can't find anywhere else.

Hardware only, has a lot of paint and decorating, and lighting stuff. A better selection of pipes and bins of fasteners than Home Depot or OSH. Go West on california or colorado, the right on Fair Oaks. It's on your left just past the freeway.

A nice old-fashioned funky hardware store in Pasadena. They have a website: www.restoration.com. Excellent selection of fancy and old hardware like doorknobs and lightswitch plates, etc. Many useful bits of hardware loose in bins, the old-fashioned way.

At the north end of the building with central stockroom in it. Standard construction-grade softwood materials. Also carry high-quality hardwoods. You're better off getting the low-grade stuff at Home Depot, etc.

See above.

Construction-grade pine, fir, and redwood. Go north to Walnut and turn right, or go east to Allen and turn left. Corner of Allen and Walnut..

Beautiful selection of hardwoods and decorative softwoods. Expensive, though --it seems to start around $10 per boardfoot for thin board and go up. They also have veneer in rolls.

2024 and 6061 aluminum, cold rolled steel, and stainless steel in many shapes and sizes. Various bits and pieces of copper, bronze, and assorted plastics. Prices are a bit high.

They sell all kinds of metal: Cu, Fe, Sn, Pb, Al, etc., and various combinations thereof, in various forms: sheet, bar, plate, hex, etc. They have a huge warehouse, and discounts for large purchases (~$100?) Their prices are decent. They also have welding supplies.

South a few blocks from Industrial Metal Supply in Burbank. Sells lots of steel beams, sheets, bar, square stock, rectangular stock, etc. Good selection of ornamental cast-iron. Also some tools.

There's a place South on the 5 that calls itself Metal Depot, and looks like it sells cool scrap metal, and I've always wanted to go there.

Metals of all shapes and sizes. Also a good source of industrial supplies like lubricants, sanding discs, etc. Down in the south duarte industrial park near a number of other great stores.

Acrylic and other plastics in many shapes and sizes. Follow the directions to Industrial Pipe and Steel but keep going on Rush. Turn right on Santa Anita and it's on your right in a block.

Acrylic and other plastics in many shapes and sizes. Follow the directions to Industrial Pipe and Steel but keep going on Rush. Turn right on Santa Anita and it's on your right in a block.

Typical radio shack. I only go here if Duvac is closed.

Warehouse of everything surplus. Motors, switches, capacitors, pumps, oscilloscopes, lenses, glassware, everything. Great place to browse, definitely the best place to find motors. Very knowledgeable and nice salespeople who will help you find what you need and explain stuff you don't understand. Go east on Colorado, it's on the right a ways past PCC.

Lots of great stuff at reasonable prices - this what radio shack should be. If you're building circuits, it's the place to go. It closes early, though.

A vast warehouse of everything electronic. Really, really big. However, it's gone much towards computer and consumer electronics lately, so Duvac is actually often better if you're trying to build circuits from scratch. Go west on the 210/134. Take the 5 northtowards sacramento. Get off at Hollywood Blvd and turn left. It's on your right in a couple miles, after the Burbank airport.

Vases, beads, plastic flowers, art supplies etc. A nice framing section upstairs. Walking distance from campus.

See above. Many tools, including welding. It's the only local place for some of the heavier-duty industrial stuff, both tools and supplies (cutting oil, large sanding discs, etc. See the metals section for info.

See above. Reasonable source for hand tools. See the hardware section for info.

Tools only. Most of their hand tools and such are cheap and you get what you pay for. But they have some big stuff you don't see at home depot (engine lifts, welders), a good selection of pneumatic tools and equipment, and it's a good place to buy safety gear and bulk consumables. Take the 210 E. To Rosemead, get off at the "rosemead north" exit. It's on your left at the intersection with foothill, U-turn at foothill to get into the parking lot.

A pretty good hardware section. Home of Craftsman hand tools which are nice because of the lifetime warranty. Follow the driving instructions for Harbor Freight but turn right on Foothill and get in the left lane.

Tools aimed at the small contractor, so they have somewhat bigger stuff than Home Depot or Sears. You can find (some) real machines there, though not the biggest ones. Kind of in-between Home Depot and Grizzly. Follow the driving instructions to Home Depot.

A good place for welding equipment and supplies..

There's an MSC big book catalog in the shop library. A good source for pretty much everything. They have a warehouse in LA, so stuff gets here in 2 days even via UPS ground most of the time.

A reasonable source for tools that isn't as expensive as Delta, MSC, or the like. Mostly just tools, few supplies. Sometimes they aren't the cheapest, though, so comparison shop. Bandsaw blades are cheaper from MSC or McMaster-Carr, for example, because they carry them in rolls.A reasonable source for tools that isn't as expensive as Delta, MSC, or the like. Mostly just tools, few supplies. Sometimes they aren't the cheapest, though, so comparison shop. Bandsaw blades are cheaper from MSC or McMaster-Carr, for example, because they carry them in rolls.

A lot like MSC. I usually compare prices from the two when buying things.