I have long been a parts catalog freak so I can appreciate Adam Savage’s deep nerding over the McMaster-Carr catalog. Every maker likely at least knows of it and those who don’t actually have a print copy likely covet one.
I like that he also gives a shout-out to the Graingers, Micro-Mark, and Small Parts catalogs, three others that are beloved by many makers.
Personal Note:
Here’s a bit about my own catalog obsession. When I was a teen, I used to play a little game with myself some weekends. I’d set an imaginary budget for doing a camper conversion of a Ford Econoline van (my dream vehicle at the time). I’d first look in the classifieds and find a decent-sounding van for sale. I’d subtract that from my budget. With the money left over, I’d go through the JC Whitney car parts catalog and spec out all of the parts I’d need to build out my dream camper. Good times! I’d often do the same thing with the Estes and Centuri rocketry catalogs. To this day, one of my favorite aspects of a project is specing and ordering the parts.