Can Printers Replace Hardware Stores?

There may come a day when many people will just make their own bolts at home

Somewhere in this labyrinth is a bin with a compartment containing a 1/4 x 2-inch hex-head bolt.

Imagine you need a 1/4-inch by 2-inch hex-head bolt to replace one you just lost while working on a DIY project. It needs to have a standard (coarse) thread count, and come with a nut, washer and lock washer.

There’s a hardware store 20 minutes away, which is handy because you’re in a hurry. As you stride in the door, you say in passing to the clerk behind the cash register, “Where are the bolts?”

“In the fasteners department,” he says, pointing to the section to the far right.

You head right and turn the corner and find dozens of shelving units, each with scores of drawers, each with scads of bins, each with tiny compartments that contain hundreds of fasteners. Where to begin?

Now let’s rewind the tape.

Imagine you need a 1/4-inch by 2-inch hex-head bolt to replace one you just lost while working on a DIY project. It needs to have a standard (coarse) thread count, and come with a nut, washer and lock washer.

A rendering of the desired bolt on the computer screen before it is printed into reality. (Image via Unionfab)

You turn to your computer, which is hooked up to a 3D printer. You input the style of fastener and desired dimensions. The metal-alloy filament material is loaded into the machine, and the 1/4 x 2 bolt is manufactured before your eyes.

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If you’re handy, 3D printing a durable composite-polymer fastener at home is possible today with the right software, hardware and know-how.

I’m not an expert, but as far as I can tell, making a metal fastener that could withstand high heat, pressure, weight and force loads would require a commercial-grade 3D printer and materials that aren’t widely available to individuals. HP metal printers, for example, start at around $550,000 and use metal-infused filament alloys such as stainless steel, aluminum, nickel, cobalt-chrome, and titanium alloys, according to the company HP knowledge base.

But just like self-publishing has allowed individuals to bypass major publishing houses, 3D printers may some day allow homeowners to bypass hardware stores.

That’s why independent hardware stores should prepare themselves for this possibility.

If they haven’t done so already, wholesale suppliers and fastener manufacturers should form R&D labs to create 3D printers to deploy inside hardware stores. Imagine the day when stores can custom print exactly what a customer needs, just like they do now when they cut keys and mix custom paint colors.

Who knows, if 3D-printing technology advances exponentially, on-demand fasteners could lower owners’ inventory costs and decrease the footprint of their stores, lowering overhead costs as well.