RE: Cheap Alternatives to stuff at the hobby shop
Ace Hardware has all the bolts and nuts we use including blind nuts and lock nuts. They have Epoxy and good wood glues, sand paper, dremel supplies, brass tubing, piano wire, dowels, (mine even carries balsa), Locktite, Exacto products, brushes, rustoleum paints, good tape, ceiling tiles for building boards, and on and on. Pennies for nuts and bolts. Everything is cheaper.