I'll second that, McMaster's site is a work of art, especially if need something and you don't know the industry name/term for something.

That's a good point. It's been many years since I ordered from McMaster and I didn't remember shipping always being overnight.

I know this is the third "me too comment" for this, but you cannot overstate how awesome McMaster Carr is for this sort of thing - they have everything. Massive amounts of information on the site, super fast shipping, reasonable prices. If you build stuff in your spare time and haven't tried McMaster-Carr, you're missing out.

I am taking notes on their website. Now that is functional design, stripped down to the core.