MAKE magazine’s list of tool and supply catalogs 3M . Plastics, adhesives; retroreflective tape reflects IR for video tracking.8020 Garage Sale on Ebay . Modular t-slot aluminum framing surplus.ABACOM . RF-to-serial modules.Acroname . Sensors (esp. ranging), motors.Acrylics.ca (Victoria BC) . Plastics and plastic fabrication.Active Electronics (Mississauga, ON) . Electronics tools and components. Very slow for online orders.Active Surplus (Toronto ON) . Surplus, including electronics components.AEI Components . LCDs, cameras, DVD players, video accessories.Aetna Felt . Industrial felts.Allegro Micro . Motor drivers, shift registers, ICs.All Battery . Batteries and solar cells.All Electronics . Surplus.Alumilite . Casting resins.Amazing Magnets . Rare earth magnets in many shapes.Analog Devices . Accelerometers, digital pots, A-to-D converters, special-purpose ICs.A-One Counterparts (London ON) . Electronic components. 962 Leathorne St., just off Adelaide near Commissioners.Ascension Tech . Precision 6 DOF motion trackers for VR.Atlas Machinery Supply (Toronto ON) . Sherline, Starrett, etc.Basic Micro . Basic Atom Pro24 microcontroller.Bekaert . Conductive textiles and yarns.Black Box . Protocol converter boxes.Block EMF . Conductive fabrics, conductive fabric tapes, conductive hook-and-loop.Boss Tools (Canada) . Discount tools.Brightec . High quality glow-in-the-dark inkjet paper.CanaKit . Electronics kits.Cermetek . Modem and network interface ICs.Color Change Corporation . Thermochromic dyes and photochromic inks; sells small quantity sample packs.Chromatic Technologies . Thermochromic, photochromic, and photoluminescent inks.Color Kinetics . LED-based spotlights and architectural lighting.Container Store . Flexible magnetic strips, containers for organizing supplies and components.Coolight . Sells electroluminescent (EL) wire by the foot, LEDs, sequencers, inverters, kits.D-Link . USB, Ethernet, serial, Bluetooth converters; wireless Ethernet cameras.Dazian Fabrics . Flame-retardant, wide fabrics.DeSerres (Mississauga ON) Art supplies, including masonite, large pieces of corrugated plastic and foamcore.Digi-Key and Digi-Key Canada . Electronics components. Very fast for online orders.Dynalloy . Manufacturers of flexinol shape memory alloy (muscle wire); kits and wire by the foot.Earth LCD . LCD panels.Edirol . Video mixers and video control products.Edmund Scientific . Kits, equipment, supplies and other teaching resources.Educational Innovations . Science education stuff including UV-sensitive beads , ferrofluids , ferromagnetic putty , neodymium magnets , liquid crystal , memory wire , polyethylene oxide gel , sodium polyacrylate , heat sensitive paper , etc.E-Lab Digital Engineering (formerly FerretTronics) . Motor control chips, including servo motor controller chip and two-stepper motor X-Y plotter chip. The latter doesn’t seem to be available.Electronic Goldmine . Surplus.Elm Electronics . Specialty ICs including LANC-to-RS232 converter.Elmwood Magic . Magic supplies.Elo TouchSystems . Computer touch screens.Elwire . Electroluminescent wire and drivers. Sells in large batches only (?)Embroider This! . Photochromic embroidery thread.Fastech . Hook-and-loop (i.e., velcro) including conductive.Fastenal (GTA, London ON) . Two locations in London: 500 Clarke Rd., and 1398 Wellington Rd. Has a variety of metal supplies, including M8 threaded rod.Felt People . Decorative and industrial felts.Fiber Optic Store . Spools of clear fiber optic filament.Fine Silver Products . Shieldex conductive fabrics, yarns, zipper tapes.FlexSolarCells . Flexible solar cells and panels.Focus Enhancements . Analog and digital video products.Glow Products (Canada) . Electroluminescent wire.Great Hobbies (Canada) . RC vehicles and supplies, servos.Happ Controls . Pushbuttons, joysticks, coin slots, vending machine and arcade devices.Harrison Instruments Minimum Theremin 101 kit.HB Inexpensive LEDs from China, slow shipping.Highly Electric Photoelectric switches and intrusion detection systems.HVW Technologies (Calgary AB) Arduinos and other electronics.IBVA Technologies Brain wave sensors.Images SI, Inc. Flex sensors, FSRs and other common sensors.Imprintables Heat transfer materials for vinyl cutters.Infusion Systems I-Cube high-level MIDI system.Jameco Electronics components.Johnston Industrial Plastics (Toronto ON) Plastics of all kinds.K & S Engineering Hobby metals.Kits R Us Kits and inexpensive PIC programmers.Kopin Very small LEDs.Laird Plastics (Toronto ON) Acrylic in any form; foamcore.LamĂ© Lifesaver Conductive thread with low resistivity.Lantronix Embedded net controllers.LDB LLC Photochromic inks and powders, photoluminescent inks, magnetic inks.LED Effects Super bright LEDs.Lee Valley Tools (Burlington, London ON) Tools, esp. for woodworking.Lemos International RF, GPS, Bluetooth modules.Less EMF Conductive fabrics, tapes, thread, epoxies, inks, paints, hook-and-loop.Lindsay’s Technical Books good for reprints of older technologies; Gingery books.Linx Technologies Expensive RF modules with error-checking.Liquidware Open source hardware: shields, power backpacks, OLED touchscreens etc. for Arduino.Lumex LEDs.Magic Depot Magic supplies.MagnaMagic Magnetic and chalkboard paints.Marlon P. Jones Associates Surplus.Maxim Signal-conditioning ICs, A-to-D converters, digital pots, TTL-to-RS232 converters, etc.McLogan Supply Screen printing supplies.McMaster-Carr Best source for construction and mechanical hardware… but they don’t ship to individuals in Canada.Mentalism+ Products Bone conduction thumbtip, metal detector, etc.Microchip PIC family of microcontrollers.Micro-Mark: the Small Tools specialists Model, hobby and jeweler’s tools.microEngineering Labs PicBasic Pro programming environment for PIC.Micromint Embedded controllers, phone line interfaces, ICs.Modern Device Company Bare Bones Arduino, Really Bare Bones Arduino, 8×8 LED board.Mouser Electronic components and instruments. Ships to Canada easily.MUTR (UK) Electronic components, kits, smart materials, thermochromic powders and inks, photochromic powders and inks. Good for small orders.NetMedia BX-24 microcontroller module.Nexus Serially controlled switchers for analog video.Nutmeg Woodworking (Toronto ON) Proxxon tools, wood carving.Oakridge Hobbies Clear and fluorescent fiber optics, acrylic sheets, rods.Oncore GPS products of all sorts.OneSource Metal Toronto-area supplier of aluminum, brass, etc. No minimum order.Orchard Supply Hardware Industrial materials.Parallax BASIC Stamp 2 and other microcontroller modules; RF, IR, Bluetooth modules; robotics parts. Good tutorials.PartStore Replacement part superstore.Phidgets (Canada) Physical interface widgets that require a USB connection to a regular multimedia computer.Plastecs Inexpensive solar cells, fiber optics and kits.Polhemus Precision 6 DOF motion trackers for VR.PowerStream Batteries.Quadravox MP3 modules; sound recording and playback devices.Quantum Technologies Capacitive touch sensor ICs.Ramsey Electronics Kits of all kinds; many are sensors or actuators with a little extra circuitry. The SMD1C Stepper Motor Driver kit might be useful but it only drives one motor.Rentron RF, IR modules; home automation; PIC programming. Good tutorials.Risk Reactor UV and phosphorescent pigments and dyes.RobotShop (Canada) Kits, microcontrollers, sensors, etc.Robot Store (Jameco) Muscle wire kits, robot kits.Rockler Woodworking tools and supplies.Rose Brand Fabrics All kinds of fabrics, including front and rear projection in multiple shades from white to black.Sayal Electronics (Burlington, ON; Mississauga ON) Electronics components, kits .SDP/SI Producers Of Off-The-Shelf: Bearings, Gears, Timing Belts, Timing Pulleys, Couplings, ShaftsScott Edwards Electronics Motor control modules; LCD and VFD displays.Sculpture Supply Canada (Toronto ON) distributes Smooth-On mold-making and casting suppliesShapeLock Polymorph plastics.Shieldex Trading Metalized conductive fabrics, yarns, zipper tapes.SkyeTek RFID products.SmallParts The hardware store for researchers and developers.Smarthome Home automation products, including X10.Smooth-On Mold-making and casting materials.SolarActive International Photochromic materials, incl. inks, threads, beads, fabrics.Solarbotics Motors, sensors, solar cells, robot kits.Solar World Solar panels, products, kits.Spark Fun (US) Microcontrollers, break-out boards, etc.Sundance Solar Solar panels, products, kits.Sunshine Discount Crafts Friendly plastic sticks in multiple colors.Super Bright LEDs Including high-flux Piranha LEDs.Sutherland Felt Natural industrial wool felts.Symbol RFID products, bar code scanners.Tang Embroidery machines.Tapeswitch Floor switches in rolls and mats. Approximately $20-25 for foot long ribbon switches. 6×23″ CVP mat switch is $37; 17×23″ CVP mat is $74.Texas Advanced Optoelectronic Solutions Color sensors, light-to-voltage, light-to-frequency converters.Textura Trading Company Industrial yarns, incl. UV, reflective, and steel blends.Union Ink Thermochromic, photochromic, photoluminescent inks, other specialty inks.USCutter Vinyl cutters; sign vinyl rolls ($14 for 24″ x 10′)Vernier scientific sensors for education.VibeLights Sells electroluminescent (EL) wire and tape by the foot.Winbond Electronics Sound recording and playback devices and chips.Wulfden Freeduino (Arduino compatible) kits including some LCD displays.Xecom Phone line interface modules.X-Static Fiber that is 99.9% pure silver.
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