C & H Surplus

This place is awesome. I’ve picked up everything from lenses to electronics to vials, and mechanical parts. Must-​visit for DIYers, artists, tinkerers, and those preparing for the zombie apocalypse. Limited hours: check before you go.

I needed a couple of very specific screws, teeny tiny, certain thread pitch, certain head design, etc. After about 15 minutes, we found them, and as I only needed 2 of the buggers, I literally had to force money into the owner’s hand. He was that kind.

This is such a great store. Come here to be inspired by technology. For tinkerers of all levels. The owner Rick is an interesting storeowner, and will show you his cool merchandise. If you are ever in the area, you must stop by!

the best place to go for specific project parts.
rick is very friendly and helpful; i explained what i was working on, and he happily helped me look for parts the entire time. it’s the perfect surplus store :^)

Rick and I have too many of the same things so trading for equal value is probably not going to happen, but he was extremely polite and accommodating in spite of my drawing blanks and the sad «always something isn’t there» that kept myself so far from punctuality I thought I might be idle or dead. Anyhow, I hope to make good friends with the people involved with C&H because I’ve only ever seen private collections this diverse. Well have to see if package deals yield better prices than one or two items however. I hope the ebay mainframe is blown up so price checking becomes impossible!!!

Mostly bits and pieces of stuff. Full of electronics, some mechanical stuff and optics. This is not your typical surplus store with jeans, jackets, patches and camping equipment. It is fun for tinkers, artist and children [also the occasional mad scientist and inventor]. It is a great place to take your kids and show them whosits and whatits.

This place is only for the old-​boys club and senior friends of the owner Rick. OK, this is supposed to be a surplus store and all stuff here are trinkets and salvaged items for some hobbyists or experimenters who need to improvise on their projects — and they should come cheap right? WRONG! Well it depends on whether the owner «likes» you or not. Asking for a price n u always gets some witty remarks that are out of whack from Rick. And if u ask for a better price or counter offered, he would make arrogant and condescending belittling statements at you. It’s no wonder this place is always quiet. Probably this store is not a rental, if it is, the guy must has a deep pocket to keep it afloat with miserable monthly earnings. After a few brash comments from the guy, I would happily now pay for full price for whatever I want from either online mail order or from the Home Depot/​Radio Shack/​etc. nearby (not that C&H here gave any drastic discounts mind you — I could have paid for brand new packaged stuff for the same price he gave). Good riddance as far as I am concerned! Too bad the original C&H Pasadena sold its land and closed forever. Then and there they folks who worked there were more accommodating and willing to wheel and deal. Simply not worth the money and time at this place here now if Rick is still as arrogant and condescending as ever!

This place is pretty legit. Gadgets and gizmos, whoozits and whatchamacallits, It’s like a wonderporium up in here!
So what they do is take old junk tech, break it down to bare components and sell it as is. So if you’re looking for random components to something you’re tinkering on, then most likely they have it.
The two owners are really knowledgeable about different things and how things work, or could work.
eg if you’re working on a diy project, or a mythbusters type test, they know how a part or a component might be able to do something you’re looking for.
All in all, really reasonable and knowledgeable people and a lot of surplus components.

I felt like a kid in a candy store. Albeit, I was a nerdy tomboy, so perhaps that’s why I fell in love with this dusty, quirky little store. My husband was putting together a proton pack for his ghostbusters costume and we found all the right odds and ends for it. I could have stayed all day searching through random drawers of circuits and lightbulbs, nuts and bolts, pulls and levers… Such a random assortment of… stuff!

I’ve been shopping at C&H since 1976 when I got my drivers license– I was able to drive to the store in Pasadena. The new location in Duarte is not as big, but has all the things I need. They have wire, relays, lamps, LEDs, switches, power supplies, test equipment, and lots of other interesting things. One unique thing about these guys at C&H in Duarte: they are polite and there is a friendly atmosphere in the store. You don’t see that much anymore. I really like shopping at C&H.

Finally came here yesterday late morning with my fiancé and was pretty surprised to what I found. This place has plenty of interesting items that may be for the inventor, movie prop buff, an inquisitive child (or adult) and curious overall person. I don’t even know how to beginning to describe all of the many items all crammed into this store, but you will find sound waves, medical recording equipment, various small motors, lighting equipment and parts, propellers, some movie props, sound equipment, camera equipment and so much more. Honestly a great find for those who are interested in tinkering away at things.
When we first came in, we were immediately greeted by the owner. He was a very nice and friendly talkative man. He told us that C & H stands for Carl & Henry, after his grandfather and brother who opened C & H after WWII. He showed us a lot of really neat generators and other neat equipment and let us play with it. He even told us that we probably won’t buy anything, lol, which was pretty much true (but still a fun store to look at things here and think of the inventor possibilities). He even told us that the new movie Battleship purchased items from his store to make their movie look a bit more official (He told us that a long time ago movie props purchased from the movie production companies was the major bulk of his business but now a days movies just add everything into film digitally, totally cheating).
I would actually come back again, but probably with my uncle who is really into stores like this. He would actually buy something here (well more than one item) and begin some new projects and explain to me more in detail some of the items in here and what he’d probably want to do with them.
There is some parking in the lot next to the building and some parking on the street.
Come by and just take a look because you never know what you’ll find and you can also enjoy the friendly conversations with the owner as well.

AMAZING! FANTASTIC! UNBELIEVABLE! This is the Best Antique store I have seen in a LONG TIME! Old Radios, Huge geared mechanical things, retail advertisement props bizarre to the extreme! Glowing vacuum tubed things, Giganto Green printed cir cut boards and vintage military electronic equipment left over from the cold war!
I went there to do a project for my students on robotics and these guys went into mad scientist mode and pulled out all these motors, switches, lights and other exciting stuff for next to nothing! It’s all used and recycled components and they fired them up right there to prove it all worked! Hey, it’s all used stuff so you can test it all out right there! No packaging to worry about, just fun! See if Radio Shack will let you try that!
The diversity of clientele was another amazing thing! A hot looking SteamPunk girl working on an art project. Old Dude restoring old radios. Nerdy guys looking for parts to their next Invention. Kids asking for help with school science fair projects. There’s something for everyone here! This place earns all the 5 Stared reviews you see it always getting!

I first entered this store when I was fourteen over in Pasadena. It was love at first sight! They have EVERYTHING a tinkerer could want. I find myself coming back more and more for things you just cant find anywhere else. Its insane; kinda dark, kinda crowded… but you can spend all day in there conjuring up more and more ideas.

Great place to go with your children! Its like a museum, he has stuff like cameras from war planes and tiny motors, and… well you name it, its a lot of fun and cheap! After a visit to this location you can take a nice stroll on the horse\walking trail across the street, another nice location to take your family too.

this is an artist/tinkerer/inventor’s dreamland! me and my honey stopped in for the first time this weekend near closing time and i could have spent the entire night there. love it!
first thing i noticed was the smell of the place… reminded me of my grandfather’s garage and my time spent with him as a little girl puttering around hammering nails and making things. thank you, rick, for facilitating the joyous olfactory hallucinations!
c&h has gadgets and doo dads and washers and nails and computer motherboards, gears, thingamabobs, you name it, it’s here. we picked up some great miniature model trees and a few other odds and ends for use in our art making, and can’t wait to go back.
a whole bag of loot for 8 bucks! bless your sweet heart, rick, for keeping your grandfather’s dream alive. «one man’s treasures» has become a treasured place to visit. see you soon!

A nice sampling of the old C&H, if one if looking for gears, shafts, cutting tools, motors, and a whole raft of other treasures (really, lots and lots of stuff in a fairly neat and arranged area). Very nice fellow runs the place. Wheelchair accessible, but having room to turn around might be an issue. A sampling of test equipment. Want boxes of nuts and screws at very reasonable prices, they’re there too. Good place to keep in mind.

Finally visited after getting their catalog for years and never having been. Too bad they don’t put out the catalog any more. A lot of there sales are apparently through ebay. The proprietor is a charming guy, and they have a lot of stuff. Apparently there is more stuff in storage than what they can put out for display. I have a feeling that there is some room for negotiation in the prices. Also, it seems they don’t take credit cards, but they might take checks. I ended up getting a motor and some lights that I’m pretty happy with.

I just want to get the word out that C&H Sales has not closed but has moved to Duarte. They are located at 805 Highland Ave in a smaller space but still with interesting surplus. Motors, gears, optics, and some glassware. The store is neatly laid out, very clean, and packed with so much stuff you almost get dizzy from peering around. Not as much stuff as their old location (didn’t see piles and piles of test gear), but still nice to have a good surplus house in town. Hours are roughly 12 noon to 5 pm, Thur, Fri, and Sat.