Replies

1. 
   SRToolguy | Jul 05, 2004 05:46am | #1

   I have it for the same price. It comes with the free Porter Cable assorted box of biscuits and the rebate. That's a P/C promo thats been running for a while now. I think its just about over so it sounds like someone is clearing stock. You got a fair deal, the jointer is definitely well above the Freud and Dewalt but not quite ready to take on Lamelo yet.

   I won't chew on you about not buying locally but as you can see, this is one case where you could have probably done as well and had the satisfaction of local customer service if something should go wrong. Hope your biscuits don't get wet in shipping ! LOL...

   Sincerely;

   The Tool Guy

1. 
   bones | Jul 05, 2004 06:29am | #2

   I tend to be very fair and spread it around. Until this year mail order was my only real choice. Local HD's and lowes have not been very competitive at all. I mean not even close. Plus the quality of help in those places is more often than not, very lacking. This spring we had the joy of a new woodcraft opening in my area. I was like a kid in a candy store. It was what reignited my love of the hobby. I make a lunch break visit at least twice a week just to look around. Unfortunately I can't seem to get out of the store without parting with some of my cash. I can always find something I need.  I also have taken a class from them on bowl turning (which led to several hundred dollars worth of purchases).  So to answer you, yes I agree, buy local and support the local economy when possible. But with this one, with all the incentives, the stars just kind of lined up. Is the free market great or what? Take care. 

   Edited 7/4/2004 11:32 pm ET by bones

1. 
   BarryO | Jul 06, 2004 10:07pm | #3

   Plus the quality of help in those places is more often than not, very lacking

   Sometimes it's OK.  Last December my wife and 6-yr. old went to the local HD to do some Xmas shopping for me.  I heard later that they went to the tool dep't and asked for help.  My wife said "he wants some hand-held joiner thing"; who knows what I would have gotten with that description.  The 6-yr. old spoke up at said "no, it's a Porter Cable biscuit joiner".  The guy at HD was so impressed with the little guy that, even though he was out of stock, he checked with two other HD in the area (no luck), and even called the local Rockler (which did have one left).

1. 
   bones | Jul 06, 2004 10:50pm | #4

   That's just too cool. Imagine the look on the guy's face when that came out of the youngster! Looks like your raising him right! Now can you teach him to say UNISAW!

   I except the Lowes and HD's for what they are. Big retails chains. I don't go in there for advice on what tool to buy. I know what I want when I go in so my expectations are not that high. 1) do you have it in stock, and, 2) How quickly can I pay for it and get out. 

   Now that woodcraft has opened a store in my area, I don't even go to HD or Lowes any more unless I have to. 

1. 
   BarryO | Jul 07, 2004 02:43am | #6

   That's just too cool. Imagine the look on the guy's face when that came out of the youngster! Looks like your raising him right! Now can you teach him to say UNISAW!

   He has his own workbench in the shop; Toys R Us had a Home Depot brand wooden bench that I got for him.  He can use a coping saw without injuring himself.  A while back a local lumber place was selling big pieces of balsa (4"x4"'s, etc.), and I got a bunch for him to play with.

   He watches NYW with me and must have picked up on the Porter Cable ads at the beginning of the show.

   And before you ask, all the power in the shop is controlled by a padlocked master switch, just in case his curiosity gets the better of him when I'm not around.

   'got the Unisaw a couple of years ago with a bonus from work.  'nice saw.

2. 
   RonInOttawa | Jul 07, 2004 07:09am | #7

   There are exceptions to your expressed expectations when you visit HD. I've been woodworking and cabinetmaking for more than 30 years now. I have a 20 x24' garage that has never seen a car, and serves as a fine workshop. I build decent furniture and boats, and I also know how to talk to a sawyer in order to get what I want out of a log.

   I retired from the phone company last year and went to work for Lee Valley tools. I first met Leonard Lee 25 years ago, and I've spent far more money there than I've ever mentioned to senior management. I left after a few months and went to work in the tools/hardware department at my neighborhood HD for a couple of reasons; LV was too much like working in a candy store, and I might as well have just signed over my check to them each payday. The HD is much closer to home, and I can ride my bike to work when the weather is OK.

   All that being said, I spend a considerable part of each day at HD explaining to customers the pros and cons of each tool they are considering. If the customer is a novice, I'm more than happy to start from scratch and work from the point of view that they don't have access to all the tools I have in my shop. If the guy is a contractor, I'm also happy to discuss the pros and cons between a DW slider, the new Ridgid slider and the 10" Makita. I also keep in mind that the next customer I talk to may want to know what they need to hang a 40# framed picture, or "can I rekey a door lock so that they can use the same key for the front and side doors"?

   I guess I'm trying to make the point that a wide variety of customers come into a HD, and I would like to think that if you were my next customer I could answer almost any question you might come up with concerning either a tool or a piece of hardware. I would also like to think that I'm not unique. In my department, we have an experienced cabinetmaker (not me), an aviation machinist,a retired locksmith, a newly graduated furniture and cabinet maker, a framing contractor who got fed up with the lousy hours, building inspectors, regulations and low profit margins and two guys who somehow manage to find their way to work each day without getting lost for too long. Perhaps the experience levels aren't quite so concentrated in the HD stores in your area, but if you come up to Ottawa I think you would be hard-pressed to find a better group of guys to talk to about tools and hardware.

   Regards,

   Ron

   Edited 7/8/2004 9:08 am ET by RoninOttawa

2. 
   Sancho | Jul 06, 2004 11:55pm | #5

   Your wife must be a hottie cuz the only time I can find someone at HD or blowes is when theyre all around some hottie needing help.Then they dont help anyone else just her... 

   Darkworksite4:

   El americano pasado hacia fuera ase la bandera