Over at Breaktime they have a running thread called “What tool did you buy today?”
Last weekI drove 3 hrs to pick up a 2nd hand Williams and Hussey molder and was all excited about owning. I couldn’t generate any excitement. So I’m looking over here.
Now I need some knives, which are on sale at W&H (20% off until 10/15). No, I am not an employee.
Replies
Mike,
Here in Knots, we had one thread that hit 6000 posts. It started off being about a Lie Nielsen plane but soon the title became irrelevant. It was just a place to hang out. It was fun for the years that it lasted, but at 6000, it just pooped out.
Mel
Measure your output in smiles per board foot.
Congrats. I've been watching craigslist for a longtime for a WH and no luck. My last purchase was a festool TS55 and MFT3
I was married by a judge - I should have asked for a jury.
George Burns
Mike,
Many of us buy tools with an unexpressed purchasing philosophy.
In my shop there are some expensive tools: a Sawstop table saw,
5 hp shaper, large jointer and planner. However, there is a place in
the shop for some of the cheapest tools that do the job at little cost.
Currently I have a project that could use a lot of work on an oscillating spindle sander and I noticed that Rockler is selling a Delta for $246. At Harbor Freight I bought one for $99. No more than I use one of these, that will most likely last me for a very long time. About four years ago I bought a 23 gauge pin nailer there for about $28, thinking I would not use it much. It has become a favorite tool and it has shot thousands of pins for me over the years and has never jammed. Now I fully realize that much of the time you get what you pay for; however, not all occasions or applications require the same level of investment. What would be interesting in a (What Tool Did You Buy Today Posting) is to find what tools that were bought at very low prices turned out to be top performers.
Moksha
Moksha ,
Buying anything that you will rely on to help you earn a living and provide for your family from HF is much like opening a "box of chocolates" especially with pneumatic guns you just never know what you are going to get !
I bought an upholstery type staple gun there it jammed after the second shot , they took it back but would not let me try a tool before buying it , good thing we didin't get our wives there .
regards dusty, I used the tapered drill bits with countersinks from HF until they broke , not bad for dispensable tools .
Can't believe the HF air compressor is still chugging away. Still makes good air!
It needs new brushes, that's for certain.
--jonnieboy
After retirement I took, up woodworking and manage to spend eight to ten hours every day in the workshop; that has gone on for years now and I seem to enjoy it more every year. My work in the past was as an executive in a very large international manufacturing company. We produced a wide variety of things and most of them were sold on to other companies that would label, package, and sell them. As I was in a top range of management, I could easily see who bought them. In the store you would see the same product with different labels, covers, packaging being sold for a great range of prices. I think the Chinese Manufacturer is doing the same thing. A compressor for a name brand going out the door with their paint to be sold at a higher price and off the same line another compressor going to harbor freight to be sold at a bottom price.
I've got several pneumatic nailers... two of the 18 gauge are different brands and appear slightly different... but when you take them apart the guts are identical and interchangeable. So, while I have a lot of top grade expensive tools, I also buy Harbor Freight for seldom used devices. Several of those purchases have surprised me with the quality. A heat gun, an angle grinder, a pin nailer, engine hoist, and 16 gauge nail gun. So, I think if we could unearth some of the items sold at the cheaper price that are good quality... it would be helpful to many woodworkers. Apparently you have had excellent service from one of their compressors. Moksha
If you buy a cheap power tool you can always make it look more expensive by putting it on a decent tool stand.
I wonder, do Powermatic and Festool and Lie-Nielsen sell decals?
I'd clean up on Craigslist.
--jonnieboy
Nice stand, by the way.
" . . . do Powermatic and Festool and Lie-Nielsen sell decals?"Probably not, but I'd bet you could send photos to a decal company "over there" to get them made inexpensively. ;-)
Ha ha! That's good. Even the decals are made overseas.
Maybe a good thing to stamp on things would be: Bought in America by Americans.
My brother lives in China and comes up with some great translations. One is a sign that says 'Be careful to bump your head.'
So, with my luck I'd get four thousand "Feastool" decals. So much for my little Rippin'-Off-The-Man Plan.
--Jonnieboy
That's how I feel when I put on my Occidental tool bags.
My last tool purchase was a new LN 5 1/2 bench plane for $275..$100 off list price from one of the used tool dealers on the internet...he sells on ebay so I'm not sure why he chose to list this one at that price but I couldn't pass it up.
Neil
Sweet deal on the 5-1/2 LN.
Yeah, it was hard to pass up ...I wasn't in the market for one presently, it was on a wish list for the future...I was actually looking for a good deal on a molding plane or two when I came across the LN...whatta ya gonna do?
Talk about your incentive to save money, right? Run across an heirloom tool on the cheap, but dang it, I'm tapped out right now.
"You don't have 7 dollars for this Holtey?"
"It's okay, maybe I'll run across one at another garage sale next week."
--jonnie
What Tool did you buy today..
I bought a Singer 4210 Sewing Machine for my little China Dolls. Ok, so the young lady with a 'Viking accent'? attracted me. I think she tried to sell me a very high end Husqvarna that cost about 3 grand. I only love my passed on mate but I could not walk away from 'her' without buying something!
I just went to a fabric store to get some cloth that was made in Japan with Dragons and such patterns on it. It was just perfect of my China doll beds. I bought 6 yards and chocked when I saw how much a yard it was!... I now own 1/3 of the store with the land!
Sure wish I never went to that JoANN store.. But it was a fun morning...
Edited 10/10/2009 9:11 pm by WillGeorge
http://mouldingknives.com/
http://www.wmooreprofiles.com/
Congratulations on the W&H. Above are a couple more knife sources.
mike,
Well about a week ago today I splurged at the WIA. I know what you're thinking but look at it this way, they'll make my woodshop a bit greener.
LV Low Angle Jack plane, Adjustable Mouth Low Angle Block plane, Tall Front Knob and Large Tote for converting to a small smoother, Flat Spokeshave, Crosscut and Dovetail saw, Large Hold Down, a pair of 8" Dividers and their Large Hold Down.
Hey, 15% off and free shipping. Doesn't get much greener that that, eh? Now I gotta get busy and earn me keep.
Regards,
Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
Edited 10/10/2009 10:51 pm ET by KiddervilleAcres
Bob,You said you were going to keep it under $3000 this convention trip.
Are you sure you didn't leave a tool on the table?
That's a lot of steely things to keep rust free this winter.BB
Wow Bob, you really tore it up in Valley Forge... Nice going!
I was a little shocked that Lie-Nielsen wasn't discounting in the Marketplace. I think they were giving a free DVD with a $300 purchase. I bet they lost a lot of sales to LV that weekend. They both have outstanding products and it's often a toss up or a subtile subjective decision as to which way to go between the two. With LV offering 15% and LN not, I think the scales tip to LV for sure!
A couple of years ago when I was torn between the LV and LN shoulder plane, I went to the LN because I love the look and feel of the brass cap. But, it there were a 15% discount involved, I wouldn't have loved it that much.
My new tools (from the show) were a Blue Spruce 1-1/2 bench chisel and a Hock iron and chip breaker for my smoother. (I exercised unusual restraint!)
Frank
frank,
I guess I don't get out enough. :-)
Ok, I'll fess up, I bought two carving mallets too. Sheepish grin here...... One has a really nice lignum vitae (sp?) head on it, the other looks like rosewood.
I've agonized over the LA Jack for some time and well.... GAWD it's sweet! And the LA Block is going to be fun. Dang, now I know how all the other gloaters felt. That feels pretty good too ye know?
Man I really wanted a LN Shoulder Plane though.
Regards,
Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
Edited 10/11/2009 9:32 pm ET by KiddervilleAcres
Ha! That's nothin'! Look what I got today at Menards!
$9.99 apiece, with a $9.99 rebate. Not the brand of saw I would normally buy, but heck if the're giving them away...
Limit two.
--jonnieboy
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