Home Depot and their "big" tools

[Dan Bundy]

Wife wanted to look at sinks and faucets at Home Depot yesterday so we trekked to the nearest one (Lex, Ky). I've been needing a new set of blades for my ridgid jointer, so I was game. Got to the tool section and there's no "big" tools (table saw, jointer, drill press, bandsaw). There was a couple of job site and table top models and they did have a ridgid planer and a sliding miter saw but none of the other stuff. Do they not carry them any longer (the "big" ridgid tools (or other brands for that matter) or do some stores have them and not others?

It's not a huge deal as I'm not really in the market for a big tool at the moment, but if they have stopped carrying them, I missed the memo somewhere. DB

[Rich Riddle]

I haven't seen any of the stationary tools in the Northern Kentucky stores in over a year.

[Chris Harry]

They stopped stocking them around here (and presumably most if not all stores) probably 4 or 5 years ago.

I think they finally realized having all that stock just sitting there collecting dust was a waste of space and $$$. Now if you want it you get to special order it. IMHO, at that point Id rather just order the equivalent Grizzly, etc. if I could afford it.

The fun part, though, was as they were clearancing them out. Got the Ridgid jointer for $110, DeWalt 735 planer for $137 and the Ridgid bandsaw for a friend for $100.

[Jim Finn]

Same thing here in Texas. Lowes also. Just small bench top stuff. Direct drive table saws etc.

[Roger Pozzi]

Same here. I bought the Ridgid R4330 planer when they first came out and, have never been able to buy replacement blades at Home Depot. They must be special ordered. I would never again buy from a company that places their tools in just one, incompetent store, with literally no customer service.
And, you apparently can't order direct from Ridgid. They just tell you that HD is their distributer, and, as such, they can take care of all your needs. Yeah, right. :mad:

[Jim Becker]

Home centers are "volume businesses"...large stationary tools are not volume products. And yes, they have been gone from the stores for a long time now.

[glenn bradley]

You can still buy bandsaws, drill presses and tablesaws at my Lowes and HD but, who'd want to :D. Wait . . . come to think of it, that's where my Delta 17-950 DP came from!?! Oh well, we're all entitled to the learning experience.

[Phil Barrett]

Both Lowes and HD are like this. I think the reason is they measure every display by revenue per square foot. Large tools require a fair amount of display area so they likely have a low revenue number.

[Lee Reep]

I have not seen large tools at HD for awhile, but that does not really surprise me. I also own a Ridgid jointer, and bought it at HD because it was on sale. It was built by the same company that made the Craftsman, and they looked pretty similar, and of course, had different paint jobs. You should be able to find repalcement blades easily enough on the internet, and if you really want, you can get a spiral head carbide cutter for it.

I found the Shelix head by Byrd Tools -- for model JP0610:

http://shelixheads.com/SHELIX-heads_for_Jointers/SHELIX_Heads_for_Jointers_by_RIDGID/SHELIX_for_ridgid_6_inch_Jointer_%28JP0610%29

[Peter Kelly]

http://www.homedepot.com/p/RIDGID-13-in-Thickness-Planer-Blade-AC20502/203191718

I've found customer service for Home Depot dot com to be very good btw. Free shipping to most stores also.

[Kent A Bathurst]

You can still buy bandsaws, drill presses and tablesaws at my Lowes and HD but, who'd want to :D. Wait . . . come to think of it, that's where my Delta 17-950 DP came from!?! Oh well, we're all entitled to the learning experience.

OK - Glenn -

Two things, here.........Well.....three things, actually

First - you are right about "who'd want to?" You could have learnd that lesson simply by thinking it through for a minute, so it is unclear whether or not you deserve get a pass - - the Central Committee will have to get back to you. But - on the glass-half-full side, Julie just joined up, so we may now have added a modicum of sympathy. We will see.

Second - Really? REALLY? REALLY??? You want to memorialize me in your sig line? The bar could not be set any lower, Sir. Not possibly any lower than that. :D :D

And, last - The Cosmic Tool Consciousness wants you to know - that rule does not apply to any major tools bought at the BORG. Those - you just gotta eat 'em, dude.

:p :p


EDIT: To the OP - those guys could not possibly have a LaGrange point on the price-performance-service curve as compared to Grizzly.

[David Hendricks]

My local HD stocks the 4512 take saw, but not much else in terms of big tools. My local Lowe's does display table saw but apparently isn't getting the delta saw. You have to drive about 45 minutes to another Lowe's to see it on display.

[Dan Bundy]

Wow! I'm more out of touch than I realized! Frankfort, KY had an HD for about three years. Opened shortly before the big store purge and got closed in the purge. Oh, well. Thanks for the input. DB

[Robert Engel]

I thought it was because "big" ww'ing tools for you guys in Kintuckie and Texass was a big ole axe!! ;)

[Jim Dwight]

My local HD had one 4512 in stock according to their website.

[Phillip Gregory]

Same thing here in Texas. Lowes also. Just small bench top stuff. Direct drive table saws etc.

The little Lowes in my town has a couple inexpensive larger tools. They have a couple non-direct-drive contractor saws, a couple floor model drill presses, and a 14" bandsaw. The rest is benchtop stuff though, although that does include the two DeWalt planers that a lot of folks here have.

[lowell holmes]

I bought a DW 734 at Lowes in Texas. It was priced very competitively.

[Chris Harry]

I bought a DW 734 at Lowes in Texas. It was priced very competitively.

The DeWalt 734 planers are one thing that have never left HD or Lowes. My local Lowes had it down to $330 at one point, like they were going to clear them out, but then they put the price back at normal (499 or whatever it is) and have had it there ever since. They still carry the 735 "on sale" for $599 and that price has been there for years too.

With a spectacular clearance price drop, HD stopped carrying the 735 a few years ago....they still have the 734 though.

Im thinking anything that requires a stand (full size band saw, full size table saw, etc) and isnt portable is no longer being stocked. I still remember the days where you could touch and feel the cast iron table saw, full size band saw and drill press, and the stationary jointer.

[Jason White]

All of the Home Depot stores took their larger cast-iron machines off the floors a few years ago. They're still available, just not on display. It's stupid, I know.


Wife wanted to look at sinks and faucets at Home Depot yesterday so we trekked to the nearest one (Lex, Ky). I've been needing a new set of blades for my ridgid jointer, so I was game. Got to the tool section and there's no "big" tools (table saw, jointer, drill press, bandsaw). There was a couple of job site and table top models and they did have a ridgid planer and a sliding miter saw but none of the other stuff. Do they not carry them any longer (the "big" ridgid tools (or other brands for that matter) or do some stores have them and not others?

It's not a huge deal as I'm not really in the market for a big tool at the moment, but if they have stopped carrying them, I missed the memo somewhere. DB

[Edward Oleen]

My HD - Yonkers, NY - has just about given up on even small stuff, like router bits. The display is broken and the available stock is rather shopworn. Half the people working there are old farts like me who are trying to supplement their pension and are thoroughly disgusted, and the other half are high-school drop-outs, it seems, who don't know what a router bit or drill bit is, even.

I'm fortunate - it isn't that far to Tool Nut in Peekskill, NY, and there are a couple of good places in Orange County, where we have a place to go to.

My local hardware/paint store gets people sent in by the HD people - the old ones, not the young ones.

I don't go to HD any more: trying to buy nuts and bolts and screws and stuff like that is an exercise in frustration. Their lumber is junk, mostly.

Paint I buy either at my local hardware/paint store, or from one of several big stores with good customer service that are around here.

Electrical I buy from a local electrical supply house - again they have good counter service for non-professionals. HD originally attracted a lot of contractors, but the guy I deal with says they are coming back, rather disgusted with HD personnel not knowing what the contractor is talking about.