Best places to buy tools and supplies?

[Adam Herd]

Most often I turn to Amazon and lowes/home depot for tools and supplies. Where does every one else buy theirs at? I often look at wood crafts website but they tend to be expensive and the closest woodcraft store is about an hour away. For turning pens I love Penn state industry, their prices and selection are usually pretty good. Just wondering if other people have a go to store for everything or if they have different stores or suppliers for specific things. Currently I am in the market for some good quality sharpening stones.

[Jim Becker]

Adam, there are many, many sources for tools and supplies. I pretty much never buy anything for woodworking from a home center, however. Great for construction, but otherwise...

Online, I buy from Lee Valley most of the time when I need something bought online and occasionally from Woodcraft for doo-dads. Materials I source from local hardwood suppliers and sheet goods from Industrial Plywood out of Reading PA.

[Frederick Skelly]

Odd, the post I typed from my phone doesnt show up here,. Hmmmm. So here it comes again...

Adam, it depends on what I want and how much I want to spend. For handtools, I shop Lee Valley, Lie Neilsen or Highland woodworking. For power tools, Tools Plus, Acme or Circle Saw. For supplies, Amazon, Lee Valley, Highland, Woodcraft/Rockler (online). Hartville Tool also has a wide variety.

Fred

[Jim Becker]

Odd, the post I typed from my phone doesnt show up here,. Hmmmm. So here it comes again...

Shows that you deleted it...probably by accident on the little screen. :)

Jim
Forum Moderator

[Frederick Skelly]

Shows that you deleted it...probably by accident on the little screen. :)

Jim
Forum Moderator

Thanks Jim!

[Mike Cutler]

Amazon is good. Lately I've been adding to my shaper tooling, and cutters, and it's been a good source. You do have to be careful about prices on Amazon though. The shaper tooling I've been buying through Amazon comes from Ballew Saw, Infinity, Tool Nut, and Routerbit World. So it's not "junk". I hope.
I always check their website first. Sometimes the price is less on the website, or you find that the website now has an upgraded tool, and they're using Amazon to get sell of older stock.
WoodCraft is an hour away for me,and I have to go through Hartford, ugh!!!! to get there.

[Bill McNiel]

Adam, it depends on what I want and how much I want to spend. For handtools, I shop Lee Valley, Lie Neilsen or Highland woodworking. For power tools, Tools Plus, Acme or Circle Saw. For supplies, Amazon, Lee Valley, Highland, Woodcraft/Rockler (online). Hartville Tool also has a wide variety.

Fred

Pretty much what I do except that about every couple of weeks I venture into Seattle for wood and use the opportunity to visit WoodCraft. The owners, management and staff are nice people and I like to touch and see stuff in person. Most of my finishes come from WoodCraft and I like to support the "local" store.

[Nick Decker]

Woodcraft stores are franchises, so each one is different when it comes to how friendly, helpful, knowledgeable, etc., they are. The one nearest me scores pretty low in that regard.

[Charles Coolidge]

Everywhere. I have local Woodcraft, Rockler, and Woodcrafters stores in Portland, OR with the added benefit of no sales tax in Oregon. Woodcrafters has a large selection of router and shaper bits in stock. None of these stores tend to stock machines anymore, a few floor models, mostly you have to order machines then go pick them up so I may order on-line and have them shipped direct to my house. I avoid Amazon if possible due to I have to pay Washington sales tax if I order from them.

[Ellen Benkin]

I never even think of buying woodworking tools from the big boxes. I either go to Rockler or Woodcraft, both of which require a long-ish drive. Based on specific tool recommendations from friends, I sometimes buy from Amazon but only when I know the specific brand and item name.

[Marshall Harrison]

I use Lowes whenever I can so that I can take advantage of the veterans discount. But I usually buy from Amazon or Woodcraft which ever has the best price. I bought my table saw from M&M Tools.

[Mike Null]

For most power tools I go to HD. I bought my Laguna band saw from Woodcraft and my demo Nova lathe from Rockler.

I like Amazon and Woodcraft for better tools or hand tools. I'm not good enough to use LN or LV or I'd be buying them.

I just bought a hand drill on eBay which I am restoring and I have a bid on a Stanley plane there as well.

[Nick Decker]

I use Lowes whenever I can so that I can take advantage of the veterans discount. But I usually buy from Amazon or Woodcraft which ever has the best price. I bought my table saw from M&M Tools.

Home Depot has the 10% vets discount, too. Just have to ask for it.

[Marshall Harrison]

Home Depot has the 10% vets discount, too. Just have to ask for it.

Thanks Nick. I didn't know that. I checked their website a while back and didn't see anything about a discount. Good to know as they cary some tools that Lowes doesn't'.

[Nick Decker]

I guess they don't advertise it. I asked about it last Christmas season when I came across a deal in one of their stores near me. The clerk said sure, as long as you have ID.

[Larry Edgerton]

Have a problem with the business model of Amazon and all the huge chains so seek out smaller retailers. Like to support small business because I am one.

[peter gagliardi]

I'm with Larry on this one, even if it means paying just a few bucks more.
I despise Amazon from a few experiences years ago. It is the absolute last place I look to buy anything.

[Peter Kuhlman]

Years ago I did a lot of purchasing on Amazon as their prices were quite a bit lower than other sources but that is no longer true. If you search you can most often find lower prices from other suppliers so I don’t use Amazon any more. I purchased all my major tools years ago so haven’t been looking much for that. I meet my needs from suppliers I respect - Lee Valley, Highland Woodworking, Lie Nielsen, Bob Marino, Woodpeckers, Infinity, etc.

Actually I now look online at Home Depot for stuff as they offer a huge amount of product now and is same price as Amazon. Better packaging and I have it delivered to local store so can inspect for damage and not have to mess with returns if I needed to refuse the item - have not needed to yet.

Beware!! As to sales tax, here in Louisiana the state went on all the TV networks and notified us that the state is currently going to force online sellers to go back one year and collect sales tax on all purchases. They plan to go back more years over time. This will hurt people at 10%!

[John Gulick]

For me it's the same as milk, eggs. cars, ..... Find the best price and service. It could be the local supplier one day and a big box the next. I generally favor my local suppliers just because

[Mike Cary]

Everything for me is about value which is not always just price. For clamps, HF is a great value, for planes, not so much. Lie Nielsen and Lee Valley, quality and customer service is great value. Amazon, I live in a rural area, 2 day shipping and easy returns is great value. I place no value on local or American made. It must be earned through quality or relationships.

Or the short answer, wherever I can find it.

[Peter Kelly]

Try your local Craigslist for materials. Might be surprised at the things you find.

[Jim Becker]

Have a problem with the business model of Amazon and all the huge chains so seek out smaller retailers. Like to support small business because I am one.
It's always good to support local small businesses. Unfortunately, in many areas, that's not really an option when it comes to woodworking tools and supplies, so we have to do what we have to do. The closest actual woodworking store to me is Woodcraft up in Allentown PA...a 100 mile round trip. That's just not practical for small purchases and the 'borg doesn't carry they kind of things I want to buy. So it's Lee Valley, specialty operations and Amazon for practical reasons. I do utilize local suppliers for materials...lumber, sheet goods, etc., for sure. The CNC I recently orders is, however, entirely made in USA outside of the Italian spindle, and the company is what I believe is considered a small business by all practical standards.

Interestingly, it's important to note that many small businesses actually sell via the Amazon platform. A lot of things that I've purchased have been offered by small sellers and are just fulfilled by Amazon. The benefit to these small businesses is that they have a much larger market reach than they would otherwise have access to.

[Charles Coolidge]

Try your local Craigslist for materials. Might be surprised at the things you find.

Great suggestion, I only recently began looking at the materials section and there's tons of wood suppliers advertising on ours. Direct from the mill cutting out the middle man price hike.

[Frederick Skelly]

Try your local Craigslist for materials. Might be surprised at the things you find.

Great idea Peter. That thought never crossed my mind, but it will now.
Thank you!
Fred

[marlin adams]

I have several box stores and 1 lumber yard and one wood working store. McCoys, Ace, Lowes, Homedepot, and Rockler within 25 miles of me. And I have not been there yet but seems to be a lumber mill in greenvile tx or a place that directly gets their products from a mill. So it all depends on what I need at the time is to where I will shop.

[Phil Mueller]

Vintage tools have come from Patrick Leach, Pete Taran (Vintage Saws), Hyperkitten, garage sales, ebay, Etsy, flea markets, estate sales, antique stores, and fellow members here at SMC. New tools are primarily from Lee Valley, TFWW, Woodjoy, Lie Nielson, Woodpeckers,and again, a few from fellow SMC members.

Most woodworking supplies come from Woodcraft and Rockler (both about 20 minute drive), and online. Basic stuff like solvents and sandpaper come from a BORG.

[Brian Henderson]

My problem is that I really want to put hands on any particular tool before I buy, but there are no Rockler's, no Woodcrafts, no woodworking stores of any kind within a reasonable distance. Unfortunately, I'm in a woodworking-unfriendly area.

[Adam Herd]

My problem is that I really want to put hands on any particular tool before I buy, but there are no Rockler's, no Woodcrafts, no woodworking stores of any kind within a reasonable distance. Unfortunately, I'm in a woodworking-unfriendly area.

Brian I am in the same boat as you. i like to touch, feel, and play with things before I buy them. For me my closest wood craft is about an hour and fifteen minutes away from me in Rochester NY. Not the end of the world but thats 3 hours out my day about 2 and a half spent just driving. My nearest Rockler is in Buffalo NY 2 and a half hours away. Definitely not driving out there to check out some chisels. Syracuse isn't the most woodworking friendly area either.

[Robin Dobbie]

OP, you mentioned you were looking to buy some stones. First, I would recommend diamond plates. If you do go with water stones, I would steer clear of items fulfilled by Amazon. Amazon is great for a lot of things, but does not provide any packing beyond a single layer of cardboard or tiny-bubble bubble envelope material. I haven't had much experience with the other warehouse sellers, but I imagine it's a similar situation. The first two water stones I got were fulfilled by Amazon and were damaged. The first had one crushed corner. The second had three crushed corners and a crack. Damage was the number one complaint I read in reviews of any stone.

If anyone has experience with an online reseller that they know packs fragile items well, I'd be interested in knowing about it.

[Frederick Skelly]

I guess I've been lucky with "fullfilled by Amazon" so far. My Shaptons got here fine.

(Don't recall which seller at Amazon had them though. Will pay better attention to that based on your warning Robin.)

Fred

[Jim Becker]

If anyone has experience with an online reseller that they know packs fragile items well, I'd be interested in knowing about it.
Lee Valley for sure...

[Wayne Jolly]

Home Depot has the 10% vets discount, too. Just have to ask for it.

My local Home Depot only has the discount for veterans that have "Service Connected" on their ID cards. At least for every day use. Any veteran can get their discount on holidays. Lowes, on the other hand, has taken this one step further and you can now set it up so you can get your VA discount even for online purchases, and your family can use it too. All they have to do is give your name and phone number.


Wayne

[Peter Christensen]

At one time Garret Wade was a big catalog company that advertised extensively in magazines. I never bought from them because they wouldn't ship across the line. I don't see anyone ever mention them anywhere so wonder if they give bad service or missed the boat with the fading from magazines to the computer? LV is where I buy the most from as there is a store here in town.

https://www.garrettwade.com

[Robin Dobbie]

I guess I've been lucky with "fullfilled by Amazon" so far. My Shaptons got here fine.

(Don't recall which seller at Amazon had them though. Will pay better attention to that based on your warning Robin.)

Fred


Those and a diamond plate are what I got on my third try, and they arrived undamaged. However, Shapton provides a hard plastic storage box. The first stones I ordered merely came in a "thick" paper sleeve and two meaningless layers of plastic. From what I've seen, that's how the majority of stones are shipped.

[Peter Kelly]

At one time Garret Wade was a big catalog company that advertised extensively in magazines. I never bought from them because they wouldn't ship across the line. I don't see anyone ever mention them anywhere so wonder if they give bad service or missed the boat with the fading from magazines to the computer? LV is where I buy the most from as there is a store here in town.

https://www.garrettwade.comLee Valley is what Garrett Wade should have become.

[Brian Henderson]

Brian I am in the same boat as you. i like to touch, feel, and play with things before I buy them. For me my closest wood craft is about an hour and fifteen minutes away from me in Rochester NY. Not the end of the world but thats 3 hours out my day about 2 and a half spent just driving. My nearest Rockler is in Buffalo NY 2 and a half hours away. Definitely not driving out there to check out some chisels. Syracuse isn't the most woodworking friendly area either.

My closest Woodcraft is farther, probably close to 3 hours away and Rockler is at least an hour and a half with good traffic, both of them on the other side of a mountain. My closest hardwood dealer is a good 80 miles away, again over a mountain. Nobody works with wood around here, Craigslist has virtually no tools and all we have are Lowes and Home Depot, which have no selection anyhow. Good thing I have all of the tools I am likely to ever use. Even looking at the classifieds on here, 80+% are on the wrong side of the Mississippi from me.

[Peter Kuhlman]

Lee Valley really does an excellent job of proper packaging for shipping. They use more paper and other materials than any other shipper I have received from.
Not sure if Garrett Wade is still in business. The last couple times I ordered from them I received some very poor quality stuff and had to return everything they sent. Never again.
Japan Woodworker is another quality supplier to consider. They were bought out by Grainger but have maintained their quality product line.

[Peter Kelly]

Japan Woodworker was bought out by Woodcraft. Somewhat surprisingly, Garrett Wade are still in business.

[Robin Dobbie]

Not sure if Garrett Wade is still in business

Oh Garret Wade is still in business. I found their site while looking at various sharpening jigs. Now, their ads have been following me around the internet the last few weeks! lol But yeah, I did notice a lot of silly stuff on their site. The kinds of gifts I'd see in catalogs companies would send to my grandparents. Plus, $380 man purses. (https://www.garrettwade.com/handsome-leather-shoulder-briefcase.html)

[Peter Kelly]

They had an LED headlamp for $75, Harbor Fright sells the exact same one for $13...

[Mike Kreinhop]

Amazon is great for a lot of things, but does not provide any packing beyond a single layer of cardboard or tiny-bubble bubble envelope material.

I've had mixed results from Amazon.com and Amazon.de, as I order from both regularly. On one Amazon.com order, I had two 1-gallon jugs of Titebond II glue, several boxes of Kreg pocket hole screws, and assorted hand tools. When the box arrived through the APO, it was wrapped in a plastic bag and oozing glue from three corners. There was no packing in the oversized box and all of the items were loose in the box. The cap on one of the gallon jugs of glue had cracked and one box of 1,200 count pocket screw boxes had broken open. The inside of the box was a mess, but I salvaged everything except one box of screws and a half gallon of Titebond II. Amazon accepted my iPhone picture of the mess and replaced the glue and screws, which arrived a week later in separate boxes and in good shape.

[glenn bradley]

Wow, this thread really got some legs under it. :)

For large tools and machines, brand loyalty has been crushed due to inconsistent quality, support, parts availability, you name it. If Jet, Delta or Powermatic (common brands for the home shop) happen to make a good lathe it doesn't mean you will like their drill press. Shop the tool, not the paint. If you are considering a drill press, I would post a thread specifically asking for peoples opinions about a (for example) 'floor standing, 17" swing, drill press' or a 'benchtop drill press'.

Like the Ford/Chevy or "Tastes Great" / "Less Filling" arguments there is a lot of ego, brand loyalty, testimony-based-on-a-sample-of-one and so forth to sift through when you ask these questions. When someone owns an XYZ tablesaw and has nothing but good luck with it they tend to want to share this and that's great. The same goes for someone who had a bad experience. If you only need a 9" benchtop drill press you really don't care what kind of mobile base I love for my 20" 'old iron' monster. Alas, you must read it all and sift though the data and extract those things that are important to you. That task falls to you.

For smaller tools (especially hand tools) the same demons await. Some folks own a $4000 Limited Edition Bridge City Dual Angle Smoother while others find an old Stanley at the flea market and tune it up. Both are valid, its your money. I like to make things out of wood more than I like to do restorations (although I've done a few) so most of my hand tool collection either arrived in very usable shape courtesy of Dad and Grandpa or came from Lee Valley or Lie Nielsen. Certainly Rockler, Woodcraft, Tools for Working Wood and Garrett Wade have their offerings that other don't. I also have a bevy of chisels as I bumbled my way through various types in search of my favorite.

For supplies Rockler, Woodworker's Hardware, Hartville, Woodcraft, Klingspor's and others have sales all the time. Keep a list of things you lust after and acquire them at the best time. This behavior led me to a point where I rarely lack for the right clamp, screw or router bit and all at a sizable discount. Buying when the opportunity is good as opposed to when the need is dire will save you some dough.

[Bill Carey]

Living in the middle of no where, I buy everything except wood on line. And some great suggestions and resources here. A couple that have not been mentioned: Clockparts for, you guessed it, clock parts. Ashville Mica for lamp shade material. Infinity Tools for router bits, etc. Small box hardware. MSC Industrial. Locally, Renssalaer IN, Kem's Hardware and Lumber is a great place with very friendly folks.