Best Power Tool Deal You've Ever Gotten?

Messages
64
Location
Tennessee
1) What's the best deal you EVER got on a NEW power tool?
2) How'd you find it?

Spill it. Gloat your face off. I want to know who here's gotten the best deal of all time :D
 
Boy that's a tough one ...

60 Gallon 6hp CH air compressor: $150

1947 Crapsman lathe: Free

8" G0586 Grizzly jointer: Xmas bonus from work paid for it.

10" Crapsman RAS: Bought for $100. Sold for $150, a year later.

10" Dewalt 703 chopsaw: $130 - $25 rebate from amazon - free 2nd day shipping (prime)

Dewalt 734 planer: 260 - $50 rebate card - free 2nd day shipping (prime) on a 95lb tool!!

I've had better wood scores than tool scores, though....

2 1/2" thick, 43" wide, 99" long bowling alley slab. about 300lbs of 1" maple strips with 30 or so hardened twist nails per strip. FREE

10-12' long 12/4 maple "rippings" - about 120 sticks, maybe 2"-4" wide each. Paid $100 for a pallet of about 300. Got my 120, sold the rest for $80. Sold $20 more two days later. So 100 sticks for FREE.

3 slabs of claro walnut, 3" thick, about 80lbs total of smaller pieces for turning blanks. Wet as all heck. FREE.

... and countless other freebies in the wood dept. :)
 
I bought the 6" X5 jointer at the same time, but when they shipped it to me, it had a dent in the BACk of the cabinet about the size of a quarter. Contacted Amazon and they refunded me 75 bux. Paid somewhere in the neighbor hood of $250.

Also took advantage of (sheepishly, I might ad:rolleyes: ) an Amazon typo on a 12" Makita Sliding Compound Miter Saw...paid a whopping $58:eek: , that's right 5-8. Not surprisingly, they sent me a malfunctioned saw, but Amazon customer service has treated me good. They sent out another new one.:thumb:

I am self-admittedly cheap (although I like to call it being a "smart consumer"), and HATE paying retail prices. I probably waste more time looking for deals that i don't get too far ahead. Feels good when I do find that great sale though!

Matt
 
a little over a year ago Lowes was clearing out their Jet tools and had the Jet Contractor saw on sale for $399. I told my son about it who worked at another lowes store and he said offer em $150. I went back the next day and negoeciated with the dept. Manager for $250 new in the box. The saw retails for $750.
:thumb:
 
Mine's not as good as some of those listed here....but......

HD recently discontinued the Ryobi oscillating spindle sander. It had been $99. The price dropped to $69, but the only one in stock was the display and it needed a cleaning and was missing the starter set of sanding sleeves. I tried negotiating with the manager for a further discount but he would not budge. Two weeks later it was still there and had been marked down to $29.:eek:

It now has a new home.:D
 
Two items come to mind. Both are DeWalts - a DW733 Planer and their Laminate Trimmer Kit (the one with the 3 different bases).
The Planer I got for something like 235 IIRC. At the time they'd only been out about 8 months or so and the best price you find online was about $330. So the local Home Quarters store (since defunct) had a 15% all Dewalt stuff sale which brought the local price pretty close to online sellers. I had to make a trip to HD for some stuff I knew Home Quarters didn't have. Just in the interest of saving another stop on the way home, I asked HD if they'd match HQ's 15% off sale. They decided they'd match it but not go the additional discount like they normally do. No problem sez I. To my amazement, they totally fouled up how they wrote the thing up and when rang up at the cashier it came out $235. It was all I could do to keep my mouth shut and get it out to the car.

The Laminate Trimmer kit I got for something like $65 from an online seller (I forget which one now, but not Amazon) due to another amazing vendor foul-up. One of the 3 bases in the kit was defective. They were out of more full kits but had the separate base so shipped me that. You guessed it. They ended up processing a refund for the entire trimmer kit and charging me for the cost of the replacement base.
 
Probably my best power tool deal would be the Porter Cable 352VS belt sander that I got from FW member Rob Bodenschatz last December.

Sander: Free
Shipping: Free
Being part of a great group of woodworkers: Priceless

I think my most costly tool deal was the little Wilton mini lathe I bought last year for about $80 (plus a $20 gift certificate) on Amazon. The lathe was only $80 out of pocket, but since then I've bought chisels, a grinder, sharpening jigs, a bigger lathe, chucks, faceplates, chainsaw, more chisels, a hollowing rig, a tool rest, more chisels, and turning blanks. Then more chisels and more turning blanks. :D
 
Hmmm

1995 I purchased a Hempel CH-12 semi-auto copy lathe with attachments, cutters. Lathe weighs close to 2500 #'s.
2 3-phase motors. 2hp and a 3hp.

For a whopping $1000.00:eek: :D
Cutters alone would have cost me $2500.00
Replacement value of the same style lathe was $64000.00 in 1996


Then---:D :D :D :D :D
Read my MM16 Bandsaw thread.:D :thumb: :D
 
Well, I’m kinda sorta like Matt. I figure if you don’t ask for a bargain you most certainly won’t get one. I try to think about a big tool for a few weeks after I’ve decided to get it so that I don’t do that “Impulse” thing I am famous for. I could starve myself to death if I did what I wanted most times. :rofl:

Anyway…. I had decided to bring home the Ridgid Radial Arm Saw at HD and took a friend with me to get it. They had sold their last one and had to call around and find me one. The HD store they found was a good drive away :biker: but I talked to the manager. The saw sold for $549 and he was selling it for $499. I took a chance and told him I would give him $399 for the saw. Believe it or not he told me to come and get it!!! :eek:

The saw was on a pallet/cart in the tool department when I got there. A second box was on top of the RAS. It was the wheel set. The wheel setup for the Ridgid Table and Radial Arm saws are the best I have seen to date and they did not come with the saw! They were close to $200 more. I kept my mouth shut. I wasn’t sure that was my saw sitting there but I would have bet money on it.

While waiting for the sales person my friend and I were shooting the breeze and just enjoying being in our favorite place, the tool/toy department. ;) Something kept dragging my eyes over to the bank of Miter saws, lined up like ducks in a row. I hadn’t even thought about one. After all, I was here for a RAS? Something wasn’t right. The Ridgid 10” miter Saw had a big sign on it with a price of $269. :huh:

I had been looking at tools for months on line. I was about to build a workshop. I told my friend, that saw sells for close to $400 anywhere you look. That’s a mistake. Well, he didn’t have any idea but it wouldn’t leave me alone. When the salesman finally showed up, I had made up my mind. I told him if he could make the Miter saw a “Little more comfortable” price wise, I would take it along with the RAS. Of course he had to go and get the manager. (Luckily it was the same guy I had spoke with on the phone) He said, “I can’t take any off the Miter saw because it is the new line for this year how about another $25 off the RAS?” Ok (says me)

At the register, the Miter Saw rang up at $369.95. I skipped and hopped back to the tool department and brought the sign back with me. The model number was correct. The guy said Ok, no problem. Hehehehe
So-o-o-o-o, I ended up with $549 RAS for $374. I got a set of near $200 wheels free and a $370 Miter Saw for $269. It was a good day. :thumb:

Don
 
Mine's not as good as some of those listed here....but......

HD recently discontinued the Ryobi oscillating spindle sander. It had been $99. The price dropped to $69, but the only one in stock was the display and it needed a cleaning and was missing the starter set of sanding sleeves. I tried negotiating with the manager for a further discount but he would not budge. Two weeks later it was still there and had been marked down to $29.:eek:

It now has a new home.:D

Hi Rennie,
I did the same thing you did a couple of years ago except I paid $60. Go to the ryobi site and get a phone number to call them. They will send you everything you are missing. Just tell them it was a floor model. No need to mention what you paid for it. They sent me whole sets of everything so now I have dupes of many of the items. They were great to deal with.

Don
 
Probably my best power tool deal would be the Porter Cable 352VS belt sander that I got from FW member Rob Bodenschatz last December.

Sander: Free
Shipping: Free
Being part of a great group of woodworkers: Priceless

I think my most costly tool deal was the little Wilton mini lathe I bought last year for about $80 (plus a $20 gift certificate) on Amazon. The lathe was only $80 out of pocket, but since then I've bought chisels, a grinder, sharpening jigs, a bigger lathe, chucks, faceplates, chainsaw, more chisels, a hollowing rig, a tool rest, more chisels, and turning blanks. Then more chisels and more turning blanks. :D

Don't forget another lathe, and all the Monster tools..:D The abyess has no bottom.:rofl:
 
Best deal.....

My dad came over to my shop about a year and a half ago and asked me what I needed in my shop to help me with my work. I told him I wanted to buy a 15" planer sometime kinda soon, maybe within a year.

He said, "well let's go looking" about two hours later I was the proud owner of a Delta X5 15" planer....he paid for it all, he told me he wanted to see me be able to use part of my inheritance while he was still around to see it.

Dad will be 82 in June but the way he gets around and takes on challenges you'd swear he is a lot younger. Every time I use that planer I remember that day and think how happy dad was giving me that gift.
 
Mines not a BIG one either, but when Lowes was dumping Delta about 2.5 years ago, I went in and got one of the 13" lunchbox planers at 229.95. On the way to the check out I told the young man helping me that the only thing that would have made this deal sweeter was if I had gotten the 10% movers coupon I had applied for 4 weeks earlier (we had just moved into the house we're in now at the time) and he goes, no problem, and instructed the cashier to deduct 10%, so got it for just under 210.00. While in line, I sold their last one to another guy that was behind me. I said follow him, and the Lowes helper took him to the last one in the box. I still haven't plugged that planer in!:eek::eek: One of these days, I'm going to get this shop where I can use it! Jim.
 
....he paid for it all, he told me he wanted to see me be able to use part of my inheritance while he was still around to see it.
THAT is priceless!:thumb:

Wow, that planer must be the most prized piece of equipment you have in your shop.

Great story - brought lots of thoughts of my dad flooding back into my mind. Thanks.
 
Skil 100 Handheld Power Planer

I bought a Skil 100 Planer at an auction 15 years ago for $25. Sold it on ebay 3 years ago and bought a new DJ20 with the proceeds.

I felt as if I'd won the lottery.
 
You know, I think the best deal is to buy the best tool. When I'm in my shop the things I think "boy I'm glad I bought that" about are the tools that last well, perform well without tinkering every time, or just feel right.

I have bought a few Festools at outrageous prices, but you couldn't pry those out of my hands. On the other hand I've bought some HF or DeWally stuff that I dread to use even though they were bargains at the time.

Oh well, I guess I'm just in a philosophical mood this morning. Maybe another cup of coffee will fix that:rolleyes:
 
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