bandsaw score

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Art Fuldodger

Art Fuldodger

Member
Joined
Jan 3, 2009
Messages
161
Location
Sandy, UT
I like to keep an eye out for clearance stuff at Lowe's and Home Depot, and since I have one of each within a half mile of my house, I stop in several times each week. Occasionally, it pays off big.

Saturday was one of thsoe time. They were clearing out some Delta tools to make room for new models, and they had discounted the floor models. Looking at the bandsaw, I noticed that the blade tensioning bar was bent, so they took another 10% off. It took five seconds to straighten out at home.

So... I took home the 28-276 bandsaw (http://www.deltaportercable.com/Products/ProductDetail.aspx?ProductID=11198) for... $235. I took about ten minutes to adjust it once I got home, and it cuts straight and true, and ate through 2" purpleheart and 6" box elder burl like buddah. Score!
 
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The trick is to stop in OFTEN. The good deals go quickly. Like I said, I stop in to both HD and Lowe's several times a week, just to peruse the clearance tables. Often, I'll go a couple of months without finding anything, and wonder why I even bother... but then I'll find something like this. Another trick is to make good friends with the folks who run the front of the store. Often, I'll walk in, they'll recognize me, and say "Hey, did you see the special on (widgets) they put out today?"

My biggest score was a $1200 convection oven that they had run something into in shipping, the back corner of it was bent up, and the frame was out of square. It was marked $400... I pointed out to a manager that one of the controls (not the knob) for the stove top was broken, so he marked it down to... $200. I spent one night taking apart the back and straightening the frame, $35 on a new control, and another night putting it together and testing it. Unless you pull it out from the cabinets, you can't even tell. :)

How quickly to deals go? One day, they had a bunch of Black and Decker table saws and scroll saws on the clearance table, marked down *barely*. I had eyed them, and thought that one portable table saw and a scroll saw looked good, but weren't that good of a deal. While walking around the store, they announced that everything on the clearance tables were an additional 50% off. I immediately turned and scurried to the table to grab what I wanted. I was the second person there, and got them - but within another three minutes, all of the good stuff was gone.
 
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Our Lowes does markdowns on Fridays. The young fella that works in the tools knows what I am looking for and has given me a phonecall ocasionally. I picked up some nice Hitachi tools this last fall that had been left on the tops of the aisles from when they unloaded trucks quickly and were just located during the inventory.
 
The real trick is to become friends with the store manager. I bought a returned 27ton logsplitter for $600. He called me up to let me know it came in and ask if I wanted it. I also bought a rollaway tool box that someone had put the wheels on incorrectly and returned it, sold half off. Sears Hardware is also good for that stuff(2 tablesaws and 2 rollaways). I'm waiting for a returned tractor or commercial lawn mower to find its way into my garage.
 
Yep, it sure pays off big some times to be very good friends with the store manager or one of the department heads. Ya just never know what comes back to you when you bribe, er, that is, give one of them a really cool pen.

I gave a nice Cocobolo pen to one of the managers at my local Lesco yard supply stores about a year ago. One day soon thereafter he called and told me to "rush" over and see him as he had something right up my alley.

Well I went and he sure did me a BIG favor. Seems one of their customers custom ordered a $5900.00 60" Zero Turn commercial lawnmower and it was delivered the day the customer went in for some sort of surgery. On top of that the mower was damaged in transit just a little bit. Now the customer did not want it and it was damaged - or so the manager said.

I got the mower for a little less than $2900 and am still looking for the damaged area. The mower is sweet to say the least ... it actually takes me longer to get the tractor out of the barn and then to put it back than it does to mow my yard, front, side, back, and the neighbor's front yard. All in all I am done in less than 40 minutes and never break a sweat. It even has a holder for my beer!
 
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