Normally I buy quality tools but with some the cheap s*** is just as good.
I am getting ready to make a some walnut columns 12" by 96" and need a
bunch of 6" bar clamps. Checked Ebay and there were several sellers of the
clamps. I picked the guy in AK as I figured the freight would be less and
bought 16 clamps. Price was about $40 including freight. Nice surprise
when they came. Bar is chrome plated, over all finish good and they work as
well as the $20 name brand clamps. Contacted the seller and I can get
another 100 for $210 including freight.
Also bought a 40 piece set of 1/2" carbide router bits as the set had
some that I wanted but never needed enough to buy. I was hoping that they
would last long enough for small special projects and then I would throw
them away as they were cheaper to buy than have sharpened. The first one I
used was a 1/2" straight bit to rough out a 390 lb finial of fresh cut oak.
( You can see it on my site.) Milled the 14.5" square by 38" piece into an
octagon removing about 100 lbs. At the end the bit was still sharp!
WWW.Homier.com has large deep throat bar clamp sets. 6 for $20! I bought
2 sets when their traveling sale was here. They have worked great except
for one which I had to weld the head on.
I was at Wal Mart and they had 25' tape measures for $2.28 each. Marked
in inches and metric. Bought 10 and still have problems finding one in the
shop. They work as well as the $20 Stanley.
--
Art Ransom
Lancaster , Texas

www.turningaround.org