Rockler’s Pre-Black Friday deals came out this past Friday. Like many of the tool-related deals that retailers are pushing this season, some of them aren’t very exciting, but there are also some decent discounts to be found.
Update: Rockler has extended these deals for another week. Here are their other pre-BF deals.
This is a pretty short sale, it ends November 17th, 2015 November 23rd, 2015. Rockler warns that some items may only be available online and not in their retail stores. If you figured you’d just pick up the sale item at your local Rockler store, you might want to call first.
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If your local Rockler store is an out of the wav visit, you might also want to check with them about deals that are available in stores, to make sure they haven’t run out before you make the trip over.
Also note that these offers are definitely not valid at independent Rockler retailers.
In this post I’ll highlight a few of my favorites and some of the deeper discounted items.
P.S. There’s free shipping on $25+ orders for a limited time!
Click here to automatically apply the coupon code (AFAY7).
(Some Exclusions Apply)
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Rockler Bench Cookie Plus Master Kit
Whether you’re a fan of Bench Cookies or just want to try them out, this 28 piece Master kit is a way to build up your supply of Bench Cookie and Bench Cookie accessories fast. Included in the kit are 8 Bench Cookies, 8 XL risers, 8 finishing cones, and 4 standard risers.
Normally $60, this Bench Cookie Plus Master Kit is discounted to $40.
Rockler Glue Applicator Set
This Rockler Glue Applicator set features a wide mouthed 8 oz glue bottle and several different glue spreading attachments, including a roller, glue line centering attachment, and brush applicator. It also comes with a funnel for easy filling.
During this Pre-Black Friday sale, the set is half off, only costing you $10.
Rockler Silicone Glue Brush
Stuart’s covered the Rockler’s Silicone Glue Brush and its cousin the Bench Dog Glue Spreader. The advantages of this type of spreader over a bristle brush is that it won’t lose any bristles that have to be fished out of glue joints or off your project. With these brushes, you can just let the glue dry and it’ll peel right off.
Usually $5, Rockler’s discounted them to $3 for the sale.
Woodturners Multi-Roll Sanding Pack
This sanding pack contains 5 rolls of 1″ by 20 cloth-backed sandpaper organized neatly in a small dispensing package. The aluminum oxide sand paper comes in 150, 240, 320, 400 and 600 grits. This pack is really handy when you are sanding on the lathe. You can pull out the length you need, sand away, then pull out the next finer grit, without wasting time looking for the correct grit paper.
Usually this 5 roll sanding pack runs $20, but several times a year (including this sale) Rockler discounts it to $10. I’ll usually watch for it to go on sale and buy a pack.
Rockler/Insty-Drive Tapered Drill Bits and Countersinks
These Insty drive countersinks feature a tapered bit rather than straight bits like the Snappy Countersink bits we recently posted about. The tapered hole are often said – by companies selling tapered drill bits and screws – to give screws additional holding power as it travels towards the bottom where the wood is less likely to split. Rockler’s Insty Driver Sleeves also fit over the top of these bits so you don’t have to unchuck the bit to drive screws.
You can purchase these tapered bit countersinks for #5, #6, #8, #10, and #12 screw sizes. Usually $20 a piece, these bits are also 50% off.
Excelsior Mini-Lathe
I bought this lathe a few years ago when I wanted to get into wood turning. At the time it was on sale for $199 and included the bed extension. Now, even without the bed extension, $200 is still a good deal for what you get. Made from cast iron, this five-speed, 1/2 hp mini-lathe can turn projects nearly 18″ long and 10″ in diameter.
This lathe usually runs $299, but for this sale they are marking it down to $199 again.
16 Piece Forstner Bit Set
Last month, Rockler had a deal on 6 and 7 piece Forstner sets for $20. As part of this sale, they are discounting this larger 16 piece set to $69. It is usually priced at $105, so that’s a 33% discount. This set has 9 bits over 1″ in diameter. If you do a little research on the web, bits this large start to cost $10 or more per bit.
Flexcut Carving tools 20% off
Lastly, Rockler is slashing 20% off all the Flexcut carving tools they carry. For instance, the pictured Beginner’s Palm Knife set they usually sell for $72 is on sale for $58. This isn’t the best price I could find online though; Hartville Tools on Amazon is offering the same set for $54.
Yet another lesson that just because it’s on sale, doesn’t mean that you can’t find it cheaper someplace else. This doesn’t mean that all the Flexcut tools are more expensive. For instance, the interchangeable gouge blades seem to be a decent deal with most of them currently running $11 or $12.
You can see the rest of the deals if you follow the link below. There are 240 items included on the page, some of which are not discounted. If you are looking for the items on sale, be sure to look for the maroon sale tag and a crossed out regular price.
More Info (Rockler Pre-Black Friday Sale Page)
fred
Tapered screw-sinks used to be much more common when wood screws only came in tapered-shank configuration. Then folks started using straight shank flat-head sheet metal screws for carpentry and even woodworking. So the manufacturers seemed to have caught on to the trend – offering lots of “wood” or general purpose screws in straight shank configuration. Straight shank countersink/drill bit combinations naturally followed.
As you say – the tapered shank variety – may offer an advantage of providing a bit more wood at the bottom of the hole – but I’ve never seen any tests that confirm this.
Benjamen
Good point on the tapered shank wood screws, I actually have some and forgot about them.
What I said is what I’ve always heard, plus the fact that the tapered bits supposedly clear debris better. I can’t point to any evidence, anecdotal or otherwise. It’s really hard sometimes to separate things you’ve continually heard and eventually come to trust from actual facts. I’m know there are tons of examples of this in woodworking (probably in all fields too).
Matthew
I love using tapered bits but I do agree with the tapered screws and straight shafts. It seems it’s mostly about preference than anything else.
Dewalt tapered bit three pack is $25 at Home Depot.
Dwain Lindesey
I just ordered a set of the Bench Cookies!
Thanks.