I went into Black Friday with a relatively small shopping list and initially thought I wouldn’t end up buying anything.
Thanks to Stuart and the ToolGuyd community, I picked up quite a few tools on my wanted list and got some great deals.
Here’s a look at the new tools I bought this holiday season so far. What have you purchased between Black Friday 2019 and now?
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Dewalt Cordless Sheet Sander
I’ve been really happy with Dewalt’s cordless random orbital sander. For quick sanding jobs, it’s hard to beat the practicality of a cordless sander. When Stuart posted about this new tool it immediately went on my wanted listed.
I picked this up for $104 from Acme Tools using their $25 off $100 of Dewalt coupon, and am looking forward to its arrival in January.
I’m hoping the New Year will also bring some new additions to Dewalt’s 20V Max cordless woodworking power tool range!
Dewalt Cordless Band Saw
The Dewalt 20V band saw has been on my wanted list for some time. We’ve never seen it as low as the Acme deal, so I didn’t hesitate to pick this up for $154.
Dewalt ToughSystem Organizer
I use Systainers in my shop for storage but want a more robust solution when I transport tools outside of my pristine workshop!
I love how solid the Dewalt ToughSystem boxes are and I already have a Large and Small box, so this one now completes my “on the go” setup.
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I picked this up from Acme Tools for $31.44 using their 15% Cyber Monday deal.
JessEm Stock Guides
JessEm produces some amazing woodworking products. I wanted a second set of these stock guides for my router table. They are similar to a feather board in the sense they allow the material to only move in one direction, but they use a wheel which allows for smoother operation.
They retail for $130 but Acme Tools had them on sale, and I used their 15% voucher, so I got them for $84.99
Stay tuned for a review of these JessEm stock guides as soon as I put them through their paces.
Dewalt Stool
I already have two of Dewalt’s adjustable shop stools, and I’ve been impressed with their design and sturdy construction. Unfortunately my two children also love them, so I’ve been waiting to buy another so I have something to sit on.
I went with the stationary stool, and paid $76.64 using Acme Tool’s $25 off $100 Dewalt offer. I did have to buy a $1.65 philips bit to get my purchase of $100!
Bessey Clamps
I was hoping to see some clamps on sale because my Irwin clamps are about eight years old and needed replacing.
Woodpeckers had a Black Friday special on Bessey clamps. I’ve always been impressed with the quality of Bessey’s clamps, and so I picked up three pairs of the light duty (150lbs) 12″ trigger-handle bar clamps for $23.99 per pair.
Still on my wanted list
I was hoping to see some discounts on Shop Foxes’ drill presses. This W1668 bench-top drill press is still on my wanted list.
Stuart’s Note: Curiously, the floor-standing model is less expensive than the benchtop model right now.
One of the reasons I have wanted a Dewalt Bandsaw was to turn it into a mini band saw table. This table from Swag gets really good reviews but I didn’t see any price reductions. Once I take delivery of my bandsaw I will probably order this anyway.
Finally, I’m still tempted to pick up a Zero Tolerance 0450 folding knife based on Stuart’s review. I will probably buy one before the price reductions end.
Back to You
So how was Black Friday and Cyber Monday for you? Did you snag some good deals?
Jorhay
SWAG had a cyber monday deal. 10 or 15% off. I’ve already got a bandsaw stand from them, I was looking at getting a clutter catcher or grinder holder, but I held off another year.
John
Exactly, Ben needs to be on SWAG email list for next time. I’ve had the SWAG table for 4 years with a corded Milwaukee and it’s awesome. I do a lot of metal fab with it. Not so sure I would want to use a cordless saw with the table but to each his own. I have a Hitachi cordless bandsaw for handheld work. Taking the saw in and out is not hard to do, but re-squaring the blade is sometimes needed.
Ben V
Well shucks, I wasn’t on their mailing list!
I am a littler worried about using it with a cordless bandsaw, as you noted. I thought I would get the saw first and make decision.
Brady
I have DeWalt’s deep cut cordless bandsaw and a Swag table for cutting out knife blanks. It beats the angle grinder, but I can’t really recommend using cordless with the table.
I’ve been keeping an eye out for a 120v AC adapter for 20v tools that I could plug into a foot pedal, but that’s probably just a pipe dream. Otherwise, I’ll likely pick up a used corded saw at some point to use with the table.
Dan
Where is the $25 off info for Acme?
Jared
I didn’t buy much. I’ve been practicing better budget control this year and there weren’t that many life-changingly-good deals to be found.
My purchases were limited to some Toughsystem items: two of the coolers Stuart posted about and the rolling big-box base I scored for about $80 shipped to my door (Canadian).
I also bought two Olight I1Rs because I planned to get them anyway to give as gifts and Amazon had them for about 25% off.
That’s it. It felt like most of the deals weren’t as good as last years.
Eric
I have the Swag portable band saw stand and love it. However I am not sure that I would go with it for the saw you have, your saw has a very small cutting capacity and is battery powered. The plate that you must put on it is large and makes portable use difficult for many purposes, this will affect the smaller saw even more.
Also note that not all saws use the same stand so swapping the saw later for a different one may not be seamless.
I have a battery powered saw for portability and picked up a used corded saw for less than $75 for the stand.
John
Ben,
I want to make a case why you should just get a corded bandsaw for a SWAG table. Corded saws have much more cutting capacity and once in the table, you’ll quickly find that extra depth which is about 2 more inches is very useful. Cordless bandsaws are handy for quick cuts in metal studs, rod, pipe, flat bar etc., but a corded saw with 5″+ throat depth opens up much more space to maneuver a work piece, able to cut deeper obviously but helps with non 90 degree straight cuts where the work piece itself may max out early into the shallower throat of the cordless saw.
I see used Milwaukee deep throat bandsaws on craigslist often. Not sure if the cordless Dewalt saw you bought has a two push switch (or whatever they call it), I would assume. If you get a corded model with a normal single switch, you can put a clamp on the switch and connect the saw to a foot pedal. Provides easy on and off, safety as well if you need to turn the saw off quickly. This is a very common method for many SAWG table users.
Also just buy a used drill press from a local posting.
Jared
I want Ben to buy the table for his cordless saw so I can hear how it works out. I don’t need a bandsaw often, but I’ve contemplated the same setup before.
Ben V
Thanks Jared & John, now I’m a little conflicted 🙂
I did give a passing thought to cordless vs corded but I didn’t want to loose out on the great price. I figured I can easily get my money back if it isn’t going to work out.
When it arrives next week I’ll give it some deeper thought. In the meantime I’ll see if SWAG will extend deal 😉
DC
I’ve had the Swag tale for over a year now and it’s awesome.
Mike
Overall less than last year, when I upgraded 15+of my Dewalt 18V tools to 20V lineup (overdue but well worth it!). Also, seemed like the deals were much weaker this year across the board, and way too many exclusions (looking at you Acme!) on some offers to make it worth the effort. Nevertheless, did score a few off my list:
– Northern Tool:
Dewalt 7491RS for $499 + a $100 Gift Card. (believe this is still ongoing if anyone needs a hot deal on this table saw!!) Everyone else seems to have the saw on sale for $499, but the $100 Gift Card set them apart.
– CPO Outlets:
Got the Dewalt cordless router ($159) and cordless sander ($109) with the free 5ah x 2 starter kit (that I don’t need, but will sell locally to make the cordless tools a really sweet deal!)
– CPO Outlets & Amazon:
Found enough misc Dewalt items from my list (saw blades, hand tools, portable workbench, etc.) for their $25 off $100 promotions. (Interesting how everyone seems to do this differently…needed a spreadsheet to figure out which items to buy from which seller due to pricing, items carried, and items qualifying for the promotion. Acme had too many restrictions and passed on them this year.) One caveat: most of these sellers claim they’ll match prices with any authorized distributor, but when it comes to actually ordering, CPO wouldn’t match Amazon (despite Amazon sold & fulfilled items, so fully authorized distributor), and CPO/Acme wouldn’t even match Home Depot (yes, HD actually had a lower price on a few items!) and still honor the $25 on $100 promotion. So you have to be careful, often prices on items qualifying for the promotions are enough higher that you can buy elsewhere cheaper w/o promotion…and their “best pricing” claims are misleading. This is becoming quite a seasonal adventure… 😉
My next (and likely much more difficult) target is for Freud/Whiteside router bits. I’m guessing their premium brands will make these far less likely to go on a decent sale, but I’m not in any hurry. If anyone has any insight into rough annual time frames and/or vendors that put these bits on sale (Freud particulary…kits or individual bits), would love the insight so I can be on the lookout. Guessing Amazon will be my best best, but I’ve been surprised before.
Happy hunting all! (and thanks to Stuart and this site for the continuing excellence and community they’ve fostered)
Ben V
Nice haul! And your approach is similar to mine, Excel has a lot of uses!
On Freud bits, I brought a few recently and Amazon has them discounted from MSRP but I have not seen a specific sale.
I also want some Whiteside CNC bits but have yet to see them on sale either.
Mike
Indeed it is humorous to be using Excel for tool buying, but they’ve made it so complicated as to best way to buy, that I use it all the time! (years working at MSFT introduced me to more Excel tricks than I ever knew existed prior….)
Last year I had all the Dewalt cordless tools mapped out vs the individual kits inclusion vs the various vendors pricing…which worked out well in the end.
After this years sales, I’ve now mapped out the router bits vs the Freud kits and related pricing…makes it real easy to compare individual bit pricing vs the kits…particularly since many bits in the kits I won’t likely use. I did find the best prices so far on Amazon (just like you), both for individual bits and the kits….but hoping for more…will monitor…nice to not be in a rush…
fred
Some possible sites to look at for router bit and CNC bit price comparison are (in alphabetical order):
Ballew Saw
Carbide Processors
Holbren
Router Bit World
ToolsToday
Mike
Thanks Fred, much appreciated!
Thom
Dewalt brushless multi tool kit, Craftsman 216 pc mechanics tools in Versastack box, SATA 16 pc SAE wrench set.
Brady
I mostly upgraded my remaining corded tools to cordless this year.
I’ve had my eye on the brushless DeWalt jigsaw for awhile, but couldn’t justify the price on its own, so I jumped on the bundle with the brushless random orbital sander at Acme Tools for $174.
I also placed online orders for a brushless circular saw for $104 at Acme and a couple of 5.0ah batteries at Amazon for $99. A few days later, while picking up some supplies at Home Depot, I walked past a combo at a price that made me do a double take. A brushless Flexvolt circular saw, the 1/2″ hammer drill, two 6.0ah Flexvolt batteries, and a ToughSystem box (DCKTS293T2) for $200. I don’t need the drill, but I couldn’t pass it up at that price. Even the associate that removed the security device was impressed. Luckily the first two orders hadn’t shipped yet, so I was able to cancel those.
Aside from that, I upgraded to a sliding miter saw (hoping I don’t regret that one), and got a Yeti Tundra 65 from Acme for $279. Spent way more than I wanted to this year, but they all felt like good deals.
Eric S.
Acme: Bosch 1617EVSP router kit Amazon: Bosch combo kit CLPK22-12v, Dewalt DWE 7480, Dewalt DWCK 483 20v bushless kit, Dewalt DCB205-2 5.0-Ah battery pack, starter pack of router bits, & Pelican 1500 case. H.J. Epstein: assorted recip. blades
William Adams
Still working through this — I’m at the point where I’m rounding out my tool collection, with pretty obscure/special-purpose tools, or replacing/augmenting tools with nicer ones:
– boxwood threadbox and tap — bought this from Jim Bode Tools since the price keeps going up on them — hopefully the vintage one will work out, if not, I’ll have to cough up the money for the “Wood Thread Cutting Tool” from Dieter Schmid Fine Tools in Germany
– gunsmith screwdrivers — I’ve been wanting a dedicated set of hollow ground screwdrivers for a while, so this was a welcome indulgence (getting tired of swapping replaceable bits in and out)
The other indulgences will be a Lee Valley Veritas Bar Gauge (but I see that I waited too long and they’re now out of stock until January) and a Lie-Nielsen No. 60-1/2RN Low Angle Rabbet Block Plane with Nicker — probably those are for my birthday.
Then it’s just a matter of replacing a few tools with nicer ones, and picking up some larger/stationary tools (Bridge City Toolworks Jointmaker Pro, and a post drill).
Tom D
When all this started I didn’t have any Packout equipment.
Now I have a full stack:
-Packout 3 piece set with foam from International (I think)
-4 deep half-width organizers from Ace Hardware ($20 per)
-1 deep full-width organizer from Ace Hardware (%50/15$ off coupon)
-3 shallow full-width organizers from HD
And a huge pile of tools and batteries that I’m still going through and eBaying some of to bring the total cost down.
Jaycob P.
Northern Tool: A Klutch folding welding table since it was on sale and they had free shipping.
Home Depot: The $30 jumbo Milwaukee bit set (I will never need another bit), the Bosch Daredevil bits with the canvas roll, some Milwaukee jab saws and the 27 piece Milwaukee drill bits.
Harbor Freight: Used a coupon on the Bauer portable bandsaw for $100 and bought a bunch of smaller stuff on the 30% off under $10 coupon. My wife also let me have a shopping spree for my gift so I picked up a bunch of clamps and other drill press accessories.
KC Tool: Got some longer Wera screwdrivers, a Hazet brush and a few other small items.
Auction: I went to an estate auction and bought a bunch of Mac and Snap On tools (a good chunk of which were unused) and a Mac tool cart.
Acme Tool: Have the $79 Milwaukee M12 rotary tool on order and bought the $99 M12 screwdriver kit.
Mopar
Since I’m renovating my eventual retirement house 260 miles from my current home, I’ve been trying to duplicate a lot of stuff on a budget when I find it so I don’t have to keep hauling a ton of tools back and forth every weekend or two. So recently I grabbed:
Dewalt -7480 table saw (right before it dropped to $229, grrrr)
Ridgid – miter saw stand
– wet tile saw (both at 50% off)
Hitatchi – pin nailer
– belt sander
Irwin – Quick clamps
-set of locking pliers
– pliers wrench (major disappointment. Didn’t expect Knipex for the price, but these are crap)
Oh, and a Mayhew cats paw and a bunch of little crap.
Ben V
Might be worth checking purchase protection on your credit card…
Jim P.
We took advantage of United Rentals Blue Thursday and purchased a Takeuchi TL10. Does that count?
Ben V
Yes and I wish I had a reason to buy one 🙂
Rrich1
Currently the jessem router table guides are $79.99 at woodcraft. I plan to pick them up before the end of the month.
I managed to snap the FLEX 12 GAL dust extractor for $180 from cpo outlets. Also got the gearwrench 20 PC set for my truck tool box.
Ben V
Thanks for the heads up, I’ll try and get Acme to match that!
Robert
I bought 4 DeWalt 20v fans which came with two (2) 5ah kits for $316, two 20v tripod lights which came with a (2) 5ah kit for $318, a 20v metal saw and sawzall that came with a (2) 5ah kit for $236, 4 spectra rotary lasers for $552 , a 20v rotary laser kit for $227, misc. accessories that were deeply discounted, 4 20v heated jackets that ranged from $45-$88, a little giant 22′ multi ladder for $159, the XR jigsaw/sander kit bundle for $174, and the 20v router with 5ah battery for $124.
So far I’ve kept some of the tools and sold about 1/2 of the rest to cover the tools I kept. Such as I sold the spectra lasers for $250 each (made $100 off of each) the DeWalt laser for $400 (made $150), the individual tools for less than in store, but the 5ah kits would net me a profit of about $70 from each set.
I am keeping the XR jigsaw, router, metal saw and one tripod light.
If you can’t afford the tools, then make a little side money for what you want. I enjoy it too, though it is a lot harder to sell tools when you’re not in a big city (mine is pop. 500 with the biggest near town being 23,000).
Thanks Stuart for posting these deals, you’re my go to source for updating my tool selection.
Aaron
So not so much a BF purchase but a purchase I was looking to make on BF and didn’t. I bought a Dewalt DWS799 yesterday for 307.80 with free shipping and no taxes from Amazon. For some reason they had a 3rd party seller who had dropped the price pretty damn low and for about 7 or 8 hours is was showing at the above price so I just bought it. Also, i had over 215 is amazon credits so the saw was under 100 bucks. Not a bad haul…..
ktash
Main purchase was the flex vacuum 9 gallon, plus accessories. Second big purchase was a low angle smoothing plane from Lee valley on cyber Monday special. Got the Rockwell jaw stand for $58 on Amazon. Got the spiral feather board on Amazon for full price. Fastcap Safecut 24″ ruler and mouse cutter. With this last, I’m refacing cabinets and it looks like it will be great for cutting veneer.
Mike
I picked up the Dewalt table saw for $229, a Kreg Miter fence for $80 and that exact ZT knife shown..
The ZT is beautiful and feels great to operate. Already had 4 people notice it. The saw and Kreg are still in their boxes.
Ben V
I dithered too long, the prices just jumped up 25% 🙁
Garrad
Flex 14 gallon dust extractor for $188. Cpo
Makita 18v x2 10″ sliding miter saw $305 cpo
DeWalt xr jigsaw kit and xr 5″ sander $174 acme
Makita 18v x2 7″ Brushless grinder kit $150 cpo
Hitachi 18v framing nailer kit $200 big sky tool
DeWalt dcb1800b 4 port charger/generator $200 ebay
DeWalt 535x planer $320 ebay
Flexvolt mixer drill kit with 6ah plus free 9ah $249 acme
HC
I bought the DeWalt cordless deal (https://14cyiuhvcgv.com/super-deal-dewalt-premium-20v-brushless-cordless-power-tool-kit-deal-112719/%3C/a%3E%29 that everyone seemed excited about. These are my first set of cordless tools. I then got a DeWalt impact-ready 40-piece screw driver bit set on sale for $19.99 ($14.99 with Ace Rewards membership) at Ace (https://www.acehardware.com/departments/tools/power-tool-accessories/screwdriver-bits/2401966). I saw a True Utility MiniDriver TU231 and grabbed that at regular price $10. I need a good beginner set of drill bits but can wait for a good deal on them.