i love Mom/Pops hardware stores!! learned a lesson yesterday,.

[vash]

for those that dont know me..or cant recognize it, i have an obsessive personality.

recently,i have a bug up my arse to sharpen every tool i own to a razor's edge (inexpensively). i found a hatchet in my garage..WHAT?? this thing needs sharpening. well, out came my flat file. it wasnt cutting so i went to search out a new USA made file. i found myself in a tiny hardware store..empty. i bet everyone was at home depot. the owner started talking to me. (if i had to guess, his favorite movie was GRAN TORINO)..i was embarrassed to learn that most flat files only cut in one direction.. DUH!! the man gave me a quick lesson, and sold me a new file (hecho in mexico )..and he sold me a file cleaning brush. he told me to try to clean my old file..if it fixes it, to bring the unneeded new file back and he would refund me my cash.

with the guy's tutelage..i now have a cheap true temper hatchet that resonates with a "zing!"..when i touch the edge..it is so sharp!! not quite razor sharp..but very close. the man said cheap axes tend to not sharpen as well as good quality axes..

i hope this guys store survives. i am gonna keep his file. and go back today to buy a new wood handle for my old file. small stores rock! is Home Depot that much cheaper?

[GH85Carrera]

I agree. The small local owned stores are the best. I go to a local Ace hardware store anytime I need that type of stuff. The big box stores are just for stuff the small stores don't have.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Likely HD is actually more expensive. The big box stores are quite smart, they do extensive market research to determine what customers price shop and then price/advertise these items accordingly. When you're replacing a toilet, what do you price shop? Do you compare prices on toilets, or do you compare prices on wax rings, bolt sets, and flex lines? They price some major items very low, sometimes even at a loss, then heavily mark up the accompanying required parts. So you get your toilet for less, then spend an extra $20 buying the parts to install it.

I used to manage a small lumberyard/hardware store in central KS, I frequently see small items selling for 2-3x what we sold them for. Pay attention to the little stuff next time you're there. Hardware, fasteners, fittings, etc.

[Porchdog]

I've been obsessed with sharpening tools since I was a young lad.

Part of my father's profession included a procedure called a frozen section. He had a special, heavy wedge shaped blde that he would use to slice off a microscopically thin sample for examination - and he hand sharpened the blade. It took me years to approach that skill level.

Last year I discovered paper wheels for knife sharpening and I'm hooked. The knifes aren't necessarily any sharper than my other methods, and the proper technique needs to be learned. Once you work out how to do it, the knives are sharp in no time. I do take a couple passes on the strop just to finish the edge.

For your hatchet or axe - you want a more blunt angle than a knife. The same with other impact tools like machetes.

[shadowjack1]

Funny this thread should come up today.

Just this morning I was in Ace, and needed a small scrap of 1/4" plywood. Spoke to the owner about buying a 1/4 sheet. Told him what I needed it for and he walked me out back to the scrap pile. Told me to find what I needed and take it, no cost.
Every time I go in there it's the same people, always heplful.

Right then and there I took out my Home Depot card, cut it in half and gave to him. Told him I would never need it again. He laughed, said the he never had a Home Depot card in his life.

[Evans, Marv]

I try to keep up (sort of) on prices since I'm always working on some project. Some things in the small local stores are better or the same price like Matt describes compared to HD. One example was I needed a couple of pieces of 1x2x8ft. I stopped by the local hardware store (name associated with a national brand) to buy them. They were $3.95 each. At HD they were 97 cents. So although I don't mind paying a bit more to support local businesses, I don't want to be ripped of by either them or the big boxes. I tore up my HD card years ago because after spending $1,000/mo. for years, one month I spent only $10. I put the bill aside and forgot about it. HD charged me a late fee of $25 on the $10 balance.

[intakexhaust]

Originally Posted by shadowjack1

Funny this thread should come up today.

Just this morning I was in Ace, and needed a small scrap of 1/4" plywood. Spoke to the owner about buying a 1/4 sheet. Told him what I needed it for and he walked me out back to the scrap pile. Told me to find what I needed and take it, no cost.
Every time I go in there it's the same people, always heplful.

Right then and there I took out my Home Depot card, cut it in half and gave to him. Told him I would never need it again. He laughed, said the he never had a Home Depot card in his life.

Right on with that. Next time at a HD or Menard's, take a peek at the dumpster near the lumber racks. Full of brand new stock, opened cartons of nails, faucets, broken garden thingy's, etc.. Can't touch it. If an employee is caught taking it... OOJ.

[M.D. Holloway]

Originally Posted by onewhippedpuppy

Likely HD is actually more expensive. The big box stores are quite smart, they do extensive market research to determine what customers price shop and then price/advertise these items accordingly. When you're replacing a toilet, what do you price shop? Do you compare prices on toilets, or do you compare prices on wax rings, bolt sets, and flex lines? They price some major items very low, sometimes even at a loss, then heavily mark up the accompanying required parts. So you get your toilet for less, then spend an extra $20 buying the parts to install it.

I used to manage a small lumberyard/hardware store in central KS, I frequently see small items selling for 2-3x what we sold them for. Pay attention to the little stuff next time you're there. Hardware, fasteners, fittings, etc.

Kinda like the Happy Days episode when the Dad went away (on vacation or a convention or gall bladder...) and either Richy or his Mom took over the shop. They rane a huge special on paint, lowered the price to cost but raised the price of brushes and ended up making a huge profit. The ol 'Lost Leader' concept taught to every first year marketing student

[look 171]

If I tell you I do not go to Home Depot, I am BSing you, but my men and I try like hell not to go there. Instead we go to the local hardware stores and lumber yards, electrical and plumbing supply houses. They are professional and know exactly where things are. A service I like and can't do without. Plus, they smile and are not pissed off because they are stuck stocking shelves. Many of them actually know their products. I was ay HD one time and needed a darker grout. The nice young man told me to look at the chart for matching color. If not, mix a llittle paint to get my desire color. Nuts.

[vash]

i'm not so sure the kid at my Home Depot knows a flat bastard file cuts only one way either..

[look 171]

He has a couple of donuts daily, you don't have to call him a fat bastard. They sell file (cabinets) in HD?

I think all files cut only one direction.

[Gogar]

ACE is worth it for the fasteners aisle alone. They have other stuff, too.

[azasadny]

We have a small, family-owned hardware store near us and that's the 1st place I go to buy stuff...

[lane912]

ok quick left turn on the subject of files
some of the best files you can find you will find here and everything you would like to know about files too-

http://www.westcoastfindings.com/wcfcatalog/catfile2008.pdf

[Hugh R]

Newhall Hardware closed last year after 90 or so years. They had everything. I went there for a Woodruff key for a generator for my last piece of British trash, they had it. I needed one for another project and went to HD and they referred me to the key cutters. This place had guns, ammo, saddles, they even had double-hung window sash counter-weight rope wax. Look that one up.

[gr8fl4porsche]

Originally Posted by azasadny

We have a small, family-owned hardware store near us and that's the 1st place I go to buy stuff...

I go to a small one as well that still uses metal imprint plates to print my account information on the receipt. Receipts are then hand written and they mail me a statement at the end of the month. Had the account since 1985.

They are located one block from a Home Depot and always busy.

[patssle]

Ace Hardware carries metric. I've bought quite a few nuts and bolts from the locally owned Ace for the Porsche!

[widebody911]

If I need a bunch of some sort of material, HD it is, but for little nuts and bolts and stuff like that I go to ACE.

I've known how to use a bastard since I was a kid.

[Superman]

I too patronize my local hardware stores. I very much hope they survive. I enjoy shopping there SO much more. We have a small family chain in our area, McLendons, that has stuff the box stores would NEVER carry. Racks and racks of those slide-out boxes with every imaginable shaped brass, stainless, rubber, plastic, fiberglass, glass, thingie. Just go in there with the old parts and an explanation of the problem, and walk out with parts that will solve it. Often times for $3.00 or so.

I have to tell my grandkids how movie "service stations" used to be, and theatres and Five-And-Dime stores etc. I don't want to be telling similar stories about hardware stores.

[Joeaksa]

Originally Posted by vash

and he sold me a file cleaning brush. he told me to try to clean my old file..

Its called a "file card" not file cleaning brush.