Anyone else here not a huge fan of woodcraft?

[Chris Hachet]

I shop once in awhile at my local store, nothing at all wrong with them, but lately have begun to buy everything I need from Lee Valley, as the product, pricing, and service is much, much better. Not anything against the local woodcraft, but I find Lee Valley to be a better deal almost every time. Also, in Columbus we have Woodwerks Supply which gives absolutely fantastic service. What is everyone else's experience?

[Mike Henderson]

I've had very good experiences at my local Woodcraft. My local Rockler also gives good service. And with both of them, I get the item immediately. LV does a good job but their shipping is horribly slow (UPS ground). It takes forever to get anything from them, or I have to pay for expedited shipping. I wish LV would go to USPS priority mail.

Both my local Woodcraft and Rockler have similar return policies to LV - maybe not as generous but pretty close.

Mike

[David Weaver]

Woodcraft corporate (internet) has always provided everything I've bought just fine, shipped fast, packed well, etc. The store that we had locally was sort of uninspiring, but it closed.

I generally don't shop there (online) much anymore because either they don't carry the things I was buying there any longer, or because anything they have that isn't theirs exclusively is usually found for less elsewhere. Japan woodworker was sort of the same story, though they did have a few gems at one time (esp the cheap funjii planes), but most of that disappeared and it was sort of fitting that Woodcraft purchased their operation because the prices in both places are similar.

That seems unnecessarily harsh to me to say that, because I have had contact with folks at corporate and found them to be honest and genuine, it's just my old german (high dutch, PA dutchy, whatever you want to call it) sense that makes me too stingy - and I can't get over that stinginess - I cringe when I look through the catalogs. But for them to have stingy-man-approved prices and support a brick and mortar franchise system would be a good way to go out of business and fast.

Rockler is literally up the street from me, and I have trouble finding much there, either - other than maybe screws and glue, and even then, their prices are set so that they still do OK after you use a coupon. If you don't have a coupon, forget about it. There are things they have there that are cheaper at HD up the hill even after a 20% coupon is applied, and that's bad, as HD doesn't generally give anything away.

[Eric DeSilva]

I've had no issues with buying on-line from Woodcraft, and the folks running the local (well, quasi-local) store seem like upstanding, knowledgeable guys. I'm guessing the experiences will be mixed because I think the quality of your experience is really going to depend on the folks running your local shop--I think it is a franchise, so the local stores probably have significantly different character.

[Joe Tilson]

I don't know how you folks feel about Mcfeely's, but they have some really quality screws as well as some tools. They ship really well and package well too. WC, Lowes, and HD have jumped on the price increase thing and put them selves out of my price range plus they only stock for the upper class woodworker or Joe homeowner. LV is a class act with quality and fairly good at pricing too. Rockler does a good job as well.

[george wilson]

David,you certainly are not stingy!!

My complaint about Woodcraft is some of the cheap stuff they have been selling for years. They have sold junky Chinese needle files forever,long before the good USA makers like Nicholson went bad. There are also other not so good products that I can't recall right now.

WARNING!!!! NEVER BUY those ceramic coated stainless steel kitchen knife unhandled kitchen knives they sell. The ceramic chips off the cutting edges on ALL of them,Woodcraft or not. And I certainly do not want to be swallowing razor sharp chips of ceramic that will never degenerate inside your digestive tract. The ceramic coating is VERY thin,and it does not adhere to the stainless steel blade inside. Those knives ought to be BANNED. All of them.

Woodcraft's WHITE,100% ceramic blades(with no handles) are quite a good buy,. IIRC,I bought one for $25.00 or so. It was literally shaving sharp,and has lasted as well as more expensive ceramic knives. If you are careful to examine the cutting edges,even Harbor Freight ceramic knives with rubber handles(Abt. $10.00) are quite good. Their problem is: They most often do not sharpen the blades for the last 1 1/2" near the tip. Examine them carefully. It is hard to see if the edges meet near the tips,as the blades are white. I took several out of their boxes and bought the best ones I could find. I can sharpen ceramic knives,though not as sharp as their factory grinds. My finest available diamond wheel is 1200 grit,but I have a 3000 grit wheel I need to modify to fit my grinder. However,the 1200 grit delivers a knife sharp enough to easily slice through a tomato skin,and I'm satisfied with it.

Needless to say,lumber at Woodcraft is VERY expensive. We used to have a decent lumber dealer in Richmond,but they are long gone. I asked the owner of the store,who I know,why the wood cost more than the machines. He just laughed and said it was true.

[James Conrad]

Lie-Nielsen = Filson
Lee Valley = LL Bean
Woodcraft = Sears

[David Weaver]

I don't know how you folks feel about Mcfeely's, but they have some really quality screws as well as some tools. They ship really well and package well too. WC, Lowes, and HD have jumped on the price increase thing and put them selves out of my price range plus they only stock for the upper class woodworker or Joe homeowner. LV is a class act with quality and fairly good at pricing too. Rockler does a good job as well.

McFeely's seems very similar to JWW and Woodcraft to me. Their screws used to be something unusual, made in the USA and better than almost anything I could find locally. That's not the case any longer because rockler is around, and the screws are mostly chinese and taiwanese at McFeely's now, and they sell most other catalog items at retail. I haven't shopped with them for years, but back when they had something unique, they were the only place I went for screws.

They still use the picture of the mcfeely guy, whoever that is, on the web page, but they were bought by grainger, which is an OK place to go if you have a corporate account, but is a super high priced place to go if you're buying low volume and have time to shop around.

(the shift to imported goods and "same as everyone else has" goods - those being plastic jigs, festool, etc, happened before grainger bought them, though).

I am critical of retailers about price and what's offered a lot of the time because I do spend a lot of money on tool stuff, but aside from my little sharpening stone problem (even those, I try to buy right) I try to make my purchases money in suspense instead of dispensing with a low % ever to be recovered.

[Judson Green]

Not that I dislike Woodcraft (internet or the store) but just don't even think to shop there. I did about 2 or 3 months ago stop in at the local (~30 mins away) store and checked it out. Left without buying anything, not that I was looking to do so, and figured I really don't need to go back. Really its not that I have something against them its just that I've found other places to get the kind of stuff they sell. Certainly won't buy wood there. Probably should have checked out their clearance items little better I think they had a couple clamps I could use.

I do think its cool that they offer some classes. And the one in Milwaukee has a "living room" for hanging out and chating.

You guys ever use custom service hardware? No affiliation. Good place for oh-hum items PVA glue, screws, drawer slides, lights

[Chris Griggs]

I think "not a huge fan" describes it pretty well. I don't dislike them at all. I enjoy having a local store near by and they do have very good service both in store and when ordering. There's just not much I want from there, and more often then not I feel like I can get better things for less money from places other than Woodcraft. For instance, price out a Dozuki from WC and then compare it to what you can get it for from Stu, or LV, or Craftsman Studio. I just feel like I get more for my money at other places. I do occasionally get things from WC and they do carry some good stuff (I got my Iwasaki file there for instances and really like my WR No. 6), but in general it's a place where I tend to buy only when things go on sale.

[Mel Fulks]

George, Lumber Sales,in Richmond is still good . Not a lot of exotics beyond mahogany ,but that is good there.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

My local WoodCraft store is 110 miles away in Spokane, WA. The next closest one is 260 miles away in Boise, ID. Both stores are locally owned and have treated me well. The owners of the Spokane store personally delivered my PM3520B. The husband of the pair helped me and 2 other guys roll it on a pallet jack from my carport to the shop while moving sheets of plywood across the lawn. I bought my lathe, my drill press, GI mortiser and 2 Jet air filtration machines there.

In the remote area where I live, WC is the nearest place where I can put my hands on a tool and drool on it before I buy it. While in town there are a couple "authorized dealers" for some woodworking tool companies, they don't stock tools.

I also buy from Rockler, Lee-Valley, etc. but Wood Craft has its place in the market.

[Jim Koepke]

Being locally owned stores has benefits and problems.

The closest to me is about 60 miles away in Portland. My experience with one of the people there was pleasant, with another, not so pleasant.

Mostly for me it is just "window shopping" unless there is some wood or other consumable at a good price.

jtk

[Pedro Reyes]

I like my woodcraft, but for the most part I buy from them is to make sure they stay in business, so I never buy online, I go there and have it ordered (save on shipping to). Occasionally I go there because I need it ASAP, and at that point I don;t mind paying a bit more. If we all just e-commerce then the local stores won't be there when you need them in a pinch, not to mention the whole buy local mentality.

For this same reason I occasionally buy at Barnes & Noble.

/p

[Tony Zaffuto]

I prefer to be an informed consumer. If I can't understand the web or catalog blurbs about what I'm looking at, I'll telephone the company. If customer service (or whoever) can't answer my questions, I shop elsewhere. Companies at the top of their game include LV, Highland, LN, Craftsmen Studio. Most of the others seem to have grown too large to understand the products they sell.