It is working now - I just ordered the jack rabbet plane and a skew rabbet
Member
It is working now - I just ordered the jack rabbet plane and a skew rabbet
Contributor
I'm back up at 5:30 AM (which is only 4:30 Eastern) to prepare a work document and thought I would check- already many things gone such as the shooting plane, quick-release vise, and skewed rabbeting planes. No surprise there. Also the cocobolo mallet- again, no surprise there. I think that may be the coolest thing they had, simply because just to get a piece of cocobolo to make your own would (a.) be hard to find now that it is CITES protected, and (b.) probably cost you more than the mallet at just $40.
One surprise is the skewed rabbeting block plane set (not to be confused with the larger skewed rabbet plane that is sold out) is still available. Folks, let me tell you those are probably my very favorite tools, and without a doubt my most-used. It's a block plane; it's a rabbet plane. Also I am surprised that the bevel-up smoother is still there- again one of my favorite go-to tools.
This is an event I save all year for, but since we recently bought and restored a home, I didn't have as much as I had hoped. Home Depot also hit me for $99 on the M12 kit that I could not pass up. If I had more I would have gotten that quick release vise and probably a set of the skew rabbet planes. I skipped on the rabbet planes since I already had the block planes and also since I was buying the rabbeting jack plane. The difference in length between the block planes and the skew rabbet planes is only 1", although the rabbet planes have full length sides that would register more easily. I decided the rabbeting jack better suited my larger stuff, and the block planes I have will fill the gap for smaller stuff. I have a number of shutters to fix or build, all of which have a rabbet where they meet. Now I have an excuse.
I know there are a lot of lurkers on this site, so I will say- if you've been wanting to get into hand woodworking, and were waiting for a deal on tools, today is your day. They've got a jack, smoother, and fore plane left, plus some saws and other items. I have yet to buy a "factory second" from Veritas that I could ever figure out what exactly the second was. Usually it's some little scratch or minute pit in the casting, or maybe a paint flaw, but I've yet to find it.
Rob Lee, if it's not an industry secret, I am just curious how many hits you got at opening, and roughly an idea of how many of an item (although I am sure it varies greatly item to item) do you usually have on hand at start of the sale. Strictly out of curiosity.
Member
I got myself a Fore Plane and one of the dovetail saws. Hopefully it'll be a revelation using a brand new, top-quality hand plane.
Contributor
When I got up this morning my cart was up but several items were sold out. I missed a couple planes I really wanted. Still managed to get a few items. Too bad the checkout didn't work at 12:10.
Contributor
Seriously? Derek's site got hijacked?Originally Posted by Hilton Ralphs
I mean, I would go check, but since I'm at work, I don't want to download something that's going to send DHS into a head spin. lol
The Barefoot Woodworker.
Fueled by leather, chrome, and thunder.
Member
Malcolm, for me, that was the prize find. As for all y'all clogging it up at the stroke of midnight, what can I say. Looks like we're not above materialistic greed. I'm certainly not an IT guy, but I am a business guy. If it were me, I'd release quantities throughout the day. This would curb some of the initial onslaught, and encourage folks to come back and check frequently.
As for the plane stock, there really wasn't much I wanted/needed/lusted (read: I've got a bunch of LV already), other than the skew block planes, but I didn't want to buy a pair of them, and the jack rabbet plane (that was one of the better deals at $100 off), but it was sold out when I checked at 1:30 am EST. Considered getting a second LA Block plane, but at only $30 off, I passed.
Just curious - some of you said you already had stuff in your carts at midnight. How'd you manage that?
Last edited by Maurice Ungaro; 12-01-2014 at 8:17 AM.
Maurice
Contributor
As far as I can ascertain, there is no virus. Hilton stated he saw something on the main index (only). The website has been scanned for malware. I looked for any added files. None found. Seems OK to me.Seriously? Derek's site got hijacked?
I mean, I would go check, but since I'm at work, I don't want to download something that's going to send DHS into a head spin. lol
I run off a Mac, and the archived files on my laptop are free of anything malicious. I run ClamXav on all files to be safe.
Regards from Perth
Derek
Member
I like this idea and it may encourage more buying since no one would know what else might come up later in the day.
That's the last straw
"A hen is only an egg's way of making another egg".
– Samuel Butler
Contributor
Oh cool. Good to know.
The site code isn't changed, is it?
The Barefoot Woodworker.
Fueled by leather, chrome, and thunder.
Contributor
Hi Adam
I do not know enough to check the site code. Can you say how?
The website has a firewall that is checked regularly. It was checked today. Nothing showed up. That does not mean there is nothing there - just nothing that the scan does not show anything.
Regards from Perth
Derek
Contributor
Materialistic and greedy? I prefer thrifty and wise. :-) The midnight onslaught is kind of part of the fun, and also shipping would be a hassle if I had to check out numerous times throughout the day. It's an interesting thought to make it all day, but I think they would lose money in my case because I have a set $ to spend, and I spent it (and a bit more) last night. I might have passed on the BU Jack Rabbet if I thought another tool might come up later, but having all the options in front of me, I could make a decision and spend my money right away. In fact, the whole site crash thing caused me to change my mind on a couple of small items before checking out.
I don't think people actually had carts filled by midnight, but I had mine filled by 12:10 ET. I had a set amount to spend, and had being already just about fully stocked on Veritas tools, there wasn't much left to buy, so it was a quick decision as to what I needed.
Contributor
Hi All -
Please accept our apologies for the hour or so our servers plugged up last night. Our CPU load went straight to 99% at midnight, and the system began to slow. We have actually had no problems with loads like this in the past, so were puzzled by what was going on. It took our IT staff about an hour to diagnose and resolve the problem - an indexing/memory issue that caused our servers to churn as they overswapped pages from memory to disk. This caused a number of sessions to time out. Given the loads necessary for this to occur - it appears there was no way to test for or anticipate this particular issue.
For many retailers, Cyber Monday (or Black Friday...) can be a bear to manage - if we do a good job of putting up offers with wide appeal, we can really get slammed. In a short (but intense!) hour we can hit volumes we wouldn't see over an average day. It's always a bit hard on staff and systems, but it's never intended to be hard on customers!
Sincerely -
Rob Lee
Contributor
Hi Malcolm -
Well.... it kind of is an industry secret, but I'll find a way to answer it anyway....
We try to select items that we know will sell through - but also last a reasonable portion of the day. The plane seconds are always in high demand, and we really work hard all year at NOT trying to make them...so those will always go first. Quantities there could be as few as 20, and as many as 200. Other items, like the 14TPI dovetail saw, we have an entire production run of (a worn tool caused the cosmetic flaw) - but will only sell at this price on this day, and will put them back in storage.
We have to be careful in what we select, and how we present it, as the prices on products we post are the lowest they can be for at least a full year - the deals have to be real, or you folks don't come back.
Cheers -
Rob
Contributor
Rob, what are you doing on here, shouldn't you be in shipping?
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