# Your Tool Vendor of Choice?



## Phil3 (Nov 30, 2011)

What vendors or suppliers do others find offer the best value overall, on a reasonably consistent basis?  Everyone has a different idea I am sure, but what is your preferred source and why?  MSC, Enco, CDCO, Shars, Travers, Little Machine Shop, etc...?

- Phil


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## Pacer (Nov 30, 2011)

I could just quote Edk and he would cover my thoughts also - Enco is just hard to beat. Even if they should - perish the thought! gasp! - discontinue the "codes" for the % off and free ship, they would still be competitive. My second choice is probably a tie between CDCO and Shars. Like Ed, I watch the email specials sent out, and have caught a couple really good deals off one of those. As with all the Chinese/import stuff there is the occasional 'crap' piece/s - but that seems to be happening less and less.


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## pjf134 (Nov 30, 2011)

Enco is the best I found so far, no returns as of yet and I just placed a small order yesterday with free shipping. I am waiting for some stuff to go on sale, but I did need some items now so I could not wait anymore. I did try CDCO and had no trouble so far with the things I bought back in April. I do buy some HF stuff sometimes, but I am choosy what I buy, it seams that the pro stuff is good for light home use better than the cheaper things from what I heard. I do like there free mini flashlight, been using it for 6 months now next to my lathe.
  Paul


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## Tony Wells (Nov 30, 2011)

I'm fortunate enough to have a local seller. They don't stock everything, but they offer a complete product line competitive with just about anyone, once you are a regular customer. They drop ship to me what they don't have from usually Dallas or Houston, so I get it next day at ground rates. The keep a pretty good stock of carbide and end mills, taps and drills....all the standard stuff. I usually don't have the luxury of time to wait on sales, but then, my tooling cost is amortized over a job, or at least absorbed in the shop rate. I do browse the sales fliers from Enco, MSC (my second source), Travers, Wholesale Tool...and a few other specialty houses I that somehow ended up on their mailing list. Once in a while, I'll replace something worn out while it's on sale.


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## bedwards (Nov 30, 2011)

I have bought the most from Enco, the price, selection, discounts and free shipping the reasons. I have had good results from all these guys and would not hesitate to use them again though: 

tools-n-gizmos, lost creek machine, and tools4cheap


be


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## churchjw (Dec 1, 2011)

I order most from Enco.  Like most have said watch for the sales.  Overall best prices for the quality.  I ordered a lot form wholesale tools when I first started putting my shop together.  Good prices mostly low end stuff.  Having said that my mill and lathe came from Wholesale tools and I have been very happy with them. I have ordered from MSC since I was 14 and still order stuff from them.  They have always been good to deal with.    McMastercarr is my go to when I can't find something.  They are a little higher but carry hard to find stuff.  Northern tools has been good since they have a fairly local store so for heavy items I often look there first since shipping is free to the store.  You just have to be very careful to know what your ordering as with Wholesale tools some of their stuff can be crap.  Bolt depot is my go to for nuts, bolts, and washers.  Better quality and better prices even with shipping than the local Lowes and they carry about every size and grade I have needed.  I do like Shares for some things.  All the stuff I have gotten from there has been very good quality and some of there stuff has great prices.  My mill vice and all of my drill chucks have come from Shares and I love them.  

I will not order from CDCO.  I order my DRO from them and was very pleased.  Over several orders probably spent $1000.00+ with them.  Then I got 2 tap handles from them that were absolute crap.  Called to complain was told no problem they would ship new ones.  6 months and probably 20 phone call latter I finally gave up never did see the new parts.  Ended up chucking them in the trash and putting CDCO on my never order from them list.  

Jeff


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## Bobby Bailey (Dec 1, 2011)

Like most others, Enco is one of my first choices along with Tools4Cheap. I really like the hss insert tooling from Arthur R. Warner Co. Of course Brownell's, Dave Manson, and Dave Kiff (PT&G) along with Kokopelli Products are good sources for gun tools and tooling.
Bobby


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## nctoxic (Dec 1, 2011)

I'm pretty new at this, so my experience with these vendors is quite limited.  I have had good service from CDCO the few times I've ordered from them.  If you pay with a credit card, they will ship the item by close of business that day.  I have, so far, gotten exactly what I ordered and in a timely fashion.  
I have ordered a few times from Enco and been very pleased with their selection and prices.  I really like their catalog with all the explanations of their tools and choices.  
I just ordered an AO grinding wheel from Wholesale Tools.  As a new customer, for some reason I was unable to successfully complete my order online.  It kept asking for an email address and even after inputting it, I kept getting an error message asking for the email address again.:nuts:  I ordered over the phone and it seems to be on it's way. 

Just a newbie's 2 cents worth.
Tim,,,


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## Video_man (Dec 1, 2011)

As I understand it, MSC bought Enco several years back, and where their flyers and Enco's show the same item, MSC is always higher....I've been happy with Enco and Grizzly, have used KBC  Tools a little,  with satisfaction.  Wholesale Tools sometimes delivers something slightly different that what I ordered --- straight instead of spiral reamers, for example, and I (foolishly) bought a 6-12 inch mike set from them for a project, based on their catalog image, and got something similar but not what they showed.  CDCO has always delivered what I ordered, but I haven't bought enough from them to really know.  Shars has been satisfactory, likewise not done a lot of business with them...


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## brt (Dec 1, 2011)

I'm also pretty new here. So far it's been Enco and Shars. Both are great: decent products, good pricing (on specials), pleasant customer support folks. I'm also trying some high-rated Ebay folks (allesgute in Vancouver) and CTC Tools in HK. We'll see how well that works. I've looked at LMS a couple of times, but didn't catch any specials that I was interested. I'll keep looking. I'll start tracking Travers and CDCO, also, thanks.

Also, I live close by McMaster-Carr, so for some REALLY uncommon components I'm willing to pay their price, since shipping is $0 - I just go to the warehouse and pick it up in 2 hours after placing the order. This works especially well for heavy things, like metal stock items.

Speaking of which, where do you guys get metal and plastic stock?


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## pjf134 (Dec 1, 2011)

brt,
  I get my material from Metal Super Market (http://www.metalsupermarkets.com/) no min. order and cut to size for free while you wait and is local for me. Maybe there is one near you. Prices seem ok, you pay by the piece you want, not the stock length and no shipping charge for me at least. It sure beats paying for a stock length when you only need 6" for a project. It works for me that way at least.
  Paul


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## Ed Hoc (Dec 3, 2011)

DaveH said:


> Hi,
> 
> So anyone live near this lot CDCO.
> 
> ...




CDCO had / has a booth at 7 Mile Fair, a permanent flea market near Milwaukee WI USA.  It's been a while since I've been there, but I try to stop at his booth when I get to Milwaukee to visit friends.  Yeah, most of his stuff is NO-GO for me, but I have got some pretty good tools from him, after I got to see them first hand.  Couple things turned to Sh## after I got them home too.  Axial support for indicator is one and a test indicator for another.:angry:  

Enco does a lot better for me.

Ed Hoc


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## Weldfab (Dec 3, 2011)

I've purchased things from MSC, ENCO, Walter Hammond, Ebay, a few of the online places and Fastenal. Usually if I need something the next day I will buy from MSC as they will get it to me without higher shipping costs.


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## ScrapMetal (Dec 3, 2011)

Same list as most but one that I don't think has been mentioned is McMaster-Carr http://www.mcmaster.com  Their prices aren't always the best but they do have a huge selection and so far I've had great service from them.

-Ron


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## nealdraper (Dec 4, 2011)

I have a Fastenal local to me and a Grainger about 20 minutes away.  But, for most things I use Enco.  Once in a while I will order from McMaster Carr for something I cannot find anywhere else.  
Neal


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## arvidj (Dec 5, 2011)

Interesting interaction with Wholesale Tool.

 I am in the market for a mill. On page 246 of their catalog [http://www.wttool.com/index/page/static/subpage/catalog_viewer_machinery] I found a ZX7550WA that I am very interested in. The price in the catalog is $3,195, regular $2,995. Certainly a new concept in discount pricing. More likely a typeo.

I engaged in an on-line chat just to make sure.

10:18:28 AM [Arvid] I am looking at item 3004-0140 on page 246 of the 2011 - 2012 Machinery catalog. The price is regular $2,995 but it is listed as $3,195. How do I go about ordering one at the $2,995 regular price? And do you have an estimate of shipping to Prior Lake, MN, 55372?

10:18:38 AM [xxx] let me take a look

10:19:55 AM [xxx] okay, the price in the catalog can be subject to change. The cost from our supplier went up, and the new price is $3,495.00. Sorry!

10:20:09 AM [Arvid] So am I. Thanks for looking
.
 10:20:23 AM [xxx] as far as the shipping is concerned, I can get you a quote if you still want

10:20:41 AM [Arvid] Yes, please do.

...

On Friday I got an email from Wholesale Tool declaring a “Holiday Savings – 10% off everything”. Well this makes things a little more palatable as $3,145 is about what I was willing to pay in the first place. So I went to the site this morning, found the item on line and the price is now $3,995. With the 10% discount the price is $3,595.50.

Note that I am not suggesting anything underhanded here. I just found the numbers and timing to be interesting. And no, I did not purchase the mill. Just a little to interesting for my blood.


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## randyjaco (Dec 5, 2011)

Enco is my go to tool supplier.

Randy


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## Twisted Road (Dec 13, 2011)

I'm still new to this, but I've had to start from scratch and I've been buying a lot of tooling recently. Sadly, I'm buying mostly the cheap Chinese stuff because that's what I can afford. I figure I will eventually figure out where I need to spend more money to get something better, but for now, I just do what I can. So, with that background...

I made a big shopping list on a spreadsheet and started hitting the websites to compare prices from Grizzly, Enco, Harbor Freight, Norther Tool, CDCO, Little Machine Shop, and recently added Shar.

Harbor Freight and Northern Tool just didn't have enough of what I wanted to be worth messing with. Prices that they did have were so-so. Off the list.

Enco's prices seem too high compared to the others and they are in California so they charge sales tax. I bought a few things from them, they ship quick and were easy to deal with. I find their website a pain to use, but if I know what I want I'm OK.

Little Machine Shop has some nice specialty products, but my lathe and mill are just a little big compared to their specialty. I have ordered a few things from them and they shipped fast. Also in CA, so taxes.

Shar has good prices but when I put together an order, the shipping was jaw-dropping. It much cheaper to pay more at Grizzly and get lower shipping. I emailed them and asked if there might be a problem with their shipping calculator. They responded that they charge based on weight and it is what it is (they were very nice about it though).

CDCO Tools has the best prices I've found for cheap Chinese stuff. Their shipping is reasonable and reasonably fast. When I got my quick change too post it did not have a handle. Two emails went unanswered. I called and Frank was "on his way to the warehouse" but said he would take care of it. Nothing heard, a few days later I called again and reminded him. That time he got it shipped out. I recently placed another order and it came quickly and everything was fine (for cheap stuff). I am currently considering getting their DRO, but I'm looking for user reviews.

I bought my lathe and mill from Grizzly and I've been happy with their prices and service. I had to wait over 8 months for the mill, but I believe they were resolving a design problem before they started shipping again, so I guess I'm OK with that. During the process, I would email them about every two weeks for an update and they were very prompt with their reply. They have a lot of products that CDCO does not carry and currently they have a 10% off metalworking accessories (NOT machines) coupon which closes the price gap. In addition, their shipping is based on value of your order, but tops out at about $20. So, if I buy everything at once, I get a very good shipping deal. Products have been OK, but cheap is cheap is cheap, so my expectations are not high and it's the same stuff with different color paint at the other places.

That's my take, for what it's worth.

--Mike


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## HMF (Feb 3, 2012)

I do almost all my buying of new stuff that will get a good deal of use at ENCO. Prices are good- especially with the discounts (which we have listed the codes for on here for over a year now),
and they ship pretty fast. I have not been disappointed yet.

For stuff I don't anticipate using that much (and I have been wrong), I buy from Harbor Freight. Everyone jokes about them, but we all buy from them, and much of their stuff is surprisingly good, especially for the price.

For stuff that I cannot get elsewhere, and need to pay more, I go to McMaster-Carr. They have everything, and they ship very fast.


Used stuff, I buy on Ebay. You can get some really good deals on there IF you use your eyes and don't get caught up in bidding wars.
Tools either sell for too much or too little on Ebay. I have paid too much now and then, and gotten some great deals too.
Look for miscategorized or mislabeled stuff for the best buys.


Nelson


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## geckocycles (Mar 4, 2012)

Bought stuff from Jeff at Tools4cheap. Great deals and good quality and not to mention the excellent support. I exchanged half a dozen emails with him about my spindle issue. Immediate responses at 6 am. I will certainly use him again.
I also do a good bit of business with McMaster.


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## burnrider (Mar 11, 2012)

KBC does well. Terrible website compared to Enco. they make an effort to keep the shipping down so you don't get a product price tacked on when the invoice arrives. They are currently updating the website. Like Enco, they have some product import choices. Good thread. Same experience with vendors as Allthumbz. Hardly pays to drive where I live. I pay shipping: my fuel, or UPS fuel costs anyway. We lost a lot of tool vendors in Portland over the years. Had to figure when the wood industry started selling raw logs overseas, the mills would have less business and tooling.


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## Mak (Mar 12, 2012)

I recently started using RTJ Tool. They sell HTC carbide endmills which I have been using for years. They had the best prices on HTC stuff I have ever seen. I also use MSC and McMaster from time to time. Kind of don't like supporting the giants but I suppose we are all forced into it every now and then.


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## goldenchips2 (Mar 22, 2012)

Just keep in mind, You can't win all the time...even tool vendors have snafu days..


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## Tom Griffin (Mar 22, 2012)

I mostly use McMaster Carr. Yes the prices are higher but everything they carry is good quality and only takes a day to receive, sometimes _less_. I once placed an order at work before 7:00AM and it showed up at shipping and receiving a 4:00 PM THAT AFTERNOON. I used to have an account with J&L but haven't used it much since they were bought out by MSC. I can never seem to find what I need on their website and the store is 1/4 the size it used to be. I also occasionally buy from Reid supply and Travers. I did recently receive an ENCO catalog but haven't got around to ordering anything, though I'm not a big fan of their website either (maybe it's just me. ).

Tom


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## 4GSR (Mar 22, 2012)

I buy from Ken's Surplus Sales....


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## lockstocknbarrel (Mar 23, 2012)

Ebay* Ebay * Ebay *EBay**.
Is my favourite


If I could just find someone who would bid on my behalf, I Pay, they receive the goods then on sent to me I pay all freight bills.........................
Some eBay sellers just can't be bothered sending goods overseas.
Regards Beagles*


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## burnrider (Mar 23, 2012)

Depends: check on-line vendors for price, compare to ebay, weigh the risk of something used at a bid price and make a decision. Same issues for all of them. Shipping costs & returns, some like Enco have more sales than others.
 Ebay items can be worse than my worn parts, lots of lathe bits are salted heavy with short bits- almost too short for a tool holder. And then you have to bid for it. Buy now can be a good deal, or the best offer sellers. Last it's the seller, most top rated are good, no promises but generally reliable. 
OL vendors offer more tech data and choice for shopping. Sounds like they are limited for overseas sales. Same story everywhere- "the right tool for the right job"


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## R.G. (Mar 23, 2012)

Let me enter a word for the POS vendors. 

My abilities are a good match for considering the machine tools to be fungible. One of my favorite books was "The Sensuous Gadgeteer", in which you're encouraged to consider the finished goods to be the garbage of the work. It had a section on cutting cabochon gems by using up a hand grinding stone. My mistakes are likely to damage the tools. I'd rather not make them, but I don't see any way around it. So I'd rather damage or destroy a POS, considering that a price of the education.


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## R.G. (Mar 23, 2012)

While I'm thinking of it, where is a good vendor for V-blocks?


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