A Warm Fuzzy

[J T]

Stopped in a Dollar Tree store today. I'd been planning a trip to Harobor Freight to pick up a few things, including one or two tape measures if I could find them on sale for a buck each. Turned out the Dollar Tree has them, in several different colors. Got a yellow one. Not for actually measuring, but for keeping handy when I'm pondering on smoething and want to get a good estimate of what a specific measurement is. Being so inexpensive it doesn't bother me if one gets lost.

At the same time picked up a 15 pack of 9"X11" sandpaper - 3 coarse, 5 medium, 5 fine, and 2 extra fine. AND, a 8 pack of AA batteries, and a 8 pack of AAA batteries. Everything in the store is $1, so paid a total of $5 and change - also got a little chef bear, present for the dau-in-law, she collects chef stuff.

No way a gloat guys, after all I bought the stuff in a store, but definitely a warm fuzzy. I'm gonna have to start checking in there on a weekly, or semi-weekly, basis, as their stock does seem to change fairly regularly.

JOAT If it can't kill you, it ain't a sport.

[Andy]

...

I've found they can be good for cheap extension cords and rubbermaid-type containers also. Let us know how the sandpaper works - my experiences with cheap abrasives have not been pleasant. A 20-pack of Norton 3X at $10, costs about 7 times more per sheet ($.50 instead of $.07), but if dollar-store sandpaper is anything like HF sandpaper, I wouldn't use it for most things even if it were free. Mine dulled almost instantly, cloged soon after that, and little bits of grit fell off and scratched where they weren't supposed to. On the other hand, if your new paper is really a full 1/3 as good as Norton 3X, I'll agree it qualifies as a warm fuzzy. Glad you found a deal, and maybe I'll look for a couple "disposable" tape measures also - it'd be nice to have some extras laying around. Andy

[Mike Marlow]

Keep us posted on how the sandpaper works out JOAT. My experience with discount sandpaper is that it sucks, but I'm always keeping my ear to the ground for a decent deal that really works out. If you get the chance, try some with water so you can tell us how the extra fine wet sands.

[J T]

Thu, Nov 2, 2006, 1:23pm (EST-3) [e-mail] (Andy) doth posteth: I've found they can be good for cheap extension cords and rubbermaid-type containers also. Let us know how the sandpaper works

I did notice they had plenty of 'stension cords, but I've got all I need just now, so passed on one.

I figured for a just buck I can't go too far wrong. But you'll notice I only got one pack. LOL Just in case.

The chef was a good deal tho, try pricing stuff like that in some of the other stores.

What I'm really happy about is the 8 packs of batteries. I've tried t hem before and the batteries usually last at least as long as the expensive ones, and longer than some. I say usually because it looks like my son has been siphoning off some of them. I don't use D call flashlights anymore - found I can get AA flashlights, complete with batteries, at Wally world for 84 cents. They give as much light a the Dcell lights, replacement batteries are considerably less, they seem to last longer than the Dcells, and are small enough to even stick in a shirt pocket. The AAA batteries are for remotes and a chess game.

JOAT If it can't kill you, it ain't a sport.

[J T]

Thu, Nov 2, 2006, 5:19pm [e-mail] (Mike=A0Marlow) doth sayeth: try some with water so you can tell us how the extra fine wet sands.

Interesting thought. It's not listed as "wet" sandpaper, but I'll give it a shot and get back.

JOAT If it can't kill you, it ain't a sport.

[Dave Jackson]

My experience with the cheap sandpaper is the same as Andy's. I bought as few packs of assorted grits at HF last year and the packs just sit in a drawer unless I have something dirty and ugly to sand. The paper only lasts seconds before it is clogged and the grit falls off. It's cheap, and almost to the point of being unuseable. However, I also bought some rolls of emery cloth sandpaper that are about 1" wide to use on lathe projects. It seems to be OK and will last a little while before it's useless. Hope your dollar store has better sandpaper than HF and enjoy the warm fuzzies. --dave

[brianlanning]

For a while, Menards (If you've never heard of them, count your blessings. Their jingle is awful.) had these deals where certain things every week were free after rebate. The catch was that the rebates were good only for purchases at menards. The rebates would arrive in the mail in the form of a postcard. Once my wife had a few, she would go back the next week and buy whatever tools were free after rebate, then pay for them with the rebate postcards. She setup a pipeline like this with this week's received rebates always paying for this week's loss leaders. She did this for about two years.

The end result is that I have 10 or 15 tape measures lying around. I also have countless boxcutters. Some have little lights in them. Some are unique shapes. Sometimes it was screwdrivers or hammers. I have half a dozen claw hammers now. Once it was this universal screwdriver thingy.

I'm not sure if they are still running this deal. But now that we have a menards close to us again, maybe I should stop in and see if I can get this going again.

brian

[J T]

Thu, Nov 2, 2006, 10:46pm (EST+5) [e-mail] (Dave=A0Jackson) doth sayeth: My experience with the cheap sandpaper is the same as Andy's. The paper only lasts seconds before it is clogged and the grit falls off.

No prob, even if it only lasts a few seconds, Plenty of times I just need a smallish square of sandpaper to swipe something a few times and then toss the sandpaper. Even if it's really lousy it should do for that.

JOAT If it can't kill you, it ain't a sport.

[Patriarch]

"Dave Jackson" wrote in news:fzu2h.1633$ [e-mail]:

I bought the box of assorted roll ends and trimmings from Klingspor sometime a year or two ago, for no more than $20, to use with turnings, etc. First rate product at a really cheap price, and, at the rate I'm using it, the grandkids will get to argue over it after the funeral.

Patriarch

[Tim Douglass]

One of the best deals you can get anywhere. I keep pieces of sandpaper all over the shop for those little touch-up jobs and just toss it if it gets a bit clogged or dull. It really is a good plan to treat sandpaper as if it were free.

-- "We need to make a sacrifice to the gods, find me a young virgin... oh, and bring something to kill"

Tim Douglass

[J T]

I tried the sandpaper today. I figure I'll get my buck's worth out of it, but sure not more. It sands well enough for a few seconds, but loads of pretty fast. I'll just be using it for touching up rough spots, and then tossing it, so no big deal. I won't buy any more. But that's OK, because the deal on the batteries alone more than makes up for it.

JOAT If it can't kill you, it ain't a sport.

[cselby]

The batteries will last as long

Pete

[Buddy Matlosz]

Geez, you must have some vicious grandchildren.

B.

[J T]

Sat, Nov 4, 2006, 1:23am (EST+5) [e-mail] doth burble: The batteries will last as long

I've used 'em before, and I've found they easily last just as long, or longer, than the expensive copper-top batteries. Inexpensive isn't necessarily second-best.

JOAT If you're not making a rocket, it ain't rocket science.

[whit3rd]

Yep, I did the same. It works fine, if you like your sandpaper dull (and I do, for some things- knocking hair off finishes by burnishing is just as good as by removing material).

The try square has a beveled reference surface (instead of square cross section, the block is parallelogram), and the paint brushes act like dirty stiff ones straight out of the package. But, a plastic speed square and polymer vernier caliper for a buck is a pretty good deal and is fine for keep-one-handy uses. And even a bad paint brush is luxurious for applying glue and adequate for primer.

And of course, one never has too many clamps...