Single-Source supplier for Wood/Metal working tools? Your recommendation?

[TerryKing]

Guys, Guys... Thanks a lot! And not only for the puns, which my Dad who is 97 is still outputting regularly :-)

OK, couple of things:

Yes, the King is rich. One of the things he has done is to start this University totally from scratch, with a $10 Billion endowment.. so a lot has gone into building a large town, every building, desalinization plant so we have water. Etc. Etc. Your oil dollars at work. It is the first school in this country where men and women can study in the same class. For that there is a Fatwa on our heads for "Mingling of the Sexes" Don't get me started. It's a real attempt to move beyond the past.

I'm not at that level. My wife has a job here as Librarian at the KAUST School for kids K-12, children of Professors, staff, Grad students. I'm a 'retired' Engineer, Photographer, I've built stuff like barns and powerboats. There is some budget for Community Groups like Art, Photography, Cycling, um.. Gardening, whatever. I am trying to get some TOOLS together for the Art/Ceramics/Metalworking/ Woodworking group.

And, Thanks very much for some very good suggestions and perspectives. That was what I was hoping for here.

OK: MSC looks good, but their prices are way higher for the same stuff than Grizzly. Why? And I have bought stuff from Enco in the past, metalworking stuff. Their prices are competitive.. I'll look at what they have in Woodworking...

A few follow-ups:

(Mike in Ohio) - Thanks for the list; you reminded me of these which I had forgotten:

sander (the wider, larger type) belt sander palm sander Radial Arm Saw shaper paint booth good lighting mortiser

I am talking them into 'Furniture' as an important capability, which brings in much of this stuff...

AND: "Given your location you may want to look at some of the European manufacturers. "

Good Point: Does anyone have a link to a good supplier in Europe or Great Britain?? Those areas are often suppliers into the Middle East.

I'm also trying to look into 'local' suppliers in the Jeddah area, but I need someone who speaks both Woodwork and Arabic :-)

Yes, It's a little weird doing woodworking in the Desert. But the 'good' news is that there are several suppliers of hardwood here, from Malaysia, Philippines, Borneo, Australia. More than most large USA cities. Go figure. In Vermont where I'm from the small local saw mill has very little good Maple. It's all going right into a contract container to go to ... Japan. I'm not too happy with Wood-Fired Politics. (But please, let's stay with Wood and Puns, and skip the Lib-Redneck-Whatever discussion! !) If you're curious about this place, have a look here:

Borgs. Good point. I will look into that. They are big and can ship, I expect. Anyway this stuff will get shipped to Texas, where it will go in a container with other stuff headed to the University. Probably some drill bits too, Large Size, for holes over a mile deep. Sigh..

This is all more than a little strange, but I feel there is a basic sanity to using tools and making things yourself. And many of the Engineering people here actually come from a Making Things at Home background and want to do this stuff.

Thanks to all for your help, and I'll follow up on the ideas today...

Regards, Terry King ..On the Red Sea at KAUST.edu.sa [e-mail]

[J. Clarke]

Dumb idea perhaps, but the oil companies do a tremendous business with the Saudis--ever consider trying to tap them for a grant?

Many manufacturers have good educational discounts, the theory being that getting their goods in the hands of students means that later those students will give preference to products with which they are familiar. Might be worth calling around. Also, if there's a lot of lumber available in the area, somebody's buying it and using it, so, visit the lumberyards, find out who's buying it, talk to them, see where they're getting their tools and you may find a local source you didn't know about.

[Morris Dovey]

I lived near the other coast (Abqaiq - about halfway between Hofuf and Al Khobar) through the 1950's. Change is always difficult, and I've watched Arabia make a thousand-year transition in less than a century. When you stop to think about it, that's a breathtaking accomplishment; and the change is ongoing...

I'll step out of line just enough to assert that your most useful and powerful tool for all of the above will be the ability to communicate in Arabic. It'll open doors to possibilities you might not even guess were there - and it's deceptively easy to learn.

Every language embodies its own unique cultural "circuitry" for problem-solving - and the addition of Arabic /will/ affect what you produce and how you approach _any_ of the arts.

To Mike's list I think I'd add:

Air compressor Spray equipment

1x42" belt sander w/ variety of wood- and metal-working belts grinder and wheels oscillating spindle sander

Some time back I shared drawings and photos with a CNC woodworker on Bahrain who does (IMO) beautiful middle eastern geometric woodworking. If you'd be interested in picking his brain for info about closer wood/tool sources, let me know and I'll dig out contact info and provide an introduction.

As I said before...

I was joking, sort of. It's actually not as weird as you might guess, in spite of the lack of forests. What one doesn't have, one can always trade for...

[Stuart]

Have you considered somewhere a little closer?

How about