Just for fun and something I’ve always wanted to do is price out a whole catalog of tools. How much for the whole package of Lie-Nielsens for example. Well here it is — $20456.40 — not including replacement blades, some cases, and shipping. Nice thing is that the spreadsheet can also double as a checklist as I acquire each item.
Next up the big Grizzly!
Replies
All I have to do now is hit
12 14 18 23 41 on the lottery tonight.
$20456.40 -- not including replacement blades, some cases, and shipping.
You'd think they'd toss in free shipping and a few cases if you wrote them a check for that much.
If you build it he will come.
And give you a free tour and....
................ stock options and.............
Paul
lol
.....a free hat....
They will, I believe, give you a 10% discount if you buy 8 or more tools at one time. Call and ask what the restrictions are, the staff there is very friendly, seemingly knowledgeable, and very responsive to any inquiry . . . . and they make nice tools too!
Or one can just purchase them from Clarance Blanchard at the Fine Tool Journal. Not only do they start out lower than direct, but he includes free UPS shipping.For instance:
LN, #4 smoother in iron $250
FTJ, #4 smoother in iron, $230Now figure the shipping cost from LN...more than a 10% discount.Take care, Mike
With that 10% discount, you could buy the entire catalog of Lie-Nielsen, and get the #3 through #8 planes for free, with a little left over to get a David Charlesworth DVD!
It was my understanding that everyone gets that 10% discount who buys from LN at a show or at the factory -- is that incorrect?
-Andy
Glenn,
There are so many ways of framing any issue!!!!
That is why political discussions go on so long.
You framed your statement on the cost of ownership of Lie Nielsen tools in such a way as to make it seem large.
Let me frame it differently. Here are some thoughts:
1) the cost of the average new car is around $25,000, which is $5K more than the LN catalog, and in five years, your investment in the car is just about worthless. However, five years after buying your LN tools, you can sell them on EBAY for more than you paid for them -- and that is after five years of real fun with quality tools!!!!! WHAT COULD BE BETTER than making money just by playing with the best that is available (except for the Marcou)????????
2) There are some costs in life that are just assumed. You don't complain about them. You just do them. For example, insurance. Living life without insurance is unthinkable (medical, automotive, etc). As far as I am concerned, LN tools are in the same category. Just assume the costs. Life without them is unthinkable.
3) What is more important in life than "quality of life". Life in a vegetative state is not worth contemplating. Life in suburban Virginia without an automobile is unthinkable. Life without running water and indoor toilets is unthinkable (except when you take your kids to Boy Scout Camp). It is the same with Lie Nielsen tools. Can you imagine how poor your quality of life would be without them? It is just too hard to imagine.
There you have it. When you turn the issue around, and think of Lie Nielsen tools as:
1) an investment that is guaranteed to be liquid and to give you a positive return.
2) LN tools are like insurance, you just need them.
3) Without LN tools, Quality of Life is just to low to be a viable alternative,
THen the question becomes, not are they worth $20K, but:
How many sets should I buy. The more sets I buy, the more money I will make.
Indeed, after thinking about this, I can see a Futures Market in LN tools. The time to buy is NOW. Every second you waste, is money you wont make!!!!!
This, of course, is unfair to people like myself, who are not rich, and can only afford a few complete sets of LN tools. The really rich can buy hundreds or thousands of sets, and are guaranteed to make much more than I can.
Oh well. I'll just have to accept my lot in life
:-)
Mel
PS remember: "It's not the pie. It's how you cut it."
Measure your output in smiles per board foot.
Actually, I didn't intend to make it sound expensive. Keep in mind that I include every single item: both benches, the shaving horse, all the grits of the Sharpton stones. When I think of all the money I've pissed away on fads over the years, the 20 grand seems reasonable. Anyone want to trade a slightly used Nordic Trac for the cabinetmakers bench? or a juiceman for a nine piece chisel set? How about a bread maker for a skew block plane.When I was a (poor)kid I used to fall asleep with the Stanley catalog with all manner of combinations of what to buy first, second etc. I memorized the wall display of tools at McEwing.s hardware store, pacing up and down every day after school. Especially remember that shiny set of Jennings double twist auger bits in the canvas roll. So this was an exercise in nostalgia as much as anything else. But now the Lie-Nielsen catalog has replaced the Stanley at my bedside!
Did you include the Art Deco bottle opener? How about the leather Apron? IMHO they are de riguer in a proper LN shop (which I don't have).
I think Mel's analysis is spot on. Total cost of ownership and total utility is a good way to analyze.
Thanks for sharing--that was probably a fun addition.
My gosh! You could take a year just opening each tool in it's package and thinking about all that you could do with it. Then, at least a day prepping the tool for actual use. Then, deciding just where you wanted to keep it. Then, just making a place in your working tools storage to hold just that tool. Then, using it on scrap wood, just to get the feel for it.
Argggghhhhh! You'd never get them all unpacked before you die. Think of the pressure! DON'T DO IT!!!!
Mike D :)
I think Bridge City Tools does exactly that if I recall with a buy it all price. It's pretty steep as I recall.
Glenn, interesting tidbit of information. Has anyone ever told you that you have way too much time on your hands. LOL
Steve
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