Hi All,
My husband had picked out on Amazon a Dewalt DW735X 13" 2-speed Planer Package and a Delta 37-071 6" MIDI Bench Jointer. We knew it would be expensive to ship it here but it's just not worth it - shipping is close to the cost of the tools! So unless someone has room in a container, shipping it here is out of the question.
So does anyone know where he can get a decent quality planer and jointer here in Panama? Even if it is in PC? It doesn't have to be the models mentioned above, but for someone that knows tools, it may help to understand what he wants and the quality expectations.
Thanks!
Replies
Chrismccall
Blackrockartranch.com
What do you want for them, Chris? Have model #s?
Thanks for that information, Tom - it sounds like the best solution for the originator of this thread.
300 miles is a long drive, but because Chiriqui is a desert with respect to stationary woodworking tools, it's apparently the only option.
The manufacturer of Jet is now JPW Industries (Jet, Powermatic & Wilton, "Walter Meier" when I sold those brands). Their website does not list any dealers in Central America, so without your post, I wouldn't have had a clue.
BTW, the DeWalt 735 bench-top planer is a gem - an if I ever get another "portable" planer, that would be my first choice, although for my needs, a drum sander may work better.
The Byrd carbide insert head is available for the DeWalt 735, and eliminates the tear-out that is common with gnarly and reversing grain woods.
A bit of scraping, hand planing, or light sanding, and any microscopic (0.002") lines from the scalloped carbide cutters disappears.
OTOH, torn grain is ugly, and often too deep to be sanded out and required wood filler topatch - and that's what you can get with the straight planer blades that come with the stock planer. If you want to work with some of the spectacular woods here, a Byrd Shelix head is the way to go.
(I also used to sell the PowerMatic 15HH with a Byrd Shelix head - only $3,000 and 537 lbs shipping weight - but the fine furniture makers who bought it loved it. Makes the DeWalt with the Shelix head look like a screaming bargain!)
Buy them from Amazon and ship them through Delvi.com (Riba Smith) surface freight. Very reasonable prices and great service. They'll take care of the customs and handling to their warehouse in Costa del Este and notify you that the freight is ready to pick up. You can arrange with Fletes Chavales to pick it up from the warehouse and deliver to their closest office to you after depositing the Delvi charges in their bank account.
Delvi only charges by volume, not by weight.
Excellent suggestion, Richard. I had my Grizzly bench-top wood lathe shipped via AirBox express last year, and it cost over $300 to ship a $400 lathe from Miami to here. Then I went back to the San Francisco Bay Area to get some of my turning tools, chuck and accessories and brought them back in my luggage. Compared to buying and shipping replacements, the savings nearly paid for my trip back to see the grandkids because I stayed with friends and did not rent a car for the week.
I order supplies and other small items about once a month from Packard Woodworks, Woodcraft or Penn State Industries, and ship via e-Shop forwarding from Miami.
My next purchase - hopefully in early 2015 - will be a slightly larger Rikon bandsaw (14" wheels with a 10" cut height and a 1HP motor) from Woodcraft, and I will probably use Delvi/Fletes Chavale to ship to Panama, then Boquete.
I worked for a Woodcraft franchise store in Santa Rosa, California, and sold Rikon - good product, and great customer service at the warehouse in W. Virginia. After some quality issues with my gold coffee scoops, they set up my account to pull and inspect all shipments before releasing them at no extra cost since returns of defective or sub-standard items would be cost prohibitive.
I checked out all of the hardware and machinery stores in David,and found nothing worth mentioning. There is a store with some of the most miserable quality Chinese woodworking machinery I have ever seen in David - it's on the street going to the big bus terminal, and I cannot recommend it. I know one guy who found a big Powermatic 3500B lathe - probably the best in it's class - for $3500 in David some time ago, the same price that we sold it for at Woodcraft in California. I believe that it was a special order that was never picked up, so someone got a screaming bargain for his woodturning hobby. The bottom line is that I was not able to find a source for decent quality stationary woodworking machinery in David. (I have not checked out Panama City, but may do so next year.)
OTOH, Novey in David (affiliated with True Value Hardware) stocks a high-quality Makita bench grinder that I want, and when the one in stock sells, another one shows up in a month or two. They have a decent selection of Makita tools, and their smaller inventory is a step up in quality from the small power tools carried by the Do-It Center (affiliated with Ace Hardware International). There are several stores that carry DeWalt, Black & Decker and similar quality contractor-type power tools.
When you find a bargain here, or just something you like here in Chiriqui, buy it NOW if you want it. Many things show up one time, and are not restocked (and that's not just for tools). I missed buying a high quality rolling tool chest at PriceSmart last year that would have been perfect for my use, but I just could not afford it at the time. Now they're all gone, and have not been restocked. I wanted an electric chainsaw for cutting wood for turning blanks at my casa, so when I saw a pallet of Poulan electric chain saws at PriceSmart, I snagged one immediately and skipped buying some food that day.
And the wood here? That's a whole 'nuther story. If you want to see some examples of different woods and talk about them, stop by my table of artisan woodturnings on the back terrace at the Tuesday Morning Market at the BCP Center.