Where to find rotary locally?

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DantheMan

New member
I'm ready to take the rotary plunge I believe. I have a few beaters as well as scrap panels to work on. Got off work a little early today, so I thought I would drive around and check a few out to see which would have the best feel for me. I have checked at Lowes, Home Depot, a few local only type hardware stores, as well as all the local auto parts places (Oreilly's, Advance, AZ) and cant find anything, other than the Milwaukee at sears. Way too heavy for me. Has got to be 10+ lbs. They also list the Makita online, but there were none at my local store. Only other lead I found was a Vector from O'reilly's, but I have to prepay and order it, and I wont be able to return it unless its defective.



I'm having a hard time trying to buy online just looking at the specs. I really just want to be able to hold one in my hand before buying. I plan on trying the local automotive paint supply tomorrow, but I just got tired of driving around this afternoon. Are there any other places to check?
 
Around here we have power tool stores. Not sure if that helps you or not. I don't think they are chain stores. The type of places the contractors go to buy their tools, saws, nail guns, etc.
 
Depot can probably order rotary buffers but I’ve never seen one on the shelf. Big box stores stock products that move in high volumes. Rotaries are a bit too specialized. It’s probably cheaper to get one from a tool dealer anyway.



I think I might have seen a Milwaukee fixed speed rotary sander at Depot (the one that’s basically the same as the buffer but with different gearing and without speed control) but that’s about it.





PC.
 
Thanks for the advice guys.



the other pc said:
I’ll give you five to one that the local automotive paint supply store has either a Makita or DeWalt.





PC.
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I was hoping so, but no dice. The only thing they had was a Pro-tech (or something close to that) priced at $90. Felt lighter and more balanced than the milwaukee, but still seemed kind of cheaply made, which really wouldn't bother me all that much, but I know I can drive over to the next town over and pick up one at harbor freight thats cheaply made for $29. But I am glad I checked them out. They do carry DuraGloss in stock which I never knew before. Picked up a few items while I was there.



Also tried 2 more locally owned contractor tool places with no luck. Everybody can order it, but nobody keeps it in stock. Thats the problem for me.. I don't know which one I want until I pick it up. And If I have to order anyways, I can save $50 doing it myself, and I dont have to go pick it up.



Napa left here a few years back. Had 3 stores, but now we have too many AutoZones, Advance Auto's, and O'reillys for them to compete I guess. Always was my favorite..



I always thought fastenal was just a fastener place. Didn't realize they had tools as well. They list the dewalt as an in stock item, and makita available in certain places. I will check them out tomorrow.



I thought this would be easier to find in a city of 60k with a market of around 100,000 here. Guess not.
 
Fastenal can suprise you, I always bought all of my stainless steel nuts bolts for my cars because they were close by with decent prices. I used to have a buddy that worked at one and gave me a deep discount on some tools.
 
Bummer. Good thing I didn’t bet the farm on that one.



I don’t blame you for wanting to hold one in person before dropping serious coin. But if you run out of up-close-and-personal options you’ll just have to take a chance.



Honestly, I don’t think you can go wrong with a Makita, DeWalt or Hitachi. I'm sure you'd be happy with any of them.



Good luck at Fastenal





PC.
 
if you do decide to buy a rotary, coastaltool.com has the best pricing i've seen, and not to mention you won't have to pay sales tax (most likely), just the $8.50 shipping fee which would still be cheaper than the tax...
 
Well... Nothing in stock at fastenal either. Also found another local paint supply shop with no luck. Guess I will just be ordering online and hope I'm happy.
 
DantheMan said:
Well... Nothing in stock at fastenal either. Also found another local paint supply shop with no luck. Guess I will just be ordering online and hope I'm happy.
Click to expand...



Sorry man, we tried. Which rotary are you looking at ?? Most pick from the main, proven 3, Hitachi, Metabo and Makita.





I have the Hitachi and I am more than happy with it!!
 
jshillin said:
Sorry man, we tried. Which rotary are you looking at ?? Most pick from the main, proven 3, Hitachi, Metabo and Makita.





I have the Hitachi and I am more than happy with it!!
Click to expand...





Right now I'm really leaning toward the Makita or Hitachi based on what I've read on the web.. Still reading, but I'm sure I'll end up with one or the other..



Thanks again guys..
 
if you have the cash, take a look at the Metabo. the weight difference alone is well worth it if you plan on using the rotary often. if i could do it again, i'd get that over my Makita just for that reason.



if you do go with the Makita, you won't be sorry. there's a reason why it's considered the industry standard along with DeWalt.
 
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