Shoutout to the old timer at the Habitat ReStore who saved me $80

Honestly, I was about to buy a beat up table saw for $120 until this guy who volunteers there on weekends walked over. He pointed out the fence was warped and the arbor had a wobble you could feel just spinning it by hand. Said I'd spend more fixing it than buying a new one. Has anyone else gotten saved from a bad used tool by a random stranger?

2 comments

2 Comments

craig.grant4d ago

And look, I’m not proud of this, but I was THIS close to buying a rusty planer that looked like it survived a flood. Some old dude just watched me hefting it around for like ten minutes before he goes "son, that thing’s gonna eat your hand and ask for seconds." He then showed me a spot where the blade housing was cracked and held together with duct tape. So yeah, I’ve been saved by a stranger who probably thought I was a lost cause of a handyman (they’re not wrong, honestly). Those ReStore guys are like the Gandalf of hardware, except instead of magic they’ve got decades of busted knuckles and bad decisions.

patricia_hayes4d ago

Those old timers at ReStore are gold mines of info, theyve seen every tool known to man come through that door. Did the guy happen to tell you what to look for instead, like a specific brand or model that holds up? I bet he had a story about why that particular saw was junk too, they always do. Sounds like he saved you a major headache, not just cash.