I've been to Lee Valley Tools a few times this week. They opened a store four blocks from my work this past April. They obviously place great stock in carrying only products they believe to be of good quality and value and go out of their way to ensure that you know what you're buying and why they think it's a good product. When you visit some product pages on their website you get a message that the product is no longer available as they are not able to offer it at a competitive price. Nice and straightforward. Anyway, I've purchased drill bits and accessories for countersinking screws and making plugs (my brother the cabinetmaker recommended doing screw and plug joinery because it doesn't require clamping), a stud finder, on-sale German wire working pliers, a set of four Czech-made chisels, a flush cut saw (for cutting off the bits of plugs that stick out), a small tool holding roll, very nice German deck screws that you can screw into wood with no predrilling (it's amazing, they go in like butter), some "Gorilla" glue that works amazingly to glue metal to metal, metal to wood, plastic to wood, etc., and quite a few small rare earth magnets.
I've used the glue and some magnets to make 'fridge magnets and glued some more magnets to the wall in the basement to stick my new chisels to. I've used the chisels to hollow out a spot in our front door frame where Lewis had ripped the screen door pneumatic door stopper screws out by repeatedly opening the door beyond its normal maximum In the hollowed out spot I've glued and screwed a new bit of wood. I also purchased a two dollar wire coffee filter holder that I put on a cupboard door.
This all may seem a bit quotidien, but I've been waiting years to have the tools to fix things up around the house. I'm having a lot of fun. My first larger project will be to make a bench with integrated shelving in the kids room.
