Lee Valley Tools

The service at lee Valley was exceptional. Ian ill his time to explain all the reproduction and options and made sure that what I bought would go well with my project at home. The store is very tidy and organized. I would definitely come back.

I will be honest in saying that even though I live blocks away from Lee Valley tools I’ve never been in here until recently ’cause I assumed that it was a general hardware store, however, their most recent catalog that came in the mail inspired me to come down and visit. It does primarily deal with gardening and wood working, however, there is a small selection dedicated to kitchen and a few house hold things. There is no real shopper’s ambiance but I appreciate the target clientele that they do try to bring in. The item in the catalog that inspired me to come check this place out was the cherry de-​pitter which helps me a lot when making summer cherry black berry smoothies. I also picked up a few cutting boards. Prices are hit and miss compared to other tool places whose name I won’t mention, however, they reward you with small denominational bills. The customer service was awesome. For the most part the store was easy to navigate through.

Lee Valley tools, (the actual tools, not the business) are pretty, and pretty expensive. To be fair, the tools are specialized and sometimes you can’t easily find anything like that anywhere else.
But in my experience over the years, the tools aren’t designed for extended use, they’re a light/​medium duty hobbyist type of tool. If you use Lee Valley tools on a daily basis for construction (or did I mean constructive) work, you’re going to be buying a lot of tools.
Given the price point, you’re better off buying commercial grade tools, any of the big brands. It’s usually slightly cheaper initially, and certainly so in the long term.
Even so, I still shop there, but I’m really careful what I spend my dollars on at Lee Valley.

Lee Valley is not just a tool store, it’s an institution. If you know anyone that is into wood working, gardening or general tinkering, Lee Valley is the place to visit. From high end to low end items, with practical tools to toys, Lee Valley has something for almost anyone.
This location of Lee Valley is located on SW Marine Drive. Being a fairly non-​descript building that is away from the road (slightly down the hill, and partially blocked by trees) it can be missed; however just look for the giant Lee Valley sign high above the street to guide the way.
When you first enter the store, you’ll see a variety of items, from hammers to kitchen tools, to door knobs to tap punches. However, the items on display are only the tip of the iceberg. The majority of what is in Lee Valley lies in the catalog located in the middle of the store. Throughout the pages of the many catalogs (a different one for each section, i.e. gardening, woodworking, gifts) you will find more tools and gadgets than you will know what to do with (or have money for). However, the thing with all the items sold at Lee Valley, is almost everything seems to be useful. Rarely is there something you may think, there is no good reason for that item. It may not be an item you see use for personally, but you can see how someone could see value in it.
One item I recently purchased was a ceramic pen for $ 4.99. It looks like a pen, but the tip is ceramic (and sharp), which acts as a precision cutting tool for paper and plastics. This isn’t a replacement for scissors for large cutting jobs, but it is outstanding for delicate shapes and designs to be cut out of paper. On the other end of the scale, my dad wanted some high grit sand paper (400 or 500 grit). At Lee Valley you can get individual sheets or packages of 25 – 50 sheets at almost half the price of places such as Rona or Home Depot. In many of the cases where the items are more expensive at Lee Valley compared to other tool stores, the quality is much higher and worth the investment as the part will last years compared to others.
Once you have looked through the catalog (or used their computerized system) to generate your list of items, the next step it to take a number. However, unlike in a deli where you wait for tasty meat products, you’ll be rewarded with the tools and gifts you listed out. On a weekend, the number line can look daunting, but even on the most busy times, I’ve never had to wait more than 5 – 7 minutes to get service. Once you are called over, you provide your list to the sales person, who will then go to the back room and collect all the items you’ve asked for (almost like having your own personal shopper). After another minute or two, they’ll bring you your items, and take you to pay for your items. Not the most efficient system, but when they bring back your items they go over each item with you and give you tips, descriptions, and pointers about the products. This is great if you’re buying a gift for someone else or are unfamiliar with the item so you can care/​use it properly.
Overall, Lee Valley is a great tool store that every home owner, handy person or hobbyist should visit. In particular, this location of Lee Valley is well stocked and has great staff willing to help you out.

Use the computer order stations for fast and efficient service.

You know when you were a kid and your mum dragged you to Eaton’s or the Bay or some equally tortuously boring department store, and you immediately felt like falling on the ground and not moving — even if that meant causing a scene, because you just knew how painful and long the next X number of minutes/​hours of your life would be? Strangely, that’s how Lee Valley makes me feel (clearly, as an adult woman, I’m not about to do this, for fear of looking like a total nutter, but you know). There’s something about Lee Valley that makes me tired — like, physically, actually drained. Every time I come here, I want to sit down and mope.
BUT, there’s a pretty reasonable answer for why this keeps happening: it’s like quiet time for semi-​retired almost-​seniors up this hizzy. The energy may be low, but that’s what makes it kinda great. The average employee could my uncle, or best friend’s dad, or super handy next door neighbour, or that woman down the street who has the best garden in the neighbourhood — meaning, these people know their stuff.
Sure, there’s an ever-​convenient catalogue to peruse that may be delivered to my home (many of them, actually: gardening, woodworking, gifts, etcetra), but there’s nothing like going into the physical store and asking one of these funny folks (totally funny folk if there ever were such a thing) about a certain product or technique. And my gahd, if you can think of it, Lee Valley probably has it.
I like that. So I like it here.

Positive:
Prices are quite good, the employees are mostly helpful, and the store is run efficiently.
Negative:
Their online catalogue is barely mediocre.
Half of the important measurements are missing which makes deciding on what to order impossible or a big investment of time to call in to ask about each possible purchase.
Sometimes the back button on their site doesn’t work. It goes ‘back’ to OTHER pages on their site that I’ve looked at or have open at that time while the page I just left has disappeared!
Their online shopping cart isn’t very good either. It doesn’t automatically update and their search engine doesn’t have nearly enough key words connected to the items. Consequently I have to cross-​search for what I want and will usually find it after much perusing.
Newbs love this store and I like it a lot too and have been shopping here for many years. They carry many hard-​to-​find items, but have surprising omissions from their stock. They are the first choice for woodworkers, but they don’t even carry simple brackets for drop-​front desks??? Can’t figure that one out as this is a pretty common item.

I LOVE Lee Valley Tools.
I don’t know what I would do if I lived somewhere that didn’t have a Lee Valley — oh wait! Yes, I do know what I’d do… I’d order from the catalog!
But I live in Vancouver where I have access to not one, but TWO Lee Valley locations. And if I felt adventurous, there’s a lovely third location on the Island. So, for now, the catalog is just a dreamy publication to peruse whenever I get the thought: «Hey, I need a _​_​_​_​_​_​_​and a bet you Lee Valley has it!», or to help me pass the time between visits.
Some of my favourite things about LV?
— Plastic nail brushes. Cheap and effective. Good for nails, hands or even scrubbing veggies. (
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— The Mariner Weather Glass. So old school but so effective and beautiful! (
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— Nutritional Scale. It weight your food/​ingredients which is great when cooking and provides all the nutritional info for over 2000 items, with room to program in more. (
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Shade cloth, cabinet handles, push mowers, cable track, watering systems, hats, containers, and all manner of gadgets and tools. Great customer service They also have workshops where you can learn to make things. Crafty!

After much hemming, hawing and perusing of the interwebs for ideas, I finally made the decision to go about refinishing my antique kitchen table cart using something other than a conventional polyurethane. (That may be the most surprisingly nerdy thing to ever spill forth from my being.)
I knew that the wood (I am pretty sure it’s oak) would look good enough after stripping, sanding, and prepping to benefit from a more traditional, «layered» finish. When I went looking for the kind of product I wanted to use at Home Despot I couldn’t find anything like what I was looking for on the shelves, which was quite odd to me, as I just assumed that the orange-​and-​concrete mecca carried… everything. It does not. I asked an understanding clerk where one might go for the kind of products I was hoping to use, and he said «a specialty store.»
Lee Valley Tools is the closest thing to Martha Stewart in designer gumboots ploughing a manure-​filled pasture planting heritage varietals of potatoes as you are likely to find in Vancity. And this, of course, «is a good thing.»
In addition to a fairly comprehensive selection of the types of finishes I was looking to use, the store has incredibly friendly and informed staff. After my initial walkabout I approached a woman behind the counter and explained my wood-​finish dilemma. I thought I was going to go in there to get a tung oil, but she talked me out of it — and for good reason. After a fair bit of time and conversation based on her own experience in handling the products, I purchased a polymerized linseed oil that was based on «old fashioned» formulas; no heavy metals, no stink, no carcinogens. In fact, tthe product I purchased would probably not kill you if you drank the entire container (though it would undoubtedly produce a weird poop).
With great haste I returned home, eager to start applying my new finish. I am gobsmacked at the results and am very, very pleased overall. I managed to make my table look fantastic and took a great deal of pleasure in the entire process. Moreover, the finish I bought was about $ 11 and I would say that after a good 4 coats I have used about a quarter of the contents — serious bang for my buck. My table looks great, my apartment doesn’t stink, and even my cuticles were happy (I didn’t even need to wear gloves applying it!).
I don’t know where else in Vancouver sells the types of products I was looking for. Regardless, the experience I had with Lee Valley ensures a return visit.

If you need a hidden flush mounted controlled opening hinge, this is the place to get it. Lee Valley has single handedly renewed access to fine tools, they don’t just sell them they make them also. If you are a woodworker, boatbuilder or just someone who loves fine tools you need to visit regularly. They make heirloom tools such as bench planes and chisels but don’t expect them to come cheap, but 2 – 3 generations of use makes them very cheap.

Very confusing but worth it…
It’s set up like a bit show suite. you look at all the wares they offer and oh and ah. then…when you are ready to make some selections. you write down the item numbers. like bulk food at Super Store… you then go to a computer terminal and place your oder… you get a print out and take a number to wait in line. once it’s you turn you give the man your paper and head on down to another line. by the time it;s your turn your products are ready. you pay.you leave… ALL shopping experiences should be this amazing!

so this is not your typical hardware store. this is the hardware stores of all hardware stores.
Everything in the store is displayed gallery style. There is only one sample of each of the products for you to touch, feel, and play with. Once you have decided on what you need you go to one of the several computer terminals located around the store and find the products you need in the data base and place the order. you print out the order and grab a number just like in a deli. They call your number and you go up with your order sheet. They take the sheet head to the back where someone has already prepared the order and they bring it back to the counter where you are at. right then and there they ask you if you have any questions or concerns about the product and make sure you know all the in’s and out’s of the wares. They then ring you up and you are on your way… so civilized, and so much fun… if only all stores could function like this one does.