Surplus Tools & Commodities

Imagine for a minute that a very pragmatic, handy packrat had a 10,000 square foot warehouse and a modest but adequate budget to play with, going to auctions, factory closings, and the occasional scratch and dent sale, opened it up to the public, and put a cash register by the door. That’s Surplus Tools and Commodities. I’ve found antique leather handles, piles of various hinges, outlet cover plates, dies for a sheet metal notcher, a few dozen brace and bit drills, old industrial 3-​phase motors, the accompanying leather drive belts, a pair of old coveralls, gas can, and rolls of automotive upholstery fabric. Pretty strange, huh?
There are a few things I go there for that are closely guarded secrets – best left to the insiders, but I will say it’s a good place to spend a Saturday afternoon battling other curmudgeonly tinkerers for the cream of the crop at what may be Denver’s most eclectic junk heap.
That said, the staff at this place is a little difficult to deal with at times. Don’t expect outstanding customer service. If you want half of an item that sells for 10.55, they’ll sell it to you, but they’ll get out their tin snips to cut the penny in half.

This store sells new and used tools, hardware, wire, plumbing, electrical and electronic parts. It’s a particularly good place to find buffing wheels, grinding wheels, and grinding stones.
It’s a small, struggling business that has seen better times. I’ve bought a lot of cool tools and parts there over the past 40 years, but recently I have been striking out on my visits. Part of it is that I have fewer needs for this kind of stuff, but part of it is that the better inventory has sold off and not replenished.
While the prices are cheap, be sure to mark down the prices and make a running tally of the your total. Be sure to verify that against the total at the register.

Everything tool and hardware can, eventually, be found here. TIP: wear sturdy protective gloves for some of the digging you’ll need to do to sort through materials; this will keep you hands from getting beaten up. Quality varies, and the savvy person will attack its huge hodgepodge in one of two ways: go in knowing what you are looking for, or go in looking for nothing and be inspired by what you find. Quantities and quality vary, but the prices are spot on cheap.

This store is SO RAD.
Warning: if you like your stuff organized, sterile, and easy to find, you might want to shop elsewhere. But if you’re into The Hunt as part of the experience when doin’ yourself some DIY, this is your place.
If you’ve read «House of Leaves,» you might be familiar with the concept of buildings that are bigger on the inside than they are on the outside (if you haven’t read it, get thee to a library forthwith). This is one such building. The average-​sized storefront will in no way prepare you for the sheer size of the place once you step within. Yes, it’s dusty… yes, it’s confusing… yes, it’s going to be tough to find what you want… but you WILL find the tool, part, accessory, or building supply you need. It’s there, I promise. Also there, a bizarre collection of old luggage, army mess gear, and used baby toys that scoff at the words «recall» and «lead paint.» You could spend hours in a place like this.
Bonus points for having a testing station to assure you that your mechanical product is in full working order before you pay for it! Because guess what? No returns. So… be sure it’s what you’re a-​wanting before you go a-​buying. Can’t say they didn’t warn you.

If you like to make, customize, and repair stuff, like I do, you need to go to this store.
They have all kinds of cheap tools, boxes, building materials, and miscellaneous junk. They have various kinds of fabrics, hardware, old machines and parts, oils and solvents, sheets of plexiglass, filing cabinets and other storage, shelving and cart-​type thingys… even street signs. This is just for starters, but you get the idea — a colossal assortment of potentially useful, cheap junk.
I haven’t bought much there yet, but I’ve been in several times just fishing around, cataloging things in my head in case I might want to come back for them someday. Since I hate recreational shopping, this is a huge endorsement.