IMG_0831.jpgCan you show a close up? Here is my Preston and there's no issues with it holding the blade in any position. Did they include the little round detent on the copy?
they must have changed something ?
IMG_0832.jpg
Andy
Member
IMG_0831.jpgCan you show a close up? Here is my Preston and there's no issues with it holding the blade in any position. Did they include the little round detent on the copy?
they must have changed something ?
IMG_0832.jpg
Andy
Contributor
Andy,
Looking at your pictures it is clear the collar has a keyway or ramp to trap the blade. The Walke Moore copy as seen in Allen's pictures doesn't seem to have any accommodation to keep the blade from twisting in use.
jtk
"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
- Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)
Member
Jim:
Have not had a WM in my hands to compare, but that seems like a strange thing to leave out, the original does have the slots at each post, and as I tried to explain, it also has a hole, opposite the slot, that captures the lock down bolt.
Mine will use LN, LV or Stanley blades without issues....makes me want to examine the one in question, it sure is gorgeous.
Andy
Member
I think that these sorts of issues are to be expected when you're an early adopter of an unconventional tool, particularly from from a small maker.Originally Posted by allen long
As W-M themselves point out in the ad copy, this is a unique router plane in both size and configuration. Even the best-resourced makers may take quite a few iterations to get all the kinks wrung out of a tool like that. A smaller maker often can't afford that sort of development timeline, and that may prevent them from addressing the sorts of design opportunities you highlight before going to market.
What I'm driving to here is that these seem like predictable issues for a tool like this, and IMO the true test will be whether they do right by the customer.
Last edited by Patrick Chase; 06-24-2017 at 2:12 AM.
Contributor
I'm surprised they didn't make it right at the show. Sounds like they did something but not enough. I'm surprised they let you walk away not totally happy. Now though, will they take it back and fix it? Will they exchange it? Will they give you your money back? If none of these are yes answers they are not really serious about customers satisfaction. Not a good business model IMO.
Contributor
Me too, but it sounded like he didnt realize he still had the problem until he got it home?
I'll bet they take care of him. They're supposed to be pretty reputable.
Contributor
Check that the screw is going into the appropriate hole in the post. Failure to make this alignment results in the screw tightening on the vee groove cocking the clamp. The screw has a small pin like end that is flat on the end to push against the bottom of the hole.
Member
It can be hard to tell if something like that has really been fixed until you use it at some length for your own projects. I wouldn't fault the OP for not realizing he still had the issue at the show.
Now what I want to know is how BCTW is able to go from CAD to sales without, you know, prototyping. Those things must have usability and ergonomic issues, that's just the nature of first iterations.
Contributor
Perhaps you could intervene on behalf of the OP and help him get resolution of the issues with your friends?
Member
I think Steve's point (and mine in a previous post, made less directly) is that the OP should contact them again. Both he and W-M thought his problem had been addressed at the show, and it isn't reasonable to expect them to be psychic or monitor SMC, so he needs to re-engage with them. Involving a 3ed party in that situation would only cause confusion.
My other point was that if you buy a new and unique tool like this you should reasonably expect to need to work with the maker to resolve glitches. Such is life on the bleeding edge of traditional woodworking :-).
Member
Also, it is important to report the outcome of the effort to correct the problem. There is nothing wrong with posting the problem if a good faith effort on the part of the buyer and seller to resolve it. What draws praise here is an earnest response by the seller to correct deficiencies. Frankly I don't know why the tool wasn't replaced immediately if it was not corrected by the first attempt. That price of the tool alone would dictate this, otherwise where is the value in the high cost?
Member
Looked at the WM photos in detail and also noticed that the collar is also missing the machined slot. The original has machined slots on both the shaft and the collar, must be why WM has to file the collar before releasing the plane, but strange they left that out of their copy....
Andy
Member
Good point.
Judging from this update: http://www.walkemooretools.com/router-update-may-2017/, the router plane has had a number of issues for the maker.
Simon
Member
It's probably worth noting that the original was cast iron while the WM is cast Manganese-Bronze. As Simon pointed out in #28 they've acknowledged a *lot* of trouble with both the base and collar castings, and with that in mind it would not surprise me if their material choice made it impractical to accommodate those slots. One obvious possibility is that they may not have been able to add enough wall thickness without compromising some other attribute of the casting (like, say, void formation leading to pitting).
On a related note: Mn-Bronze is stronger than cast iron, which is an attractive property in this class of plane. Despite that even L-N (which uses Mn-Bronze for smaller bench planes) hasn't brought an Mn-Bronze router plane to market, so I strongly suspect that this material poses some fundamental challenge in router planes.
Last edited by Patrick Chase; 06-24-2017 at 9:19 PM.
Member
According to their blog, W-M expects to manufacture and sell 30 of these a month. At that sort of run rate the price needs to be high merely to overcome [in]efficiencies of [lack of] scale and the fixed costs of running a business.
As a practical matter they won't survive long if they don't make things right for their customers, but in this instance I don't think that the price tag entitles the buyer to "concierge service" or anything like that. To be blunt, this looks more like a labor of love to me than anything that's likely to yield a profit.
