Naughty Me

[humanfish]

It's coming up to christmas as well. Ive gone and splashed out a little on some bits and bobs i have been looking at. I have invested in two k body 1500mm, two uniklamps600mm, two duo klamps, one veritas low angle jack, one veritas 4 1/2 and one veritas no.6 fore. I think the clamps will make the basis of a good clamping kit, no doubt which will have to be added to as and when the need arises. :?

I have had some problems with the planes though.:x the No. 6 arrived damaged, i presume through transit, i hope D and M would not send it knowingly. The blade adjustment part was badly bent, i was surprised because i presume some force would have tobe exerted to achieve this. There was a bit of a kink in the blade (on it's own i could have lived with this). There were marks on both the no 6 and 4 1/2 where i presume these planes had been handled previously and oil's from the presons finger had been left and not treated. These planes had obviuosly been opened and taken out before and in my opinion were therefore not new. There was also a slight crack in the 4 1/2 handle, it is only slight but by the time i had found this i was extremely dissapointed knowing that these two planes would have to be returned to d and m. I have a link to some photos i have taken, there not great qaulity.

http://photobucket.com/albums/y120/bad_ ... ion/Tools/

It is funny because only these two planes were a problem. The low angle jack, which had to be sourced and sent directly from brimarc, was in perfect condition with a sealed box.

I originally ordered all these items last thursday but spoke over the phone first thing friday morning with d and m to change the delivery from next day (which wouldn't have arrived over the weekend) to saturday delivery. I was assured this was fine and i even recieved a dispatch notice. Come 3.30pm saturday i was a little pieved after having to phone d an m up to find there had been somekind of mix up and that the items had infact not been sent so i then had to settle for a delivery on wednesday of this week because i am at college all day monday and tuesday. So today when i was opening my packages and having a look at the invoice i see the cheeky pippers have charged £15 for the saturday delivery i got on wednesday.
It kind of capped my overall annoyance off.

Having said all this i really like the look and feel of the planes. Having to only use cheapish stanleys at college it's great to be able to afford a quality tool which should last with care and attention but at a price i can afford. I cannot realistically justify purchasing some of the lie nielsen bench planes even clifton to some degree, not not with the money i have. Although you wouldnt think it after today. ( my eyes were watering when i pressed 'order'.

As a side question, I have been wondering, were stanley's back in the day considered an expensive brand/tool for the average woodworker when they were producing a better qaulity tool. These day's you obviously have to pay more for anything of any qaulity but i was wondering if the stanley tools were considered to have any 'prestige'.

Anyway, thats my rantover. tommorow i shall be ironing out my difference's with d and m.](*,) In the future i think i will have my local brimarc retailer order items in and i shall go and collect/inspect there as i hand my cash over.

I hope everyone who is going has a safe and interesting few days at axminster, i will look forward to the photos. Will we be seeing the UK's credit card debt soar over the next few days?
Does anyone remember seeing a prototype block plane by Clifton i think posted on the forum by and an eagle eyed snapper at a show (was it yandles last year). It would be interesting if there were any new prototypes on show at axminster.

This must be my longest post so far

regards everyone

 

[trevtheturner]

That's a very sad tale, b_h, about your delivery. I well understand your annoyance or fury. I certainly would have been furious if they had done that to me. Perhaps I am pre-judging, but it sounds very much as though you may have been sent two previously returned items as they were not in sealed boxes. I do hope D&M sort the problem immediately for you, including the refund of your 15 quid - they certainly should do. Best of luck with it. I am sure everybody will be very interested to learn how they react.

Cheers,

Trev.

 

[Waka]

BH

Sorry to hear about your disapointment, it aways spiols the excitment when the quality of what you think your getting is sub standard.

I definately agree, you should aviod D & M in the future and seek another supplier.

Hope you get it al sorted out.

 

[Rob Lee]

Hi BH,

Sorry to hear of your problems - that sure isn't the way we put them in the box...

Pls contact Martin Brown at Brimarc, and he can get it all sorted out for you, if it hasn't been already...

Cheers -

Rob
(headed to the Axminster show...)

 

[Adam]

Thats funny 'cos I've only ever heard good things about D&M. Do you think they may have been thrown about at the goods delivery place? Piled into a "delayed delivery" style box.

I doubt D&M would ever send out a plane like that, its 100% certain to be rejected - so it costs them more in resending a new one etc. I've only had good service from D&M in the past.
PS: I'm guessing Brimarc are at the Axminster show for the next few days, so it may be best to wait until Monday. [dunno on that, just a guess).

Such a shame - getting a new toy and then having to send it back is frustrating.

Adam

 

[dedee]

B-H bad luck on your purchase I'm confident it will get sorted out though.

As a side question, I have been wondering, were stanley's back in the day considered an expensive brand/tool for the average woodworker when they were producing a better qaulity tool. These day's you obviously have to pay more for anything of any qaulity but i was wondering if the stanley tools were considered to have any 'prestige'.

I have long since wondered if the cost of what was then a quality Stanley was equal in terms of proporation of average pay to the LVs/LNs of today.

Anyone here old enough to remember? :wink:

Andy

 

[Adam]

B-H bad luck on your purchase I'm confident it will get sorted out though.

As a side question, I have been wondering, were stanley's back in the day considered an expensive brand/tool for the average woodworker when they were producing a better qaulity tool. These day's you obviously have to pay more for anything of any qaulity but i was wondering if the stanley tools were considered to have any 'prestige'.

I have long since wondered if the cost of what was then a quality Stanley was equal in terms of proporation of average pay to the LVs/LNs of today.

Anyone here old enough to remember? :wink:

Andy

I'm sure someone could work it out. If we picked, say, an easy to find set of three planes (to provide something of an average), so a 4.5 Smoother, a #7 jointer and a block plane (as they are directly comparible to planes then), and workout out the percentage of average income, both then and now, that should tell us. I'm sure ALF has a list of prices in some of those books she collects?

Adam

 

[trevtheturner]

Anyone here old enough to remember? :wink:

I'm old enough, but I can't remember! :roll: :lol:

Cheers,

Trev.

 

[Gill]

I get to this point in a thread and find I can't remember what it was about in the first place .

Gill

 

[humanfish]

hi all
having spoke to Ian Simms from d & m this morning he has told me that i should be recieving my planes in the next few days direct from brimarc hopefully, bearing in mind as you say Adam they will probably be quite focused on the fun and games at Axminster at the mo.

Ian was very helpfull and apologetic, but i don't think think the damage was there fault. It was probably the people from TNT playing basketball with the packages because they were very well packaged. However i think you are right trev in the assumption that the planes had been opened, handled and returned. The marks on the plane seem to be the result of not doing as said in the plane manual, '...the solvents in the wax will remove any harmfull oils left from your fingers that can lead to corrosion...' and '.....before treating a plane with a sealant, wipeoff any fingerprints with a cloth....'

They have refunded me my £15 delivery charge, again, anotherthing that should have been dealt with straight away Ian said, much like the delivery time.

I am not overly annoyed with D & M because the damge wasn't there fault, but it has been an irksome experience. Having said this they have been helpfull in resolving the problem.

I have long since wondered if the cost of what was then a quality Stanley was equal in terms of proporation of average pay to the LVs/LNs of today.

This is exactly what i was thinking. I wonder if they were considered quite an investment, much like the LN/LV or cliftons of today, or whether they were quite a reasonable tool for most people to purchase.

 

[Waka]

I get to this point in a thread and find I can't remember what it was about in the first place .

Gill

Ditto

Glad you've got the issue resolved, let us know what the replacements are like.

 

[Jarviser]

How about 1938? (no I am not quite old enough). Record or Stanley number 4 was about 13/6d (67.5p) and the average wage was about £2.50 per week. That makes it about just over a third of a week's wage. Average overall salary in 2004 was £504 which would make the plane £130 today, more than twice the cost of a current Stanley Bailey no 4. and not quite a Clifton.

 

[Jake]

Thanks for doing the research and calcs, Jarviser. That's interesting. There's the spiral, and the reason not to buy Lie Neilsons just yet. They'll be much cheaper by the time I'm 100.

 

[dedee]

Jarviser, thanks for that. The LV #4 at about £130 compares very favorably with 1938 Stanley prices

Andy

 

[Adam]

And i wonder if planes are more expensive now that they sell "less". The cost benefits of producing vast numbers must have diminished a great deal.

Adam