I’m Striking Out Lately With Tools
Recently I started a thread about a Bosch 4410 which arrived from Amazon with problems. That one was sent back.
Now it’s a tool from Grizzly.
I ordered a G7943 drill press, which arrived a few days ago. When I unpacked the drill, I saw that the sheet-metal cover on the head assembly is bent badly. It’s so mangled that near the hinges the metal is actually broken. As a result, the case does not close properly.
Also, the depth gauge has no indicators. In other words, there are no markings on the depth indicator, which means you can’t tell what depth you’re drilling at. I can see some kind of glue remains on the turret of the depth gauge, which tells me that there used to be an indicator on it. But where, oh where, did it go?
I already contacted grizzly about this. We’ll see what they do.
Replies
Sheesh, Matthew, the stars are not aligned for you, are they?
forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Another proud member of the "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>)
Are you old enough to remember the Joe Bfsk (sp) character in Al Capp's Lil Abner cartoon strip?
That's what I thought about when I read your post.
Nikkiwood,
Well, I don't know the character. But thanks for the thoughts!
Joe was this kind, bent over little guy that always had a little black cloud over his head (with a few drops of falling rain). Nothing ever went right for him.
I always think of Joe whenever I've had a string of bad experiences or unfortunate outcomes.
But on the brighter side, at least you're now an expert packer/reshipper.........................
Edit to Steinmetz:
Pfstplk? I remember the name as all consonants, but I would swear it started with "B". Also, I remember him characterized not as morose, but kind of sweet and forlorned. But that was a long time ago, and perhaps my recollection is more wishful thinking than reality.
Edited 8/10/2004 2:28 am ET by nikkiwood
Joe Btfsplk. The way I remember it, he didn't have such bad luck himself, other than the cloud, but things went very bad for other people when he was around. But I could be remembering it wrong. This site describes him as "World's most loving friend and worst jinx ..."
http://www.lil-abner.com/other.html
Thanks for the link.
I couldn't describe myself as an avid fan during my youth, but I did read the strip fairly frequently. And I remember Al Capp was a regular on the talk show circuit, such as it was during those times. And he always seemed to be filled with interesting/acerbic observations on the day's events.
However, I suspect I would appreciate the strip much more now, than I did during my youth.
Nikkiwood,
That does kind of sound like me at this point.
Another thing I didn't mention -- in this same time period I ordered an expensive new telescope, which arrived with a broken casing. Yes, it happened this week also. A telescope is not really a "tool," but it is related to that cloud that hangs over my head!
On the bright side, the projects I have completed and delivered lately have been really nice and people are extremely happy with them.
Edited 8/10/2004 9:42 am ET by Matthew Schenker
Nikki, It's obvious that you are at least as old as me. Remembering Al Capp cartoon characters like Joe Bfstplk.
Do you by any chance remember the old hitch hiker, whose only words were, "NOV SHOV KA POP?"
Steinmetz.
The cartoonist who drew him also drew the character who struts along above the phrase, "Keep on truckin'" or." Keep on keepin' on?"
Edited 8/10/2004 11:09 pm ET by steinmetz
The cartoonist is R. Crumb. The character is Mr. Natural.
http://www.crumbmuseum.com/natural.html
My favorite Mr. Natural quote is, "Eat sh!t. Billions of flies can't be wrong."
Edited 8/10/2004 11:24 pm ET by Uncle Dunc
Unk,
How about, "We have met the enemy and he is us"( POGO)
Or , Calvin and Hobbes ?
Steinmetz.
Have to admit, I'm kind of partial to Calvin & Hobbes (ha ha).
Cal
Chobbs, Hm, Calvin and Chobbs,( I like it) Do you have an imaginary friend with big paws?
Do you go sledding on thin ice?
Do you run around the house in weird masks and capes?
Or,( God forbid ) in your birthday suit?
Do your neighbors shun you?
On Sunday, do you appear in color?
If you answered Yes to four or more questions, You are in your right element on most Knotts forums. Steinmetz.
try this one for style
http://www.oneil.com.au/footrot/index.html
Hard to convey the pleasure this has given to lots of that have spent years admiring the style of our best friends.
The Kiwis do have the occaisional high quality export.
How about the "Fabulous Furry Freak Bros."? If you know their names (I can't remember) you should have an official "Child of the Sixties" card in your billfold!! LOL
Regards,
Mack"WISH IN ONE HAND, #### IN THE OTHER AND SEE WHICH FILLS UP FIRST"
Nope --- never showed up in my paper ........... but I wish it had.
To give you some idea of my age, here are the strips I can remember from the top of my head: Mary Worth, Mark Trail, Jiggs, Blonde (or was it called Dagwood?), Beetle Bailey, Dennis the Menace, Dick Tracy. Peanuts came along just after my days of reading the "funnies" were over.
And to Uncle Dunc: the breadth of your expertise never ceases to amaze me...........
>> ... the breadth of your expertise never ceases to amaze ...
Thank you very kindly. The depth is pretty amazing, too. Amazingly thin. What looks like expertise is actually a pack rat brain, a modest ability to drive search engines, and too much time on my hands.
<<"The depth is pretty amazing, too. Amazingly thin.">>
Do you remember the old saying: "[his] knoledge is a mile wide ----- and an inch deep."
Some disparage that, but I think that's the definition of a "Renaissance man/woman."
Nik,
The secret to longevity is to read the comics faithfully each day (Maybe twice on Sunday?)
You are missing a lot if you don't read: Doonesbury/Zits/Non Sequitor
Beetle Bailey/Hagar the Horrible/Monty/Funky Winkerbean
ESPECIALLY, Dilbert. Steinmetz.
Others will remember The Katzenjammer Kids / Mutt and Jeff/ Nancy (And Sluggo)
Joe Palooka/Bringing up Father (Jiggs and Maggie) Et al.
Edited 8/11/2004 8:22 am ET by steinmetz
Edited 8/11/2004 8:30 am ET by steinmetz
nikki,
You left out the Katzenjammer Kids. Remember them? "Poppa, ven I catch dose kids, I beat dem mit der vipping shtick!" I didn't know there was anyone older than "Peanuts"!
Cheers,
Ray
Join, Back in the 30's, They had used comic book stores where you could swap two of your old used comic books for one old one you haddn,t read.
To be 'Legal' the proprioters would Cut off part of the top front cover (To indicate used merchandise and therefore non taxed)
The average New comic book would cost 10cts, so since no cash was exchanged, I often wondered How the owner paid his rent.
Steinmetz
He IS Joe Pfstplk With his head (Mind) perpetually in a dark cloud and the cloud follows him around and rains on his parade
Jon Arno #$%$%$ on him too. Steinmetz
Could be Bosch and Grizzly monitor this forum????
Edited 8/9/2004 1:56 pm ET by steinmetz
Edited 8/9/2004 1:58 pm ET by steinmetz
Forestgirl,
No, they most certainly are not! Maybe there is some consipracy to prevent me from acquiring new tools!
Well, I did order an Incra 1000SE miter gauge from Woodpecker which arrived in beautiful shape.
Still waiting to hear back from Grizzly.
How did you contact Grizzly? Not by email, I hope. forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)Another proud member of the "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>)
I'll second FG's concerns.
Grizzly does not answer or acknowledge their emails.
I always get a prompt reply from Grizzly when I e-mail them.Usually the following day.
mike
Forestgirl,
It was around 11:00 PM last night when I decided to contact them. So I used e-mail. This morning, soon after I posted here on Knots, I got an e-mail back from someone named Terry at Grizzly. They already had the replacement parts mailed out!
They said I should get the pieces in 3-5 business days.
That was pretty quick.
Unfortunately, they told me that the drill press vise does not come with the G7943. For some reason, I thought it came with the vise. Oh well.
Add a digital readout for your quill and you will never look back. I have one on order and for $30, you can't go wrong.
Best feature is the zero feature. Touch the bit to the object, zero out the readout and it gives you exactly how far you are drilling!
http://www.cme-tools.com/calipers2003.html
Oooooh, wow, I wan't one of those. I've never figured out how to use the markings on my Delta DP.
forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)Another proud member of the "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>)
Michael,
I have one of their digital calipers and I love it.
I never knew about those quill sets.
How exactly do you mount these to the drill press?
I am not sure yet but I have both a metal lathe and a mill so I will figure something out.
Worse case, make mounts out of maple and epoxy them to the drill press and quill.
Michael,
Sounds good. Maybe when you get yours set up, you could post a quick note describing how you did it.
I'm a freak about perfection. Not that I always achieve it, but I am obsessed about the new breed of tools that allows you to get within 1/1000". I have the Incra router table, with the LS positioner, and it allows this kind of accuracy. Maybe it's overkill, but it makes you feel more in control of the outcome.
So your idea of a caliper on the drill press is right up my alley!
Michael, what type of drill press do you have? I'd be interested in knowing (if it's not a Bridgeport) what's involved in installing the gizmo on a different machine.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)Another proud member of the "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>)
I have a medium size Delta drill press that I love. I upgraded it with a Jacob's ball bearing super chuck that doesn't slip at all when I put 2" forsner bits and drill deep holes in walnut.
I also have an X-Y table that I love. I have a big flat plate of aluminium I clamp in the vise when I have to drill the end of something and then I can move the X-Y table until the drill is exactly where I want it.
I also use a wiggler to locate holes, if you drill a lot of precision holes it is an indespensible tool.
Michael,
Believe it or not, I've been woodworking for five years without a drill press! In just a few days of owning one, I am realizing the potential of this tool. How did I ever live without it?
Fee free to keep posting information about your drill press setup. I'm fascinated by the possibilities!
Maybe I'll start a new thread on this topic?
I think that's a good idea (starting a thread on drill press set-ups, accessories).
I want to get Michael to tell us more about his rig -- especially the X-Y table.
Then the rest of us old geezers here can go back to talking about the comics of our youth........................... I assume you don't mind that we have completely hijacked this thread. But the commiseration with your shipping misfortunes seems to have played itself out anyway..........
Go ahead and have fun with the comics.
My story seems to have lended itself to comic-strip humor anyway! The more I think about it, the more I feel like my bad tool week was like a real-life comic strip.
I could call the strip "Tooling Up" or something like that, and the main character would be a woodworker who always has something go wrong -- buys defective tools, cuts one of his table legs to the wrong size, throws his back out carrying a cast-iron table top into his basement woodshop, uses his random-orbit sander without a piece of sanding paper in it, etc.
It's all fictional, of course!!
Michael
Muchos thanx for the link. I'm gonna order one.
I'd definitely be interested in how you mount that thing to your drill press. Let us know.
"They already had the replacement parts mailed out!" wow! that's incredible! I never expect fast responses to emails that go to big companies like Grizzly, so I'm very impressed. forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)Another proud member of the "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>)
Well, I resisted for over 12 hours, but now I'm going to give in and post. Every time I see the topic of this thread, I think, "You're not supposed to date tools. You're supposed to date women. Or men, if that's your preference, but not tools."
Uncle Dunc,
I'm happily married, so I guess the only thing left to date is my tools!
I have found the best cutomer service to be from Grizzley and Wilke Machinery (Bridgewood brand). So if you are looking for large tools, these folks have done a good job for me. Good luck.
roydoc,
I'm happy with them. Mistakes happen, no one can prevent that. The question is, how well does the company help you out when a problem does occur...
I got a respone from Grizzly very quickly. Again, I e-mailed them at 11:00 PM, and by mid-morning the next day they already had the replacement parts in the mail. Not bad.
Of course, I haven't received the parts yet. We'll see how I do when I have to replace the bent/broken cover on the drill press and put an indicator on the depth turret!
Edited 8/11/2004 11:16 am ET by Matthew Schenker
This forum post is now archived. Commenting has been disabled