Jim DeLaney
04-04-2003, 6:05 PM
A few weeks ago, I was using one of my Lee Valley HSS Forstner bits, and it quit working. Took me quite a while to figure out that the cutter head was spinning within the drill's shaft (I first thought the DP chuck - an Albrecht - was slipping)
Anyway, I e-mailed Rob Lee - just to tell him about the failure, and to ask if this was a common failure mode (since I have about a dozen more of these bits). I also told him that the bit in question was over two years old, and had been used many times before.
Rob replied within a couple hours that the failure, while rare, was not unheard of. He explained that the HSS cutting head is welded to a softer steel shaft, and then turned to size, and on occasion the weld gets turned away in the process.
He then sent me a replacement bit - even though I'd been using the old one for two years.(!)
The package even arrived with a personal note inside apologizing for the inconvenience.
<B>NOW THAT'S CUSTOMER SERVICE! </B>
Thanks Rob!
Anyway, I e-mailed Rob Lee - just to tell him about the failure, and to ask if this was a common failure mode (since I have about a dozen more of these bits). I also told him that the bit in question was over two years old, and had been used many times before.
Rob replied within a couple hours that the failure, while rare, was not unheard of. He explained that the HSS cutting head is welded to a softer steel shaft, and then turned to size, and on occasion the weld gets turned away in the process.
He then sent me a replacement bit - even though I'd been using the old one for two years.(!)
The package even arrived with a personal note inside apologizing for the inconvenience.
<B>NOW THAT'S CUSTOMER SERVICE! </B>
Thanks Rob!