New Equipment Frustrations

[Fred Conte]

I needed to do some venting and hope it's okay with the moderators.

1. New Rikon Mini Lathe
Negative: The threads in the base for the motor tension bolt were stripped.:(
Positive: Rikon is sending me a new base:) , I'll have to move everything(motor, head, cover, tool holder, etc) over when it arrives:( .

2. New WoodCraft 8" Slow Speed Grinder
Negative: left shaft bent 1/2":(
Positive: Just received a new grinder today.:)

3. Wolverine Sharpening Jig
Negative: Missing some minor hardware:( , more of an inconvenience, made a trip to the local hw store. Very poor installation instructions ( see thread on wolverine installation).:(

I have alot of machinery in my shop - none of which had given me so much trouble in setting up, I guess "murphy" is playing catch-up!:D

I guess I'm a little disappointed after spending so much on the equipment to have these problems, on the brighter side I did turn a bonker and a small goblet.:D

Fred

[Bob Hallowell]

sorry to here Fred but it could be worse, you small goblet could of been your small bonker:D

Bob

[Jude Kingery]

Hey Fred, sometimes it just helps to have a say so and vent and then feel better amongst friends! We put on a tailstock the other night and it was a bit of a rodeo (translating British English into American English made for some funny comments and laughs between my husband and me). Then it made for a bit of colorful language as it was a bit more difficult than it should've been. But? Think we're good to go now. On the end of the tailstock there's an eccentric Morse Taper that makes the line up on the live center pretty tricky, but think we've got it now! So sure thing, I can relate and it's ok to rant, sometimes the set up is what takes the longest of all, but once you have it how you want it, then you can go to town on your equipment and sail like the wind! Good luck! Jude

[Fred Conte]

sorry to here Fred but it could be worse, you small goblet could of been your small bonker:D

Bob
V-E-R-Y F-U-N-N-Y!!!:D

Thanks Bob and Jude...it's been one of those days!

You just have to keep your perspective and a sense of humor:D :D :D - you guys are great!


Fred

[Chris Friesen]

I have to agree with the OP. I've had my share of issues with new tools:

General International 3HP Tablesaw:
--Table wasn't flat, needed replacing
--Motor and arbor pulleys out of alignment by 1/8".
--Wings needed shimming
--Had to drill table/wings to fit rail (using the default rail from the same manufacturer!)
--Had to add thrust-bearing behind the nut on the shaft connected to the handwheel controlling elevation. The original thrust-washer is on the logically-wrong side of the support.
--Arbor is not one solid piece, so shoulder can turn on arbor shaft, subtly affecting runout depending on alignment.
--Bies-style fence is not perfectly flat...about .015" closer to blade at front and back edges
--Measuring tape on rail is out by about 1/32" at 50" from the blade.
--Template for aligning rail was mis-sized slightly from the size stated in the manual.
--Manual instructions didn't quite match what was shipped
--Missing a couple bolts.

Steel City 18" Bandsaw:
--Table not flat, had to be replaced
--Manual didn't match what was shipped

General International 6" Slow-speed Bench Grinder:
--Initial one was missing a hole in the end shroud making it impossible to tighten new wheels onto the axle. Tech support said this was a product error and to take it back.
--Replacement from store had a serious burr on the axle where it met the threads, required grinding down before I could mount new grinding wheels.

LV Low-angle Jack:
--Blade bed was incorrrectly machined, blade was not parallel to sole. Replacement was fine.

LV Forstner set:
--Rims of multiple bits were chipped. Other sets in store showed same problem, they figured it must have been a bad batch from the manufacturer. Ended up returning them, then buying an equivalent set (in good shape) from the clearance table a few months later.