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Thread: Teknatool and Striatech: Nobody Home

  1. #1

    Teknatool and Striatech: Nobody Home

    So the Striatech motors that are used in the Nova tools (Teknatool), Rikon Bandsaw and Shopsmith 7 seems like a really cool compact technology I'd like to use in my shaper and I'm also really curious about the Vulcan drill press, so I called them, and I called them, and I called them, never an answer from either the Teknatool number or Striatech, like since March 2020. Striatech, no matter what option you select goes to the same woman's voicemail and Teknatool gives you a little more hope, plays some music, but ultimately all selections end in a canned message telling you to use their web form or just never answer. So I tried the Teknatool web inquiry form, inquired about the Vulcan, only to, after nagging for an answer in emails, to where I could buy one, I got a return email a month and a half later, one word: Discontinued. It continued to be listed on their website for another 8 months.

    I joined their Facebook group to ask a question there about purchasing a motor/controller and what tools were available to edit the interface if I was to buy one of their packages and they replied that they have firmware for the motor/controller connected to specific tools they partner with but provide no tools for end users. Um, ok, so I reply then if I buy one from your online store what does it have on it then? ... crickets.

    So just curious has anyone had any communication with them in the last year? Or are they just not a thing anymore? I mean it seems like at best it's one person on a cell phone that doesn't really care.

  2. #2
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    If they are primarily an industrial supplier, they are probably too busy/short staffed to take the time for a one off end user consumer. It's that way with industrial suppliers even in good times.

  3. #3
    No firsthand knowledge of those companies but have had folks over the years contact my parent companies (both Italian and Austrian) with what I would call "outside the box" requests and those always go to the bottom of the pile. Sorry, honest answer. I think you already know where you stand on their priority list.

    Erik
    Ex-SCM and Felder rep

  4. #4
    Quote Originally Posted by Frank Pratt View Post
    If they are primarily an industrial supplier, they are probably too busy/short staffed to take the time for a one off end user consumer. It's that way with industrial suppliers even in good times.
    Striatech, perhaps, sort of, but Teknatool, not really, the Nova Drill Presses and Lathes are absolutely hobbyist products, and not cut rate hobbyist products at that, not to mention the Striatech motor packages are sold via Rikon and Shopsmith as well as through an online store with Paypal as the only payment method. None of this screams industrial supplier, and an industrial supplier that sells onesie, twosies would provide data sheets, whitepapers or promote their customization services.

  5. #5
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    Try sending them an e-mail from anther address about a large order and see if they respond?
    Richard Poitras
    Central, Michigan....
    01-02-2006


  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ken A Irwin View Post
    Striatech, perhaps, sort of, but Teknatool, not really, the Nova Drill Presses and Lathes are absolutely hobbyist products, and not cut rate hobbyist products at that, not to mention the Striatech motor packages are sold via Rikon and Shopsmith as well as through an online store with Paypal as the only payment method. None of this screams industrial supplier, and an industrial supplier that sells onesie, twosies would provide data sheets, whitepapers or promote their customization services.
    It's not about the end product and it being purchased by a lot of bobbyists. It's an industrial application in that the motor setups are being designs/programed and supplied for use in manufacturing a line of tools in some larger quantity. They'd be interested in talking with you if you were going to be manufacturing a whole bunch of something, but as someone already said, one-offs get crickets 'cause that's not what they do. There a lot of firms like that out there.
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  7. #7
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    I can’t speak to what you’ve experienced since last March, but I can tell you that I’ve been communicating with Teknatool for the last three weeks about a problem with my lathe. They’ve been helpful despite having a skeleton crew Christmas and New year’s weeks. My issue isn’t resolved yet, but I found out today that the rep who was helping me is no longer with the company. So, communication has been okay, if a bit slow, when I speak to someone they’ve been friendly and helpful, but I’m not yet resolved.

  8. #8
    It looks like Striatech is the "R&D" subsidiary of Teknatool - they aren't truly separate companies. Sounds like it might be a 2-person operation. Moreover, Teknatool only sells through dealers, right? They may just not have "customer service" to talk to you (and, honestly, it's probably not profitable for them to do so).

    The motors on their website hardly look appealing - messy electrical tape on wires, crooked labels, looks to be built with RadioShack-esque parts...

  9. #9
    Quote Originally Posted by Dan Friedrichs View Post
    It looks like Striatech is the "R&D" subsidiary of Teknatool - they aren't truly separate companies. Sounds like it might be a 2-person operation. Moreover, Teknatool only sells through dealers, right? They may just not have "customer service" to talk to you (and, honestly, it's probably not profitable for them to do so).

    The motors on their website hardly look appealing - messy electrical tape on wires, crooked labels, looks to be built with RadioShack-esque parts...
    Uh, yea OK, so Striatech is specifically a corporate isolation of their motor tech (2014), which is essentially a giant NEMA framed DC stepper motor, that is intended to be used in place of an induction motor. There is virtually nothing on the Striatech website catering towards integrators, it's presented as a consumer product.

    So there seems to be a general consensus that "Oh, that's perfectly understandable, they are an industrial company, you just have too high of expectations" from a forum that has jumped all over Laguna, and Laguna actually answers their phones, caters to much more legitimate industrial customers, and also sell only through dealers. And Grizzly also meets those same criteria and they are Johnny on the spot for support. The Vulcan drill press I inquired about was never listed by any of their dealers, so an inquiry of where to buy is a perfectly reasonable thing to ask, and should be higher in the queue than a month and a half, especially when the response was 1 word that basically translated to "no".

    2 person operation, perhaps, their US headquarters in Florida looks to be about the size of an average suburban home, and google Striatech and an office picture will come up with 2 people sitting in basically a big empty room, so yea maybe that's the 2 people.

    There does seem to be people out there that love their other drill presses and their lathes, but when their "parts department" just plays some music and then transfers you to a message saying to buy parts on their website, when there are no replacement parts on their website only accessory parts it doesn't give you the warm and fuzzies. So even putting Striatech aside or the availability of the Vulcan drill press (which had a fully floating quill you could mill with) I would still be interested in the Viking drill press which seems to be a nice product and available from Woodcraft, Rockler, etc. and doesn't really have anything else like it around... but... it seems like you are paying a premium price for a premium product that comes with generic knock off level support, was kind of my point

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ken A Irwin View Post
    U I would still be interested in the Viking drill press which seems to be a nice product and available from Woodcraft, Rockler, etc. and doesn't really have anything else like it around... but... it seems like you are paying a premium price for a premium product that comes with generic knock off level support, was kind of my point
    Here is something like the nova press but I don't know any thing about it, but it is a brand name...

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkBAIQ6iq2A
    Richard Poitras
    Central, Michigan....
    01-02-2006


  11. #11
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    There is a lot of conjecture about Teknatool in this thread

    I have a Nova Voyager DVR and very happy with it. When I needed support, there was no problems. In this day and age, many companies are struggling with issues.

  12. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ken A Irwin View Post
    Striatech, perhaps, sort of, but Teknatool, not really, the Nova Drill Presses and Lathes are absolutely hobbyist products, and not cut rate hobbyist products at that, not to mention the Striatech motor packages are sold via Rikon and Shopsmith as well as through an online store with Paypal as the only payment method. None of this screams industrial supplier, and an industrial supplier that sells onesie, twosies would provide data sheets, whitepapers or promote their customization services.
    I wouldn't buy ANYTHING from an online supplier that only accepts PP. There are LOTS of stories out there about the PP only thing being a scam. Apparently they can appropriate 'used' tracking numbers (from real PP shipments), tell you that it's your number, and never send you your purchase, and you can't 'track' it because you don't have a real number. Your money's gone! At least with a credit card, you have alternatives to get a refund. My $0.02 YMMV
    Don't let it bring you down,
    It's only castles burning,
    Just find someone who's turning,
    And you will come around

    Neil Young (with a little bit of emphasis added by me)

    Board member, Gulf Coast Woodturners Association

  13. #13
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    I use PayPal all the time for years with few problems. When I have encountered problems, PayPal has taken care of it. I would rather use PayPal than have companies that I do not know have my credit it card.

  14. #14
    Quote Originally Posted by Larry Frank View Post
    I use PayPal all the time for years with few problems. When I have encountered problems, PayPal has taken care of it. I would rather use PayPal than have companies that I do not know have my credit it card.
    Same here. I use PayPal as a shield for my credit card, and it’s easier and more transparent to me (but not to them.) With a new-to-me company it makes me uncomfortable giving them card info, because I don’t know where they’ve been. Refunds/chargebacks have also been straightforward.

    It’s also easier for the company because they don’t have to bother with your card info either.

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