A week went by. I sent more emails…I spoke to somebody else who had dealt with them before and had just tried to order some more. Got the same answer….no answer from Nina 😕
Looked up their address..Wuhan….It really struck a chord. Good chance that most of the factory didn’t make it 🙁 So the wild goose chase for good second hand started.
I tracked somebody down from a thread I found on the internet. Found him on Facebook so messaged him This was an image he posted. Apparently he had 36 holders but no toolpost. I got in contact. He was Uber slow to respond. Back and forth it went like a slow motion replay of a handicapped snail race …Very strange bloke. Would only ever answer one question if you asked 3, and it would take a week for an answer. Very frustrating. Months went by until he eventually asked how many I wanted and what would I offer? I answered immediately. Yes,I thought, we are getting somewhere here. He sent photos so I could say which holders I wanted. I said what I wanted. I offered a price……🤞🏻
True to form, a week later, I got a response “ Yeah, that’s a fair price. I reckon they are worth that. But sorry, I don’t want to sell them” What an absolute Pillock 🤬 I lost my rag with him, and told him in no uncertain terms what a time waster he was. I also told him seeing he was so helpful,I would no longer be telling him where he could get the toolpost he required. Response within hours. He would reconsider selling. I let him stew for a week and told him I had wasted enough time. Goodbye.
Really annoying as this had wasted three months of my time. So, I ordered 8 blanks of Toolsteel and decided I would make them myself……
I contacted the seller and got the bigger picture. Wife trying to sell up all the husbands stuff as he has been diagnosed with terminal cancer and he doesn’t want to leave it all up to his wife when he’s gone. It’s a difficult time for them. He owns a boat transport company in Poole and she is working away in Bristol during the week. Some numpty at the boatyard grabbed the first thing that vaguely resembled the thing in the photo,and sent it to me. Given the circumstances,I offered to arrange courier collection, which on the third attempt they managed to get right. Not much motivation for people knowing they are going to be out of work soon 😕
Anyway, turns out there were more of the toolholders so I bought another 7, leaving the rest to be sold with his lathe. A very badly packaged parcel arrived two weeks later. Guys wife was absolutely livid when I sent the photos of how they arrived, she had left it up to him to pack them up. Stripped down and plonked in two decomposed linbins that have spent the last 30 years in the sun. Colour and strength long since bleached out,you touch the plastic and it crumbles. All held together with possibly a meter of packaging tape . Needless to say the package was damaged and screws and adjusters missing
I managed to find one adjuster in the road outside the workshop and one screw around the corner. Totally unnecessary 🤬
Anyway, I still had leverage as I still had their Dickson toolholder as ransom. Not that I needed it as the wife stripped the missing bits off the other holders they still had,and sent them over special delivery. **. So I now have 8 holders that need a good clean😊
Really sad , sounds like the poor old girl has an awful lot to deal with.
It was actually quite heartwarming. Right in the beginning we had a conference call and the way the two of them carried on,was like two giddy teenagers. Obviously very much in love,still, and enjoying what time they had left. Ruthless pi$$taking on all sides 🤣🤣 John wanting to get everything sorted before he left,was very John apparently. It was a quick diagnosis,four months is all they had left,but they made the most of it. 😊
Ive spoken to Dalene on the phone since. She’s doing ok. They did manage to get 90% of his affairs sorted . I’ve given names and prices to some of his stuff and the majority of it has been sold. She misses him but at least isn’t overwhelmed with selling up. She has a very close family,kids and grandkids around,so she will be fine.
Really sad , sounds like the poor old girl has an awful lot to deal with.
It was actually quite heartwarming. Right in the beginning we had a conference call and the way the two of them carried on,was like two giddy teenagers. Obviously very much in love,still, and enjoying what time they had left. Ruthless pi$$taking on all sides 🤣🤣 John wanting to get everything sorted before he left,was very John apparently. It was a quick diagnosis,four months is all they had left,but they made the most of it. 😊
Ive spoken to Dalene on the phone since. She’s doing ok. They did manage to get 90% of his affairs sorted . I’ve given names and prices to some of his stuff and the majority of it has been sold. She misses him but at least isn’t overwhelmed with selling up. She has a very close family,kids and grandkids around,so she will be fine.
I’ve been making curry powder….🤣 Well, actually,overly complicated magneto gears for a Sdkfz 251 half track
Made out of Tufnol, as where the original ones. A good backfire makes short work of the teeth 🤣🤣
Timing marks offset 15 degrees from the key in the shaft. Shaft threaded into gear and staked to stop it turning. Holes for rotor arm then a further 15 degrees from that. Pain in the wotsit to make 🤣