Member postings for Alastair

The SS is a bit of a red herring I think - not sure what it stands for. The company is August Beck GmbH. Been making reamers for ever. I've not seen the logo for a long time. I think they are better known as Beck Tools now - somewhere in Southern Germany.

Hope this helps

Alastair

I had an electric insulated roller shutter door fitted in March this year. I have found both plus and minus points. The door is insulated and certainly keeps the garage/workshop warmer in cool weather. However, the door is black (to match the rest of the house) and soaks up the heat in summer and makes the garage quite warm. Too warm sometimes as the sun is directly on the door in the afternoon. The door keeps the neighbours happy as the sound insulation is really good and a minor plus is that it doesn't intrude into the garage when open. I had to close the old up and over door to open the wall cupboards I had which was a bit of a pain.

All in all, a good investment and was slightly over £1,000 fitted and the old door taken away.

Same in Doncaster Frenchgate - about 5 or 6 copies on the shelf at WHS Saturday.

I have bought quite a lot of my workshop kit from WARCO over the last few years, including a WM18 mill and a GH1236 lathe. I've never achieved a discount off the machines I've bought but have managed to get some savings on accessories that I took at the same time. After sales I have found variable from what you would call excellent down to poor communication although the poor side was only on a couple of occasions and it's about keeping you informed frequently enough when delays are on the cards. On the whole I find them an excellent company and would have no hesitation in using them again - in fact that will be very soon.

For what it's worth, my experience at the shows is similar to your experiences. It's hard to get any discount. I bought a Warco WM18 mill with no discount but was offered some tooling to go with it at a small discount. I later bought a gear head lathe again with no discount and no extra tooling offered. Even attending the advertised open days at their home site resulted in no discount.

I think the days of discounts - even small ones are over because of the financial climate we are in. I still go to the shows for advice which I think is sometimes worth quite a lot so I go prepared with my questions and anything I need demonstrating which I have to say Warco are very good at and will spend as much time with you as necessary even if you're not buying anything.

I go to all the major shows and am going to Harrogate as usual as I think it is one of the best shows now. A lot of the shows are suffering with reducing attendance by the trade due to costs. If they don't offer a reason to buy at the shows, then people will just buy via the Internet (me included) which will make the situation worse. Of course, the shows are not just about tools and equipment. I spend more time going round the model displays and the clubs picking up as much information and hints and tips as I can. It's a really good opportunity to meet up with those that have got the T shirt so to speak and help you avoid some of the mistakes they have made and learnt from.

A

Hi Gareth,

I can only echo everything that has been said about Warco. I have a GH1236 lathe and a WM18 Mill both bought within a year of each other. I have found Warco to be more than helpful and always return calls if not immediately.

I would add to the comments about considerations of weight. The lathe was around 600kg and manouvering this within a workshop the size of a large single garage proved to be very challenging. I decided to build a very substantial bench for the lathe as I needed the lathe at a height that was comfortable for me and have not had any issues with this. Noise and vibration have not been a problem and so far it has handled all the jobs required although some of the smaller jobs proved a little difficult, patience proved to be an asset here.

I have read some of the horror stories associated with buying Asian machines but I have not experienced any of these and with some minor fettling, the machines worked out of the box.

Alastair

Dusty, it's the wife that's not interested and wants to limit what I spend. I'm happy to spend, spend, spend.

I'll be there accompanied with my wife - not really interested in model engineering but very interested in limiting what I spend!!!

My piece of paper now safely in place for another day. One piece of good advice.