R.I.P.

(ca. 2004 - Oct. 11, 2009)

I knew this day was coming, but happening now was not a good thing! Guess there never would be a good time, now that I think about it. Above is my now-deceased Delta router-shaper table that I used to hollow out my flute blanks. The built-in motor is underneath the table, which I raise and lowered with knobs.

I did add the Pro-Dog fence on top, which made my work easier...and if you click to enlarge the pic, you will see a box and several wires hanging below the unit at the bottom. That's the whole starter switch box...one of the design flaws was that dust was able to get into the on-off switch and would eventually prevent the unit from turning on...and taking the unit out and apart to fix that was a pain, so much so that I just let it hang...which actually stopped the dust infiltration! Go figure...

Well, I was running the largest bit I use, a 1.5" diameter bulletnose bit, which upon seizing a third time in a piece of figured Oregon Myrtle (I'm guessing what happened) made the bearings seize and the whole motor, coils, etc. start to smoke heavily. No fire, but this unit has been hobbling from pieces taken from an older table and yesterday was the day it went belly up.

Normally, not a big issue except the 'grrrrrr' factor of having to go to a store and get another one and spend money you either didn't anticipate or have, something we can all relate to in one way or another, eh?! Here is the biggest issue of all: it's neither made nor available anymore. Hasn't been for a few years, apparently; so I've since found out, Black & Decker bought out Delta and decided to drop that tool, and there is not one single other item out there like it in the prosumer market.

There are routers and tables that you add a router to to use, but not a unit with a built-in motor. Saw one for sale on eBay but it went for more money than I wanted to spend...I'll snoop Craigslist and see what I can find, but I was unaware the machine was a dead horse heading for extinction. The bottom line is, I'm screwed after I finish up what flutes are already glued and ready to be tuned and sanded.

This a day after the 26th Annual Church Street Festival in Waynesville Saturday...the sporadic showers didn't help, and I'm sure the economy didn't help, and it is a show that I've decided to drop next year unless I do move forward on my creative ideas to get back into watercolors and create wooden sculptures with non-flute pieces of wood. One day shows are hard to set and break down for just 7 hours of customer time, as well.

The same fair last year was a rather poor sales day for me, as well; however, I had the surprise of my special dragonfly drone flute winning 3rd place AND the flute sold 15 minutes later...made the day look good on paper. I was hoping that might happen again, and prepared a nice solo display of the Green Heron, complete with the photos I'd taken that inspired the flute, and some descriptor cards explaining the creation, the Grandfather Rocks on the flute's foot, etc. Vendors were to put the yellow ribbon seen by the work to be judged...

The first two judges that happened by with a clipboard could not have stopped for more than 2 seconds each, honestly...like a rolling stop at a stop sign most of us make when no one is in sight. They made a check in a box and kept walking...didn't inspect, didn't ask for it to be played, nada, zip, zilch. In fact, only one of the judges that came by truly inspected it and asked for it to be played, so not a good sign in the monetary prize categories. Nary an honorable mention by show's end.

And so it goes...glad, now, that I accepted 4 days of fill-in work at News 14 this week! I do have a two-day show in Tryon, NC next weekend, and given that's one of my former stomping grounds with family there, I'll at least have lots of company and free lodging! :-)

And, gee, wouldja look at that...more rain coming in! Sunshine has been hard to buy in parts of NC the past, well, weeks...and now there is more incoming. Should give me time to stay indoors and research whatthehell I'm going to do about a new routing system for my flutes...

Catching up...

For ye faithful blog readers, I can only apologize that yesterday, today, and most likely tomorrow will be 'quiet' as I'm filling in on my former early AM shift, these days for the Charlotte side. In itself that doesn't preclude my tending to my blog, but with the unsettled weather and my being 'fixated' on working on a new "Branch" flute that is really a cane-flute, it's taken up my free, creative time. Nice low C# (at least for now) that 'got its legs' yesterday afternoon. Pics will be coming when I get done...

Anyway, that's pretty much it. Oh, yeah, yesterday was a Red Letter day. Part of me wants to rejoice with gladness, and part of me wants the world to know that a particular company is dropping a huge customer ball that is inexcuseable...

Ridgid Tools, right down I-85 in Anderson, SC. They make all the orange power tools you see at Home Depot, their market 'corner'. I'd blogged some time ago that I use their oscillating belt sander as it is the only such product available that's not in the $1,000+ range of production-level machines. I have seen several in my day as I ultimately wear them out.

So they proudly exclaim and push their 'lifetime warranty' as long as you follow all their steps to register it, send in codes, etc. And when my sander quit working one day, it was time to find the warranty service center and let 'em have at it.

The store wasn't too far away, so no long trek...they ask for $30 up front for the tech's bench time just in case a company says it's not a warranty repair and the tech can get paid for his work...in the event it is covered, you get the $30 back when you pick up the repaired tool. Fair enough.

When I took the tool in, I knew I had to make a huge decision because that particular tool is critical in my flute making process. Buy a second one or wait? I hemmed and hawed as many of us do with our limited funds in a tanked economy...but I decided I couldn't afford to stop the ball rolling for a few weeks and purchased a second unit.

A few weeks my @ss.

Dropped off that bad boy FEBRUARY 20th...and just got it MAY 4th. 2-1/2 months it took Ridgid to 'okay' the repair and send the part. What was the culprit? A motor winding? Faulty short in the motor leads? Misalligned gear boxes and broken teeth?

How about a switch.

We're talkin' a small rectangular plastic box with a big plastic yellow on-off switch, that simply rocks a piece of copper up and down to simple contact points to complete a circuit and start the machine. THAT is what 'broke', the points probably burned out because dust got inside it.

What gets me most is that factory is just down the interstate a couple of hours. They are making these sanders and many other tools every day. I can see certain motors and intricate parts might be hard to come by, but a basic, basic switch should have been up to the shop in a week or two.

So, I'm glad to have a 'back-up' unit with my production ramping up, and in the same breath I'm screaming "BOOOOOO, RIDGID!!!!!" Still might find an email addy and send the CEO a short, professional note letting him/her know that this type of service will ultimately come back to bite them unless they correct this lapse in customer service and warranty fulfillment. One poor guy's tools at the same center, turned in in January, had faulty rechargeable batteries that were back-ordered until late June. Imagine HIS frustration...

Oh, look, MA, a blog post, afterall! HA! Time to pull weather data and head into the station. Happy Cinco de Mayo today, y'all!

OLE'!!!!!!