Walker net – the essential metal work

[LuckyLuca]

Well done B, sounds like we are progressing nicely!

[Barbulus]

Many thanks Beresford. I am keeping my fingers crossed that we are all going to be really pleasantly surprised here ! I am eyeing up some garden cane in what purports to be my garden thinking could I make cane arms......there again Chapmans provides quality.

[Beresford]

Chapmans are also only about 45 minutes drive from me…

[Gurn]

Blimey, cant believe I missed this thread. Is it too late to register my interest?

[Beresford]

Gurn,

No it's not too late. At this stage there is no commitment at all. Once I have the quotes then that will decide if this is going to be financially viable. If we get over that hurdle then we can move onto the next stage. Obviously the more sets that are ordered the lower the cost will be to everybody.

[Gurn]

Gurn,

No it's not too late. At this stage there is no commitment at all. Once I have the quotes then that will decide if this is going to be financially viable. If we get over that hurdle then we can move onto the next stage. Obviously the more sets that are ordered the lower the cost will be to everybody.

Excellent..

[Loop Erimder]

I would / could be interested too

[Beresford]

Another update:

The bad news is that the first company I approached have not quoted i.e. no interest. However, I have spoken to a second group who seem rather more engaged in the project. They have been sent the drawings this afternoon and I await feedback. If they also fail to quote I have another option in the wings.

[Barbulus]

Well that is frustrating Beresford. Lets keep fingers crossed that the second company quote......is there anyone out there on the Forum who understands the use of Social Media like Facebook or Twitter to "spread the word" that one is looking for a small light engineering workshop....chap with a lathe at the bottom of the garden type thing who might wish to run a small number of parts.... ?

[Beresford]

Chaps,

I know there is serious fishing going on but I have some news. The first quote is in and I've another that have requested more detail - more on this in a moment. Some good news and another hurdle.

Firstly the first quote – this company declined to quote on the brass ferrule, no reason given however, as expected the cost drops significantly even between ordering 5 and 10 units and I'd expect another drop were there more orders. However, as expected it's not cheap. The difficulty is that both companies have asked if they could inspect a net to see the pieces so that many be something that can be overcome in the close season but before taking this any further I'll throw some prices out there for comment.

To these prices needs to be added VAT and P&P (at cost). I'd say that will add about £12 – £15 since each item will need to be wrapped in bubble wrap and the whole lot put in a sturdy box. An alternative might be to arrange collection at a Redditch Fair.

OK prices only valid for 21 days so they will I expect change but they serve as a guide to measure intent. At this point there is still no commitment whatsoever but it will serve as a suggestion to me as to whether or not to pursue this project further. These prices are based on just five sets being produced, rounded to the nearest pound.

The alloy block £60
The hinge piece £50
Brass pivot bolt £7 a pair (I've allowed for two pairs per set, ie. £12, to give a couple of spares)
The long knurled bolt £27

(all plus VAT)

Now if ten sets are produced the costs drop to:
The alloy block £52
The hinge piece £37
Brass pivot bolt £6 a pair (I've allowed for two pairs per set, ie. £14, to give a couple of spares)
The long knurled bolt £22

Note: This is not a commercial venture and I'm not doing it to make any profit. If the project goes ahead I may decide to order a few extra sets that then would be sold on a commercial basis but I have made no decision on this either way. The more orders the lower the cost to everybody. Essentially if TFF members wanted to support this venture then each would receive the items at cost price based on the total number of sets ordered.

My own view is that I'd favour a wood spreader block over an alloy one for both lightness and originality but since such small orders are possible alloy blocks could be made for those who want them.

So gentlemen your thoughts now we have some ball park figures for the first key parts. I must also add that the company that have yet to quote, who rang me today to discuss the specification would be quoting for the brass ferrule as well and they have seemed the better of the two companies, so I'd rather go with them if possible. However, I have to admit that I've hit a bit of a stumbling block in that this company is asking for more technical detail that I'm struggling with based on transposing Walker's own drawings, which have at least one major critical error (so he wasn't infallible after all!!). To get us over this hurdle I'd really like the engineers to be able to inspect the real thing. They've told me given an original they can just copy it – easy for them. Anyway there's fishing to be done so perhaps this is something to pick up in November. In the meantime your views on prices etc.