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(02-25-2012, 09:43 PM)PixMan Wrote: Mayhem & I should have told you about buying from Tools4Cheap.net before you bought from "Frank" at CDCO. Much better to deal with, better quality product.
Yes we should have. I was thinking about that yesterday when I received an email alert about this thread on my phone. It slipped my mind I guess. I live in Australia and Jeff was more than happy to post to me and divided the tool post and holders over three boxes, to keep the price down.
$300 for the CA wedge type QCTP and less than $150 to post it to me. Here, the local tool supplier wants either $1650 or $1375 for a QCTP to suit my size lathe  I won't tell you what the additional tool holders are worth here!
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(02-25-2012, 09:43 PM)PixMan Wrote: Mayhem & I should have told you about buying from Tools4Cheap.net before you bought from "Frank" at CDCO. Much better to deal with, better quality product.
I have some toolholders coming from jeff but suspect there is not much difference in a toolholder or toolpost, there are probably only 1 or two suppliers building them in china. Jeff's toolholders are twice the money for a small piece of pig iron a threaded stul, knurled nut + locking nut, I can't see why such a difference. I tried to see if BUSY BEE or KMS here in Canada had any but seems they have only piston type. I will be directly able to compare both toolholders from Jeff + CDCO in the next week or so + will tell you if any discernable difference. I thought of buying an ALORIS from Jeff but the price is ridiculous. tom
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Tom, I just sent you a PM.
Steve
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02-26-2012, 11:07 AM
(This post was last modified: 02-26-2012, 11:08 AM by PixMan.)
Tom,
If you do have toolholder blocks from both CDCO and Tools4Cheap.net in hand, I'd really appreciate it if you could get a series of side-by-side comparison photos.
While you may not think there's much difference, I have seen photos before that show Jeff's holders to be a little bigger, and in many ways better quality. The most apparent manifestation I recall seeing in the photos (that I can no longer find, from some Australian woodworkers' forum) was the set screws and the height adjusting screws. In looking at the photos on either site it's impossible to tell the difference and I'm convinced that neither guy's photos are an accurate representation of the product.
In my world, it comes down to quality, service and price. In that order. Jeff is stand-up guy, and though I'd only bought from "Frank" once, stories from others might indicate otherwise. I'll give an example: I ordered from Jeff (Tools4Cheap.net) 2 of the Style 1 holders in the "CA/400" size. Those are the ones with no v-groove in the bottom. Jeff wasn't stocking them at the time, as there was no demand. I offered to pay up front, he refused to accept my money. Instead he told me he would order them from his supplier, but that it could take 3 to 4 months to get them made and delivered. Three months later Jeff called to say they were in, and 'did I still want them?'. I ordered 2 and 1 of the Style 2, and had them the next day. The following day, the charge to my card went through.
By contrast I've heard a great many story of missing shipments, cards being charged long before shipping (weeks and months in some cases), and myriad other issues. Most problems with "Frank" (his adopted American-sounding name) seem to relate back to poor communications with a sprinkling of poor business practice. I noticed he dropped his price to $8 for an AXA/100 size, while Jeff is showing at $20. That's a big difference, and I can appreciate why you'd buy the cheaper one. I value Jeff's attention to details, quality and service enough to actually talk to him and see if he'd try to get closer on price before I ordered from the other guy.
Thanks,
Ken
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I'm tempted to order one from Jeff to do my own comparison. I've bought all my extra tool holders from Frank and the very first batch I bought years ago was excellent quality. Even better than the Phase II holders. The last couple of batches I've bought from him are definitely inferior to the first batch. They need some TLC before they can be used and, of course, all of the set screws need to be replaced.
It'll be interesting to see Tom's assessment of the two vendors tool holders.
Ed
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(02-26-2012, 12:45 PM)EdAK Wrote: I'm tempted to order one from Jeff to do my own comparison. I've bought all my extra tool holders from Frank and the very first batch I bought years ago was excellent quality. Even better than the Phase II holders. The last couple of batches I've bought from him are definitely inferior to the first batch. They need some TLC before they can be used and, of course, all of the set screws need to be replaced.
It'll be interesting to see Tom's assessment of the two vendors tool holders.
Ed
I have several coming from Jeff including a couple with the V-groove , CHANGING THE SET SCREW AND EVEN MAKING LARGER KNURLED BRASS NUTS(for my big fingers) for the adj screw I kind of look forward to, the set screws on the ones supplied with my lathe are a poor fit with the allen key, perhaps it is just the allen key. I will take measurements + pics when I get a chance as on a cheap item like this 1/2 price is still a big difference. tom
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03-07-2012, 09:02 PM
(This post was last modified: 03-07-2012, 09:20 PM by TOM REED.)
(02-26-2012, 12:45 PM)EdAK Wrote: I'm tempted to order one from Jeff to do my own comparison. I've bought all my extra tool holders from Frank and the very first batch I bought years ago was excellent quality. Even better than the Phase II holders. The last couple of batches I've bought from him are definitely inferior to the first batch. They need some TLC before they can be used and, of course, all of the set screws need to be replaced.
It'll be interesting to see Tom's assessment of the two vendors tool holders.
Ed
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Hi folks,
Question ( probably been asked somewhere here already ) what should I expect to pay for a worth owning QCTP and where's a good place to shop for one. And please I'm not wealthy!
Jerry. 
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Jerry,
By "a worth owning" do you mean one that is not the bottom of the barrel in quality yet not top of the line either? If so, I would suggest a Phase II piston style. The quality and cost are reasonable, although they have really gone up in price so if those are too expensive then the only other one I can recommend is the one from Jeff at Tools4Cheap.
http://www.tools4cheap.net/proddetail.php?prod=piston
$90 for the AXA size and $110 for the BXA size.
I've heard nothing but good things about Jeff and I've bought a few things from him and have been very happy with the quality and price.
Ed
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(03-08-2012, 04:43 PM)EdAK Wrote: ...I can recommend the one from Jeff at Tools4Cheap.
http://www.tools4cheap.net/proddetail.php?prod=piston
$90 for the AXA size and $110 for the BXA size.
I've heard nothing but good things about Jeff and I've bought a few things from him and have been very happy with the quality and price...
+1
I prefer the wedge type and got mine from tools4cheap. I was extremely happy with the QCTP and Jeff's service.
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