Blue Spruce Toolworks Issue: Resolved
#21
I ordered a set of 9 chisels in December. In April, I sent an email to see what the story was. Told I was still in line, Covid, and their master chisel maker quit. Nothing since. So I am in the club of the uncertain and disappointed.
Math is tough. Let's go shopping!
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#22
(05-26-2020, 08:16 AM)JohnnyEgo Wrote: I ordered a set of 9 chisels in December. In April, I sent an email to see what the story was. Told I was still in line, Covid, and their master chisel maker quit. Nothing since. So I am in the club of the uncertain and disappointed.

Well, covid is one thing, and I note the website pushes out delivery until the end of June.  But losing key people makes me think twice; sad to think that this has the potential of the same old story of someone buying a flourishing business and then screwing it up, let's hope not.  Lots of other quality competition out there.
Credo Elvem ipsum etiam vivere
Non impediti ratione cogitationis
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#23
We've become a nation of desiring instant gratification. Woodpecker does not have those words in their dictionary (by evidence of their "one-time tools"). I could see the attractiveness of the purchase of Blue Spruce and applying CNC methods, but The Blue Spruce chisels have been on the market for quite some time, and customers will want far quicker delivery than the typical Woodpecker order.

Oh for the days (3 or 4 decades ago), when you would mail an order, along with a check, then the supplier would wait for the check to clear and then ship the products. 2 to 3 weeks was typical. In this Amazon world, we demand two day shipping!
Waiting to grow up beyond being just a member
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#24
Not saying it's wrong or bad to place trust in a vendor that is going to make and deliver something 6 months down the road, but I have never bought anything in my life with that kind of timeframe except houses. I seldom can wait more than a month for something unless there are no alternatives (such as a car with the color I want is not available until say three months later). Usually, woodworking tools don't fall into that category.

Simon
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#25
(05-26-2020, 09:22 AM)Tony Z Wrote: We've become a nation of desiring instant gratification.  Woodpecker does not have those words in their dictionary (by evidence of their "one-time tools").  I could see the attractiveness of the purchase of Blue Spruce and applying CNC methods, but The Blue Spruce chisels have been on the market for quite some time, and customers will want far quicker delivery than the typical Woodpecker order.  

Oh for the days (3 or 4 decades ago), when you would mail an order, along with a check, then the supplier would wait for the check to clear and then ship the products.  2 to 3 weeks was typical.  In this Amazon world, we demand two day shipping!

Sure, but a little communication goes a long way, and it's easy. I pre-ordered a Spyderco from Knifecenter a while ago. The production date came and went. Every few weeks, I'd get an email from Knifecenter saying, no worries, we still have your order, and we'll let you know when it is available and ready to ship. If I had a 5 months old Blue Spruce order, and never heard a word from them, my next move would probably be Lie-Nielsen. Not due to lateness (I appreciate what it takes to make a top notch tool, and the many things that can get in the wway), but due to sheer irritation about not getting a single update in the age of emails."Sorry, it's late, we don't know when it will be ready" is infinitely better than nothing.
Best,
Aram, always learning

"Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.” Antoine de Saint-Exupery


Web: My woodworking photo site
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#26
So, as full disclosure I’m a fan of Woodpeckers and Richard Hummel (the owner) although I’m NOT excited by all the products they make. They have always treated me right, and in particular I have a Woodpeckers router lift that I had problems with many years ago. I personally took it to their Ohio location and they fixed it for me on the spot, while giving me a personal, in-depth tour of the facility.

The last Woodpecker item I had bought from WP was a bevel gauge, back in 2012. It’s just an outstanding product, and as a one time tool it never got the respect it deserves. I’ve not used a better bevel gauge from anyone, including the Blue Spruce bevel gauge I purchased recently. I get it when when the mostly hand tool crowd are skeptical of the WP offerings, and I’m not about to try and change that.

Having said that, these are interesting times we live in. I just received shipping notice for some clamps from Lee Valley that have been on order for 2-½ months. I have an order from a California company for a case for an iPad that has been on order for months, and I recently received and email from them that the stay at home restrictions will be lifted for them June 1 and they can get back to work.

The Woodpeckers web site says their customer service is closed due to COVID-19. I just ordered a marking knife from Blue Spruce and the order states it will be shipped from Oregon in late September. It must be an additional challenge to merge two operations on opposite sides of the country during these times, but neither Woodpeckers or Blue Spruce have, to my knowledge, failed to follow through in the past? Perhaps they deserve an little extra patience from us now.


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#27
As a FYI, the two angle gauges are not the same size, in case anyone is wondering why I would buy the BS gauge if I was happy with the WP gauge.


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#28
(05-26-2020, 10:11 AM)Handplanesandmore Wrote: Not saying it's wrong or bad to place trust in a vendor that is going to make and deliver something 6 months down the road, but I have never bought anything in my life with that kind of timeframe except houses. I seldom can wait more than a month for something unless there are no alternatives (such as a car with the color I want is not available until say three months later). Usually, woodworking tools don't fall into that category.

Simon


Fortunately, I suppose, my other interests have somewhat inured me towards impatience. In particular, the sort of firearms I am interested in often require me to fudge over several thousand dollars and then wait 12-18 months before I can pick up my items.

I just checked my email traffic to also make sure my recall was right about my timeline. I placed my order December 28th. On January 7th, I got this email:
Quote:Dear Blue Spruce Chisel Customer,

Please accept my apologies for the long wait. We had a big set-back when our chisel machinist decided not to make them anymore. The good news is that we are bringing all chisel production in-house so we can have better control over the process and deliver even higher quality. The not so good news is that machining quality chisel blades is a big job and is taking longer than anticipated. We have just finished our first batch of bench chisels and they look great. They are headed to heat treating and then they go to the grinder, engraving and then final finishing. I will be pushing the process along and should be finished in about 6-8 weeks depending upon the type and size of chisel. We expect all current chisel orders to be filled by early March and all new orders in early April. I am sorry for this delay but ultimately, you will get a very nice product.

Sincerely,
Dave J.

Fair enough, I figured I'd get my order in March. Then Covid hit, so I figured it might be April. In Mid April, I sent an inquiry on the status of my order, and got this email in response:

Quote:Hello John,

Thanks for emailing in.

This is all still in process but we have slowed down production due to the Stay at Home orders.

As soon as the orders are lifted, I should have a better ETA on shipping.

Please let me know if you have any questions in the meantime.

Thank you and have a great day,


Stephanie Brucker | Operations Coordinator

I decided I would pester them again if I hadn't heard anything by June. That date is approaching, so I will probably make a polite inquiry again here shortly.

I'm midway in to a five year waiting list for a 1911 I want, made by a specific guy. So I can be patient. But I don't know who will be making these chisels now, and unpredictability of Covid aside, I haven't found them to be particularly forthcoming with the updates or willing to set expectations. Meanwhile, about once a week, I get the Blue Spruce marketing emails imploring me to buy another marking knife.

I have other Blue Spruce Chisels and tools, and Dave was very kind to me when I dropped one of his marking knives on the ground some years back, and even though it was entirely my own fault, he repaired it free of charge. So I am inclined to think very charitably of him, but I'm honestly not sure how involved in day-to-day operations he is any more.
Math is tough. Let's go shopping!
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#29
Until the stay-at-home orders are lifted, I don't know how Blue Spruce can provide any kind of reasonable estimate of when they are going to start delivering.  I'm sure they aren't the only business with a backed up cue of customer inquiries and no answers.
Still Learning,

Allan Hill
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#30
(05-21-2020, 07:25 AM)Greg Jones Wrote: I believe Blue Spruce manufacturing has remained in Oregon, at least my bevel gauge shipped from Sandy, OR. The phone number, however, was the same as Woodpeckers Ohio location, which would make me think that’s where Blue Spruce customer service is located now.

Blue Spruce is obviously in transition, since being purchased by Woodpecker's. Back in March, as a result of one of Derek Cohen's excellent threads on half-blind dovetails, I decided to consider a fishtail chisel made by Blue Spruce. I like to call the companies I deal with just to get a feel for how they operate. Called Blue Spruce and was able to talk to Dave. Could not have been nicer; found out the size I wanted was not in stock with the handle I wanted. Dave told me that he had one left in that chisel size. Long story short, he volunteered to change the handle on that one chisel for me. I would have gladly paid an upcharge but he said no.

The chisel arrived in a couple of weeks and is a piece of functional art, like Dave's other products IMO. He told me that he was still going to be involved with the company but that manufacturing would be eventually moved to Woodpecker's location. 

Doug
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