Blackelys and Sons

I've been patiently awaiting the arrival of my Brescian Wheelock castings from Blackelys and Sons for about a month now. No sign of them yet, so about a week ago I sent them an email asking if they have been shipped yet. No response after about 5 days, so I sent the email again. I finally got a response from them today. They said that they have been having trouble with their spam filter (shouldn't be too hard to fix) and they have been experiencing a strike of mail workers (seems like they should have let their customers know). Anyway, Kevin Blackely promised that he would personally pack the parts and put them in the mail this week. Looking forward to tinkering with them soon. Maybe by Christmas????

Ho, Ho, Ho!
May you have parts to play with on Christmas morning. Enjoy!
volatpluvia

Hi Tim,
I am having the same problem. I have springs ordered that they forgot to include with my lock castings. Kevin told me they would be mailed back in October and I still do not have them. I am not sure what has happened. The lock castings came in a month but the springs have been a problem.

dave

Dave,

I think the delay probably has something to do with the mail strike. You'd think there are other carriers they could use though.

Tim

Kevin has had the year from Hell, and hopes to catch up (assuming his leg heals) by February or so.

Stuff happens.

- Bill B

Kevin is a man of his word. Cock ups do happen in any business and the double mail strike has caused havoc. Hang in there - hes a grafter and cares about his customers.

I guess I don't mind the wait. I just wish they would communicate with their customers if there is going to be a delay instead of leaving them hanging.

Yes I know exactly how you feel having been treated in the same manner by TRS. With the Xmas hols here now most business has shut shop from 21 Dec to 3 Jan, I know Kevin works very long hours and I'm sure he is looking forward to a bit of a break. This year has been particularly challenging as hes moved house and workshop whilst keeping the business going and attending shows. I realise that none of this helps you with your parts but I'm sure he will sort it.

And he is far better at replying to emails than most, but it's apparently a bit of a hassle when he can't hobble to the computer.

WRussell said:

And he is far better at replying to emails than most, but it's apparently a bit of a hassle when he can't hobble to the computer.

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I have to admit, he has returned all of my emails, although sometimes it takes a few days. I didn't know until you told me that he was injured. He told me that he would be shipping the parts in 6-9 days about 2 months ago. No big deal. I have plenty of other projects to work on. I'm sure his parts are worth the wait.

Kevin has put a note on his web site re delays in posting etc.

The way I look at it is that he has guys who are trying to make a living building stuff that uses his parts, and if I were him, they would be my first priority too. Us hobbyists can tinker with other projects in the meantime - goodness knows there's enough projects to keep me busy!

I received my wheelock castings today and was very impressed that they had sent an extra dog head screw. At first I thought that they just threw in another one because one of them had a slight casting flaw. However, after taking an inventory of the parts, I quickly realized that the pan was missing! I figure that they counted the parts and had the correct number, so assumed the package was ready to go. I emailed them tonight about the problem, so hopefully they can send the part soon. The pan fits around the top of the lock plate and has a number of complicated angles, so it would be difficult to fabricate. Oh well, if this was easy, everyone would be building them.

Bioproff,
Yeah, I am cutting the raceway for the wheel through the bottom of the pan right now. And you are correct, it is a difficult thing to do by hand. I wouldn't want to build them for a living.
volatpluvia

PS. I hope they send a pan right out to you. :v :hatsoff:

Boy, I can't believe the small size of the parts for the chain. There's no way you could hold them in your hand to work on them.

bioprof said:

Boy, I can't believe the small size of the parts for the chain. There's no way you could hold them in your hand to work on them.

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I got this great little hand vice that jewellers use after I spend 2 hours on the floor of my workshop with a magnet looking for them

Bioprof,
You will see why they need to be so small when you have the chain together and attached to the axle.
volatpluvia

Hi Leon,
I mentioned in a post on this forum a while ago that DaVinci had drawings showing he used the hardened wheel to cut the grooves in the bottom of the pan. The author of the article I was mentioning believed the grooves cut across the wheel enabled the wheel to act as a milling cutter to saw away the bottom of the pan. That way the pan and wheel fit perfectly.

dave

Dave,
Yeah, I know. I am tempted to try it for the final fit. However, I go into cold sweats every time I think about it. See I had some wheels made for me, expensively. And I am using the last one on this lock. And the guy who could make me more is in Pennsylvania.

My wheel is made of 4140 steel. I would prefer to have a wheel cut exactly to this wheel made of tool steel. That way I wouldn't ruin the wheel for the lock.

Back in those days the wheel was high carbon steel and the pan was iron so wrought that one could have peeled layers off with a good pocket knife, or so I am told. My pan is of carbon steel, not very hard, but still much harder than properly wrought iron.

So, tomorrow, I plan to file and try, file and try, until I get a good enough fit. Even 4fg has some substance to it and will not fall through a slight gap, at least not until the wheel spins and crushes it our through the gap.
volatpluvia

Know anyone who has made the wheel out of mild steel and case hardened it very deep (so you can clean up the wobble from warpage)?