What about Shars Tools?

I had a lousy experience with Shars when I bought my 4-jaw. I bought their 1.5-8 threaded backplate chuck package. The backplate mounting holes were too far outboard and the counterbores were exposed when the backplate diameter was turned to size.
Shars initially denied there was a problem and said the backplate was not designed to be turned to match the chuck diameter. I told them it was 6.5" in diameter for a 6" chuck.
They sent me a new backplate which fit perfectly but they charged me for shipping the replacement and duty because they didn't complete the customs form correctly.
And they only ship UPS to Canada which is a non-starter for me.
 
I too had a chuck issue with them- the standard jaw set was fine, but the external clamping jaw set was awful- looked like the steps were done by hand by a drunk person- not even perpendicular
Lot of back and forth before I got it resolved and they sent a good set. Beware. Cheap and good is not always in the same box.
-Mark
 
You guys are right, the more I look the more I see that are available. It must have been just those items I was looking for.
This is a heck of a deal if it's decent. Compare this to a Gator or Bison.
www.shars.com

10" 4 Jaw Independent Lathe Chuck

www.shars.com www.shars.com
 
I recently bought a 6" digital height finder from discount-machine (Shars on eBay). The received product did not match the description. It was supposed to have a carbide scriber (and it didn't) and some sort of 3 point test report (none in package). When I sent them an email through eBay noting that, and saying it was overpriced for the reduced features, they apologized and said their description had not been updated correctly. They have since sent me a shipping label to return the product at no cost to me. Of course I still get boned for shipping.

I've bought stuff from them before and it was good. But this "bait and switch" is not a good thing. Gives me a sour taste, not to mention that bait and switch is a crime in many states. I have no idea if it was intentional or not, all I know is I received an inferior product compared to what I ordered.
 
jwmay said:
I know I hate the colors of paint they use on their milling vises and it has actually kept me from buying one.
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Durn! Too bad you don't like the color. I've bought one of their Tegara 6" mill vises and LOVE it.

PS to @Janderso - I just received some end mills I'd ordered not too many days ago. No problems with out-of-stock on these (9/16" diameter).
 
hman said:
Durn! Too bad you don't like the color.
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What can I say? I feel silly it's even an issue. I could repaint it after all. Glad you're liking yours! Maybe someday I'll get over it. Lol
 
Shars has been a reliable vendor for me.
 
Tio Loco said:
It won't help with out-of-stock items, but quite often you can purchase from them on ebay (discount_machine is Shars) for less than buying the same tool on the Shars web site.
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Yep. They're on Amazon too. I got no problem with Shars. Buy a lot of perishables from them; drill bits, end mills, lathe cutting tools: that sort of thing. They ship Fedex with a $12 dollar minimum. What I mean is, you pay 12 dollars even for a few low dollar light items. Collect stuff in your account 'saved items' and order when you've got 50 or 75 bucks worth. Lessens shipping that way.
If you're an Amazon Prime member you can do pretty good. Lots of Shars stuff on Amazon is Prime. So, free shipping and you get it in a couple of days. Their import stuff is OK. As good or better than Grizzly IMO. I've had one of their dial calipers for years and it's a quality tool. Shar's has a lot of USA made items to choose from also.
 
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