# Three Is Not Always A Charm.



## jbolt (Dec 31, 2016)

I recently ordered a large-ish piece of aluminum from one of the web vendors for a paying job. I could have sourced it locally but the supply house I can get this size for a reasonable cost is 40 miles away and for the shipping cost it was worth ordering plus I had some lead time. 

The published policy for cutting is the ordered length is guaranteed -0.000" +0.125". 

I ordered a 1.5" long piece of 8" aluminum round. Typically 30 to 40 thou will be lost in cleanup so if it came at the 1.5 minimum all would be good.

Piece #1




Okay I  can understand someone making a mistake. It can happen. It's kind of obvious but I will give them the benefit of the doubt. 

I sent an email with photos to customer service and they promptly sent out a new piece. I still have some time so if they get it to me by Friday like they say all should be good.

Piece #2




Really? Some basic training on measuring is in order. You would think that when they got the re-cut order because the first was short they would error on the larger side. Too late in the day to get locally now I'm going to miss my deadline, not cool.

Another email to CS with photos but this time I started getting excuses about cutting short pieces and the saw wanders a little and blah blah blah. Like I could tell my customers something like that.

A polite but strongly worded reply back to CS reminding them of their guarantee and something to the effect that this isn't rocket science, this time CCing the sales department as well, resulted in an apology and a reassurance that the warehouse manager would personally QC the item so the correctly cut material would be sent out overnight (meaning by Monday).

Piece #3




Speechless. There are no words for this level of incompetence.

I informed CS of the latest failure and told them I would source the material locally, which I did and had the material within a few hours and the part completed by the next morning one day late.

Their response was a full refund. At least they got that right!

Some would say I should have just ordered it a little longer to begin with but I have never had this problem before with any of the local supply houses. I'd rather spend money on tools than lining my chip pan.


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## jpfabricator (Dec 31, 2016)

A half dozen more pieces, and you just might have a usable one.
Lately I have been disgusted with "quality control " ; or  the lack of I should say.

Sent from somwhere in east Texas by Jake!


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## 4GSR (Dec 31, 2016)

My rule of thumb on something 8" OD, is always add at least 1/8" to 3/16" to the finished length needed for raw stock.  So if it has to finish at 1.500" order it cut at 1-5/8" long or a bit longer!  Don't take it for granted that they will cut it a little longer automatically, they won't!

Oh, don't tell them it needs to finish at 1.500".  A less experience sales person won't know to add saw cut allowance to the internal paperwork so it gets cut longer, It won't happen!


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## Tony Wells (Dec 31, 2016)

If you can get a cleanup on 8" rnd with 0.03/0.04, you have found an exceptional saw and operator.


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## jbolt (Dec 31, 2016)

Tony Wells said:


> If you can get a cleanup on 8" rnd with 0.03/0.04, you have found an exceptional saw and operator.



I've never had that problem from any of the local suppliers.  The piece they cut me was 1.560" (+-) 0.02".


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## Vladymere (Jan 1, 2017)

Is your digital caliper measuring correctly?  Can we see a picture of your caliper with the 1.000" calibration tool in it?

Vlad


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## jbolt (Jan 1, 2017)

Vladymere said:


> Is your digital caliper measuring correctly?  Can we see a picture of your caliper with the 1.000" calibration tool in it?
> 
> Vlad



Nothing wrong with my calipers. I use them daily.


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## 4GSR (Jan 2, 2017)

There used to be a place in California that specialized in supplying cold sawed aluminum in any shape and size you would want.  An 8" round cut to 1.515" long would cleanup at 1.500"!  Never used them, had some surplus aluminum slugs that came from their place.


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## Tony Wells (Jan 2, 2017)

I suppose a large enough cold saw would do it. They leave a nice finish and use a blade more like a milling cutter than a plain bandsaw, which is what I had in mind.


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## Joncooey (Jan 3, 2017)

Kid on the saw is measuring to the wrong side of the blade.  Where's the shop foreman?


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## mcostello (Jan 3, 2017)

Shop foreman is busy in la-la land.


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## Rustrp (Feb 25, 2017)

Looking at the photos, it seems they cut the 8" round from a piece of 1.5" plate that wasn't. Why, is anyone's guess but photo #1 & #2 it seems that your calipers are placed by a start hole of a plasma/laser/waterjet cutting operation. Maybe it's just a dinged up piece of round. Without a photo showing the saw cut that's just a guess and .071" in plate not listed as precision fits mill tolerances today which run on the lean side of stated thickness. With that said, most cut to length supply houses don't use a measuring tape and rely on the cnc readout on the saw. It does seem to be a lot of effort on their part in an attempt to save .050"


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## Wreck™Wreck (Feb 25, 2017)

jbolt said:


> Speechless. There are no words for this level of incompetence.



You do this for a living I take it. Did you not take into consideration that a percentage of the blanks were going to be short or long when you quoted the work?


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## jbolt (Feb 25, 2017)

Not for a living, just side work I get from some larger shops that off load smaller jobs.

As I stated in my original post. The companies published policy is -0, +.125 on cuts under 12". The general manager and and customer service rep both agreed it never should have been sent short.


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