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CDCO Machine
- Thread starter wreckman
- Start date
Machinetoolstore on e bay sells 5 BXA tool holders for 78.00 with free shipping and they look like the longer holders. I think I will spend a bit extra and order these as CDCO look to be a cheaper type. He has good feedback on his holders too. Maybe all China tool holders are not created equal.
Nope, not all tool holders are created equal. I have about 20 purchased here and there over three years and some fit like a glove and some did not. A few moments with a small flat file takes care of it. All of them work and none cost more than 10-15 bucks. Sometimes you get good quality clamping screws and sometimes you don't. When not, you simply replace them. This of course could all be avoided by paying 49 bucks a piece for them but, I'm OK spending 5 minutes of my time and $1.75 worth of screws to not spend 30 bucks more.
1 shortage in 6 or so orders 1 phone call and he sent missing item no hassle
I bought some things from him a couple of years ago. You get what you pay for. His qctp holders are the cheapest on the market & I was not happy with them. Sold them immediately on ebay. I rather buy my BXA holders from Shars. I returned an item & it took months for me to get a $30 refund after numerous calls, lies, & having to threaten that I was going to report him since I was absolutely fed up at that point. I'm not the type to complain either. I will never buy from him again as long as it's ran by the guy named Frank.
I wasn't aware they had a booth there, and to be honest I haven't been to that place in years. Dunno why - it's really pretty close by as I'm just south of Milwaukee anyhow. :thinking:
You gotta get out there. Then you can see what they have and buy what you want. I can't believe the prices... So far so good... also save on freight and tax. I gotta machinist buddy in Racine who told me about it. He's setting up a hobby shop with all chicom. Used to work for Chrysler and had his own tool and die shop. He says that Chinese tools are good enough and very cheap.
I figure if I was a machinst working on NASA equipment it won't work due to restricitions (DFARS and all the ASI stuff). But my hobby shop I get away with all kinds of stuff... hehe.
I have bought probably 15 of the CXA holders and the tool holding set screws are very soft, like most China set screws, even China's stainless is very soft material and should be replaced with good European or American quality and the main adjustment threaded shaft should be tightened before using. I have bought quite a bit from Frank during the last 18 months and a few items have not worked out but he has either replaced or credited those items. When you pay so very little you have to expect some small loss from time to time, but overall my experience has been good. His large R-8 1. 2 and 3" carbide insert cutters cost very little. You can buy all three for $125.00 and they work quite well, especially for the price.
Ray
I've bought some cheap things from him a few times, and been happy with the fast deliver and quality of goods matched what I was expecting (China). The most expensive item so far is a Z-drive for my Bridgeport mill. On arrival, the box on the outside was undamaged. However when I took it out of the box, the top aluminum housing was bent in slightly, enough so that once installed you would not be able to stick the crank hand on if you wanted to manually crank the knee a touch. I called China Frank and he told me to return it for replacement which I did. He claimed he didn't have another one in stock to send me until he go more in "next week". I chased him a couple more times on the phone over the next few weeks as he wouldn't respond to my emails. Eventually I figured out in talking to him that he concluded that I must have tried to install the lift and damaged it in the process (since he confirmed the box showed no signs of damage). In thinking about this, I can see how he'd arrived at that conclusion. What he didn't know is that I was at my condo in FL for the winter and my shop (and mill) are at my home in ON. He just wanted to give me a credit for the lift and told me to order one from someone else. I eventually got him to send me a replacement Z-lift, which he has sent out to me but I have not received yet. I'm just hoping the new one he sends me is not damaged.
I'm guessing the original (new) Z-lift he sent me had come back from another customer who damaged it trying to install. He probably just put it back in stock and eventually sold it to me never realizing it was already damaged. But Frank was good to offer me a refund even when he was thinking I must have damaged the lift. So if my replacement lift arrives in good shape, I'll do business with him again if I need something he has. Bill
I'm guessing the original (new) Z-lift he sent me had come back from another customer who damaged it trying to install. He probably just put it back in stock and eventually sold it to me never realizing it was already damaged. But Frank was good to offer me a refund even when he was thinking I must have damaged the lift. So if my replacement lift arrives in good shape, I'll do business with him again if I need something he has. Bill