sandman
07-26-2010, 11:50 AM
Well, nothing major accept for one particularly fussy customer. Although I'm not blaming him for my issue.
Here is the problem, I was asked to turn some scale BT-80 parts for a Black Brant II (nose cone, tail cone and motor section) out of basswood. Simple right.
The parts were turned as close to spec as I could. I thought they were perfect. I always check the final fit of parts with sections of body tube to verify fit.
The fit was perfect and the parts were shipped.
A few days later I get an irate email from this customer telling me the parts are way too small, unacceptable and he demanded a refund.
A few email later he calmed down and returned the parts.
Sure enough they were too small. After scratching my head a bit I just bit the bullet and turned some more parts.
I took twice as long to make these just to make sure they fit properly and matched his specifications. They were absolutely perfect!
I finished the parts and placed them in a box in my office late Saturday morning so I could pack them over the weekend and ship them out Monday morning.
Just as a side note, my house is air conditioned my shop is not, humidity has been around 90%.
I started to pack up the parts this morning but I though I should check the size again before I box everything up.
Originally I turned them to 2.610" O.D. as instructed by the customer. the O.D. of a BT-80 is 2.600". Yes, he gave me dimensions and specification in 0.001"!
When I remeasured the parts the dimensions were now 2.590" to 2.597" on the tail cone and motor section.
They shrunk! Not a lot but significantly!
In the meantime the original parts that I and the customer measured had been in my shop and when I remeasured them they were not 2.610" O.D.
They grew!
Granted the difference in size probably amounts to less than an extra coat of primer but I'm afraid I have more parts that I can't sell.
As a final note the nose cone did not shrink significantly at all. I think the reason the tail cone and motor parts shrunk so much was probably due to the fact that there is a hole drilled in each for a 29mm motor tube.
Any ideas? Or should I just make more oversize parts bring each one in the house, let them stabilize then take them back out to the shop and finish them.
The customer lives in Colorado and the air is much dryer there so he will probably get even more shrinkage.
Here is the problem, I was asked to turn some scale BT-80 parts for a Black Brant II (nose cone, tail cone and motor section) out of basswood. Simple right.
The parts were turned as close to spec as I could. I thought they were perfect. I always check the final fit of parts with sections of body tube to verify fit.
The fit was perfect and the parts were shipped.
A few days later I get an irate email from this customer telling me the parts are way too small, unacceptable and he demanded a refund.
A few email later he calmed down and returned the parts.
Sure enough they were too small. After scratching my head a bit I just bit the bullet and turned some more parts.
I took twice as long to make these just to make sure they fit properly and matched his specifications. They were absolutely perfect!
I finished the parts and placed them in a box in my office late Saturday morning so I could pack them over the weekend and ship them out Monday morning.
Just as a side note, my house is air conditioned my shop is not, humidity has been around 90%.
I started to pack up the parts this morning but I though I should check the size again before I box everything up.
Originally I turned them to 2.610" O.D. as instructed by the customer. the O.D. of a BT-80 is 2.600". Yes, he gave me dimensions and specification in 0.001"!
When I remeasured the parts the dimensions were now 2.590" to 2.597" on the tail cone and motor section.
They shrunk! Not a lot but significantly!
In the meantime the original parts that I and the customer measured had been in my shop and when I remeasured them they were not 2.610" O.D.
They grew!
Granted the difference in size probably amounts to less than an extra coat of primer but I'm afraid I have more parts that I can't sell.
As a final note the nose cone did not shrink significantly at all. I think the reason the tail cone and motor parts shrunk so much was probably due to the fact that there is a hole drilled in each for a 29mm motor tube.
Any ideas? Or should I just make more oversize parts bring each one in the house, let them stabilize then take them back out to the shop and finish them.
The customer lives in Colorado and the air is much dryer there so he will probably get even more shrinkage.