GW wheel press

Includes workshop practice, painting and weathering, model photography etc.
junctionmad

Re: GW wheel press

Postby junctionmad » Thu Mar 03, 2016 2:34 pm

James Wells wrote:
junctionmad wrote:Personally , and no disrespect intended , if you are in business , no matter how small , one should seek to make things as easy as possible for ones customers


This is a small business in the niche market of finescale model railways, I would suggest that making arrangements for cards, etc., would simply be too much

I don't want to labour this point, but the fact is setting up and running a PayPal account is simplicity as is linking it to your bank account so it can transfer the receipts to you. If Dingham can to it to essentially sell a single product , I'm sure anyone can

Equally protestations that a few people don't trust modern money transfer system is equally unsupportable.

The fact remains it's purely an idiosyncratic decision ( which I have no issue with ) but it's has no objective realistic justification

Good luck to George :D , there are few of such stalwarts left.

It's a pity the scalefour stores doesn't act as a proxy ( on commission ) for such retailers

Philip Hall
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Re: GW wheel press

Postby Philip Hall » Thu Mar 03, 2016 5:21 pm

It might be simple to many of us to set up and run a PayPal account, but George is in his seventies now and for all the time I've known him (a very long time) has seen no need for anything more than cash or cheques. He's happy with the level of sales he gets and how he gets them, so why should he change? As Andy says, he's an old fashioned engineer and that's his real value as a supplier, not whether he uses the internet or not.

As for online payments from foreign banks, I had a payment from a customer in New Zealand a while back and despite his bank and mine assuring us both that no deduction would be made from the amount I received, a fee was taken. However, further investigation revealed that the fee wasn't my bank's or his, it was a result of the NZ bank's payment being routed through an agent bank, and it was their fee that I paid. I couldn't get out of that one, and neither could my customer, because whether such a payment is routed through a third party is not something we (nor the remitting bank's staff, for that matter) can control. Had the NZ bank and mine been the same, there might not have been a fee, but only IF the payment had been remitted direct. So a third party fee might well be payable in many cases, but not necessarily all.

Anyhow, I'm getting away from the point that George gives a good service in his good old fashioned way and makes very good products. Long may he continue. And yes, I am biased because I've known him for so long!

Philip

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Jol Wilkinson
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Re: GW wheel press

Postby Jol Wilkinson » Thu Mar 03, 2016 8:38 pm

Andy W wrote:George is definitely "old school". Not good for payments maybe, but his "last century" brain and skills produce excellent products. Long may he thrive.


And at prices that are remarkably reasonable when you consider the work involved.

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Horsetan
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Re: GW wheel press

Postby Horsetan » Thu Mar 03, 2016 10:50 pm

dal-t wrote:George isn't alone in refusing to recognise the 20th century has been and gone. There are a couple of useful items I want fairly keenly at present, both only available from UK sources that not only won't do internet sales, but apparently require you to 'qualify' for owning their products by rolling up to whatever local show they next choose to attend, standing around for hours in a mob of people unable to decide whether they want a left-handed monkeywrench or a spiral snapdragon-holder, and finally handing over grubby British banknotes or clunky British coins, all for the honour of receiving the required gizmo. One even mentions Postal Orders - I do recall those things from the 1950s, when I thought I might become a stamp collector (we all make mistakes in life), but the last time I saw one was probably in the mid-1970s, when I discovered that the charge for purchasing the note was greater than its nominal value. Do they still exist outside museums, I wonder - and should I have bought more, even at such a rip-off, to sell on with profit now to those who wish to trade with such anachronisms? I must say, for a nation of so-called shopkeepers, the UK does seem to have become particularly adept at shooting itself in the commercial foot lately. Good luck to George and his idiosyncratic business model, but I am sooo glad I bought his products (second-hand) while still resident in the land that time look likely to forget.


ABS is famous for it.
That would be an ecumenical matter.

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Craig Warton
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Re: GW wheel press

Postby Craig Warton » Fri Mar 04, 2016 12:02 am

John Bateson wrote:What would be useful is if a friendly soul either living close to George or attending at a show such as Scaleforum would buy one for a member living abroad and post it himself (or herself) with a commitment from the member living in foreign parts to purchase and cover the postage costs using PayPal as the medium for the transaction.
I can assure readers that this works quite well!
John


I rang George (From Australia) and asked about a rolling mill. He took it along to Scaleforum with him where a friend picked it up for me (thanks David!).

That approach, or asking a UK based friend both work well for some of the firms who are a little more "challenging" for us overseas types to deal with.

I think it would be fair to say that George is fairly "mature" and has no real interest in learning about newer technologies, so, one can complain or try and find a work around.

Regards,

Craig w

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Jol Wilkinson
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Re: GW wheel press

Postby Jol Wilkinson » Fri Mar 04, 2016 8:25 am

George is probably far from alone in enjoying life without the benefits of the internet. How many of the Society's membership partake in this forum?

DougN
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Re: GW wheel press

Postby DougN » Fri Mar 04, 2016 8:44 am

Craig has hit on something we overseas members can struggle with. Friends who are willing to do this is a massive benefit. Also there are some manufacturers who can't or won't post over seas.
Doug
Still not doing enough modelling

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Horsetan
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Re: GW wheel press

Postby Horsetan » Fri Mar 04, 2016 9:13 am

Jol Wilkinson wrote:George is probably far from alone in enjoying life without the benefits of the internet. How many of the Society's membership partake in this forum?


Do I detect tumbleweed as a result? :mrgreen:
That would be an ecumenical matter.

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jim s-w
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Re: GW wheel press

Postby jim s-w » Fri Mar 04, 2016 9:42 am

Well this thread is doing a good job in promoting the benefits of the wheel press. Can it accomodate both 1/8th and 2mm axles?

Cheers

Jim
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Andy W
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Re: GW wheel press

Postby Andy W » Fri Mar 04, 2016 10:30 am

Yes it can, you just reverse the stops. Although I think the Mark 1 version didn't have this feature.
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Will L
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OT - Active Forum Members

Postby Will L » Fri Mar 04, 2016 10:39 am

Jol Wilkinson wrote:George is probably far from alone in enjoying life without the benefits of the internet. How many of the Society's membership partake in this forum?


Interesting question. From the members list you can work out that of our members (1883 as at 1st March, yes we really did hit the magic figure on that day) 1328 are registered to the forum, which sounds good. It doesn't look quite so good when you work out that of those only 432 have ever posted on the forum, and only 280 have ever posted more than 5 times. How many who are registered so they can access the members area of the website, or, who look at the forum regularly but but never post, it's hard to say.. Rob?

Edited to hid the fact that I had slipped back a webmaster
Last edited by Will L on Fri Mar 04, 2016 8:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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jon price
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Re: GW wheel press

Postby jon price » Fri Mar 04, 2016 11:19 am

When I was using an online teaching platform the ratio of users and posters was similar, but the group you havn't enumerated was by far the biggest: the lurkers who usually accounted for at least 60% of the registered users. How many members read the forum regularly without posting?
Connah's Quay Workshop threads: viewforum.php?f=125

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Noel
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Re: GW wheel press

Postby Noel » Fri Mar 04, 2016 11:26 am

And how many guests do we have in a typical week? I assume it is not quantifiable (?), but it could include unregistered members as well as non-members.
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Noel

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jim s-w
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Re: GW wheel press

Postby jim s-w » Fri Mar 04, 2016 11:32 am

Andy W wrote:Yes it can, you just reverse the stops. Although I think the Mark 1 version didn't have this feature.


Thanks Andy

Looks like I'll be getting one then :)

Cheers

Jim
Jim Smith-Wright

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Over thinking often leads to under doing!

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jim s-w
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Re: GW wheel press

Postby jim s-w » Fri Mar 04, 2016 11:34 am

Noel wrote:And how many guests do we have in a typical week? I assume it is not quantifiable (?), but it could include unregistered members as well as non-members.


One interesting thing (to me anyway) is how many referrals my site gets from the s4 blog list page. Seems that a lot of people look at that. (I hav to admit though I keep forgetting its there)

Cheers

Jim
Jim Smith-Wright

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Over thinking often leads to under doing!

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grovenor-2685
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Re: GW wheel press

Postby grovenor-2685 » Fri Mar 04, 2016 11:55 am

How many members read the forum regularly without posting?

The membership list http://www.scalefour.org/forum/memberlist.php shows the number of posts as well as the date last active (ie logged in), sort by date last active and you can see how many are looking and not posting.
The group that puzzles me most are those who went to the trouble of registering and have never logged in, not even once, and the somewhat larger number who have registered and only logged immediately after and never again.

What I am not sure of, maybe John knows, is whether logging on to access the stores etc without visiting the forum is logged as 'active'.
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Andy W
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Re: GW wheel press

Postby Andy W » Fri Mar 04, 2016 12:34 pm

It is odd that so many members don't use this forum. It's a marvellous source of info and help.
Make Worcestershire great again.
Build a wall along the Herefordshire border and make them pay for it.

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Will L
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Re: GW wheel press

Postby Will L » Fri Mar 04, 2016 1:15 pm

grovenor-2685 wrote:http://www.scalefour.org/forum/memberlist.php shows the number of posts as well as the date last active (ie logged in), sort by date last active and you can see how many are looking and not posting.


I thought you could do that, but follow that link (on my machine anyway) and the membership list currently only shows date joined.

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grovenor-2685
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Re: GW wheel press

Postby grovenor-2685 » Fri Mar 04, 2016 3:36 pm

Perhaps its something only administrators see. If so sorry for misinformation.
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junctionmad

Re: GW wheel press

Postby junctionmad » Fri Mar 04, 2016 4:55 pm

Andy W wrote:It is odd that so many members don't use this forum. It's a marvellous source of info and help.


Always the case with online fora.

junctionmad

Re: GW wheel press

Postby junctionmad » Fri Mar 04, 2016 4:57 pm

Andy W wrote:Yes it can, you just reverse the stops. Although I think the Mark 1 version didn't have this feature.


I'm looking for a wheel press that has the ability to press on wheels on 2mn pinpoints and ensure each wheel is positioned equally on the axles

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RobM
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Re: GW wheel press

Postby RobM » Fri Mar 04, 2016 5:15 pm

Will L wrote:
I thought you could do that, but follow that link (on my machine anyway) and the membership list currently only shows date joined.


Will, I see number of posts, websites plus date joined. If I click on a username I see the profile and activity.
Rob

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grovenor-2685
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Re: GW wheel press

Postby grovenor-2685 » Fri Mar 04, 2016 5:27 pm

Using the invisible "last active" column I fished out a few numbers. Acive = logged on, whether or not posting.

Active today - 113
Active this month - 230
Active since 1st Feb. - 454
Active this year - 541
Never active since registration - 88
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jon price
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Re: GW wheel press

Postby jon price » Fri Mar 04, 2016 8:15 pm

given that you don't need to be active to read the forum 400 or so active means the figure of 60% lurkers might hold true, so posting versus lurking is probably typical of most forums. Of course being active on the forum isn't the same as being an active modeller. I'd be interested to know hom many of those there are. How many members have built or converted a piece of rolling stock to P4 would be an interesting statistic.
Connah's Quay Workshop threads: viewforum.php?f=125

ginger61
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Re: GW wheel press

Postby ginger61 » Fri Mar 04, 2016 8:27 pm

As a lurker I find it interesting to see how far off topic one can go!!!! Having been a modeller of a few years now, I tend to "just get on with it" and 9 times out of 10 various posters have answered the questions that formulate in my mind!!! I have a wheel press and having seen the picture of how to use it I shan't go wrong in the future :o
Nick.


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