+1

+1.

I would also say, I have known Ketan for many many years, you will not meet a more genuine trader and advisor. By the way, like others, I am a satisfied purchaser as well.

+ 1 Robert Butler

I was a beginner 50 years ago & have just finished my career in Toolmaking & precision machining so have a good idea what is involved. I find Arc to be an excellent supplier of decent tools at a decent price, one niggle I had was dealt with promptly, I actually placed an order last week which turned up 2 days later, bloody brilliant service!

Tony

I have been a customer of ArcEuro for many years and never once have I had reason to complain. Some years ago I told Ketan that a particular order was for a group of 'Men in Sheds', knowing just what the movement was all about, Ketan gave us a generous discount on two lathes and some free tooling. I really don't imagine any of his competitors offering the same when it wasn't even asked for. THANKS KETAN, you are a star.

Dek.

I have probably said this elsewhere on the forum over time but seems a good place to repeat it as we do seem to be getting a lot of new members of late.

I probably first started using ARC in about 2006 or 2007 before this forum and several others that I frequent even existed but posted on others such as HMEM and Traction Talk, even then as well as showing my builds I would offer help to others where I could.

Over the years I have added to my tooling and a good percentage of it has come from ARC bought either by myself or a couple of other people as xmas gifts etc to me . A lot of what I post may well be photos taken some time ago as I often prefer to post a photo that illustrates a point rather than just try and explain it as a photo is often a lot easier for others to understand plus it does you have actually done what you are saying so the items I am using at the time will feature in these photos.

I then became involved with this forum right from when it was first formed and was later asked by Diane to help out as a moderator which I do for nothing. I think Diane was the first to ask if I would do a review of a product but it may have been Neil. They said I would get to keep the item and also get paid for what went to print although I said give it to charity as I was getting the item. Some time later I was asked if I would review the EMG sharpener from ARC and then send it on to another member for them to also comment on which I did and a while later after publication was given some discount on an order but did not keep the grinder as they are not a cheap item.

A few years ago the idea of the beginners series was raised and in discussions with Ketan one point I set out was that I wanted to be able to feature things that he may not have sold as it would not be a very complete guide if items were left off, he was happy with this and they can be seen in the series. He also sent me a list of items that he was going to send along with the mill to be used in the article, I went back to him saying that a lot of the items I already had so some were removed, others added and also some items I did have sent as mine may have been slightly older versions and also we had decided to concentrate on R8 as that was felt to be the better option for a beginner, I had MT3. At no time was it mentioned that I would get any of the items to keep.

It was only when the series had ended that I talked to him about getting the mill etc back and that I would like to buy some of the items to add to my own tooling. This was when he said I could keep them so nothing written in the series was swayed by getting freebies. I did get the usual payment that any other author would get from MTM.

Hopefully I'm fairly open about what I use, simple example is in the last few days I have given other sources for milling cutters, inserts and tool holders when I could have just said ARC.

As ketan says so many of the questions and problems come up time and time again, the tool falling out of the collet yesterday being a prime example. Straight away I asked if the collet was fitted correctly, when the wrong reply came back saying it was I then questioned the size of collet being used. Turns out I was correct on both these points, they are both covered in the beginners series. This is why the series was written as it is based on many years of the same sort of things cropping up and being a long term user of these machines I have a good idea of how they work best and not how a time served engineer expects an industrial machine to work.

J

+1 on what Ketan said.

It is not just model engineering where there are "haters" whose aim in life is to disparage and denigrate the efforts of others, various amateur radio websites suffer from the same malaise.

Why this should be, I do not know. I guess that it all come down to the old saying "There's nowt as queer as folk".

JimB

"extra" That's an interesting word. Does that mean he does get commission from Arc in other situations?

I am speaking from under the paving stones here. Just in case a brick comes my way.

I have not been a member for very long. I have had a few differences with Ketan. Only on a misunderstood situation some time back. But I have to say that even though I have not purchased anything as yet from ARC, I probably will be doing in the future. Neil, Jason ,Ketan & a few others have been a godsend to have for their expertise & valuable information that they have personally given to me & many others. I have had some quite negative comments from some members which is a shame. There is one who gave me hell over putting a powered drive on the mill, just to see a few months later he was talking to another member about his own mill, & wishing it had guess what on it.

Without this assistance from the said people above this would be just another average forum. But it is not, it is a great forum. Long be it so.

Steve.

In the interest of complete disclosure, Ketan has bought me a baked potato and a pint a couple of times

Incidentally, if I'd been paid for the lathework series at our standard rate it would have brought me a lot more than the value of the SC4!

We do review stuff from other sellers – not as much comes forward as you might expect. I remember spending months trying to find a reviewer for a large lathe, but I couldn't find someone willing to accommodate such a large machine for a few months as it was so expensive it had to go back. I've also (twice) set up reviews asked for by a supplier who then found out the items were selling well anyway and decided not to bother. Very frustrating for the reviewer and makes me look a bit useless too…

We also get contributions that cross the line between review and articles. These are often the most useful for readers.

Hopefully it's obvious when we are just running a 'new product' announcement from a supplier and when someone has actually tried out the product. I try and edit out the worst of the hyperbole "The Quadgop 4000 will transform your workshop!".

I've had a few items I or a reviewer couldn't get to come up to scratch despite the suppliers help. They never got written up.

Neil

Wow. What sort of a spat have I missed to give rise to this?

There was a time when I first joined that certain postings were leading me to wonder whether the forum was basically an advertising channel, but that impression soon faded with the useful advice I was getting when I put questions properly, and found I could sometimes contribute opinions too.

I got excellent and wide-ranging advice from Ketan when I bought a micro-lathe I needed when moving house, but that doesn't mean I'm not allowed to disagree on other points.

So I'd reckon everybody oughta lighten up – this stuff is time-consuming to read and difficult to contribute to when you're aware that hackles've been rising..