I wanted to write a bit and commend Lee Valley Tools, who recently purchased the rights to the wonderful Beall tool line, for their commitment to the Beall line and their commitment to developing a quality product. I've had numerous occasions where I've run into problems with a manufacturers products. Sadly, most of the time, in the long run, I end up getting ghosted when the company doesn't want to take the issues to heart or resolve them, or I get empty promises that usually don't get fulfilled. In some occasions, I've sent tools in for repair, and might not see or hear from the company for months, and end up getting a semi-repaired tool in return.
Lee Valley, on the other hand, recently took an issue I had with the 3-wheel buffing system to heart, listened intently to what I had to say, accepted some evidence I gathered on various morse tapers of my various tools, and has very quickly here resolved the situation beyond my expectations. For me in my experiences, that level of rapid and intent customer service is very rare, and I greatly appreciate the interest and quick resolution that Lee Valley has delivered. They were cordial, friendly, very responsive, and extremely fast in their resolution of the issue (it is in fact resolved as I hear). This situation and their quick resolution has made me a strong believer in Lee Valley and their stewardship of the Beall line of tools. Very happy with their service, and glad to know they own this wonderful line of tools and are clearly committed to its continued success over the long term!
Thank you, Lee Valley, for your support and dedication!
I also thought I would note...Lee does own the full line of Beall tools. That includes things like the Pen Wizard...a very intriguing tool that I know some of us thought might be gone now. It sounds like Lee is taking their time to make sure they fully understand each tool and can manufacture them to a high standard. The Pen Wizard, and probably other tools that some may love but haven't seen back on the market yet, should be finding their way back to the market at some point. That was encouraging news as well. I bought a Pen Wizard when I heard Beall was closing their doors, but I know the system has some accessories, and of course the need for replacement parts. So its wonderful to hear that Lee will ultimately be providing that as well. I'm in no rush, was just happy to know they have the rights to the entire line of Beall tools.
tl;dr - the story
Ok, so a bit of background. The product issue was the morse taper of the mandrel of the 3-wheel buffing system. I purchased one of these almost two years ago, I figure. I hadn't used it a lot, only a little bit at first, as I did not really have any buffing skill. In my attempts to improve the quality of my pens this year, and eliminate, as much as possible, any remaining scratch marks on my pens, I got this buffing system back out and started using it the beginning of summer. I still didn't have much skill when I started, although by the end of summer I was much more skilled with the buffing system. I also started to notice some issues, although initially I did not realize exactly what the issue was. In mid to late August, I found that I could no longer put any of my dead/drive centers in my Wen spindle. They did not fit right, wobbled back and forth just enough to be problematic. At first it seemed like this came out of the blue, and I was baffled. After some investigation, I eventually discovered that inside surface of my Wen spindle's #2 MT hole was marred, and had a few mushroomed spots that undoubtedly were causing the problem. I managed to file these spots down a bit, and was able to get my dead centers to work well enough that I could make some additional pens.
It was when I pulled out the buffing wheel that I realized what may have actually occurred. The morse taper of the beall buffing system mandrel was also torn up pretty badly. I was unable to use the mandrel at all in the spindle, and at this point I was realizing that there may well have been much more serious damage done than I originally thought. I removed the spindle from the lathe, and along with the beall mandrel, took them to a machinist. At first he was unable to feel anything inside the spindle, but we did work on the beall mandrel morse taper a bit, leveled out all the high spots, and tried to restore a proper angle to it. Eventually we found all the marring inside the spindle, and managed to level out most of that. To our surprise, though, while a normal dead center fit properly and was held securely, the beall mandrel did not. After fiddling a bit, we determined that the beall mandrel must have an incorrect morse taper.
I did some more work that day when I got home, and managed to get all of my normal dead and drive centers working again. When fiddling more with the beall mandrel, I discovered that it only actually had any metal-to-metal contact right at the entrance of the morse taper hole in the spindle. The rest of the bulk of the morse taper of the mandrel, when I held the mandrel in the spindle, did not contact the inside. I was also able to rock the mandrel back and forth a bit, and even when I pressed the mandrel in as fully as I could, it fairly easily spun within the spindle. The cause and nature of the damage to both the spindle and the mandrel was suddenly evident. Further, this explained why I felt that the buffing system wasn't quite working properly the last couple of times or so that I'd used it, once I had developed a sense for how to properly buff. The buffing system was slipping, and perhaps flexing with some wobble in the spindle, which...maybe over time, or perhaps just in one or two sessions, was causing damage.
Thinking that maybe it was just my current mandrel that was bad, I decided to buy another of the Beall 3-wheel buffing system. The nearby woodcraft had one in stock, so I picked it up (ended up being on sale!), took it home, and inserted the mandrel, thinking it would fit nicely. To my surprise...the new one, actually seemed worse than the old one. I noticed a slight ring right where the morse taper contacted the outer ring of the morse taper hole in the spindle. A little bit of rocking back and forth, and the amount of rock was larger than with my old mandrel. I wasn't quite sure what to think of that, although perhaps the machinist and I managed to work a more appropriate angle onto the old mandrel. Sadly, I decide to return the new system to Woodcraft.
I contacted Lee Valley a few weeks ago about the issue, just after buying the new system at Woodcraft. They seemed interested and open to hearing about the issue, and eventually asked for some measurements. I happily obliged, took numerous measurements of my various centers (dead and live, #2 MT), as well as from the mandrel from the new buffing system. In did some research about morse tapers as well, and learned that generally speaking, they have approximately a 1.49° angle to the taper, although each type has a slightly different angle. Referencing the official specs for Morse Tapers, I determined that a #2 morse taper has a 1.466° taper. Running numerous measurements (sets of three for each of my dead/drive and several of my live centers), primarily focusing on the two dead centers I use most often for pen turning, I found around a 1.46-1.47° angle on all but one of them, which had around a 1.44° angle (possible miss-measure, or maybe just slightly miss-machined).
The beall buffing mandrel from the new system, however, had measurements around 2°! In my final averaged measurements of the angle came out to around 1.978° or so. My older mandrel was more around 1.85° or so but with a larger margin of error (it was also still torn up, with groves and pitting that likely threw off measurements), however given that I'd messed with it to try and return it to working order, I decided not to reference any of those measurements, as they were suspect. In the end, I figured there was about a 0.5° discrepancy with the beall mandrel.
Lee Valley took the evidence to heart, and apparently determined that there was indeed a morse taper discrepancy. They have apparently already begun to resolve the issue, and are doing a manufacturing run of the mandrels with the corrected spec. I should be getting a replacement mandrel soon, which will get my buffing system back in order. They also offered some additional compensation for the damage done to my lathe, which surprised me, but was certainly welcome! That right there, is a level of service that locks in a customer for life.
So cheers to Lee Valley, and their stewardship of the Beall brand of tools. Very happy to hear that they will be maintaining the brand's good name. Ecstatic that the issue was resolved so quickly. Will certainly be buying from Lee Valley again, and recommend them for anyone who values good service for their tools.
Lee Valley, on the other hand, recently took an issue I had with the 3-wheel buffing system to heart, listened intently to what I had to say, accepted some evidence I gathered on various morse tapers of my various tools, and has very quickly here resolved the situation beyond my expectations. For me in my experiences, that level of rapid and intent customer service is very rare, and I greatly appreciate the interest and quick resolution that Lee Valley has delivered. They were cordial, friendly, very responsive, and extremely fast in their resolution of the issue (it is in fact resolved as I hear). This situation and their quick resolution has made me a strong believer in Lee Valley and their stewardship of the Beall line of tools. Very happy with their service, and glad to know they own this wonderful line of tools and are clearly committed to its continued success over the long term!
Thank you, Lee Valley, for your support and dedication!
I also thought I would note...Lee does own the full line of Beall tools. That includes things like the Pen Wizard...a very intriguing tool that I know some of us thought might be gone now. It sounds like Lee is taking their time to make sure they fully understand each tool and can manufacture them to a high standard. The Pen Wizard, and probably other tools that some may love but haven't seen back on the market yet, should be finding their way back to the market at some point. That was encouraging news as well. I bought a Pen Wizard when I heard Beall was closing their doors, but I know the system has some accessories, and of course the need for replacement parts. So its wonderful to hear that Lee will ultimately be providing that as well. I'm in no rush, was just happy to know they have the rights to the entire line of Beall tools.
tl;dr - the story
Ok, so a bit of background. The product issue was the morse taper of the mandrel of the 3-wheel buffing system. I purchased one of these almost two years ago, I figure. I hadn't used it a lot, only a little bit at first, as I did not really have any buffing skill. In my attempts to improve the quality of my pens this year, and eliminate, as much as possible, any remaining scratch marks on my pens, I got this buffing system back out and started using it the beginning of summer. I still didn't have much skill when I started, although by the end of summer I was much more skilled with the buffing system. I also started to notice some issues, although initially I did not realize exactly what the issue was. In mid to late August, I found that I could no longer put any of my dead/drive centers in my Wen spindle. They did not fit right, wobbled back and forth just enough to be problematic. At first it seemed like this came out of the blue, and I was baffled. After some investigation, I eventually discovered that inside surface of my Wen spindle's #2 MT hole was marred, and had a few mushroomed spots that undoubtedly were causing the problem. I managed to file these spots down a bit, and was able to get my dead centers to work well enough that I could make some additional pens.
It was when I pulled out the buffing wheel that I realized what may have actually occurred. The morse taper of the beall buffing system mandrel was also torn up pretty badly. I was unable to use the mandrel at all in the spindle, and at this point I was realizing that there may well have been much more serious damage done than I originally thought. I removed the spindle from the lathe, and along with the beall mandrel, took them to a machinist. At first he was unable to feel anything inside the spindle, but we did work on the beall mandrel morse taper a bit, leveled out all the high spots, and tried to restore a proper angle to it. Eventually we found all the marring inside the spindle, and managed to level out most of that. To our surprise, though, while a normal dead center fit properly and was held securely, the beall mandrel did not. After fiddling a bit, we determined that the beall mandrel must have an incorrect morse taper.
I did some more work that day when I got home, and managed to get all of my normal dead and drive centers working again. When fiddling more with the beall mandrel, I discovered that it only actually had any metal-to-metal contact right at the entrance of the morse taper hole in the spindle. The rest of the bulk of the morse taper of the mandrel, when I held the mandrel in the spindle, did not contact the inside. I was also able to rock the mandrel back and forth a bit, and even when I pressed the mandrel in as fully as I could, it fairly easily spun within the spindle. The cause and nature of the damage to both the spindle and the mandrel was suddenly evident. Further, this explained why I felt that the buffing system wasn't quite working properly the last couple of times or so that I'd used it, once I had developed a sense for how to properly buff. The buffing system was slipping, and perhaps flexing with some wobble in the spindle, which...maybe over time, or perhaps just in one or two sessions, was causing damage.
Thinking that maybe it was just my current mandrel that was bad, I decided to buy another of the Beall 3-wheel buffing system. The nearby woodcraft had one in stock, so I picked it up (ended up being on sale!), took it home, and inserted the mandrel, thinking it would fit nicely. To my surprise...the new one, actually seemed worse than the old one. I noticed a slight ring right where the morse taper contacted the outer ring of the morse taper hole in the spindle. A little bit of rocking back and forth, and the amount of rock was larger than with my old mandrel. I wasn't quite sure what to think of that, although perhaps the machinist and I managed to work a more appropriate angle onto the old mandrel. Sadly, I decide to return the new system to Woodcraft.
I contacted Lee Valley a few weeks ago about the issue, just after buying the new system at Woodcraft. They seemed interested and open to hearing about the issue, and eventually asked for some measurements. I happily obliged, took numerous measurements of my various centers (dead and live, #2 MT), as well as from the mandrel from the new buffing system. In did some research about morse tapers as well, and learned that generally speaking, they have approximately a 1.49° angle to the taper, although each type has a slightly different angle. Referencing the official specs for Morse Tapers, I determined that a #2 morse taper has a 1.466° taper. Running numerous measurements (sets of three for each of my dead/drive and several of my live centers), primarily focusing on the two dead centers I use most often for pen turning, I found around a 1.46-1.47° angle on all but one of them, which had around a 1.44° angle (possible miss-measure, or maybe just slightly miss-machined).
The beall buffing mandrel from the new system, however, had measurements around 2°! In my final averaged measurements of the angle came out to around 1.978° or so. My older mandrel was more around 1.85° or so but with a larger margin of error (it was also still torn up, with groves and pitting that likely threw off measurements), however given that I'd messed with it to try and return it to working order, I decided not to reference any of those measurements, as they were suspect. In the end, I figured there was about a 0.5° discrepancy with the beall mandrel.
Lee Valley took the evidence to heart, and apparently determined that there was indeed a morse taper discrepancy. They have apparently already begun to resolve the issue, and are doing a manufacturing run of the mandrels with the corrected spec. I should be getting a replacement mandrel soon, which will get my buffing system back in order. They also offered some additional compensation for the damage done to my lathe, which surprised me, but was certainly welcome! That right there, is a level of service that locks in a customer for life.
So cheers to Lee Valley, and their stewardship of the Beall brand of tools. Very happy to hear that they will be maintaining the brand's good name. Ecstatic that the issue was resolved so quickly. Will certainly be buying from Lee Valley again, and recommend them for anyone who values good service for their tools.
