Cheaper Fret tang cutters

[Alexander Allgood]

I dont know if you guys knew about this, but i was pretty annoyed by stew mac charging almost 50 bucks for one of these things. They are called metal nibblers. I got mine from klein tools and they were about 25 bucks. i know there are cheaper ones out there too.

[Dave Yelverton]

So come on StewMac and LMII ! Don't keep everything good for the States. Open outlets in Europe and you'll make a fortune from all of us tool-starved luthiers and repairmen.
But please keep the Stateside prices !
We're all too used to tool dealers here marking up their wares 50% higher than they would sell for in the States. Dunno what it's like in Germany but we Brits have suffered from poor choice and hiked-up prices far too long!

Dave

[Jeffrey L. Suits]

Try this:  At the same rate that you charge for your shop time, keep track of how long it takes to buy a Klein nibbler, take it apart, grind a slot into the anvil, and reassemble.  Total this, and compare to Stewmac's price.

 

I agree, that some of their stuff is pricey, but their return policy is peerless.

[John C. Murray]

I did do this rather than buy another stew mac set for larger fret wire...nibbler cost $22 including the tax and it took 10 minutes to modify...Stew-Mac sell them for $48 plus shipping, so I figure I almost saved $40, minus the ten minutes...well worth the effort...and I too wish I had the idea to begin with, that way I could enjoy a 120% profit margin...

[John C. Murray]

and I think this horse is dead...

[Ned Knepp]

Some of us make our tools and some of us buy them. When we buy them, we buy them as they are sold, not as we wish they were sold. If it does the job that we ask of it, does it really matter all that much how much could have been saved if we made it ourselves?

 

When I make a tool that I could buy, I expect it to be a cost effective solution, otherwise why make it? In the mean time, I don't have to bother paying someone to order a batch of them, track the order, check it in when it arrives, pay the invoice for the order, modify the tool for our special purposes, stock and track the tool and then do most of it in reverse, one at a time, if and when orders for that tool come in. I don't have to leave my investment in those tools and the work involved in having them available, setting on a shelf waiting for a buyer. What I have is the tool I made with almost no overhead. Nice for me.  

 

Think of it this way, no one stays in business long selling their product at cost. 

 

Ned