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Gunsmithing Lathe Damage, worth Concern or No?

D

deadly0311

Tacticool Ninja
Commercial Supporter
Full Member
Minuteman
Mar 2, 2009
4,871
515
Birmingham, AL
#1
I recently took delivery of a brand new lathe and when it arrived at my home here is the damage that was done. My mind tells me that what I can see is cosmetic but what I cannot see bothers me a whole damn lot. Company I got it from says "cosmetic, no way you can damage what you can't see, its all adjustable, yada yada yada."

Company wants to "fix the broken buttons and such" I personally want a brand new damn machine. Am I out of line here holding them to the fire to make this right?


image (6).jpg Gear cover door is bent downward pretty good and one of the welds holding the hinge on is straight cracked

image (3).jpg Compound dial cover is bent pretty good

image (10).jpg Faceplate cover looks as if it was hit by an object and has a noticeable dent inwards

image (13).jpg Company says it was shipped in a 4' wide x length of the lathe crate with sides and a top....it arrived to me just how you see it, shrink wrapped.

The best part is the delivery driver said it fell off the pallet and he had to go back to the warehouse and put it back on the pallet. It is noted on the bill of lading so the freight company is aware of the damage.


What say some of you guys?
 
#5
I would not even have accepted it from the freight company. Call the company you purchased it from and arrange a pickup date and send it back. I would insist on a new one and not wait for them to fix the "cosmetic" damage and send it back. I have been through this myself when mine showed up and looked like it fell over during shipping and busted all kinds of stuff. I sent pics of the damage and the company had the freight service pick up the damaged one and sent out a new one at the same time.
 
#6
The company which is was purchased from has been dragging their feet to get this one back and send a new one out. At first it was no problem we will get a claim going and get this one back and get you a new one, then it has slowly evolved into well it doesn't look like much damage so lets fix the few issues. Problem was that it was shrink wrapped in about 2 feet of shrink wrap and in the back of the truck. Once the driver had it on the ground he was ready to go.

The machine is a Precision Matthews 1440.
 
#7
I have learned to hold drivers while I take a few minutes to check stuff out before i sign for the delivery unfortunately, more and more stuff is delivered these days by people that don't give a crap and expect you to accept it. If you paid with a credit card just talk to the company you purchased the item from and mention "charge back" and that will get the wheels turning. If they give you grief, call your CC company and do a charge back. Sounds like their customer service is not that good and maybe you should just wash the whole deal and look elsewhere.
 
#8
Obvious damage = refuse delivery and do not sign for it.

If the damage is not severe and the seller is willing to cut you a "deal" for the damaged parts I would request a new one, what you paid for the 1st time.
 
#9
Don't accept a new broken lathe. Call your CC co. That will motivate them when they get a chargeback. If they don't want to pick it up have them credit you 50% & send the parts.
 
#10
Deadly, Throw a damn hissy fit and have them send a new lathe.

Either you or the shipper paid for a safe delivery and insurance against damage.

What you can't see?.......... Pleeeeze....
When they flipped it off of the skid (because they are dumb asses and don't realize how top heavy a phuking lathe is) you probably had the headstock unit knocked out of anything close to alignment with the bed.

The entire spindle and head section of these lathes are bolted onto the frame and ways. That unit is also heavy as shit and has a lot of inertia when thrown on the floor. The head units are supposedly shimmed and aligned on (hopefully) all axis. Surviving a complete ass busting on concrete will likely mean there is nothing left of the original alignment.

Damage to the compound dial could also easily have damaged the threaded lead screw inside the compound feed. Ditto for your cross slide/carriage.

Internal gearing and shafts inside the headstock are also heavy and do not behave well with each other after being slammed into the ground.

Do not let them off the hook for the fuck up. Bitch at both shipper and carrier and CC each with all correspondence.

You worked awfully hard to save the extra $ for a lathe. Make sure every time you walk into the shop and turn on the light, you are looking at something worthy of your money and can trust it with a $350.00 barrel blank in its mouth.

Just my thoughts. Good luck brother.
 
Last edited:
#13
deadly0311 said:
Am I out of line here holding them to the fire to make this right?
Click to expand...
Hey, you purchased a brand new lathe..................not a discounted model due to defect. First, it's just cosmetic damage, if they can't talk you into keeping well.........how about a few bucks off...................then they'll want to send replacement parts for you to swap out..................then it will be having someone stop by to swap the parts out, etc, etc. Don't accept anything other than a replacement, the driver can pick up the damaged on at time of delivery!
 
#14
I would insist on a new machine. There is no way to tell how it was handled, more likely mishandled while the trucking co put it back on the pallet. It is possible that there is some damage you havent seen yet and will find later when you try to use the machine.
 
#16
Send it back for replacement on their dime. I'd make a small, inconspicuous mark somewhere on the frame or maybe a couple small marks to ensure they didnt just "fix" it and send it back.
 
#20
If I could offer some advice here, send it back. And in the future realize that not all trucking companies are the same. I don't know what the shipping charge on that particular machine was, but it probably seemed like a good deal. And in retrospect, not so much now is it? A question about the delivery. Did you happen to note on the bill of lading that the machine was damaged? If you didn't (hopefully you did) the damage may be your responsibility. Did the driver have any notes on the BOL that the machine was damaged? If not the liability will fall on the driver. Most BOL's have a convenient little sentence right where you sign. Saying "Recieved in good condition except as noted". So hopefully you noted something.

Machines tools fall into the specialized freight category, Adding the "specialized" is generally going to add cost to the shipping quote. At least for it to be delivered safely.

I drive a truck and I haul machine tools exclusively. I've been hauling machine tools for the better part of 10 years and never had a claim or delivered a customer a damaged machine. Machine aren't the easiest thing to haul or secure. As the engineers put little thought into the transport of the machines. And most driver do not have a clue how securment laws apply to them.

Lastly if it left the mfg. in a crate it should have arrived in a crate, unless you requested it to be uncrated by the freight company.

Hopefully you get the machine fixed/replaced or are properly compensated for your lost time.
 
#21
Yes I noted on the BOL the damage I could see and also used "possible damage not visible". The driver signed it acknowledging the damage as well. It's hard to get this taken care of when the company won't respond to emails until 3-4 days later and when I call the person I need to talk to is out on "service calls". The next option if something satisfactory hasn't happened by the Friday morning is to get the bank involved and see if they will do a charge back.

To answer the question about asking if I wanted it uncrated, no I didn't. The shipping company did that without my knowledge.
 
#22
I am no where near as experienced as most smiths on this or any other site, but I do own some precision equipment. I would send that thing back and call the CC company for a charge back as most have said here. You paid hard earned money for NEW undamaged equipment PERIOD.
 
#26
I bought an barely used 17x48 Enterprise & when they set it on my truck it slipped off the forks & tipped onto a stack of plywood, broke the handwheel, the crosslide 1" handle you spin & the high & low motor switch. I asked what they were going to do with it now. He said put it in the steel hopper & get $250 for scrap as he thought it weighed 2000#.It weighs 3000# so I offered him $200& he took it. It's a great machine that runs like ne, no runout, no slop or wear anywhere. Then I found. A brand new Chevelier 3 hp vari-speed, huge table mill that the company decided to close whike it was inn transit for $2k. So get a refund & find a better lathe cheaper. Just like ammo the more time you spend looking the luckier you get.
 
#27
deadly0311 said:
The company which is was purchased from has been dragging their feet to get this one back and send a new one out. At first it was no problem we will get a claim going and get this one back and get you a new one, then it has slowly evolved into well it doesn't look like much damage so lets fix the few issues. Problem was that it was shrink wrapped in about 2 feet of shrink wrap and in the back of the truck. Once the driver had it on the ground he was ready to go.

The machine is a Precision Matthews 1440.
Click to expand...

I purchased a new Kent 14x40 from Matt. He was super helpful... until he had my $$. Took 3x longer to deliver than promised- almost 5 months.

Good luck sending it back. I had some issues which thankfully Kent usa resolved. I will never purchase from him again.
 
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