Exemplary customer service - Nails for 23 ga. pin nailer - Funny, too.

[gludlow]

I have a PC 23 ga. pin nailer on order from Amazon. Now wondering if I should have ordered the Cadex which, in some models, shoots up 1

9/16 whereas PC is limited to 1 inch.

In any case I am trying to find a source for stainless nails since I am going to use them to pin teak trim on a boat and need nails that will resist the unfriendly environment of the sea.

There is one outfit that sells SS nails called Floydtools.com. They package them in boxes of 10,000 at prices from $46 to over $100. In order to get the assortment I need I would have have had to spend over $300. So, I emailed this company the following:

"You are losing sales because you only package stainless steel 23 ga. nails in large lots. There are thousands of boat owners and small boat yards who would use your nails if you packaged them in smaller lots, especially if you created a package consisting of various lengths. I am just not ready to pay $68 for thousands of more nails than I can use. I might pay that much for a selection of various sizes."

The smart-assed merchant wrote back:

"This is a great opportunity for a sharp businessman like yourself to make some money. Let us know when we can buy the assortment packs from you."

Hey! How's that for customer service?

The funny part is that before I received his sarcastic response I was ready to cancel my Amazon order and buy one of his Cadex guns.

Anyone here know of another source for SS 23 ga. nails?

Thanks,

Joe

[ROY!]

Your smart assed email got the smart assed response it deserved.

[Lew Hodgett]

Tells me all I need to know about the quality of your craftsmanship.

Lew

[gludlow]

Are the attendants at the psych hospital letting you play on the computer again tonight?

[gludlow]

Did I rattle your cage?

[gludlow]

Well, I guess I just don't get it. What does using 23 ga. pin nails to fasten a piece of 1/4" solid teak trim to 1/2" plywood have to do with craftsmanship?

I am not exactly conceited and I don't believe I am too old to learn so please tell me how you would do it. Would you 18 ga. nails and risk splitting at the ends of the 1/4 stock followed by filling all the 18 ga. holes? Or, would you have me use a fostner bit and drill

1/16th holes, followed by No. 3 screws, followed by plugging the holes with 1/32" plugs? Or, perhaps you would simply stick the trim on with contact cement or double-sided tape? Or maybe you would go pump some epoxy out of your 55-gal. drum, clean the teak with acetone, add some cabosil and use spring clamps while the epoxy set up?

Don't just be a smart ass. Spread some of your infinite knowledge around and tell us exactly how you would go about it. Some of us might learn something that way.

You should know what your are talking about before trying to diminish someone else's craftsmanship. From your posts I would guess you play around with boats. Well, so do I and I've been doing it for a very long time but gosh, I can still learn.

The word is put up or shut up.

[gludlow]

ROY! You are a bigger ass hole than I at first supposed. Just a little perusing on the web indicates that you are more than likely the smart-ass who wrote the dim-witted response to my inquiry.

You are either a dumb-assed clerk at the struggling nail-peddler website or you own the two-bit operation. Either way you are clearly a twit.

[Toller]

I used to be in customer service for a hardware manufacturer. I got about

20 letters or phone calls each week wanting to buy small quantities directly; and I always explained that we only sold through hardware stores. It was extraordinarily frustrating when people would argue with me for 20 minutes that I had to sell to them directly. I even hung up on a few people who started swearing at me. But I never answered sarcastically.

That man is certainly should not be working in customer service. But you should understand that they simply don't want to sell small quantities, certainly they have considered and rejected the possibility.

[ROY!]

Nope, you sure don't. A little effort on your part would have turned up this offering:

're welcome.

[Lew Hodgett]

Nails are used in houses and NYW furniture, NOT boats, at least not on my boats.

Lew

[Mike Berger]

[Leon]

Some sales are not worth having and therefore the package is not packaged for those sales. When you get into low dollar items the sale become much less important. And then you have the customer that will complain about the $8.00 shipping for a $10 box of nails.

[fredfighter]

Or buy from someone else.

[rmeyer1]

Looked at your web pages, and couldn't see any pictures of woodworking. Why not show us pics of your boat woodworking. Isn't it possible to tack wooden molding around the cooker cabinet, etc. while the waterproof glue dries? Please show us your work!

[Lew Hodgett]

Woodworking as in fine finish work is probably less than 20% of building a boat; however, you cut a lot of wood for forms, bulkhead cores, molds, etc.

Don't have any finished wood work pictures since it hasn't been done yet.

As far as fasteners are concerned, about the only place for nails is in some parts of wooden hull construction where copper nails with roves are sometimes used.

As far as attaching moldings on a boat is concerned, it is no different that attaching a sheet of say 1/4" Corian to a vertical wall on land.

Strictly spring clamps from over length pieces of wood and adhesive.

If fasteners are used, then it is bronze below the water line for exterior work and either bronze or S/S with bungs for interior work.

If S/S, my preference is for coarse thread, self tapping sheet metal screws, hopefully 316, not 18-8, AKA: 304 unless there is no other choice.

The operate words in stainless are "stain" and "less".

Salt water wins every time, that's why bronze.

HTH

Lew

[Tanus]

I, for one, like the way Lew is handling this.

Tanus

[Robatoy]

It was The Vibe Lew picked up during his stay in Sarnia... that is what makes him so cool.

r

[Lew Hodgett]

Forgot to mention that to date have used two (2) units, that is 140,

4x8 sheets of 4 ply, 1/2" (12mm), CDX plywood.

It has all been used as core material for floors, bulkheads, and sub soles, being covered with about 50 OZ of knitted glass and epoxy.

Gallons of TiteBond II, thousands of deck screws also got used joining sheets together to form nominal 1" cores.

Gave that 18VDC DeWalt drill a real workout.

Lew

Lew

[Lew Hodgett]

Don't let him kid you, those crazy Canucks at the Sarnia YC are at least a quart low.

Fun bunch.

Anything I did there was a matter of self preservation.

Lew

[gludlow]

(We are talking about fastening 1/4" thick x 1/2" wide teak molding to a 1/2" teak plywood vertical surface)

HERE IS THE QUESTION TO YOU I POSTED IN AN EARLIER THREAD:

Would you use18 ga. nails and risk splitting at the ends of the 1/4 stock and follow this by filling all the 18 ga. holes with filler? Or, would you have me use a fostner bit and drill 1/16th" deep holes (Think about that--I said 1/16th deep holes (bung holes if you prefer), followed by No. 3 screws, followed by plugging the (bung) holes with 1/32" thick plugs? (Think about that one, Lew, I said

1/32" thick plugs--hope you got that) Or, perhaps you would simply stick the trim on with contact cement or double-sided tape? Or maybe you would go pump some epoxy out of your 55-gal. drum, clean the teak with acetone, add some cabosil and use spring clamps (actually spring boards because I can't get a clamp where they go) while the epoxy sets up?

You don't have to be a boat joiner to figure this one out. Any half-assed cabinet maker can answer it. You put some Titebond III, epoxy or resourcinol glue on the trim. You then fix the trim to the plywood in one of several ways, i.e., you use a spring board to apply pressure while the glue dries (no way of getting any type of clamp on the trim--that's why I say spring board--you do understand the difference, right?), or you use some type of mechanical fastener, i.e., screw, nails, thru bolt, or you use contact cement (poor craftsmanship in this case), OR YOU DO EXACTLY WHAT I SAID AT THE BEGINNING (which you gratutiously ridiculed as poor craftsmanship) YOU NAIL THE DAMNED THING. YES! NAIL. YES, LEW THERE ARE CASES WHERE NAILS ARE USED IN BOAT JOINERY. In my case I prefer to use 23 ga. pins and I did specifically say stainless. And that is where you came in with your half-assed attempt to ridicule what I was doing. Now if you think that what I have outlined as a way to attach 1/4"-thick trim to a vertical surface is poor craftsmanship (or poor boat joinery) my only response is you don't know shit about woodwork or boat joinery.

Watch out for those fumes, Lew. Those LPUs will really make you say stupid things in public forums.