Dickson Tooling Offer

[JohnFParticipant @johnf59703]

Hi All,  Somehow I ended up on colchester lathes database and today received an email saying they have an offer on all Dickson tooling with 15% discount so may be of interest if you want top quality units — the price will still be high compared to the imports BUT the quality will be there !

John

toolposthttps://www.colchester.co.uk/products/tool-holding/dickson-quick-change-toolpost

[Chris CrewParticipant @chriscrew66644]

It was a good job I was sitting down when I looked at the prices! I am not in in the market for any of this tooling but just happy that more economical alternatives are available should the situation change. They must be selling these things at those prices otherwise they would not be in business but I don’t think it will be to the ‘amateur’.

[Clive FosterParticipant @clivefoster55965]

Definite case of sticker shock for sure.

I wonder why they moved the toolpost locking pin over into a corner from the middle of the blank side where it always used to be.

I imagine the high price is due to production processes not being updated since about 1975. Low sales volume meaning inefficient, by modern standards, working needing high prices further eroding sales.

Of course they are still part of 600 Group!

Clive

[Clive Foster]

On Clive Foster Said:

 

I wonder why they moved the toolpost locking pin over into a corner from the middle of the blank side where it always used to be.

It still is on some of the toolposts, just depends on the size. I suppos ethe larger ones have more meat to go around the pin when it is moved to the corner.

[JasonB]

On JasonB Said:

On Clive Foster Said:

 

I wonder why they moved the toolpost locking pin over into a corner from the middle of the blank side where it always used to be.

It still is on some of the toolposts, just depends on the size. I suppos ethe larger ones have more meat to go around the pin when it is moved to the corner.

True but it just seems like change for changes sake as originally all sizes had it in the middle. Thats aid I’ve never seen an S5 so can’t be sure about them.

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Anticipating near-perfection at those prices, I had a big disappointment when I enlarged the second image in this little gallery

Good photography renders ‘warts and all’

https://www.colchester.co.uk/spares/products/dickson-s1-metric-8mm-square-key

MichaelG.

[Nigel Graham 2Participant @nigelgraham2]

Intrigued, I went and examined my second-hand, unbranded set, whose individual holders appear of at least two separate parentages.

Corner pin hole….

Might this be a matter of diifferent lathe manufacturers’ practices? If so perhaps different distances from central stud to locking-pin, too?

 

(My elderly Harrison L5 has no special provision for a QCTP: it was made with conventional “clog” tool-clamp.)

[Clive Foster]

On Clive Foster Said:

I imagine the high price is due to production processes not being updated since about 1975.

All the extra letters on the holders, now saying “PRATT BURNERD INTERNATIONAL DICKSONS T112D0141”, take old Sid in the engraving department a few minutes extra to scratch out and his eyes are not as good as they used to be.

[Chris CrewParticipant @chriscrew66644]

“I imagine the high price is due to production processes not being updated since about 1975.”

Hey, this is Britain, remember! Don’t you mean production processes not being updated since 1875? There are some manufacturers in this country still using 150year old machines and they seem to wear this obvious lack of investment as a ‘badge of honour’.

The reason we get such good quality in all things from the far east, not just in machine tool accessories, is because they have invested in modern plant, production and ongoing improvement. Also, I would suggest,  having a supportive government with an industrial strategy is a great incentive even though this may be politically offensive to some of the Small Minds of the West. If instant profit is not the primary motive, then the returns on any investment can be spread over a longer timescale.

[Tony Pratt 1Participant @tonypratt1]

Have I missed the ‘Made In Britain’ sticker on these tool posts etc? Please point me in the right direction if I have.

Tony

[old martParticipant @oldmart]

I wonder where the PBI products are made.

[Chris Crew]

,

On Chris Crew

……If instant profit is not the primary motive, then the returns on any investment can be spread over a longer timescale.

We used to do a lot of business with a company in Lancashire that was bought out by a chap from Taiwan. After a few years I asked them how it was going. They replied that he came over once a year and asked them if his company was worth more than last year. If so he took them out to lunch and went away, if not he sat with them and worked out why, and what they should do about it and then went away. No doubt if after a second year things hadn’t improved he would get cross. How different to the micromanagement I’ve seen at other companies

 

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

I don’ have the time to go digging through it all, but the PBI company information is here:

https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/09241483/officers

MichaelG.

[DiogenesParticipant @diogenes]

Looks possible – that’s a big unit..

[Clive Foster]

On Clive Foster Said:

Of course they are still part of 600 Group!

Clive

I don’t think they are.  The 600 group flogged Colchester last year I think.

As for higher costs, I’m afraid that’s to be expected.

In the UK, workers have rights, hard fought for over the last 125 or so years, and employees have obligations to their employees and society at large (financial via taxation, and operational via various H&S, worker welfare, and environmental regulations).

In China, if someone complains about working conditions, that person may well find themselves being ‘reeducated’ somewhere far away in a camp in the Gobi desert.

I have an authentic Dickson (well, Elliott but same thing; one company bought the other) S.00 toolpost and S.00 holders plus a couple of Bison equivalents and the critical clamping surfaces all bear on each other perfectly.

I also have some import holders, and I won’t use these until I have got them surface ground by a friend (who has a J&S 540) to the correct geometry, as they do not clamp properly on all the surfaces.

[Author]

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