docharber
has rocks in the head
Member since October 2008
Posts: 716
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Post by docharber on Jan 4, 2010 15:29:13 GMT -5
I recently purcheased a Barranca GP-8 grinder fromJohn at JS Gems. i am very pleased with this big blue monster, but had problems with the belts on the expando-drums. the 400 mesh belt was a little loose and split down the middle. The 1200 mesh belt was too tight and had to be forcefulluy shimmied on and off the drum. John intervened with Barranca but they had changed their policies on returns and wouldn't send him replacemen belts or ship them directly to me. I had assumed i had been heavy handed and cut the 400 bel with a sharp edged stone, tough I couldn't recall having done any such thing, but felt the 1200 belty was definitely defective. After reading threads about members' experiences and brand recommendations, I was fairly sure theat my experience with the blet splitting was not due sloely to any negligent use on my part as some very experienced cabbers had had the same experience. John had had experience withtoo-small belts before. Anyway, I had to fill out a form, fax it in, get an authorization number, which took two calls- the customer service rep did not get back to me as promised (Friday afternoon phone call, I had to call her back later the next week). I packed up the belts and wrote the return authorization number on the box in several places. The box was mailed November 23rd and I got the replacements 3+weeks later. I had no communication from Barranca in the interim and called them at the 3 week opooint to be told they had just been shipped. That's not very impressive.
Mark H.
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Post by Toad on Jan 4, 2010 17:43:53 GMT -5
Doesn't sound like the best service. Have to keep that in myind when I move on to grinders.
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steelandstone
has rocks in the head
Member since September 2008
Posts: 500
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Post by steelandstone on Jan 11, 2010 8:22:55 GMT -5
I too bought barranca from JSGems and had the same problem with one of my belts, you might as well have put a leash on it because all it did was want to run away. At the time I bought mine though John was able to get the problem belt replaced within a week and all was made good. It really sucks their service has gone down because they are good machines, and I know John does everything in his power to make things right. i have bought several pieces of equipment from him and always had great service so for one of his vendors to do this hurts them both and hope they get their act together before they cost John any sales.
As for the belts if I am not mistaken they ship them out with eastwinds and i personally can tell you I will not buy another one in my lifetime. Not all their belts are bad but it is like pot luck.
One trick you can try is to take 2 SMALL drops of the lap disk adhesive that comes with them and put it on the back side of the belts. I did this and helped with the sliding around issues.
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Post by johnjsgems on Jan 11, 2010 10:19:03 GMT -5
Not to make excuses but there is no more Barranca customer service. They fully merged into MK Diamond. MK is construction based and guess how business is? Their employees are working short weeks, facing furloughs, etc. None of that leads to high morale. I've contacted Eastwind concerning belt fit and their reaction was not very friendly. According to them, all their belts are precision cut so size never varies. I routinely try every belt before I ship it on a Rayspan drum to make sure they fit. Any belt that doesn't fit (too loose, too tight, or one time too narrow by 1/4") can be sent back to Eastwind (at sender's expense) for "evaluation" and replacement. It is a pain but faster to go directly through Eastwind. In Eastwind's defense, they are fairly affordable and used quite successfully by many of my professional customers. Made in USA means something to me also
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Post by rockmanken on Jan 11, 2010 18:59:48 GMT -5
The last Eastwind belt set that I ordered for 6" machine were all too narrow by 1/16-1/8" and all of them were the same color. I just replaced them with Tru-circle from Kinglsey(they did cost about $8 ea. more) but they are 5 times better(in my opinion) They are a little bit harder and they are about 1/16" wider than the drums. AND each is color coded.
Just my 2 cents worth. Next tru-circle I order may be too narrow or defective somehow. That is life.
Ken
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Post by johnjsgems on Jan 11, 2010 20:07:38 GMT -5
Thanks Ken. I'll have to look into True Circles. The only place I've seen them is Raytech and my cost is higher than what I sell Eastwinds for. Here is another problem. I forwarded Mark's complaint to Barranca. They know about the belt problem and messaged their assemblers to check belts for proper fit before shipping. Then they measured all the Rayspan drums and found them to be plus or minus 1/32". As far as I know Raytech is the only manufacturer (Lortone not producing Scot Murray anymore).
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rockhound97058
freely admits to licking rocks
Thundereggs - Oregons Official State Rock!
Member since January 2006
Posts: 760
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Post by rockhound97058 on Jan 11, 2010 22:05:15 GMT -5
Hey John - As a dealer to dealer have you ever tried Johnson Bros out of California? Unsure how the quality of the new sanding belts are through them, but I still have a couple cases for my personal use I bought years ago and I've never had a problem with them.
Jason
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Post by johnjsgems on Jan 12, 2010 10:38:06 GMT -5
Jason, I can't tell you what I think of Johnson Brothers' new owner or his business practices without opening myself up for a lawsuit. Let's just say things are different now. I just became a Raytech dealer (just in time for a substantial price increase). All the catalog prices (Kingsley and others) published before October would be obsolete so hard to figure what everyone is selling their products at or will when new stock is ordered. Raytech makes the True Circle Bands.
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Post by rockmanken on Jan 12, 2010 10:40:32 GMT -5
Now I know where I will get my next True Circle belts. Thanks, John.
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rockhound97058
freely admits to licking rocks
Thundereggs - Oregons Official State Rock!
Member since January 2006
Posts: 760
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Post by rockhound97058 on Jan 12, 2010 21:48:37 GMT -5
Gotcha! As said it's been years since I've ordered from them. In fact a couple weeks ago I checked to see if my account still exsisted which it did (So I requested some wholesale pricing)... I can actually buy a few things outright through Kingsley North cheaper that my dealer cost through JB. Wish there was a few better companies for wholesale out there. I don't keep much on hand for inventory, but I do order a fair amount of things for customers. I usually have it shipped direct to me or drop ship to them. Just like everything though... prices keep going up and up!
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Gotta lick those rocks to see if they shine!!
