here's a quick update.
after speaking with Glyn he has assured me that the failure on my tool was down to a bad batch of heat treating and that another tool has suffered the same problems.
this said there is still a reluctance on trueways side to give a refund three weeks after receiving the faulty tool back.
Hi Folks - It's me again, the maker of the Trueways tool.
Seeing as some other parang makers are seeing fit to leverage this scenario to their advantage, thought it best I step in and share some knowledge
(Nothing against the CC tool by the way, looks quite pretty)
Well the Trueways Survival Tool has had quite a reception, hot, cold, even luke warm, as it should be a mixed bag is healthy, and for most of it I have happily sat out of the banter (as it should be...)
However, when a customer is a little peeved I do feel compelled to remedy the situation.
Lupus - Sorry to hear you've had a rough time of it. I sympathize with your plight.
For folks who are interested in the facts, there was indeed a duff batch of heat treated tools, fortunately it has been traced to a very small batch that went to an 'external' heat treat company, and for the none beleivers (Stone them
) here is some more info:-
The initial plan was to send the near finished blades to an external heat treat company who could do them in large numbers, this would enable us to keep up with demand, we even went with a recommended heat treatment company (Recommended by some well known blade makers too).
In hindsight fortunately, this company increased the price they quoted us three fold....a bit like buying a knife then being invoiced for three times it's ticket price....!!!
Anyway! We ceased using them for any of our work.
As it turns out (and yes it does appear convenient but I have the paperwork) the faulty tools were traced to the above heat treat company (Who shall remain nameless)...as I do not like to bitch about other companies, just me I suppose.
'ALL' blades except for those few mentioned above have, and will continue to be treated in house (Another step in the process which contributes to why we are working like bejeezus to catch up with orders )
We are recalling the few blades that were externally heat treated and replacing them, as it should be
Some of you will have seem me hacking away merrily at some pretty tough wood in a youtube video to demonstrate the blades are pretty tough themselves.
Indeed! I use one to split all the wood for my woodstove in the workshop.
Hope the above has cleared things up a little, if anyone has questions please feel free to PM me.
Why such a delay getting this resolved.
Timing! Great thing timing, I popped into Trueways new premises on Monday....Trueways have just completed moving the entire contents of their shop plus infrastructure to a new (and very nice) shop premises, no small task believe me, looking at the chaos caused by such an upheaval (phones, internet etc) I can relate to why their can be regrettable delays (No excuse just the facts of the matter).
In any case, if Lupus wants a refund, all the above info is academic he is more than entitled to it and I am confident Trueways agree, however as you have gone to the trouble of geting one of these tools the least we can do is send a replacement tool and perhaps put you on the list for testing a new tool sharpener we are prototyping (If you are interested), this will at least enable you to do the odd review which I believe you enjoy doing
Please let me know what you want to do and we'll sort it.
All the best
Tom