It may be old news, but this is the first I have heard of it. This is a post from someone on another woodworking forum...
Steel City is out of business
MT Stringer
21 - 40 of 51 Posts
Joined
·
6,085 Posts
Steel City is still sponsoring Rough cut with Tommy Mac....just watched the show and was surprised to see SC's ad..
Joined
·
3,456 Posts
Bill:
Are you getting current shows? I get PBS out of Buffalo and Seattle. All I've been getting on them are reruns for quite a while.
And they also stopped carrying Woodsmith Shop.
Joined
·
6,085 Posts
Hey Vince.. I do believe it was a new one.. but then again.. I can't say for certain.
this was the hall tree with the wood whisperer,, ole whats his face??????....
this was the hall tree with the wood whisperer,, ole whats his face??????....
Joined
·
15,464 Posts
Wait...What?!!
Porn stars in California may be forced to wear goggles under new legislation - Americas - World - The Independent :nerd:
Heh...Yes and bet they claim it's all about safety . They just love to shove that word down your throat as an excuse for anything , and yet we take it
I heard someone snivelling recently because we're not wearing long sleeve shirts with that high vis tape on the cuffs . Try wearing a high vis shirt in August ?
Apparently high vis bids aren't enough anymore if your getting out of your truck and into the bucket while parked on a road.
We need that stand your ground law here in Canada . Can you use it to shoot stupid people ?
Porn stars in California may be forced to wear goggles under new legislation - Americas - World - The Independent :nerd:
Joined
·
3,456 Posts
Joined
·
6,085 Posts
OK.. welp, that answers that
here is SW Pa. Tommy Mac is on Mon. at 4:30pm, then Tues. thru Fri. Woodsmith..
here is SW Pa. Tommy Mac is on Mon. at 4:30pm, then Tues. thru Fri. Woodsmith..
Joined
·
2,323 Posts
Yup, Bill, that is a rerun. I noticed the same thing this weekend and then I realized it too was a rerun from last year.OK.. welp, that answers that
here is SW Pa. Tommy Mac is on Mon. at 4:30pm, then Tues. thru Fri. Woodsmith..
By the way, where in SW PA? I'm originally from Bradford.
Bill
Joined
·
6,085 Posts
Gheez, and I thought I saw em all.. just watched a Gilligans Island episode I never saw *LOL*... life is good...
I live about an hour east of Pittsburgh, in the foothills of the Laurel Valley area.
Bradford as in Zippo lighter Bradford?
Joined
·
2,323 Posts
Let's here it for Cal OSHA. Cal OSHA is to the safety field like a feminazi is to Women's Lib. If California had it's way, children would not only need helmets to ride bicycles, but would even have to wear them to get out of bed and walk around.
Bill
Joined
·
2,323 Posts
Yup! As a kid I lived five houses away from George Blaisdell. He was the inventor of the Zippo and owner of the company. Really nice man. He used to pay my friends and I to wash his golf carts on the weekend. If it was raining hard he would sometimes send his chauffeur (Mr. Zande) to take us to school.
Don't forget about; Kendall Oil, W. R. Case and Sons, Cutlery (Case Knives), Dresser Industries (Valves for the oil field) and of course Halliburton started in Bradford.
Bill
Joined
·
6,085 Posts
Been up that way a few times. There is an "old growth" forest up around there if I remember right. Took a day and hiked around the place. Some of the pines were stunning when compared to 'most' of what there is around here. I remember thinking, just how mind blowing places like the redwood forest must be like....
Yep, Case knives...very cool. Didn't know Haliburton got its start up there. Do I remember seeing "Wolf's Head Oil" up there?
Joined
·
6,085 Posts
Great story btw!!! how cool that must have been...
Joined
·
2,323 Posts
I believe that Wolfs Head was from down around Titusville or Oil City. Some of the service station (remember those?) carried Wolfs Head Oil.
I do miss the seasons and the woods. Yes there are some great hardwoods in the area. When I think of all of the cherry, maple, oak and other trees that went into the fireplace it makes me mad.
When I was in high school I worked on the weekends doing "clean-up" for a couple of brothers who logged for a living. It was my job to trim limbs, cut logs to length and run one of the timberjack to haul the logs out of the woods. Good money but really hard work.
I, also, worked for Case. I started out as a High Speed Buffer in the finishing department. When I had enough money put away I went back to college. Pitt had a campus in Bradford. In the summers I was always hired back.
Case had a policy of not hiring back an employee that was terminated for any reason, good or bad. I was the exception.
When I graduated and couldn't find a job I went back to work at Case. A couple of months later I was made the Safety Director. I had two plants and around 850 people I was responsible for overseeing.
I finally left the area in '81. Bradford had died, but they forgot to roll up the streets. Not much there now. Case, Zippo, Dressers, and I guess the old Kendall refinery is still operational.
Miss the area, just not the winters.
Bill
Joined
·
1,666 Posts
I got some amazon spam in email this AM. Here's what the link lead to Steel City Tool Works 35990G 10-Inch Contractor Table Saw with Granite Table Top - Power Table Saws - Amazon.com
Notice the "2 year warranty" listed. Wonder who is going to honor that?
Notice the "2 year warranty" listed. Wonder who is going to honor that?
Joined
·
2,323 Posts
Steel City is still honoring the warranties and providing customer service. However, that will probably last only two or three years, then what do you do for parts!
Retailers can't even get parts...you have to go through customer service if you want anything.
Who in their right mind would buy a SC tool right now. The prices haven't come down and they are essentially obsolete.
Well since Dan mentioned Workers Comp I'll tell you a tale of government biting their own hand. I retired from the USPS and even though it is "independent" our government used that to their advantage and the USPS as a cash cow. At the end of the fiscal year every federal agency handles their workers comp bill as a simple paperwork transaction. The USPS has to write a check to pay the US Treasury for the full amount they paid out to cover postal service claims. They are also required to "pre-fund" their retiree cost and their insurance. All of that adds up to about $5 billion per year (which is more than the actual cost). So our beloved government robs from their own house. There is no appetite in Congress to let the agency fail so guess where it will end up if it does go bankrupt. Right back as another federal agency. With that kind of logic it is no wonder that our business' can't compete. Sad (and stupid).
Steel City was purchased by a Canadian firm and all operations went up there. The website, although may be functional, should not be using the old address. Axiom Tool Group was formed as the parent company of both Axiom Precision (still operating in the states) and Steel City. Since the demise of SC, I have no idea what the Canadian firm is offering as to warranty on the inventory they purchased.
I do know that the factory that made the original spiral style planers (that SC chose no longer to sell) is now selling direct here in the states under their own Cutech Tool label.
Former SC employee,
M
I do know that the factory that made the original spiral style planers (that SC chose no longer to sell) is now selling direct here in the states under their own Cutech Tool label.
Former SC employee,
M
Joined
·
8,958 Posts
Thanks for posting, Good to know.
Herb
Herb
Joined
·
27,753 Posts
There are two kinds of bankruptcy, one is completely out of business--shut down. The other is for restructuring of debt and the business. Bankruptcies are usually kept very quiet. Also, bankruptcy is one avenue for management (and key workers) to abandon an existing business and reform it elsewhere under a different name. Stiffs the suppliers in many cases, and I've seen it that the suppliers go to bankruptcy court and get pennies on the dollars for the stuff they provided to the company, but were never paid for. I was a business writer for 5 years and learned that bankruptcy was just another business tool for some managers.
I also agree that many small companies have the very best of employees. A local firm that makes aircraft parts of organic plastics hires and trains people who don't look like good employees on paper. They learn to do things the right way, get paid well as they improve their skills, and the owner values them so much he finances their cars, helps with down payments on their houses. The loyalty and good productivity is well earned.
Unfortunately, there is another side to all the regulations, which is that many small business people build their brand, then plan to sell out to a conglomerate that has more wherewithal to comply with regs, or the money to move the company and jobs overseas. But the mostly left wing politicians don't care much about that because they are in fat city with the bribes (contributions) they've collected from the lobbyists. They get away with this the way magicians do it, by diverting our attention with emotional side issues. Funny how many conservatives have no issue with gay marriage (for example) but they are set up to be the bad guys. And through all the brouhaha, no one has paid any attention to all the legislative favors the House and Senate and White House have handed out to "supporters"--you know, the ones who paid the bribes.
I've thought for awhile about how to stop this and the only thing I've come up would be a universal rule that any legislator must recuse themselves from voting on any issue or item which materially affects the financial interests of any contributor who has given more than $2,000. That is a wave I'd love to see wash over American politics.
Hope I haven't stepped too far over the religion/politics line. But that is what this thread has been about.
I also agree that many small companies have the very best of employees. A local firm that makes aircraft parts of organic plastics hires and trains people who don't look like good employees on paper. They learn to do things the right way, get paid well as they improve their skills, and the owner values them so much he finances their cars, helps with down payments on their houses. The loyalty and good productivity is well earned.
Unfortunately, there is another side to all the regulations, which is that many small business people build their brand, then plan to sell out to a conglomerate that has more wherewithal to comply with regs, or the money to move the company and jobs overseas. But the mostly left wing politicians don't care much about that because they are in fat city with the bribes (contributions) they've collected from the lobbyists. They get away with this the way magicians do it, by diverting our attention with emotional side issues. Funny how many conservatives have no issue with gay marriage (for example) but they are set up to be the bad guys. And through all the brouhaha, no one has paid any attention to all the legislative favors the House and Senate and White House have handed out to "supporters"--you know, the ones who paid the bribes.
I've thought for awhile about how to stop this and the only thing I've come up would be a universal rule that any legislator must recuse themselves from voting on any issue or item which materially affects the financial interests of any contributor who has given more than $2,000. That is a wave I'd love to see wash over American politics.
Hope I haven't stepped too far over the religion/politics line. But that is what this thread has been about.
21 - 40 of 51 Posts
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
