By popular demand (Hurray someones reading my blog!) I am going to talk a bit more about Purchasing - the joys and the pitfalls.
I clearly remember my first purchasing job. You see I am not as old as I feel I can still remember things. I worked for a window and door manufacturer in Detroit, Michigan as an assistant buyer. This was my first job out of the shop. Before I move on I must say that it was hard for me to leave the shop floor where I ran a bridgeport and did various milling/sawing/fabrication jobs. The people I worked with were my friends and moving into management unfortunately disolved those relationships. I was viewed as "Management" now. Kind of sad really and I tried to talk to some of my buddies but things never worked out and we didn't hang out any more. Such is life I guess.
As an assistant buyer I was asked, more like told, to do everything while the purchasing manager did little to nothing. I did all the buying and he did all of the "over the shoulder watching". Little did I know that this was really preparing me for what I would get when I was the Purchasing Manager and I had company ownership looking over my shoulder. I think now that this is where he learned to watch me. It was because he was being watched. It was the trickle down affect or is it effect? Hmmm. And all that time I just thought that he was a jerk. See "jerk" - not something worse - still a family blog. Whew, that took a lot to come up with such a nice term like that.
This particular window and door manufacturer was owned by a very wealthy man. The one thing I never understood was this: I would call up a supplier and reorder an item that we buy all the time. EVERYTIME I would call in an order we would be on credit hold. My vendor refused to ship to us until we paid for past due invoices. This happened with nearly every supplier we had. Get this: I would walk over to the next building (yes they owned two buildings next to each other) that housed accounting and I would talk to the assistant accountant about paying for our bills. He gets up and walks over to a huge walk in vault. I mean this thing had a 7 foot swinging door, large combination lock and steel construction. Outside of a bank, I had never seen anything like it. Inside this vault were shelves and shelves of checks. Each one already made payable to whomever the company owed money too and sitting in alphabetical order all ready to be signed. The assistant accountant pulled the few checks out that were made out to this particular supplier and then we walked in to see the accountant. He looks at the three checks and asks me, "Do we have to pay all of them or just the oldest?" I still have wrinkles on my face today from the cringed face I made at him that day. What was this guy thinking? He ends up very reluctantly ( and with a deep sigh) signing these three checks and tells me he will mail them out today. Upon leaving his office the assistant tells me that it isn't that we don't have the money it's that we don't like to pay our bills. This still makes me laugh. Now, talk about taking away a purchasing persons power. How do you negotiate with a current or new supplier when they all know that you don't pay your bills? Not much leverage there. It also shows how much more than just buying many buyers do. Think of the time wasted having to do this so often. Anyway, this brings me to my next point.
Why is it that sales can land a new customer that doesn't pay their bills and yet everyone celebrates the new customer? Flip it and why is it that purchasing gets chewed out everytime an invoice has to be paid. Hmmm, lets make a deal - you stop selling - I'll stop buying and we'll stop manufacturing. That doesn't make much sense. I've actually seen this many times. Sales will land a new customer, ownership or upper management will ask "How big?", the reply will come and everyone is excited. Thats great and the way it should be but why doesn't it fall on the salesmans head when that new customer doesn't pay their bills. It isn't hard to land the poor customers. It's hard to land the good ones. You have to work for the good ones. Someone in accounting gets hacked for it. If they could, they would try to pin yet this too on purchasing if they could find a way. Ok, so I'm a bit sensitive about my fellow buyers. I guess the thing I don't understand is why sales people are so untouchable in the companies that I have worked for?
The Art of Negotiation:
Ah yes, one of my favorite pastimes. Purchasing remains my favorite job ever. Even now that I own toolinghouse I still do the buying. I have this radical new idea of actually paying my bills on time too. You'd be surprised on how much more bargaining power and negotiation power I have with suppliers because I pay my bills. It's a great job, fun, challenging and yet rewarding too. But how does one negotiate?
Well there is give and take or in the case of my first employer as written about above, there is screaming, yelling and fighting. I was trained by my first employer to yell, scream and even curse at my suppliers. This is how these guys did business. I fell for it after all it worked, the louder you screamed at some poor cat on the other end of the line, the more they did for you. I did refuse to curse at my suppliers like my bosses did because I thought that was uncalled for. Sad to say that I carried this yelling/screaming mentality on to my new job after I left that company. I wasn't as bad as these other guys but I did learn the way of yelling at suppliers. In my new job as assistant purchasing agent for a humidification manufacturer I sometimes negotiated very loudly. Just to let you in on soemthing here, this is not who I am. I do not work that way, it was just what I saw my bosses doing everyday and I fell right into doing the same. Thats the role I began playing at work. Outside of work I was me. At work I was the Evil Buyer. Remind you of any monster movies from the past about two doctors, one named Hyde? Very sad actually. Guess thats why they say be careful what you do in front of your children. Afterall if I was impressionable at this age, what would a child be like? But it does testify to the pressure that purchasing people feel everyday. Yes, other people in companies have alot of pressure too. I know and I agree. But I am sticking with topic here so lets continue.
One day, early on in my employment at this new company we were running low on a particular special washer that we used millions and millions of every year. They are small and cheap and we use so many that it was absolutely unforgiveable to run out of them and shut down our production lines. For this reason I had a blanket order with our supplier for these washers and they were very late in shipping them to me. I was on the phone twice daily with the rep from our supplier trying to get an answer on where our washers were. With people sticking their head in my office door every second asking the same question about the whereabouts of "their" washers, I became flustered and I once again called the rep. He told me that he had screwed up and that he had pulled the order and that it was still laying on his desk and that he had done nothing with it. It would be at least another three weeks before we would have any washers. Out of frustration, I raised my voice and out of further frustration I, for the first time ever, cursed at this man. Even as the words came out I knew it was wrong. Again, this is not who I am and it was embarassing and uncomfortable. I felt cornered and at a loss to solve the situation and I regressed to doing what my old bosses did to get things done. After a few seconds of eerie silence, the rep calmly told me to call the manufacturer directly and that he would step aside. I'll never forget that and even though it is not who I am and though I have never spoken like that since he probably remembers me as "that guy". It shows you the frustration we as buyers face. Many employers think that we are sitting around sipping coffee and spending money like it is water. A good buyer cares so much for their company, their role in their position that these things happen. It has the potential to change you if you let it. Actually, I've never told anyone this story before because I am ashamed of how I acted. I use it for illustration purposes only to show how much pressure is actually on a buyer. It is NOT all coffee and window shopping.
I've had bosses come in yelling and screaming about why I bought this thing or that thing and when I tell them that Bob from Sales wanted it, he relaxes and says "oh ok then."
I've had bosses come in asking why we bought so much of this or that and when I tell them that their brother the production manager just doubled production on a particular line he says "oh ok then."
Its the life of a buyer. Like it or not it is just the way it is. Actually its part of the game we play as buyers. It's part of the art. Did you get a great deal on your last couch and loveseat like I did? Maybe, but did you get them to throw in the matching pair of bookends at no cost? Perhaps not. But I did. The art of negotiation. And, hurrah, I didn't yell, scream or curse at anyone to get it done. : )
Today, being on the sales side of the desk, I love running into good buyers. I can spot them in a second. All you have to look for is that serious face, the open eyes, the alert attitude and the fact that you know when they are talking to you they are giving you their full attention but they still have a million other things on their mind. It's ok, I was there. I know.
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Monday, February 11, 2008
I asked for Purchasing and no one answered
My Father spent 30+ years working as a CPM (Certified Purchasing Manager) for Burroughs Corporation here in Michigan. When Sperry and Burroughs united to form Unisys he stayed on as a CPM. I spent nearly 12 years on that side of the table as well carrying such titles as "Purchasing Manager" and "Buyer". Then I left that career to hop onto the other side and I went into sales. Why?
For those 12 years I was in purchasing, I saved my respective employers more than I was paid each and every year. I took pride in reducing costs every year without reducing quality or lead time. For some reason though those major accomplishments were never acknowledged by the owners of the company or my immediate supervisors. All I would ever hear when I bought something was, "Did we really need that?" or "How much did that cost?". It became comical and I enjoyed shaking my head at them after they would leave my office knowing at least in my head what a fantastic job I was doing. They would always sweat the pennies and ignore the dollars. Too funny.
Then it happened. The first time I heard it was in the hallway outside of my office. The same accountant (son of the owner) who just chewed me out for spending a few bucks on a new bar code reader (we now barcoded everything and had no method for making sure the barcodes were readable on the cardboard boxes so I bought a scanner that cost in the area of $200) was in the hallway praising the sales manager for hitting such a great number the previous month. I withhold making any obscene comments here about brown noses and such for reasons that I am trying to be politically correct. Hmmm, politically correct? That sounds like another blog for another time.
Then I found out that this sales manager was receiving HUGE bonuses based on increasing sales every month. I ran a few numbers and it was 100% true that I actually saved the company in my frugal purchasing MORE than the sales team made us in profits for most months during the year. The bottom line was blacker than ever but not just because of sales but because of purchasing. Yet all of the credit was given to sales and the bonuses too. Ultimately that is why I left purchasing for sales.
Back in the 1980's I had an idea to manage companies inventories and purchases. That is, I thought myself to be such a great buyer that I thought I could manage several companies inventories, reduce their costs and I would work on a percentage of what I saved them and I would take NO salary. A win/win situation and a brilliant idea if I may say so. I'm gonna stop right here with taking credit for the commodity management idea as I won't argue who came up with it first.
The concept of commodity management or whatever we want to call it has really become turned around in many instances. I see it first hand that the only one benefiting from this relationship is the commodity manager. This only holds true for those companies who have eliminated their purchasing department in lieu of hiring a distributor to handle their buying. It is like putting the fox in charge of the chicken coop. Yes, I live in the country but I do not have any chickens....yet.
So why have so many manufacturers abandoned their purchasing departments? Do they believe they are saving money by reducing salaried employees, reducing benefits paid to them and getting a signed agreement that they will save X% on their purchases? This argument through accurate in a surface only skim of the formula holds true but look a bit deeper and its all wet. A good buyer cares about his company. Who do you think the commodity manager's company is? Clue: It's not yours!
A good buyer seeks out the best supplier. I didn't say the cheapest I said the best. After all, the old adage that my Father taught me still holds true today: "You get what you pay for." Period. Many, not all, commodity managers want to sell you the products that they make the most on. For example: Let's say that you hire Distributor A to do your commodity management. Distributor A has a long relationship with Carbide Insert Manufacturer B. The first thing A wants to do is convert all of your Carbide Inserts over to brand B. You may even be blinded by the small savings they present to you. I wonder what a professional buyer could have done? What if Manufacturer C has a wonderful new Carbide Insert that will cost half as much and run twice as long as Manufacturer B has? You may never know it because A doesn't sell (represent or distribute) it. A buyer, on the other hand, could allow this new company past the front door, speak to them about these new inserts and get samples for testing.
I think the best scenario is to have your companies purchasing managed by your companies purchasing department. I didn't say that all of the commodity managers work this way but many of them do. You decide: Purchasing Department or Commodity Manager?
At www.toolinghouse.com we offer you the right tool and the right price. Great Tools - Great Prices. It's on our site, it's trademarked as our slogan. It holds true because it is the words that I founded the company on. It doesn't say cheap tools - great prices. It says great for a reason. Our cutting tools are superior quality - guaranteed. After all, "You get what you pay for" and we offer the best of both worlds - the best tools at the best prices. Try us today and I know you'll be pleased.
For those 12 years I was in purchasing, I saved my respective employers more than I was paid each and every year. I took pride in reducing costs every year without reducing quality or lead time. For some reason though those major accomplishments were never acknowledged by the owners of the company or my immediate supervisors. All I would ever hear when I bought something was, "Did we really need that?" or "How much did that cost?". It became comical and I enjoyed shaking my head at them after they would leave my office knowing at least in my head what a fantastic job I was doing. They would always sweat the pennies and ignore the dollars. Too funny.
Then it happened. The first time I heard it was in the hallway outside of my office. The same accountant (son of the owner) who just chewed me out for spending a few bucks on a new bar code reader (we now barcoded everything and had no method for making sure the barcodes were readable on the cardboard boxes so I bought a scanner that cost in the area of $200) was in the hallway praising the sales manager for hitting such a great number the previous month. I withhold making any obscene comments here about brown noses and such for reasons that I am trying to be politically correct. Hmmm, politically correct? That sounds like another blog for another time.
Then I found out that this sales manager was receiving HUGE bonuses based on increasing sales every month. I ran a few numbers and it was 100% true that I actually saved the company in my frugal purchasing MORE than the sales team made us in profits for most months during the year. The bottom line was blacker than ever but not just because of sales but because of purchasing. Yet all of the credit was given to sales and the bonuses too. Ultimately that is why I left purchasing for sales.
Back in the 1980's I had an idea to manage companies inventories and purchases. That is, I thought myself to be such a great buyer that I thought I could manage several companies inventories, reduce their costs and I would work on a percentage of what I saved them and I would take NO salary. A win/win situation and a brilliant idea if I may say so. I'm gonna stop right here with taking credit for the commodity management idea as I won't argue who came up with it first.
The concept of commodity management or whatever we want to call it has really become turned around in many instances. I see it first hand that the only one benefiting from this relationship is the commodity manager. This only holds true for those companies who have eliminated their purchasing department in lieu of hiring a distributor to handle their buying. It is like putting the fox in charge of the chicken coop. Yes, I live in the country but I do not have any chickens....yet.
So why have so many manufacturers abandoned their purchasing departments? Do they believe they are saving money by reducing salaried employees, reducing benefits paid to them and getting a signed agreement that they will save X% on their purchases? This argument through accurate in a surface only skim of the formula holds true but look a bit deeper and its all wet. A good buyer cares about his company. Who do you think the commodity manager's company is? Clue: It's not yours!
A good buyer seeks out the best supplier. I didn't say the cheapest I said the best. After all, the old adage that my Father taught me still holds true today: "You get what you pay for." Period. Many, not all, commodity managers want to sell you the products that they make the most on. For example: Let's say that you hire Distributor A to do your commodity management. Distributor A has a long relationship with Carbide Insert Manufacturer B. The first thing A wants to do is convert all of your Carbide Inserts over to brand B. You may even be blinded by the small savings they present to you. I wonder what a professional buyer could have done? What if Manufacturer C has a wonderful new Carbide Insert that will cost half as much and run twice as long as Manufacturer B has? You may never know it because A doesn't sell (represent or distribute) it. A buyer, on the other hand, could allow this new company past the front door, speak to them about these new inserts and get samples for testing.
I think the best scenario is to have your companies purchasing managed by your companies purchasing department. I didn't say that all of the commodity managers work this way but many of them do. You decide: Purchasing Department or Commodity Manager?
At www.toolinghouse.com we offer you the right tool and the right price. Great Tools - Great Prices. It's on our site, it's trademarked as our slogan. It holds true because it is the words that I founded the company on. It doesn't say cheap tools - great prices. It says great for a reason. Our cutting tools are superior quality - guaranteed. After all, "You get what you pay for" and we offer the best of both worlds - the best tools at the best prices. Try us today and I know you'll be pleased.
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Coffee makers and throw away mentalities.
This is a long one - get your coffee, tea or favorite beverage in hand and sit back.
My coffee brewer stopped working this morning. It wasn’t the biggest problem as, any coffee lover has, I had another new machine in the closet just waiting for its chance to turn out a fresh brew for me. How clever I thought myself to be as I dug past the other backups that I already purchased for other items to find my backup coffee brewer. Then it dawned on me how sad it really was that I actually had thought enough ahead to realize that my “New” coffee maker would need a backup. After all, the one that just stopped working is seven months old and of course one month past its warranty date. This is about the time when I realized how accustomed we have become (or maybe it’s just me) that things wear out, sometimes possibly prematurely and we simply replace them.
Some of you may know that in addition to my unhealthy love for cutting tools, I am, or at least once was an avid bowler. I love the sport. I remember when particle bowling balls came out and everyone bought them because “they hooked early and they hooked more” than the old balls. A sales technique that is still applied to the hundreds of bowling balls released as “New-hooks more” every year. When my particle ball wore out after about 50 games and stopped hooking. I logged onto my favorite bowling chat room (See I do have other addictions) and asked why we should expect to pay $200 for a bowling ball that wore out so fast? Thinking myself to be the champion up-riser against the evil bowling ball producer machines I sat back and waiting for the chat rooms replies. Remarkably I began receiving reply after reply telling me to go get another ball and to just deal with it. Here are some paraphrased excerpts:
“So, the ball wore out? If you average 219 like you say you do then it was worth it.”
“Nothing lasts forever, get over it and go buy a new ball.”
“That ball probably paid for itself with jackpots that you won. So what is the problem?”
This was in the late 1980’s or early 1990’s and it dawned on me that we now lived in a throw away society. When did this begin? How did I miss the memo that things are now disposable? Does this apply to everything or just certain things? I was behind. I felt like it was 11th grade accounting all over again and I would never get to the surface again. (Please note uncanny, remarkable and never done before comparison to drowning) _
So here I am 20 years later and I now own backups for many things that I own. Would you believe that for many years I even had a backup car!? It is true. Being in sales and having to service the customer it was very important that if my car didn’t start or couldn’t go for whatever reason, I had a backup car. Pretty sick in itself but for me not to actually realize that 20 years later I had all of these backups, that I had fallen victim to the same delusions that these bowling ball people had so long ago, surprised me to say the least.
So, what else did I have backups for? Why not the dishwasher, stove or refrigerator? I thought that perhaps I was unprepared. After all, just a few years ago, I bought a generator and wired it so I could still have all of my creature comforts if the power went out. Actually, living in the country I can justify this last purchase but I mention it anyway. So why do we accept this “throw away” mentality? Has it always been like this?
Growing up in the suburbs of Detroit I was around autos my whole life. I remember when you’d see “rust buckets” drive by with so much rust on the car that you could see what the driver was wearing. I once owned a car that had mats in the backseat to cover the holes in the floorboards. Holes that let you see the concrete if you were sitting in the backseat! The carpet mats were the solution to the issue as seen through the eyes of any 17 year old. But now, I don’t see any rusty cars on the road. None. Why? Because we live in a throw away society? Perhaps.
The thing is that many of us have come to believe that we should only borrow cars for a couple of years pay Mr. Manufacturer $300-$600 or more dollars a month for this privilege and then simply give it back after two or so years all the time carefully watching our mileage. Even worse is the up-front cost of thousands of dollars all paid in the interest of getting lower monthly payments. Think about that for a minute and get ready for a major realization. Maybe I am different than most but I like to drive. 10,000-12,000 miles is about three months worth of driving for me. Can I stretch that out over 12 months? Nope, I cannot do it. Now, don’t jump all over me because I know that leasing or borrowing as I like to call it does have its positive points in certain conditions. I had to use it because it is a great example of our throw away society. Do you know that I have a younger cousin who just got married recently whose new bride (a wonderful and fun loving person) told me that she desperately needed a new car because the one she was driving had almost 12,000 miles on it and was old? Even now, in writing this I had to sit back, scratch my head and make that “say-what?” face as I think about her statement. I’ve owned a few cars in my lifetime and I can think of only two that I bought that had LESS miles than that on them when I bought them. Old school or just old? Not sure what that makes me.
So, I guess we must accept this throw away society that we have created and worse yet accepted for ourselves. It got me to thinking about cutting tools. (You knew where I was going with this so don’t roll your eyes) I tend to think as any good manufacturer/supplier of goods or services would, that my product is superior to my competitor’s. I think this because it is true. My toolinghouse products are superior to the competitions and they cost less too. Shameless plug, evil marketing tool, or simply the spoken true word. You decide. But I will say this, if my tools wear out to what I believe to be prematurely or what my customer believes to be so, I will look at it closely. I will try to change a coating or a helix angle on an end mill to get more tool life. I have never, and I will never tell a customer things like: “Tools wear out – get over it – buy more”. Its just not me and never will be.
After carefully considering the facts, I can honestly say that although cutting tools by nature do wear out, I believe that I provide my customers with the hardest working tools that last for the maximum amount of time and that I provide the best tools for the job. Check us out at www.toolinghouse.com and let us prove it to you. I wonder if my coffee making machine manufacturer would say that. I don’t know because I didn’t call them. I just pulled another pot out of the closet and created my dark brew of life.
By the way, I just remembered that I DO have an extra refrigerator in the garage. So the saga continues…
My coffee brewer stopped working this morning. It wasn’t the biggest problem as, any coffee lover has, I had another new machine in the closet just waiting for its chance to turn out a fresh brew for me. How clever I thought myself to be as I dug past the other backups that I already purchased for other items to find my backup coffee brewer. Then it dawned on me how sad it really was that I actually had thought enough ahead to realize that my “New” coffee maker would need a backup. After all, the one that just stopped working is seven months old and of course one month past its warranty date. This is about the time when I realized how accustomed we have become (or maybe it’s just me) that things wear out, sometimes possibly prematurely and we simply replace them.
Some of you may know that in addition to my unhealthy love for cutting tools, I am, or at least once was an avid bowler. I love the sport. I remember when particle bowling balls came out and everyone bought them because “they hooked early and they hooked more” than the old balls. A sales technique that is still applied to the hundreds of bowling balls released as “New-hooks more” every year. When my particle ball wore out after about 50 games and stopped hooking. I logged onto my favorite bowling chat room (See I do have other addictions) and asked why we should expect to pay $200 for a bowling ball that wore out so fast? Thinking myself to be the champion up-riser against the evil bowling ball producer machines I sat back and waiting for the chat rooms replies. Remarkably I began receiving reply after reply telling me to go get another ball and to just deal with it. Here are some paraphrased excerpts:
“So, the ball wore out? If you average 219 like you say you do then it was worth it.”
“Nothing lasts forever, get over it and go buy a new ball.”
“That ball probably paid for itself with jackpots that you won. So what is the problem?”
This was in the late 1980’s or early 1990’s and it dawned on me that we now lived in a throw away society. When did this begin? How did I miss the memo that things are now disposable? Does this apply to everything or just certain things? I was behind. I felt like it was 11th grade accounting all over again and I would never get to the surface again. (Please note uncanny, remarkable and never done before comparison to drowning) _
So here I am 20 years later and I now own backups for many things that I own. Would you believe that for many years I even had a backup car!? It is true. Being in sales and having to service the customer it was very important that if my car didn’t start or couldn’t go for whatever reason, I had a backup car. Pretty sick in itself but for me not to actually realize that 20 years later I had all of these backups, that I had fallen victim to the same delusions that these bowling ball people had so long ago, surprised me to say the least.
So, what else did I have backups for? Why not the dishwasher, stove or refrigerator? I thought that perhaps I was unprepared. After all, just a few years ago, I bought a generator and wired it so I could still have all of my creature comforts if the power went out. Actually, living in the country I can justify this last purchase but I mention it anyway. So why do we accept this “throw away” mentality? Has it always been like this?
Growing up in the suburbs of Detroit I was around autos my whole life. I remember when you’d see “rust buckets” drive by with so much rust on the car that you could see what the driver was wearing. I once owned a car that had mats in the backseat to cover the holes in the floorboards. Holes that let you see the concrete if you were sitting in the backseat! The carpet mats were the solution to the issue as seen through the eyes of any 17 year old. But now, I don’t see any rusty cars on the road. None. Why? Because we live in a throw away society? Perhaps.
The thing is that many of us have come to believe that we should only borrow cars for a couple of years pay Mr. Manufacturer $300-$600 or more dollars a month for this privilege and then simply give it back after two or so years all the time carefully watching our mileage. Even worse is the up-front cost of thousands of dollars all paid in the interest of getting lower monthly payments. Think about that for a minute and get ready for a major realization. Maybe I am different than most but I like to drive. 10,000-12,000 miles is about three months worth of driving for me. Can I stretch that out over 12 months? Nope, I cannot do it. Now, don’t jump all over me because I know that leasing or borrowing as I like to call it does have its positive points in certain conditions. I had to use it because it is a great example of our throw away society. Do you know that I have a younger cousin who just got married recently whose new bride (a wonderful and fun loving person) told me that she desperately needed a new car because the one she was driving had almost 12,000 miles on it and was old? Even now, in writing this I had to sit back, scratch my head and make that “say-what?” face as I think about her statement. I’ve owned a few cars in my lifetime and I can think of only two that I bought that had LESS miles than that on them when I bought them. Old school or just old? Not sure what that makes me.
So, I guess we must accept this throw away society that we have created and worse yet accepted for ourselves. It got me to thinking about cutting tools. (You knew where I was going with this so don’t roll your eyes) I tend to think as any good manufacturer/supplier of goods or services would, that my product is superior to my competitor’s. I think this because it is true. My toolinghouse products are superior to the competitions and they cost less too. Shameless plug, evil marketing tool, or simply the spoken true word. You decide. But I will say this, if my tools wear out to what I believe to be prematurely or what my customer believes to be so, I will look at it closely. I will try to change a coating or a helix angle on an end mill to get more tool life. I have never, and I will never tell a customer things like: “Tools wear out – get over it – buy more”. Its just not me and never will be.
After carefully considering the facts, I can honestly say that although cutting tools by nature do wear out, I believe that I provide my customers with the hardest working tools that last for the maximum amount of time and that I provide the best tools for the job. Check us out at www.toolinghouse.com and let us prove it to you. I wonder if my coffee making machine manufacturer would say that. I don’t know because I didn’t call them. I just pulled another pot out of the closet and created my dark brew of life.
By the way, I just remembered that I DO have an extra refrigerator in the garage. So the saga continues…
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Ok so a bit more on Poker
Picture it: Busy casino, Saturday Morning, Poker Room....I'm playing no-limit texas hold-em. Max buy in is $400 bones so I buy in at 400. Here are some real beauties for you:
Beauty #1: I have AK and the flop comes down AK5. Flop top two pair and I bet $20 into a $18 pot. I get called by 2 ppl and raised by a 3rd. So I re-raise to a hundo and get two to fold and one caller. Turn comes down J. Does this cat have a straight? Nope, I didn't put him on that but I wanted to find out where I was. He bets $90 and only has about another $80 in chips. So, what to do?.........I pushed all and he called so fast that I thought I was beat. He turns over AJ for two pair and of course I have the higher two pair. But with one card to come, $500ish dollars in the pot and him having two outs, I knew I was sunk. Yup, another J came out on the river.
Beauty #2: Again I have AK (I am starting to seriously hate those starting cards). I raise pre-flop and get called by SEVEN, yes 7 ppl. LMAO. Flop comes down A-rag-rag. So I know someone called with A-Rag so to find out where I am I bet $20 and get called by four players. LOL this is too funny. Long story short I bailed know that A-rag had two pairs and I was right.
Beauty #3: You know what? I am kinda tired reliving this right now. Let's move on to a good thing.
A Good thing: I have JK suited in spades. The clown in #1 above is in the hand with me along with two others. Two spades on the flop that I bet and get called on. Another spade on the turn gives me the K high flush. I bet it and Mr. Clown re-raises me. So, I re-raise him and he calls. Rag on the river and I go all in for $100ish and he calls. About a $425 pot. He turns over Q-10 of spades and the planets aligned, the sun shown, the stars wept tears of joy, the deer jumped, the birds sung, for once the Better Hand stood up AND paid off. Have I mentioned that I love poker?
Beauty #1: I have AK and the flop comes down AK5. Flop top two pair and I bet $20 into a $18 pot. I get called by 2 ppl and raised by a 3rd. So I re-raise to a hundo and get two to fold and one caller. Turn comes down J. Does this cat have a straight? Nope, I didn't put him on that but I wanted to find out where I was. He bets $90 and only has about another $80 in chips. So, what to do?.........I pushed all and he called so fast that I thought I was beat. He turns over AJ for two pair and of course I have the higher two pair. But with one card to come, $500ish dollars in the pot and him having two outs, I knew I was sunk. Yup, another J came out on the river.
Beauty #2: Again I have AK (I am starting to seriously hate those starting cards). I raise pre-flop and get called by SEVEN, yes 7 ppl. LMAO. Flop comes down A-rag-rag. So I know someone called with A-Rag so to find out where I am I bet $20 and get called by four players. LOL this is too funny. Long story short I bailed know that A-rag had two pairs and I was right.
Beauty #3: You know what? I am kinda tired reliving this right now. Let's move on to a good thing.
A Good thing: I have JK suited in spades. The clown in #1 above is in the hand with me along with two others. Two spades on the flop that I bet and get called on. Another spade on the turn gives me the K high flush. I bet it and Mr. Clown re-raises me. So, I re-raise him and he calls. Rag on the river and I go all in for $100ish and he calls. About a $425 pot. He turns over Q-10 of spades and the planets aligned, the sun shown, the stars wept tears of joy, the deer jumped, the birds sung, for once the Better Hand stood up AND paid off. Have I mentioned that I love poker?
Custom Carbide End Mills
At www.toolinghouse.com (Shameless plug #1) we pride ourselves on offering fast turnaround of your custom, blue print, carbide end mills. Typically, we can turn around full blown specials in as little as 2-3 days. Not only are we fast here at www.toolinghouse.com (Plug #2) but we are price competitive. Even if you only need 2 pieces you should give us a chance at www. tooli....ok, I'm done with the shameless plugs because they are even getting old to me and I love www.toolinghouse.com. Yea, I know, a bit beyond shameless but its my blog and I can do that kind of thing...lol
So where was I, oh yea, custom carbide end mills. Give us a shot the next time you go out for quote on specials and standard carbide end mills. Toolinghouse stands behind our products 100% by guaranteeing that you will love our tools or we will make it right.
If you use a large quantity of a certain end mill or two let us know and we will take a look at high volume discounts. We can also do blanket orders and let you release as you like or schedule releases at your convenience.
www.toolinghouse.com
Great Tools - Great Prices
So where was I, oh yea, custom carbide end mills. Give us a shot the next time you go out for quote on specials and standard carbide end mills. Toolinghouse stands behind our products 100% by guaranteeing that you will love our tools or we will make it right.
If you use a large quantity of a certain end mill or two let us know and we will take a look at high volume discounts. We can also do blanket orders and let you release as you like or schedule releases at your convenience.
www.toolinghouse.com
Great Tools - Great Prices
Sunday, December 9, 2007
Speaking of Cutting Tools...I was at the Casino the other day.
Along with my love of cutting tools - sick I know - I also have a love for Poker. (and occasionally a hate for it too) Now I am NOT another "Johnny come lately" although my name is John and well, on second thought - lets not go there. Fair enough to say that I've played poker on and off for many years.
So I'm at the Soaring Eagle Casino in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan playing $1-2 no limit Texas-Hold'em Poker. For those of you who do not know, Mt. Pleasant is the home of Central Michigan University so there are plenty of college folks sitting at every poker table. This is good and this is bad because they are good and they are bad. Some of these young men and women are really good poker players while others probably should stick to the books as it would be much less expensive. There, that was said nicely, right?
We all talk about our bad beats and I am no different. I have about $200 in my stack and am sitting in the #4 chair. I look down at pocket J's. The #2 chair raises to $45 pre-flop. I was the only caller. The flop comes down: K J 4 and its a rainbow. So I've flopped trips. #2 bets $50 into a $93 pot. Don't ask me where the button is because it doesn't matter. I go all in for the rest of my $200 and he immediately calls. Now, this guy had been playing tight while I was there and I knew he had a big hand but when he turned over pocket Kings to show me drawing just about dead, that was not a good feeling. Luckily he had fewer chips than me so I still had about $40 left after the hand. Yes, of course I lost that...did you think I was gonna get that last Jack out of the deck. That only happens against me. See, told you sometimes I hate poker.
I don't like being short stacked so I bought another $150 to get back close to $200. The very next hand I see 10-J and call a small $15 pre-flop raise. The cards come down 8 9 Q. So I flop the straight. Now, the #5 chair was a very aggressive young man and so I checked it to him. One little smooth check and I think I am a Poker Genius. So #5 bets $40 and I just smooth call. I am the MAN! The turn comes out J. Crap, thats one of my down cards, now this is not such a fun hand anymore. I led out betting $50 at him this time and I didn't move a muscle while he looked at me, talked to me and tried to get info. It was funny, he said stuff like "So, top two pair is no good eh?" and "I think you're hiding in the bushes" Too Funny. He made all the right guesses but still couldn't fold his Q J and pushed all in which I, doing my best Phil Helmuth chip push into the table, immediately called. #5 looks at me with a bit too much comfort for me and says, "I still have outs". I knew it was over at that point and I watched as, no not a Q or J came out but the 10 did and we split the pot. Man, I hate poker!
I busted on pocket nines when I called "Mr. All-In" from seat #9 with my pocket 9's that had caught Trips on the flop only to have him have flopped the straight. So, it was off to the Kiddie-Game. 3-6 limit for me. Did I mention that I hate poker?
You know its funny, at the 3-6 table I was so aggressive, I turned $60 into $240 in about 8 hands. Have you ever played $3-6? People there are calling machines. They catch a pair of 2's on the flop and call you all the way down where if they are against me, they usually catch another 2 and beat my K's with an A kicker. Thats poker. The flip side to that is when they catch it and they turn over 8-2 with a two-2's on the board and look at me and say, "Oh wow, nice hand" as I turn over the Ace high flush that I flopped. I Love Poker!
Remember: Gamle with Chips not Tools. Buy your cutting tools and inserts at www.toolinghouse.com. That's always a GOOD bet!
So I'm at the Soaring Eagle Casino in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan playing $1-2 no limit Texas-Hold'em Poker. For those of you who do not know, Mt. Pleasant is the home of Central Michigan University so there are plenty of college folks sitting at every poker table. This is good and this is bad because they are good and they are bad. Some of these young men and women are really good poker players while others probably should stick to the books as it would be much less expensive. There, that was said nicely, right?
We all talk about our bad beats and I am no different. I have about $200 in my stack and am sitting in the #4 chair. I look down at pocket J's. The #2 chair raises to $45 pre-flop. I was the only caller. The flop comes down: K J 4 and its a rainbow. So I've flopped trips. #2 bets $50 into a $93 pot. Don't ask me where the button is because it doesn't matter. I go all in for the rest of my $200 and he immediately calls. Now, this guy had been playing tight while I was there and I knew he had a big hand but when he turned over pocket Kings to show me drawing just about dead, that was not a good feeling. Luckily he had fewer chips than me so I still had about $40 left after the hand. Yes, of course I lost that...did you think I was gonna get that last Jack out of the deck. That only happens against me. See, told you sometimes I hate poker.
I don't like being short stacked so I bought another $150 to get back close to $200. The very next hand I see 10-J and call a small $15 pre-flop raise. The cards come down 8 9 Q. So I flop the straight. Now, the #5 chair was a very aggressive young man and so I checked it to him. One little smooth check and I think I am a Poker Genius. So #5 bets $40 and I just smooth call. I am the MAN! The turn comes out J. Crap, thats one of my down cards, now this is not such a fun hand anymore. I led out betting $50 at him this time and I didn't move a muscle while he looked at me, talked to me and tried to get info. It was funny, he said stuff like "So, top two pair is no good eh?" and "I think you're hiding in the bushes" Too Funny. He made all the right guesses but still couldn't fold his Q J and pushed all in which I, doing my best Phil Helmuth chip push into the table, immediately called. #5 looks at me with a bit too much comfort for me and says, "I still have outs". I knew it was over at that point and I watched as, no not a Q or J came out but the 10 did and we split the pot. Man, I hate poker!
I busted on pocket nines when I called "Mr. All-In" from seat #9 with my pocket 9's that had caught Trips on the flop only to have him have flopped the straight. So, it was off to the Kiddie-Game. 3-6 limit for me. Did I mention that I hate poker?
You know its funny, at the 3-6 table I was so aggressive, I turned $60 into $240 in about 8 hands. Have you ever played $3-6? People there are calling machines. They catch a pair of 2's on the flop and call you all the way down where if they are against me, they usually catch another 2 and beat my K's with an A kicker. Thats poker. The flip side to that is when they catch it and they turn over 8-2 with a two-2's on the board and look at me and say, "Oh wow, nice hand" as I turn over the Ace high flush that I flopped. I Love Poker!
Remember: Gamle with Chips not Tools. Buy your cutting tools and inserts at www.toolinghouse.com. That's always a GOOD bet!
Thursday, December 6, 2007
Discussion of Tap Terms
A Tap has two main sections. The thread section and the shank section. The shank connects the thread section to the driving square at the back end of the shank. The driving square is the end of the tap that is held in the machine. Taps have centers at each end for manufacturing. Their can be External Centers that are full or truncated cones on sizes 3/8" (10mm) and smaller. Larger size taps have what are called Internal Centers. These are Center Holes.
Terminology of the Threaded Section:
The thread section of a tap is comprised of flutes. Flutes are grooves to provide cutting edges and space for chips and cutting fluid. I talked in an earier blog about the importance of chip evacuation. The same basics apply with taps as with end mills. Chips must be properly evacuated to allow a tap to cut clean threads and keep the tap from wearing out prematurely.
The chamfer is an angled, relieved section which allows the tap to progressively cut the thread form.
The space between the bottom of the flutes is called the core. The core diameter is also known as the width of the central section.
The threaded portions between the flutes are called the Lands. The core diameter and the lands give a tap its strength.
The Flutes on a tap are shaped to produce a cutting edge. A curved cutting edge is called a Hook and a straight cutting edge is call Rake. To be technical, a Hook is called a positive chordal hook angle. These angles can vary depending upon the material to be tapped. Typically 12-16 degree for tapping aluminum and 5-7 degrees for armor plate. You get the idea. The depth of the Hook is measured as the tangential hook angle. Yea, thats enough of the technical stuff for now.
A Rake can be Negative, Radial or Positive. The three factors listed below influence the amount of Hook or Rake, the size of the core, the width of the land and the angle of the chamfer.
1. Type of Material To Be Cut.
2. Material hardness.
3. Type of Hole to Be Cut.
I'll come back to this later and give you some more ramblings about taps and relief angles. For now, I need to go sell tools. I guess I can do that right here: for Taps go to www.toolinghouse.com. Shameless plug - I know. (No pun intended)
Ok, I 'm back to finish this, but I'm leaving the shamless plug because I can do that...
Let me talk about relief angles. All taps are manufactured with various types of Relief, designed to minimize tap-to-part contact, which increases friction, heat and reduces tap life and the quality of the part.
The thread section of a tap may have various combinations of radial relief on the thread form. Basically there are three combinations.
1. Concentric: has no relief.
2. Eccentric: has radial relief in the thread form starting at the cutting edge and continuing to the heel.
3. Con-Eccentric: has radial relief in the thread form starting behind the concentric margin. In English that means it has a combination of both concentric and eccentric relief. In German it means the same thing I just don't know how to say it.
Do you know what Back Taper is? Well, almost every tap made has back taper. Taps almost always have axial relief or Back Taper, so that the diameter at the back is smaller than the front. If you are a numbers person it is apporximately .001" per inch of diameter. If you're not a numbers person, then it means that the back of the tap is a tiny bit smaller in diameter than the front of the tap.
Let's talk about everyone's friend: Thread Form.
Find a comfortable chair and put your thinking caps on. By the way, what is a thinking cap and how do I acquire one? Anyway, here we go: Thread Form consists of Flanks which connect the Crests at the Major Diameter to the Roots at the Minor or Root Diameter. Simple stuff, right? Ok Good.
The Root is the bottom surface joining the flanks of two adjacent threads. If you think about that it really does make sense. I'm not making this up I promise. So, you're still with me, right?
The Pitch Diameter is the diameter of an imaginary cylinder whose surface passes through the thread form axially at such points as to make the width of the groove equal to one-half of the Basic Pitch. Hmmm, we probably need either an aspirin or another English version of that mumbo-jumbo. See if this helps:
Basic: The theoretical or nominal standard size from which all variations are made.
Major Diameter: the largest diameter of the screw or nut on a straight screw thread.
Minor Diameter: The smallest diameter of the screw or nut on a straight screw thread.
(Please, no Bevis & Butthead comments about "You said, Screw and nut. That's pretty cool.")
Height of thread: In profile, the distance between crest and basic minor diameter of the thread measured normal to the axis. I may have to add a few pics here as it would illustrate this much better. I'll see if I can find some later.
That's most of the tap terminology. In a future thread I'll talk about Types of Taps. You know, Hand, Machine, Metric, Spiral Point, Spiral Flute, Taper, Thread Forming and Pipe. For now, Have a Great Day! This ramble is over.
Terminology of the Threaded Section:
The thread section of a tap is comprised of flutes. Flutes are grooves to provide cutting edges and space for chips and cutting fluid. I talked in an earier blog about the importance of chip evacuation. The same basics apply with taps as with end mills. Chips must be properly evacuated to allow a tap to cut clean threads and keep the tap from wearing out prematurely.
The chamfer is an angled, relieved section which allows the tap to progressively cut the thread form.
The space between the bottom of the flutes is called the core. The core diameter is also known as the width of the central section.
The threaded portions between the flutes are called the Lands. The core diameter and the lands give a tap its strength.
The Flutes on a tap are shaped to produce a cutting edge. A curved cutting edge is called a Hook and a straight cutting edge is call Rake. To be technical, a Hook is called a positive chordal hook angle. These angles can vary depending upon the material to be tapped. Typically 12-16 degree for tapping aluminum and 5-7 degrees for armor plate. You get the idea. The depth of the Hook is measured as the tangential hook angle. Yea, thats enough of the technical stuff for now.
A Rake can be Negative, Radial or Positive. The three factors listed below influence the amount of Hook or Rake, the size of the core, the width of the land and the angle of the chamfer.
1. Type of Material To Be Cut.
2. Material hardness.
3. Type of Hole to Be Cut.
I'll come back to this later and give you some more ramblings about taps and relief angles. For now, I need to go sell tools. I guess I can do that right here: for Taps go to www.toolinghouse.com. Shameless plug - I know. (No pun intended)
Ok, I 'm back to finish this, but I'm leaving the shamless plug because I can do that...
Let me talk about relief angles. All taps are manufactured with various types of Relief, designed to minimize tap-to-part contact, which increases friction, heat and reduces tap life and the quality of the part.
The thread section of a tap may have various combinations of radial relief on the thread form. Basically there are three combinations.
1. Concentric: has no relief.
2. Eccentric: has radial relief in the thread form starting at the cutting edge and continuing to the heel.
3. Con-Eccentric: has radial relief in the thread form starting behind the concentric margin. In English that means it has a combination of both concentric and eccentric relief. In German it means the same thing I just don't know how to say it.
Do you know what Back Taper is? Well, almost every tap made has back taper. Taps almost always have axial relief or Back Taper, so that the diameter at the back is smaller than the front. If you are a numbers person it is apporximately .001" per inch of diameter. If you're not a numbers person, then it means that the back of the tap is a tiny bit smaller in diameter than the front of the tap.
Let's talk about everyone's friend: Thread Form.
Find a comfortable chair and put your thinking caps on. By the way, what is a thinking cap and how do I acquire one? Anyway, here we go: Thread Form consists of Flanks which connect the Crests at the Major Diameter to the Roots at the Minor or Root Diameter. Simple stuff, right? Ok Good.
The Root is the bottom surface joining the flanks of two adjacent threads. If you think about that it really does make sense. I'm not making this up I promise. So, you're still with me, right?
The Pitch Diameter is the diameter of an imaginary cylinder whose surface passes through the thread form axially at such points as to make the width of the groove equal to one-half of the Basic Pitch. Hmmm, we probably need either an aspirin or another English version of that mumbo-jumbo. See if this helps:
Basic: The theoretical or nominal standard size from which all variations are made.
Major Diameter: the largest diameter of the screw or nut on a straight screw thread.
Minor Diameter: The smallest diameter of the screw or nut on a straight screw thread.
(Please, no Bevis & Butthead comments about "You said, Screw and nut. That's pretty cool.")
Height of thread: In profile, the distance between crest and basic minor diameter of the thread measured normal to the axis. I may have to add a few pics here as it would illustrate this much better. I'll see if I can find some later.
That's most of the tap terminology. In a future thread I'll talk about Types of Taps. You know, Hand, Machine, Metric, Spiral Point, Spiral Flute, Taper, Thread Forming and Pipe. For now, Have a Great Day! This ramble is over.
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