I want to go on record and say that I in no way blame Kurt for how this went down.
I was in the last buy. The black rods I got were so soft that they have no use for stem making. None of the colored rods were the colors I asked for and no matter what they looked like on the surface they were that icky olive drab swirl color on the inside. They of course are hard enough to make stems.
For me I think it would be a lot cheaper to pay the PME price and then if you get some thing that is the wrong color or is not useful you can send it back.
It doesn't matter to me where we get it so long as it's high quality ebonite at a better price than PME. If someone has contact info for another supplier then send it my way. The stuff I got from the group buy that Kurt coordinated was stellar, IMO.
Tyler wrote:Why not go for the Hamburg stuff? They still making it?
That's what I was hoping for. I believe their minimums are still higher, so if we're doing a group buy it might make sense to buy from the supplier that most of us can't access on our own. Plus, I prefer their cumberland. Just my thoughts.
wdteipen wrote:It doesn't matter to me where we get it so long as it's high quality ebonite at a better price than PME. If someone has contact info for another supplier then send it my way. The stuff I got from the group buy that Kurt coordinated was stellar, IMO.
I prefer NYH Cumberland also. I've contacted SEM and received pricing info. I've sent a request to NYH for the same. Unless NYH's prices are significantly more I would prefer to order from them. I'll post the price list as soon as I get it and start a list of who wants what in the original post.
I'm in for the group buy too. I am only familiar with SEM rod. I love it. but I'll try whatever will get us the best price. I would be in for black and cumberland. At least 1m each, 25mm diam.
Just let me know the details.
Here is the NYH price list: Note minimum order of 1,000€ which is, at the moment, equal to $1425. I will get with Wayne to fill in any specifics that may have been missed.
This is the SEM price list. I forget the specifics on ordering from SEM, I think it is a quantity order, not a $ amount. I will get the information from Wayne.
I agree that going with NYH makes the most sense since anyone can buy rods from SEM with no minimum order. One thing to note with NYH is that they don't carry rods in stock. They extrude rods as/when ordered. The minimum order is for each color and diameter of rod. In other words, you must have 1000 euros worth of each size in order for them to make them. That being said, we would probably do best to have two or three sizes to choose from. The only obvious advantage to me with going with NYH is to get there Cumberland rods which I like better than SEM's so one option would need to be for Cumberland in either 22mm or 25mm and one or two sizes of rough black ebonite. The second chart that Nate posted is for smooth rods as opposed to rough rods which, to me, is a waste of money. If you have a preference in size please say so here. If we have a wide range of replies I will take the top three or four and start a poll.
I did a big NYH order many moons ago. I think those were the same minimums. I've been pleased with that material. I think that route makes more since than SEM since, as has been stated, there is no good way to get the NYH stuff any other way.
That said, I can't really read the price list. How do the prices compare to SEM?
The trick to all of this will be agreeing to diameters and color. I doubt there's consensus, and I doubt we can raise the participation for more than two choices (even two is $3K after shipping).
That said, it's worth a go!
So, what size and color?
I'd propose 22mm in black and in Cumberland. What do you guys want?
Edit: I just had a thought. If we want this to go, and if we want more choice, the key to getting enough dollar involvement will be to pull in the full-timers. They might be in for enough to allow for more variety. I have no idea if they will be interested. I'd be glad to make some calls once we get a general idea of the plan.
I'd like to go with 25mm if there are a few others that would go for that too...
I suppose we can order a few different sizes if we are not worrying about minimums....