Dustbag

[hibsjo(SCO)]

Names being mentioned

 

people getting knickers in a twist

 

this is great viewing

 

getting pretty hot

 

LOL

 

I ALWAYS look for peoples locations and places of work.

[kobblers]

and some of 'em would rather watch big brother hibs

pass round the popcorn.

rick

[keithm]

I will of course add my Company name to my avatar if that makes you happy. However, I have tried to make my Company as obvious as possible without naming them for fear of using this site as a Sales tool.

 

I agree transparency is everything, and of course, I work for Standard Engineering. But I thought that most repairers using this site would have drawn that conclusion anyway, KeithM, Northants, etc.

 

When Lee first started this site, I could forsee how usefull it may be to the independant Shoe Repairer. Following discussions with Lee, we sponsored the site and have a presence which I believe will benefit all who use it. I therefore did not wish to make it obvious everytime I posted as to who I was.

 

I spent 25 years as a shoe repairer, and I'm proud of it. I would like to think that my comments made in posts on this site will be accepted as a fellow repairer, albeit, ex repairer, and not necessarily as a salesman

 

I hope this satisfies your request.

[hibsjo(SCO)]

Well said that man.

[kobblers]

once a cobbler, always a cobbler haha.

i agree with hibs' reply.

rick.

['Onest Andy]

Certainly an interesting subject.

 

I have to agree you can't beat having someone who has actually experienced working in our environment in a position like this.

 

It's becomming all to common to have to deal with someone who has absolutely no practical experience of what it's like to operate their product in a working situation.

 

I'd say Keith has to be an invaluable asset to the site.

 

Oh BTW has anyone come up with a Naumkeag guard to satisfy the man from HSE that doesn't get in the way when you try to use it.

[petercoulson]

on the H&S front it is interesting to read all the comments etc posted. items like masks and ear plugs are PPE that you may be required to provide for your employees, however, you should remember that ppe is a last resort and you should have taken all possible steps to eliminate the problem in the first place and show that you have done this. it is important for you to keep records of this in the form of risk assessments which can be very simple. on the subject of ear plugs, if you want to use them it is worth spending the money to get custom fitted ones, you will find that good plugs can eliminate different levels of noise and leave you able to hear people talking.

 

sorry about the bee in bonnet but being a long serving first aid trainer through st john ambulance i can see the other side of the fence and know it is not worth waiting for something to happen but to plan to prevent it happening

[Russell]

Since posting about companies doing the rounds and thus being cheaper in their repairs, I was contacted by Standard who said they had an engineer in the area and they could change my dust bag for me. They told me that it would cost £120 (I'm not sure exactly but it may have been a bit more as I was busy at the time and was taken a bit by surprise). This price I was told included 1 hour labour and the engineer call out charge! A bit of a cheek I thought as the engineer was supposed to be in the area!! Seems they haven't got the point of my original posting.

[Lee]

I have just brought a FIRE retardant bag from Standard as part of my project on noise reduction. I paid a lot more than that for the bag alone, I would have been happy with that price for a normal bag and would have jumped at the chance!

the only reason I didn't wait for the 'call' was because I wanted to fit the project in around work load.......

 

Fare play to Standard, I hope the scheme works out for them.

 

Lee

[keithm]

Considering that you pay upwards of £250 for an average car service, I wouldn't consider £120 plus the bag to be outragous, your also in Swansea!

 

We offer nationwide service coverage via 6 engineers in order to enable us to offer next day or a 2 day service calls. As I'm sure all of you will understand, you can't offer that kind of service for much lees than we charge. Only 2 months ago, I paid £90 for a washing machine engineer for a service call I asked our service amnager to ring in order to offer a quick response to a concern you had, I was only trying to be pro-active and potentialy helpful.

 

Russell, if you would like to whip up some interest in your area and let me know how many calls you might have, I will see what sort of package I can put together for you. Good luck!!

[Hugh-Candoit (ENG)]

I dont think that the travelling time is ever thought of when they look at the invoice Keith, an easy way of counteracting this is to ask them what turnover they would have produced from the time the engineer started their journey to when they got back to base.

Or in simpler terms "what % profit do you make on watch batteries or a key blank".

Shoe Repairers for the last 50 years have begrudged paying out for any service costs, that is why Keats & Bexon from Oldham (ex Stafford)stopped dealing with the repair trade years ago, or so their engineers told me.

By the way, I have just paid £450 for my car to be serviced and it took the best part of 2 1/2 hours. the only things replaced were Oil and filter plus Pollen filter. Mind you Oil is expensive nowadays aint it

[petercoulson]

that's the problem hugh be do, for years now it has always been a struggle to make service break even but it has to be offered and we see it as unavoidable. it would suit us to have everyone do their own work, this is why we try to fix things over the phone but this is not always possible. interesting that you mention keys as this is always my answer - how much does a 1a cost, how much do you sell it for. it would be nice to please all customers all the time but not always possible.

 

ps running a rolls royce is costly isn't it?

[Hugh-Candoit (ENG)]

that's the problem hugh be do,

ps running a rolls royce is costly isn't it?

 

Like that Peter, "hugh be do" have to remember that one .

It aint the Roller that eats £££s it's the Bentley and the service on the Breitling Bentley motors watch aint cheap either, found a nice product that the big manufacturers use on their seats to make em smell like leather all the time, you get addicted to it though, the wife keeps it on a sponge in her plastic designer handbag, (bought off e-bay guaranteed original).

[keithm]

Just been listening to one of our engineers concerning a dustbag change on a customers machine. Once he had the machine pulled out, he found the bag was 3/4 full of dust. The customer had wondered why the machine wasn't sucking and felt that the machine was at fault

 

Took twice as long as normal to change the bag, that'll cost him, but he now has a machine that actually sucks the dust away. A very happy bunny!

 

I wouldn't mind, but he's been in the trade for years and no ones ever told him how important it is to shake the bag on a regular basis, at least twice a day, and empty it more than once a year. How full will his lungs be

 

Mind you, I feel quite sure that you lot shake your bag more than once daily

[Lee]

Despite giving mine a regular shake I had one of the tubes build up with dust once, now once in a blue moon I get behind the machine and bang the bag with a dust brush.

 

keeps those sinuses clear!

 

Lee

[Hugh-Candoit (ENG)]

Emptying the bag Peter also helps to prevent fires that can start long after the shop has closed. I believe that there are many hundreds who ignor the perils of the Dust Bag then blame someone or something else when things go wrong.

 

Another very inportant point, or 2 now I have my brain in gear.

1.KEEP THE BAG AWAY FROM THE REAR WALL.

2. DONT STORE FLAMMABLE PRODUCTS BEHIND THE FINISHER.

Having the Bag flush with the wall when the bag is inflated restricts the air displacment. To enable the machine to act like the giant vacuum cleaner that it is, the air has to be allowed to get out as fast as it is sucked in and if you block off one third of the bag area then your intake will be reduced by one third. (that's my theory anyway).

Products such as display material and the like of rubber micro sheeting is going to fuel the fire should it take hold. Keep the area clear and with a gap between the bag and the wall when the fan is switched ON.

These 2 points also allow easier cleaning of the bag.

 

Personally, I would never get to sleep at night if I knew ther was dust in the bag or draw overnight. I've seen the effects of spontaneous combustion never mind feeding the dust with a shower of sparks on a regular basis.

 

I'm surprised that no-one has incorporated a system to stop sparks being sucked into the machine.

Or to have a socket on the machines to plug in a Henry Vac flexible tube.

Most shops have blowers to blow the settled dust around the shop instead of sucking it up via the finisher or Band Scourer.

Quite easy to do the convert. Just get the female part that is on the external Henry vac and screw it onto a suitable place on the machine with 3 self tapping screws after drilling a hole with a hole cutter. A flap could be put into position when not in use, then when you connect your vac hose you have the UKs biggest vacuum cleaner at your disposal.

[keithm]

Peter, Peter?

 

Please read the author of the last post before Lee

 

I digress, You are indeed correct about the placement of the machine and the displacement of air theory is correct. However solving the sparks issue is far from easy.

 

As far as the hoover hose theory is concerned I would like to make two comments. One is, this was tried by Hardo 20 years ago and made had no significance to anyone. Secondly, Improving machines costs money and as anyone who sells them will tell you, raising the price by a few hundred here and a thousand there maks it very difficult No matter what benefit the machine has and how healthy your envoirement will become!

 

Phew!!

[Hugh-Candoit (ENG)]

Sorry about the name mix up Keith,

the cost of converting to fitting for the Henry Vac is around a Tenner, £6 for the hole cutter if yer aint got one, £4 for the Henry vac part plus acouple of self tapping screws. Hardo did not go down this route but a more complicated system. Now that machines have individual ports that have to be closed off to use the next one then the suction would be very effective at the end of a portable hose.

 

The spark problem is quite simple, just think down these lines and dont go overboard in the thought proccess. What is the spark!!! How do you stop the source from even entering the opening and therefore cool down on the sides of the shute.

[keithm]

Close the flap, if there is one, or remove all the nails

 

Doesn't help much with stilletoes though

[Hugh-Candoit (ENG)]

No, keith you are way off track, there is a solution to the problem that will stop the spark from reaching the danger area, several solutions in fact but I doubt if anyone would pay for the development, you must be aware of our ability to moan at the price of everything.