While I have not dealt with Blackley's in the UK, I do know the folks at The Rifle Shoppe. I have used investment castings for around 30 years, and build my own wax molds, from which I shoot my own waxes. This enables me to control quality better. A lot of the parts in the accessories I make were originally processed from castings, and I try to stay as close to the original methods as possible. Reproductions always turn out looking "right" if you try to do it like this.

The trouble with running an operation like Jess does, or Blackley's, is one of the problems is foundry lead time. Small run stuff often gets shunted to the side if there is a large industrial run going. It's simple economics, it's more profitable for the foundry, and one can't blame them for that. Although, I must say my guys are really good at supplying castings in a timely manner.

The other problem is mishaps - waxes get broken, a tree blows out or does not fill correctly, resulting in lost parts. I work on at least a 15% wax loss to acceptable casting rate. If you loose just one part out of a lock set, for instance, it may be two to three months before more waxes can be delivered and cast to make it up. It's all very well to ask why several waxes aren't sent for each part. But if a shop with a huge range of parts that can be made available does that, the cost would add up in a hurry. And I mean, in a hurry. If all the castings turn out well, they have to be paid for. For some things where the sales are very small, you soon end up with a lot of money tied up in very slow moving inventory.

I'm not trying to make any excuses for anyone, these folks are doing this for a living, and selling products is how they pay the bills. They do not want delays any more than the customer does. However, a delay in the casting business is just the nature of the beast. Sometimes an order runs through fine, but a lot of the time it can be a real bear.

I hope I've explained this well enough. Sometimes it's good to hear from someone on the other side of the counter.

Last edited by Mike Rowe; 03/08/15 01:00 PM.