Has anyone dealt with Blackburn Tools lately?
jfsksa
| Posted in General Discussion on
I bought a dovetail saw kit from Blackburn recently. The item was shown as available on their website, but has not been shipped. Admittedly my order was last week, but Isaac does not respond to emails and the phone number on Paypal is out of service. I also found a thread on Lumberjocks complaining about the same issues- not filling orders, not responding to emails. So, I think there’s a problem here.
Does anyone have experience with them? Any suggestions on how to resolve?
Replies
I have bought numerous saw blades and hardware from Isaac, and will say that they have all been of exquisitely high quality. With his blades, the saws I have made are every bit as good as anything you can buy at a fraction of the price and with a lot more satisfaction. I love using these saws (including the gigantic Roubo frame saw). He is a one man shop, and has a very long list of backorders. A few years ago, it would take 8-10 weeks to get an order filled. The last saw blade kit I bought took months and months to get to me. My understanding is that he is digging out of the backlog, and hopefully it is better now. If you are patient, you will get what you ordered. From all of my interactions with him, Isaac is an ethical guy, just overworked. Any you're right, email is not his thing. Good luck
Thanks for the good info. I have a couple dovetail saws and bought this kit on impulse, so not having it will not affect me. Now I can take my time looking for some curly maple for a handle. And, even if I never get it, I'm only out $60.
My only interaction with him was in 2020 during the height of Covid. I had his Roubo resaw kit (2019 Christmas gift from my wife) and I had a few questions. He graciously called me back to answer my questions and even sold me some ash. At that time with Covid I couldn't purchase the thick wood I needed. Nice man.
I, too, bought a couple of saw kits from Isaac over the past two years. I'm still waiting on one, but I knew it would be awhile based on his massive backlog. In his last email to customers, he said that he was retooling to be able to handle the higher volumes.
I had the opportunity to meet Isaac at Handworks last fall, and I can tell you he's a super nice guy who makes great saw blades and is doing the best he can to catch up with demand.
Your saw, when it does arrive, will be worth the wait, I'm sure!
There was a rash of reddit purchasers who never got orders, some years behind. Not just a few but piles of them. Whatever you do, do not wait until the Paypal payment guarantee ends and mark it on your calendar.
If you bought something recently, you probably won't have a problem, but if it drags toward the deadline, dispute the transaction before time runs out. Dispute it directly in Paypal, don't be swooned into going to Rob Porter at Union for a refund.
Otherwise, I'd say give it a few months if the dispute period doesn't run out before then. do not allow the dispute period to run out, though, if that's going to happen, or you'll end up like the gobs of angry redditors who could not get a refund without filing a complaint at the PA atty general's site.