Chamber's delivery time

[Waksupi]

Have any of you ordered a fancy grade walnut fowler stock from Chambers? How long did delivery take?

[490roundball]

just a stock, not the kit?

If you asked them, I bet they'd tell you 

and the estimate would probably be accurate.

just that kind of people to deal with.

Rick

[don getz]

I have to assume that you ordered one some time ago and did not receive it yet?  You have to realize that a lot of things must be done to give you what you want.   He must first find a good piece of wood, then ship it to the stock carver, who
just might be busy and can't drop everything he is doing to do this stock.  It could be that the carver is not wild about doing this particular style of stock, and he keeps putting this off, until Jim really gets on his butt about it, then it might
get done..then must be packed and shipped, etc.    I'm just laying out some of the things that might happen, not saying
that they do.  Any time you order something special, you will have to be prepared to wait.  I don't know why I bothered
to answer this, I guess it's because I have been on the other end so often, ha.......Don

[Ken G]

Waksupi,
My first question is have you called and talked to Jim or Barbie?  You should talk to them before bringing it up here. 
You stated you are wanting Fancy Walnut.  I have found one of the first rules when asking for special, fancy or above average anything is to be patient and give the supplier time to find what you are hunting for.  In my opinion you will not find a better company to deal with. 
Ken

[Ezra]

Call Barbie.  She will get you what you need.  I have always had nothing but excellent service from Chambers Flintlocks.


Ez

[rtadams]

10-20-08

Waksupi,

I would encourage you to call Jim or Barbie and discuss the expected delivery time. This should have been done before bringing it up on this forum as Ken Guy stated.
I have known Jim for a very long time and you will not find a more honest and fair person to deal with.

Best Regards,

[Waksupi]

I know they are good people, and I think they have the best lock in the business. I was just wondering how long a guy would have to wait for a good piece of wood.

[Ken G]

Ric,
I think the delivery time would depend on what is holding up the order. If you are waiting for a special piece of wood or already have the wood and waiting for someone to carve it.  I don't know if you can really ask about a typical delivery time. 

Ken

[don getz]

I hope you guys didn't think I was picking on Jim.....not the case.  I agree with you guys, he should call him, afterall, he's
the only one that can give him an answer.  If you buy a Ford and have problems with it, you don't ask your neighbor about it, you call the Ford dealer.........Don

[Evil Monkey]

I think yall are reading WAY too much into the question. I see nothing in the question to indicate that Waksupi is unhappy with anything. In fact, it reads to me like the stock/kit isn't ordered yet and Waksupi is wondering before hand, how long to expect it to take IE " I was just wondering how long a guy would have to wait for a good piece of wood." I ordered a Penn fowler a few years ago with extra fancy wood b ut don't recall how long it took. I don't think it was anything unreasonable. There are alot of variables as Don pointed out. Safe to say that it would take a bit longer than a standard piece of wood but not as long as getting something from TRS

[Jim Chambers]

I agree with Evil Monkey, I didn't take his initial question as one critical of Barbie's kit business.  I took it at face value that he wanted to know how long it would take to get a kit if he ordered one.  To answer that question, it would depend upon a lot of variables.  First, what type of walnut, English or American, what type of figure, etc.
Then, if we have a suitable piece of wood on hand we could probably have it cut and ready to ship in a few weeks.  If we have to go out and hunt for a piece of wood this time of the year when we're not going to any shows it might take as long as five or six months.  Another variable is the stock carver.  He does a great job on the stocks, but getting him to cut exactly what we want when we want it is sometimes a problem.  We usually say that if we have what you want in stock (We keep several dozen stocks on hand at all times.) we can ship the same week you order.  If it's a standard stock but not in stock please allow a couple months.  If it is a special order allow six to eight months.  Believe me, Barbie trys her darndest to get kits out as quickly as possible so that she can get the money for them.  Most are ordered by credit card, and she can't get paid until the kit is shipped.

[Waksupi]

That looks like an answer, right from the horse's mouth. Thank you, Jim.

[Brian]

If anybody can find what you want - it will be Barbie!  Just tell her what you want.  She'll find it.

[P.W.Berkuta]

Humm - OK, I'll take a 5' 0" to 5' 5" chestnut brown hair lass with a bright smile, kind heart, and BIG T -- ah toes - yea -toes  !!!

If anybody can find what you want - it will be Barbie!  Just tell her what you want.  She'll find it.

[Evil Monkey]

Humm - OK, I'll take a 5' 0" to 5' 5" chestnut brown hair lass with a bright smile, kind heart, and BIG T -- ah toes - yea -toes  !!!

If anybody can find what you want - it will be Barbie!  Just tell her what you want.  She'll find it.

Those are a dime a dozen. Try to find one 5' 11" to 6' 2".

[Acer Saccharum]

I have been waiting my whole life for a good piece of wood. In the meantime, I use what I have.

I do notice when you ask a simple question, everyone JUMPS to help out. And, yes, sometimes we do read waaay to much into a question. But other times, you must read into a question because the info isn't clearly stated.

Soooo.......

There are no easy answers. The more you learn, the less you know. That, in a nutshell, plus a buck fifty, will get you a nice tall dark French roast cup of coffee.

[JBlk]

I don't know either jim or barbie , but I wouldn't hesitate doing business with them for one second.They have more than prov-en their reliability in  the past, and that's the way that I like to do business.I am sure that if you ask the question , they will be more than happy to answer.

[Brian]

Humm - OK, I'll take a 5' 0" to 5' 5" chestnut brown hair lass with a bright smile, kind heart, and BIG T -- ah toes - yea -toes   !!!

Oh, my guess is she can likely find  you such an "item" - but odds are it would laugh at old geezers like us.  So, and I"m just curious here,  why would you want to humiliate yourself?   

Best to settle for a really nice chunk of curly maple, some decent hardware, and the time to put it all together.  Nice bottle of Irish Whiskey would go along with that as well - after you make all the cuts that is.

Seriously, anybody who has been on this forum for more than a week knows Chambers reputation.  There is NO safer place to order from.  I have no idea how long it might take to find the piece of wood you want.  Depends on what you want.  But the "up" side is that you WILL get what you want, at a fair price, and they will stand behind it.  Thats worth any wait in my books.

[Jim Chambers]

I forgot to mention one thing about Barbie's kit business.  She is always very glad when guys supply their own piece of wood.  That solves several problems.  The customer is always happy with the piece of wood because they have selected it themselves ahead of time.  It cuts down on the delivery time greatly if one wants a special piece of wood.  And, you get an $80 discount off the cost of the kit when you supply the wood. We had one guy this year send a piece of wormy chestnut for his stock.  Personally, I thought it was one of the ugliest stocks I have ever seen, but the customer was absolutely delighted with it.  We have another guy who wants a great piece of birdseye.  In over 45 years I've had only one "great" piece of birdseye.  He's been waiting just about a year and will is probably getting tired of waiting. But, we'll be glad to fill his order when and if we can find the wood.

[t.caster]

Jim, perhaps someone on this board has a great or nearly great piece of birdseye they have been hoarding. What is he expecting to pay for such wood???

[keweenaw]

Jim,

There is a local fellow up here in the UP who has horded a considerable amount of bird's eye that would qualify as great.  Whether any of it is 12/4 I don't know, but I've seen some furniture he makes that was from 8/4 wood.  The western upper peninsula of Michigan (da UP) produces most of the best bird's eye in the country.  Because it's fairly easy to identify bird's eye logs by peeling off a bit of bark, almost all the good stuff gets sent to Japan to be cut into veneer.  The stuff is sliced at about 75 slices to the inch.  Prices for top quality bird's eye veneer logs are staggeringly high which is why most of it doesn't get cut into lumber, let alone 12/4 lumber.  As for prices, I suppose that depends on who you are and who turns their head the other direction when a log is pulled so the veneer buyers don't get it.  I can't imagine that a great bird's eye 12/4 plank with proper grain flow for a longrifle would sell for less than $1,500.

Tom

[Jim Chambers]

Tom,
Thanks for the info.  I'll have Barbie check with the customer to make sure he knows the cost of getting a piece of birdseye.  The one piece I has several years ago came from Germany.  Unfortunately, both were so thin the only gun we could get out of the two pieces were either TN rifles or Peter Berry guns.

[t.caster]

Jim/Barbie, Looking for something rare like this?

I'm down to one piece that is a combo stripe and birdseye-a big fullstock 2 1/2"thick, I think it is 1/4 sawn as well. Maybe we could work out a trade. I don't have pics, but I can get some this weekend if interested.
I am not suprised no one else has stepped up with any, they probably don't want to part with it. Hard to come by these days.

[Blackpowder Barbie]

"Humm - OK, I'll take a 5' 0" to 5' 5" chestnut brown hair lass with a bright smile, kind heart, and BIG T -- ah toes - yea -toes   !!!"

Funny you should ask... I have a best friend who is all of 5'2" chestnut brown hair, with a great smile, very kind heart, and Big T--yeh, and the other side matches... However I'm pretty protective over her since she's the closest thing to a sister I've got!  I may need to make up an application to be filled out before this goes any further!!  HaHa!

As for the birds eye I need its for a pistol so not a huge piece is needed...  I'd say a blank 22" x 8" x 3" should be more than enough... Any idea of price for a small piece like this?

[t.caster]

Hmmmm, 22" x 8' x 3"? Either this pistol is for Paul Bunyon (a Yooper btw) or your carver has a serious material scrap issue!!!