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Initial Material Purchase


rnbraud

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Ok, I am diving in and will be placing my initial material order tomorrow or this weekend. I will be purchasing materials for Chaps 4-7.

 

I checked both AS&S and Wicks and to my surprise Wicks comes out $125 more than AS&S for the same material!

 

Now I am aware of past posting concerning customer service from AS&S and the consensus was that Wicks was better at it but possibly AS&S was improving.

 

Does anyone know why there is such a difference in price? It isn't much, but still almost the price of a Fein! Is Wicks materials of better quality?

 

I know this has been discussed and will probably lead to a mini flame war, but I am just curious about such a discrepancy on the same material.

 

Thanks.

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Congratulations on reaching this milestone!

 

I was told to purchase the first chapters (4-7) from Wicks by a handful of people, because you just don't need your first order being wrong. I'll never know if AS&S would have gotten it right, but I did have a minor problem with Wicks -- the firewall wood was warped and Wicks was advising me on how to unwarp it. I talked about that in this thread.

 

Aside from that my Wicks order was well-done. There's a bunch of conversation about the two companies in the Vendor Info & Feedback section here.

 

Since that order I have ordered several things from AS&S, most of which had gone well. Only exceptions were:

  • Bent flight plotter, which was replaced at no cost (they let me keep the bent one, which I donated to the flight school)
  • I ordered a gift certificate and was added a 'freight' charge (I still have to complain about this)
AS&S does everything they need to make your order right, even if they might happen to make a mistake now and then. I have no idea what they were like in the past, but at this point they seem fairly consistent.

Jon Matcho :busy:
Builder & Canard Zone Admin
Now:  Rebuilding Quickie Tri-Q200 N479E
Next:  Resume building a Cozy Mark IV

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Congratulations on reaching this milestone!

 

I have no idea what they were like in the past, but at this point they seem fairly consistent.

Over the past 20 or so years, I have done business with both ACS, Wicks and other independant suppiers of things aeronautical. I have found ACS and spruce to be about equal in order accuracy and packing ability, that is to say, reasonably good and willing to correct errors that happen.

 

I have found that there are minor differences in the stock they each carry, for example Triaxial cloth is unavailable or unfindable in the catalog from ACS but is listed at Wicks.

 

My experience has been that I find ACS order takers more knowledgable and professional than their counterparts at Wicks, and thus prefer to deal with them. They are less folksy, however. Ocassionally you will get an order taker that had an argument with a spouse, and you will be the recipient of "bad Karma".

 

I find the wicks people more willing to help you save shipping money by suggesting the best way to cut large articles to avoid over size charges.

 

 

At OSH this year, when looking for wheels and brakes, armed with stock numbers and actual product brochures from matco, I approached the Wicks Booth to get a quote. I was met by a charming young (of course most people are now young to me) lady who with a blank stare looked at me and after looking through various books that she had there, including their catalog, wrote the Wicks number on a business card and suggested that I call a specific person there.She was unable to help me nor was she able to get the information from home office. Strange that this should happen at the premier airshow for their client base... :(

 

I then went to ACS, gave them the same number, and in a matter of minutes, since some conversion had to be done, got a quote and ordered the set on the spot. Unfortunately, I was not surprised by the difference between the two operations.

 

I still deal with both, however my inclination is toward ACS, if they carry the item.

 

Since I live in Illinois, the increased shipping is usually offset by the savings in tax.

I Canardly contain myself!

Rich :D

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  • 4 weeks later...

Well I have gotten around to unpacking my fiberglass cloth for the initial bulkhead construction and am a lil perplexed.

 

When I removed the protective plastic wrap and butcher paper from the UNI roll, I noticed the edges were really frayed. Like about 1 to 2 inches of the ends were frayed. Is this normal?

 

Initially, I was surprised the rolls of fiberglass were shipped wrapped in butcher paper an just placed in a plastic bag. They arrived all "shifted" to the end of the roll. I was kinda expecting them to be delivered ina box similar to the way the peel ply was delivered from another company. Didn't think much of it, but now that I have unpacked them just seems odd the ends are all frayed.

 

Oh well, live and learn.

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...butcher paper...

If it's waxed butcher paper, you need to send it back.

 

...I noticed the edges were really frayed. Like about 1 to 2 inches of the ends were frayed. Is this normal?

I don't know if it's normal, but I wouldn't be at all happy with it. Call to send it back and be sure that you don't have to pay the shipping. Alternatively, you can just take a discount on this roll towards your next order, but you might want to get a proper-sized roll at some point as you'll be needing to throw away the frayed edges -- I would NOT want them included in my layups.

 

Initially, I was surprised the rolls of fiberglass were shipped wrapped in butcher paper an just placed in a plastic bag. They arrived all "shifted" to the end of the roll.

I received mine like this from Wicks, but without the shifting.

 

What vendor is the culprit this time? If it's AS&S, one thing I can say is that they've always made good to correct any mistakes they've made with my orders and would expect the same in your case.

Jon Matcho :busy:
Builder & Canard Zone Admin
Now:  Rebuilding Quickie Tri-Q200 N479E
Next:  Resume building a Cozy Mark IV

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Nope, the butcher paper isn't waxed. I hadn't thought of that one, thanks.

 

Yes it was AS&S, but I am still okay with what I have experienced so far. I unrolled about 3 yards last night for my first layup, and the fraying got better as I got into the rolll. I haven't unwrapped my BID yet, but hope it is ok.

 

Goog to know about Wick's cloth packaging. I would have thought a box would have been better, but I guess the plastic bag and paper is ok then.

 

I don't think I will return the stuff since it is getting better as I get deeper into the roll.

 

Thanks for the insight.

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