Saturday, December 06, 2008

Sincerest form of flattery

Now is it me, or is there a certain amount of déjà vu going on in the plane world at the mo'? The new Stanley planes I think I've already muttered about - Chris Schwarz does it better here. But I think these offerings recently spotted in the Tilgear Winter Offers flyer may be new to anyone outside Tilgear's very limited ken. i.e. Most of the known world.


Look at all familiar to you? There's more (prices plus VAT, whatever percentage that is this week):


Well, well, well, sez I to myself when I saw them. China? Or India? Place your bets. Now you could argue that LN wasn't entirely guiltless concerning a certain amount of flattery in reproducing the Stanley originals in the first place (them and a few dozen others over the years!), but this is extracting the Michael to a ridiculous degree. If I was within reach of Tilgear's emporium, I'd be over there in a trice to take a look and ask some searching questions; I imagine the quality of castings, machining and so forth is sadly lacking at those prices... The really worrying thing is how many unscrupulous dealers (probably on de 'bay) will employ some economy with the truth in order to try and pass off these low cost copies as the Real Deal - and how many people will get taken in. It'll certainly add an extra requirement for caution when looking for secondhand LN bargains. You have been warned.

ETA: On more careful examination, the edge plane seems to be rather more Veritas than LN. That's nice; good to know these rip-off merchants are pursuing an equal opportunities policy... :-/

11 comments:

  1. I must admit I wondered if TLN was offloading some seconds.

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  2. Al,

    Excellent scoop. I've heard these were coming, but this is the first evidence of them on the market.

    Chris

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  3. Though the basic intent is clear by context, can those of us limited by American English get an explanation of "extracting the Michael"? As to those planes I suppose they will land on the wrong side of the line dividing counterfeit from omage? Good thing, actually...

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  4. Extracting the Michael - taking the mickey. Making a mockery of something; in this case someone else's hard work in establishing a brand.

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  5. Well said Alf, you make it so obvious...
    Robert's your avuncular relation.

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  6. I spoke to John Tilbrook at Tilgear and he explained that the Grant planes are being manufactured in the Far East exclusively for his company. Some readers may not know that Tilgear was the original UK agent for LN.

    Tilgear are good people to deal with. However, their web site (www.tilgear.info) only contains details of how to order a CD-ROM catalogue; there isn't a full list of their stock. That may be one reason why the company seems to be largely unknown outside the woodworking trade and the educational community.

    Kevin

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  7. Thanks for that additional information, Kevin. I wonder just how exclusive they'll really be, moral boundaries and legalities evidently not being an issue with the manufacturer...

    As for the crack about Tilgear's anonymity, I fear I was indulging in a running joke of long duration.

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  8. A joke of long duration is right. It's a shame that Tilgear's talent for point of sale marketing (which visitors to their shop will have seen) hasn't been applied to the creation of a useful web site. Perhaps they're busy looking after all those trade and educational customers ...

    Kevin

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  9. I was rather shocked to see these in Tilgears latest pamphlet. I'm also surprised to hear that these copies are being manufactured specially for Tilgear - I was under the impression that Tilgear operated in the (bizarre)manner they do down to their strong religious beliefs. Surely stealing current designs from two of the largest modern-day tool makers and copying them is way, way over the line?
    Mr Robin Lee has some stern comments on this over at UK Workshop.
    Philly

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  10. Is Tilgear violating patent or copyright protections?

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  11. Woodcraft in the US is introducing a very similar line of planes under the Wood River name. Primary difference from the Grant planes seems to be a "silver" rather than "bronze" colored lever cap. Perhaps they wanted to avoid any confusion with Lie-Nielsen planes.

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