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Sharpening Service at Chippaway

This is the mail I sent to Cindy at Chippaway after my 6 chisels were returned to me.  I have included a picture to show the veracity of my comments.
Cindy-  Here's a little feedback:  The macaroni tool won't cut hot butter or pine.  One side was left with a hawksbeak or hook. A couple of the V-Chisels don't cut either.  Your website advertises 3-6 dollars per tool, yet you started out telling me it was $9/chisel.  The 2Cherries v tool was shortened by at least an inch and was not damaged when it was sent to you to be sharpened.  Your service was nothing short of "Bait and Switch" on the pricing with the end results less than professional.  I wouldn't recommend your company to anyone.
Clovis Davis
Owens Cross Roads, Alabama
Charles Hubbard has reacted to this post.
Charles Hubbard

Dear Clovis and other readers of the forum,

Chipping Away has been providing the service of sharpening to our customers for years. Most of the sharpening we have done has been for local customers who come here to our store. Earlier this year we decided to offer this service to customer abroad. We felt the best way to ensure the tools were worth the time and customer’s investment was to request pictures and lists of the tools being sent. If a tool is of poor quality or damaged through poor grinding practices when we get it there is not much we can do to salvage what’s left. Knowing the age of the tool and brand is also helpful. This allows us to provide an approximate quote for service before the tools arrive here. If you recall when we spoke on the phone I requested you send me pictures by email which you did not follow through on. You simply said and I quote “the tools are Henry Taylors, Bucks and  2 Cherries”. No further information was provided. You never indicated that you would be sending a macaroni tool (had you mention this my reply would have been do not send that one to us). When the package arrived here I called you by telephone to tell you that the macaroni was a very difficult tool to sharpen and you got upset, my reply was we would attempt it but the cost would be $9 per tool due to the complexity and the condition the tools were in.  Your manner on the phone was rude and abrupt I offered to send the tools back untouched. In conclusion you provided credit card details and instruction to go ahead.

Brian in our shop worked hard to resurface the tools you sent, they were all sharpened and polished professionally. The macaroni was worked on by hand with ceramic stones and a honing/buffing wheel. We both tested this tool on basswood and it cut the bass, it was sharp. We also had all other tools carving basswood beautifully. Your claim that we ground an inch off one tool is untrue. Brian has been a carver for 15 years and worked here for us for 4 years. He has spent his lifetime working with his hands and knows his way around a shop. I’m afraid I saw this coming with you Clovis, you were difficult and did not follow instructions right from the beginning…. All of this is detailed on our website which is where you learned of this service in the first place. You have expressed your disappointment in our service and that is o.k. because I have gone through our records to find that you have never been a customer up until this point. I would like readers to know that we only charged you $6 per tool to sharpen the tools after your display of anger on the phone. We have learned a valuable lesson here and moving forward this experience has made us change how we handle sharpening tools for other customers.     I have attached a file images of the tools you sent us prior to sharpening them.

Uploaded files:
  • Clovis.jpg
Charles Hubbard has reacted to this post.
Charles Hubbard