Post by Scott STB Mathews on Dec 23, 2010 17:57:25 GMT -5
I guess the best way to start this thread is with two words…Wow and Unbelievable.
I wanted to reply to several comments made by all parties but the more I read the more I couldn’t believe the depths some people were willing to lower themselves too.
I believe that after all the pages and pages of defamatory comments my response is due.
To start at the beginning, I built 5 armwrestling table frames at one time and normally I send them out to be sandblasted before I powder coat them. The sandblast guy was down that week so he sent them thru a wheelabrator to clean the steel. For those of you not familiar with a wheelabrator it is a big machine with a conveyor belt running thru it and your metal parts get shot with millions of tiny bbs from all angles. When I got these frames back from the powder coaters and was pre-assembling them as I always do to make sure things fit, I noticed that the threads were tight. I chased the threads with a die cutter to clean them and shipped them out. 3 of these went to Dante in Canada and 1 went to Worlds in Nevada. I have built several tables and have never had any problems like that before. When Dante called me and told me the table was wobbly I didn’t understand how that could be because I had never heard that before, in fact just the opposite. Dante said he was going to send them back and didn’t want them, He asked if I was going to send him his money back and I said that I really wanted to see the tables first and see what was wrong with them before I made that decision, but that I would be more than fair with him. From that point the phone conversation changed direction to Dante informing me that the frame design was all wrong and they should be built completely different.
The rest of the conversation was not one of the proudest moments for either of us I am sure. I told Dante I would call him, a couple of days later the Northeastboard lit up.
After World’s in Nevada was over I spoke with Bill Collins about the table I had down there and he told what had happened to it. So now let’s talk a bit about that one.
That frame was one of the 5 and I now know what happened to that 5 because of what Bill explained to me and my own testing in my shop to duplicate the issue.
The 5 tables that were thread damaged were fixed by chasing the threads to clean them up. What occurred that I did not realize is that when I chased those threads it undersized them just enough so that when they are tightened up, they will not stay tight. They loosen up under use and when that frame loosens up the frame gets wobbly and if they are not retightened the legs will flex the welded studs at the top and cause them to fail (break). That is what happened to the World’s table. Dantes tables will do the same if he continues to use them loose . The graphics on the world’s table looked awesome, what I used was a strong scrim re-enforced vinyl banner material that I had printed. The graphics guy assured me that the colors would not rub off especially if I sprayed clear coat lacquer over the top and I did. As we all know now the black rubbed off as did the red on the elbow pads. Lesson learned, I won’t use that again.
Because of this issue, I have gone back to the drawing board with the design of the table frames and I believe I have designed a new frame that looks the same as the old one but will be much stronger and will eliminate the chance of any flex or loosening of threads. The original frame design is clean, smooth and comfortable for the competitor because of the round legs. My design is very similar to the Igor Mazurenko table which is IMO the best table in the world.
I am producing this new frame design now and will be testing it at a large practice the first week of January with the biggest armwrestlers in our area to prove that it’s solid and unbreakable.
Now that I know that the table frames structural integrity was compromised I need to make it right by Dante in Canada and I will do just that. As soon as I know the new frame is a winner I will build 3 of them and ship them to Dante free of charge so that he has what he expected in the first place and that is three tables that he can be confident will stand up to the best in the world. I do stand behind my work and I will always make it right.
At this point I think I have explained what the problems were, how they occurred and how I plan to correct them both with the table frames and the customer. So that just leaves a couple of other things I would like to say…. There are a handful of you on here that made some very derogatory comments and to those people I say this: I have a lot of opinions myself about a lot of issues, but I never speak until I have educated myself in regard to what I am speaking about otherwise I just look like an idiot. To Frank Hirst all I can say is that I would have thought that as a man, fellow fabricator and builder of tables, you would have kept quiet, at least that’s what I would have done if the role were reversed out of respect for you but you decided to jump on the pile and offer up a $150 discount off one of your tables to anyone who would send you an STB table….that’s Low Class Frank. I have always been a supporter of yours even though I am not a fan of your tables I still had respect for you as a builder and competitor. Frank you did say one thing that I agree with and that is that a person can build the toughest table in the world that cannot be torn up but no one could afford to buy it or afford to ship it anywhere.
To those of you who offered words of support for me on here I thank you more than I can say and I will continue to do my best to earn your support and friendship.
From this point forward I will let my tables do the talking. The improvements will be made and they will become true world class tables able to withstand the world’s best armwrestlers (for more than one week). STB tables were approved this year in Nevada at World’s as Approved Official tables of the WAF. The “Approved” part simply means that all the dimensions and specs were correct but the second part and most important is the “Official” part. That took place after the referee panel “Approved” the table. It was then wheeled into the WAF Congress meeting that night where all member nations of the WAF voted to make my table an “Official” table. There is a difference between Approved and Official, No other table in the world other than Igor Mazurenkos has been made “Official” so that is a huge personal accomplishment for me after only building tables for 2 years. Now with that said I need to prove that I deserve that recognition and I fully intend to do just that. This situation will only make me stronger and fuels my internal fire to build the best table in the world.
Merry Christmas to all of you and I wish almost all of you a better 2011.
I wanted to reply to several comments made by all parties but the more I read the more I couldn’t believe the depths some people were willing to lower themselves too.
I believe that after all the pages and pages of defamatory comments my response is due.
To start at the beginning, I built 5 armwrestling table frames at one time and normally I send them out to be sandblasted before I powder coat them. The sandblast guy was down that week so he sent them thru a wheelabrator to clean the steel. For those of you not familiar with a wheelabrator it is a big machine with a conveyor belt running thru it and your metal parts get shot with millions of tiny bbs from all angles. When I got these frames back from the powder coaters and was pre-assembling them as I always do to make sure things fit, I noticed that the threads were tight. I chased the threads with a die cutter to clean them and shipped them out. 3 of these went to Dante in Canada and 1 went to Worlds in Nevada. I have built several tables and have never had any problems like that before. When Dante called me and told me the table was wobbly I didn’t understand how that could be because I had never heard that before, in fact just the opposite. Dante said he was going to send them back and didn’t want them, He asked if I was going to send him his money back and I said that I really wanted to see the tables first and see what was wrong with them before I made that decision, but that I would be more than fair with him. From that point the phone conversation changed direction to Dante informing me that the frame design was all wrong and they should be built completely different.
The rest of the conversation was not one of the proudest moments for either of us I am sure. I told Dante I would call him, a couple of days later the Northeastboard lit up.
After World’s in Nevada was over I spoke with Bill Collins about the table I had down there and he told what had happened to it. So now let’s talk a bit about that one.
That frame was one of the 5 and I now know what happened to that 5 because of what Bill explained to me and my own testing in my shop to duplicate the issue.
The 5 tables that were thread damaged were fixed by chasing the threads to clean them up. What occurred that I did not realize is that when I chased those threads it undersized them just enough so that when they are tightened up, they will not stay tight. They loosen up under use and when that frame loosens up the frame gets wobbly and if they are not retightened the legs will flex the welded studs at the top and cause them to fail (break). That is what happened to the World’s table. Dantes tables will do the same if he continues to use them loose . The graphics on the world’s table looked awesome, what I used was a strong scrim re-enforced vinyl banner material that I had printed. The graphics guy assured me that the colors would not rub off especially if I sprayed clear coat lacquer over the top and I did. As we all know now the black rubbed off as did the red on the elbow pads. Lesson learned, I won’t use that again.
Because of this issue, I have gone back to the drawing board with the design of the table frames and I believe I have designed a new frame that looks the same as the old one but will be much stronger and will eliminate the chance of any flex or loosening of threads. The original frame design is clean, smooth and comfortable for the competitor because of the round legs. My design is very similar to the Igor Mazurenko table which is IMO the best table in the world.
I am producing this new frame design now and will be testing it at a large practice the first week of January with the biggest armwrestlers in our area to prove that it’s solid and unbreakable.
Now that I know that the table frames structural integrity was compromised I need to make it right by Dante in Canada and I will do just that. As soon as I know the new frame is a winner I will build 3 of them and ship them to Dante free of charge so that he has what he expected in the first place and that is three tables that he can be confident will stand up to the best in the world. I do stand behind my work and I will always make it right.
At this point I think I have explained what the problems were, how they occurred and how I plan to correct them both with the table frames and the customer. So that just leaves a couple of other things I would like to say…. There are a handful of you on here that made some very derogatory comments and to those people I say this: I have a lot of opinions myself about a lot of issues, but I never speak until I have educated myself in regard to what I am speaking about otherwise I just look like an idiot. To Frank Hirst all I can say is that I would have thought that as a man, fellow fabricator and builder of tables, you would have kept quiet, at least that’s what I would have done if the role were reversed out of respect for you but you decided to jump on the pile and offer up a $150 discount off one of your tables to anyone who would send you an STB table….that’s Low Class Frank. I have always been a supporter of yours even though I am not a fan of your tables I still had respect for you as a builder and competitor. Frank you did say one thing that I agree with and that is that a person can build the toughest table in the world that cannot be torn up but no one could afford to buy it or afford to ship it anywhere.
To those of you who offered words of support for me on here I thank you more than I can say and I will continue to do my best to earn your support and friendship.
From this point forward I will let my tables do the talking. The improvements will be made and they will become true world class tables able to withstand the world’s best armwrestlers (for more than one week). STB tables were approved this year in Nevada at World’s as Approved Official tables of the WAF. The “Approved” part simply means that all the dimensions and specs were correct but the second part and most important is the “Official” part. That took place after the referee panel “Approved” the table. It was then wheeled into the WAF Congress meeting that night where all member nations of the WAF voted to make my table an “Official” table. There is a difference between Approved and Official, No other table in the world other than Igor Mazurenkos has been made “Official” so that is a huge personal accomplishment for me after only building tables for 2 years. Now with that said I need to prove that I deserve that recognition and I fully intend to do just that. This situation will only make me stronger and fuels my internal fire to build the best table in the world.
Merry Christmas to all of you and I wish almost all of you a better 2011.
