wilke machinery

tod evans

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i was poking around over at smc a while ago:eek: ......and saw where a thread had been started about wilke going out of business.......so i called and spoke to curt....they`re going to stop importing both the bridgewood and yorkcraft lines of equipment. they will continue to provide service for all machines currently in operation. apparently some sort of impass was reached with the overseas manufacturers that couldn`t be overcome......
 
Tod,

Do you know if Wilke owns/owned the names, and so those brands will not be available...or were they just the importer, and the names could show up on equipment imported by someone else?

Seemed like good stuff, and a good company, from what I had read in the past.:dunno:
 
I was bummed to see this as well. :( Tod, thanks for the clarity after your conversation with them - I didn't get that on the thread you mentioned seeing. I've had an order pending with them for about a month for an 8" Yorkcraft jointer that was supposed to be backordered. I put an email into them and hopefully they will respond with some more information that I can post which might be helpful to others in a similar situation. Meanwhile, I guess I'll start looking around again for a different new jointer. :dunno:
 
i was poking around over at smc a while ago:eek:


Your still allowed over there?? Man I must be really bad then! :rolleyes:

......and saw where a thread had been started about wilke going out of business.......they will continue to provide service for all machines currently in operation. ......

Wonder how long that will last? Unless they have something else going on I can't see staying in business doing service.

Jeff
SMC bad boy :rofl:
 
That's to bad. I only have one tool from Wilke and for the money it was by far the best deal on the market. Their customer service, for me at least, was excellent. The guys that have equipment on order now will probably not agree.
 
Your still allowed over there?? Man I must be really bad then! :rolleyes:


Jeff
SMC bad boy :rofl:


jeff, i haven`t logged on to smc in months! not since i was invited to dance....if i`m bored and fww is slow sometimes i`ll go read as a guest, but you can bet your hiney i won`t be contributing to their intelectual content again!;)
 
Tod,

Do you know if Wilke owns/owned the names, and so those brands will not be available...or were they just the importer, and the names could show up on equipment imported by someone else?

Seemed like good stuff, and a good company, from what I had read in the past.:dunno:

greg, it`s my understanding that wilke owned both names? but i do not know this for a fact....and yes they have had a good reputation for service as well as product and curt told me they plan on continuing with the service side of the business.....
 
I was bummed to see this as well. :( Tod, thanks for the clarity after your conversation with them - I didn't get that on the thread you mentioned seeing. I've had an order pending with them for about a month for an 8" Yorkcraft jointer that was supposed to be backordered. I put an email into them and hopefully they will respond with some more information that I can post which might be helpful to others in a similar situation. Meanwhile, I guess I'll start looking around again for a different new jointer. :dunno:

tim, call them! phones are the next best thing to face to face! computers are very inpersonable especially for business;)
 
Darn. I have their 6" jointer, and drove up to their offices to pick it up. Nice place, nice people: the one time I had a little problem they solved it right away.

The jointer was a great deal for me... I guess it was a little too good, if they're getting out of that business. Oh, well... so it goes...

Thanks,

Bill
 
tim, call them! phones are the next best thing to face to face! computers are very inpersonable especially for business;)

Tod - you are absolutely right. I agree with you and often say that same type of thing but still sometimes get caught up in the 'e' world. In my line of work I'm afraid everything is done in email so it's easy to default to that.

Anyway, I called them and it turns out that my order had already been taken out of the system and they didn't have anything pending for me so that's why I had not been notified. I did get an email just after placing the order and was told the item was backordered but I guess that meant that it got cancelled out of the system or something. Seems like a process error more than a person error. At the end of the day it doesn't matter, they told me today that no more Yorkcraft jointers will be imported so I'm off to find another option for an 8" jointer - albeit a little disapointed.

As Tod said, they told me that they will stay in business doing service, support, and selling accessories so, for those of you who own their stuff, hopefully you'll be covered for a long while. If you, like me, were hoping for a machine to be shipped, start shopping!

In a final word, I certainly feel bad that this didn't work out for them - they seemed to have a great mix of service, value, and quality. Although I never quite got to be a customer, it looks like they will be missed in the landscape of equipment vendors.
 
Having been in both the old building and the new one I can't see how they can keep that huge building open on service and parts but maybe they will move or rent out a chunk of it. They will be missed by the locals for sure. They used to have a fair stock of 3 phase motors they had swapped out for 1 phase or air for the local trade.

I will have to drop by and see what they are doing with all the space...
Garry
 
I saw the post over at SMC as well. Naturally, one thing leads to another - I went over to their web site and noticed they had some eBay auctions. So I went over to eBay and looked at the auctions . . .
I drove over today and picked up my new patternmaker's vise (Taiwanese clone) - $87 plus tax.:thumb:
So I guess the SMC rant about them closing worked in my favor!:D

I am sad to see them go, but I suspect with the automation and consolidation going on in the cabinet business (there used to be a lot more manufacturers in our area) has hurt Wilke. They are good people, and I wish them well.

Wes
 

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