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I'm kind of surprised that no one has attempted to market a 'similar' machine that would use similar or the same tooling. I would expect that Eckold would fly in half the lawyers in Europe and litigate the hell out of anyone who attempted.
This was the primary reason that Joe Hartson and I spent so much time, money, and energy coming up with a group design that could be built by someone with a decent shop...similar to the group design thumbnail machine. It was never our intent to build a machine for sale or design a machine that someone would rip off the design and steal...as a now banned member attempted to do with the thumbnail machine. We got the designs done (Joe's is a bit different from mine because Joe is a REAL machinist and I'm not.) We even have the eccentric and connecting rods made and the shafts and bearings purchased. We even got the female tool holders with magnets and ball indents made. That is where we stalled. There was little interest outside of the two of us and I have two Eckolds already so it was just a 'just to prove we could' project and we lost interest. Here is a link to the design thread. http://allmetalshaping.com/showthread.php?t=10575 A good scrounger with some machining skills and a source for some 1" plate could pick this design up and make one pretty cheap. BUT, the real reason that the group lost interest is that, ultimately, the cost of the tooling is going to cost you several thousand dollars CASH MONEY to Eckold...assuming they don't shut down the sale of bare tooling unless you own one of their machines. One of their folks is a member here. I don't think they have been active recently but if word got out they might start digging. That is why they can't be made 'for sale'.
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Kerry Pinkerton |
#12
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The knockoffs or copies will eventually happen, the only question is if it’s here or China. I’m pretty sure once the patents are used up time wise there’s not much the lawyers can do about it . ~ John Buchtenkirch
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John |
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I've seen Chinese copies, but that was some years ago and they've disappeared. I'm visiting the Eckold factory in two weeks and will ask about those.
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Bill Longyard Winston-Salem, NC |
#14
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I just had a look on Mach4Metal web site and they are also selling all the tooling of individually.
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Hartmut Eckold told me last week that they do NOT litigate against the Chinese who try to pirate their machines because it is too expensive, and there really is no Chinese "legal system".
He said that all the Chinese copies of Eckold machines broke very quickly because of the poor quality of the case castings, and that all the Chinese aviation repair facilities now use genuine Eckold machines for mostly straightening panels after heat treating. While I was at the factory I saw four machines crated and about to be shipped to a Russian airlines. IMG_9047.jpg IMG_9046.jpg
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Bill Longyard Winston-Salem, NC |
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