This rant for quality all starts with cheap underwear.
I was shopping at a low-cost box store with my wife and stumbled upon a three-pack of boxers for under $5. I couldn’t resist. I didn’t consider the brand or where it was manufactured … all I knew was they had my size and it was cheap, so I forked over the cash.
I soon discovered the downside to cheap things. When I washed the boxers, the elastic band unraveled. I never wore the $5 boxers for one lousy day!
My wife and I eventually bought several pairs of higher quality boxers. That was three years ago and I still have them today.
What is the lesson of this rant? Buy quality! We’ve all heard the sage advice – you get what you pay for.
K.O. Lee Expanding Mandrels are quality and cost-effective to boot. Last July, we ran a post on how K.O. Lee Expanding Mandrels reduce cost due to their wider range of expansion.
Here is a hypothetical case study:
Suppose we have Company A. They supply the automotive companies with parts. Company A is filling an order for engine parts. One of Company A’s machinists needs to create a cylinder sleeve 4” in diameter for the cylinder block. The machinist is machining the sleeve on a LeBlond RKL-1560V EVS manual lathe along with a KM5C, the part number for a K.O. Lee complete Expanding Mandrel (arbor and sleeve) that has a range of expansion from 3 ¼ – 4” (82.55 – 101.6mm).
The machinist is turning the outside diameter of the piston sleeve to the specs of his supplier by using the K.O. Lee KM5C mandrel (arbor and sleeve). This will save time on setup and the machining of the part on the lathe.
You can replace 3-4 mandrels with the one KM5C cited above. I went online last week and discovered that mandrels in the KM5C’s size range go for over a $100 a piece. That’s around $400 when compared to one K.O. Lee Expanding Mandrel!
So buy quality and save money, and also, stay away from cheap underwear …
Don’t miss our K.O. Lee Expanding Mandrels promotion until September 30, 2014. To order new Expanding Mandrels, call Aaron at LeBlond Ltd. at (888) 532-5663 Ext. 202. If you’re interested in new LeBlond manual lathes, K.O. Lee grinders or need original OEM parts for LeBlond, K.O. Lee, Standard Modern, Johnson Press, Deka Drill and W.F. & John Barnes equipment, call (888) 532-5663.