Enco Tools

[firbikrhd1]

I always like to give credit where credit is due. We always seem to hear the worst about things, maybe because we are most negatively affected by them. Well, this is a different story....
Last week I ordered a Bison Chuck from Enco Tools as a gift for my Dad and at the time asked if there were any upcoming sale prices for it. The salesman said no, but, I made the purchase anyway. As luck would have it, today I received the new Enco Hot Deals catalog and there is the chuck, on sale! A call to Enco and within a couple of minutes they agreed to credit my account for the difference, no problem. Nice to do business with companies like that! Also nice to be able to write something positive about things.

[jfsmith]

I have good luck with Enco, just don't ask any really indepth technical questions, they are order takers.

I bought the Bison 5 inch chuck and it works like a dream on my 7 x 10.

Jerry

[Oso]

Well, everything I bought from them they have gotten back again, so it was a net loss to me for postage.

Last thing was a height gage, which was trash, parts of it looked like it had been filed out by a half-blind moron.

That was basically the problem with other stuff too.

If you buy a name brand from them, you are likely OK. The stuff I bought apparently was "Enco" brand, and I won't do that again.

I have had to send stuff back to other places too, but some of them credited the postage. Enco didn't.

[brunneng]

I saw where Bison is coming out with a 4" 5C collet chuck. I have the 5" but the 4" would be a better fit for my 7x12. Just waiting.

[Thrud]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by brunneng:
I saw where Bison is coming out with a 4" 5C collet chuck. I have the 5" but the 4" would be a better fit for my 7x12. Just waiting.</font>

Yes, my nipples are getting hard just thinking about it...

[brunneng]

Actually I can say I've only had one bad enco experience. It was in ordering the heavy duty mill-drill table. X-Y and advertised as 0.1" per rev on the dials - nope - metric. I complained and never did get any response from them but I see that in every ad since that they took out the 0.1" per rev line.

Otherwise I've had good luck. If it's not a name brand part I don't expect it to be cherry. Except for the $20 calipers and the import 1-2-3 blocks, they always seem to be great.
I got a good discount on the 5" bison collet chuck from them. About $30 cheaper than brass and tool and hey, it's a bison.

[This message has been edited by brunneng (edited 07-31-2003).]

[Pete Burne]

I have bought from ENCO, but VERY carefully,
and am quite satisfied.

I bought a Bison 8" Set Tru chuck and a Phase II wedge tool post holder. Both products are great and at at great price (on sale). Don't buy ENCO junk. Stick with name brands.

Pete

[CCWKen]

Speaking of Bison, is that the Polish stuf? I've got two chucks. One is a Bison, one is a Poland. They are both identical except for 3-jaw/4-jaw. What up wit dat?

[Thrud]

Bison is made in Poland, but that does not mean your chuck is a Bison - it could also be TOS or some other lesser known brand. I buy Polish tools (like Bison) and am very pleased with their qaulity. My Bison Carbide tipped centers are just as good as Riten Carbide tipped centers for 1/20 the price...

Bison proudly engraves their name or has a badge on the face of the chuck (Like Pratt-Burnard) proclaiming its heritage. The forged steel units are hand inspected (or at least mine were) - they are also serial numbered.

[This message has been edited by Thrud (edited 08-01-2003).]

[kenc]

The Bison 5C chuck I bought was disappointing in one important way. The recess in the back was *not* round. Mine was elliptical by a couple of thou or so (I forget exactly how much but it wasn't good).
It was a pain to have to machine the backplate to the minor diameter then indicate the whole assembly in and then pin the two together. I suppose if I had paid the extra $100 for the ajust-tru version it wouldn't have mattered.

[This message has been edited by kenc (edited 08-01-2003).]

[Cass]

Ordered 24 2000 lb capacity machine leveling mounts from ENCO. The catalog listed them as having a 3/4"-10 thread on the stud. Looked at them yesterday and they are 16mm studs, not 3/4" and not 10 thds per inch. I called and was told that is a catalog error. These mounts cost $15/each. The ones with 3/4-10 thd cost $60/each and are higher capacity. I was shorted one stud assembly. ENCO is sending me an additional stud at no cost. I am not really disappointed with them but all the holes in the machine are 3/4" diameter so now I have more clearance than I would like. Making 24 bushings is an extra expense but sending the mounts back and getting something else is a higher cost. Mounts are made by some company called Mason Industries but they look like some in the MSC catalog that are made in Spain. I am generally satisfied with ENCO. The only thing they sell that is really junk is the stuff made in India I think. If they labeled it as made in India they couldn't sell it so I tend to call them and ask where stuff is made, sometimes they tell you.

[Oso]

Their chinese stuff varies from reasonable to trash. Most of the stuff I got from them that went back was chinese.

The one thing I didn't send back was from India. (boring bar)