"Toolstation Taunton opens for business to the trade and public on Monday 25th March. Located inside Wickes Extra on Priory Fields, this latest Sales Counter offers customers ease of access and ample parking."

Er.. Why would wickes want a competitor trading in their store?

Jim K

Jim K wrote:

"Toolstation Taunton opens for business to the trade and public on Monday 25th March. Located inside Wickes Extra on Priory Fields, this latest Sales Counter offers customers ease of access and ample parking."

Er.. Why would wickes want a competitor trading in their store?

Travis Perkins owns Wickes and Toolstation

Travis Perkins owns Wickes and Toolstation

Yers.. So still - why would you?

That wickes is an "extra" one with even more stuff than a normal one... So who's going to point out the price differentials on all the overlapping products?

Jim K

In article ,
Jim K wrote:
"Toolstation Taunton opens for business to the trade and public on Monday
25th March. Located inside Wickes Extra on Priory Fields, this latest
Sales Counter offers customers ease of access and ample parking."

Er.. Why would wickes want a competitor trading in their store?

both firms are owned by Travis Perkins

--
From KT24

Using a RISC OS computer running v5.18

Jim K wrote:

Travis Perkins owns Wickes and Toolstation

Yers.. So still - why would you?

Presumably TP think the TS brand needs a bit more "presence" but want to
do it without buying/renting separate premises, why would they care
which till the money goes in, it's all the same group?

On Mon, 25 Mar 2013 08:36:40 +0000, Andy Burns wrote:

Travis Perkins owns Wickes and Toolstation

Yers.. So still - why would you?

Presumably TP think the TS brand needs a bit more "presence" but want
to do it without buying/renting separate premises, why would they care
which till the money goes in, it's all the same group?

And it'll make shelf space in Wickes for picture frames, dried flowers
and cushions, to compete with Homebase and B&Q.

--
Cheers
Dave.

They may well be going to rebrand the items and keep them separate so people
identify the items 2with the brand.

Brian

--
From the Sofa of Brian Gaff Reply address is active
"Jim K" wrote in message
...
Travis Perkins owns Wickes and Toolstation

Yers.. So still - why would you?

That wickes is an "extra" one with even more stuff than a normal one... So
who's going to point out the price differentials on all the overlapping
products?

Jim K

On Mon, 25 Mar 2013 01:13:29 -0700 (PDT) Jim K wrote :
"Toolstation Taunton opens for business to the trade and public on Monday
25th March. Located inside Wickes Extra on Priory Fields, this latest Sales
Counter offers customers ease of access and ample parking."

Er.. Why would wickes want a competitor trading in their store?

Homebase Hanworth used to have a Moben kitchens concession in their store. I
would guess that they reckoned it would appeal to a different clientele to
those who would buy their own flat pack kitchens, so was worth the
combination of rent and extra footfall.

My own take on this is "be judged by the company you keep"

--
Tony Bryer, Greentram: 'Software to build on',
Melbourne, Australia www.greentram.com

On Mon, 25 Mar 2013 08:50:58 +0000 (GMT), Dave Liquorice wrote:

On Mon, 25 Mar 2013 08:36:40 +0000, Andy Burns wrote:

Travis Perkins owns Wickes and Toolstation

Yers.. So still - why would you?

Presumably TP think the TS brand needs a bit more "presence" but want
to do it without buying/renting separate premises, why would they care
which till the money goes in, it's all the same group?

And it'll make shelf space in Wickes for picture frames, dried flowers
and cushions, to compete with Homebase and B&Q.

Surely it is, in this case, simply that TS fetches the goods from the
shelves intead of the customers going round looking for them. Getting closer
to four candles.
--
Peter.
The gods will stay away
whilst religions hold sway

In article ,
PeterC wrote:
Surely it is, in this case, simply that TS fetches the goods from the
shelves intead of the customers going round looking for them. Getting
closer to four candles.

Be interesting to know which system is more cost effective as regards
theft. I reckon sheds lose a vast amount through this on smaller items.

--
*I'm planning to be spontaneous tomorrow *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

In article ,
wrote:
A decent low voltage 50 watt temperature controlled type is the best.
Plenty of budget ones around which I have no experience of. Priced at
about 30 quid.

Yes, lots of them around that price. I have one similar to the ones
that both Maplin and CPC sell, digital temperature display, quick
warm-up and 'just works'. What more could you want?

I'd want one with guaranteed spares availability and a wide selection of
bits easily obtained.

--
*CAN VEGETARIANS EAT ANIMAL CRACKERS?

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

I think recently someone has been spellchecking sub lines with rather silly
results.

Brian

--
From the Sofa of Brian Gaff Reply address is active
"Tony Bryer" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 25 Mar 2013 01:13:29 -0700 (PDT) Jim K wrote :
"Toolstation Taunton opens for business to the trade and public on Monday
25th March. Located inside Wickes Extra on Priory Fields, this latest
Sales
Counter offers customers ease of access and ample parking."

Er.. Why would wickes want a competitor trading in their store?

Homebase Hanworth used to have a Moben kitchens concession in their store.
I
would guess that they reckoned it would appeal to a different clientele to
those who would buy their own flat pack kitchens, so was worth the
combination of rent and extra footfall.

My own take on this is "be judged by the company you keep"

--
Tony Bryer, Greentram: 'Software to build on',
Melbourne, Australia www.greentram.com

On Mon, 25 Mar 2013 13:25:33 +0000, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
I'd want one with guaranteed spares availability and a wide selection of
bits easily obtained.

How easy is it to make new bits? Are they made of unobtainium, or is
there generally some reason that they can't be can't be fabricated at
home? Always wondered that, never tried actually doing it... :-)

tbh I tend to use a 25W iron with a larger bit and a 13W iron with either
a smaller angled bit or a bit with a fine point for the really delicate
stuff.

Maybe a temp-controlled iron would be better, but I've never really found
anything that I can't do with the non-controlled ones (the exception
being when the 25W iron doesn't really have enough guts to work on a
really big joint, but such situations have been rare)

cheers

Jules

On Mon, 25 Mar 2013 14:16:26 +0000 (UTC), Jules Richardson wrote:

How easy is it to make new bits? Are they made of unobtainium, or is
there generally some reason that they can't be can't be fabricated at
home?

If you make 'em from a lump of copper the copper disolves in the solder.
Commercial bits are iron plated to prevent this.

--
Cheers
Dave.

On 25/03/2013 14:16, Jules Richardson wrote:
On Mon, 25 Mar 2013 13:25:33 +0000, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
I'd want one with guaranteed spares availability and a wide selection of
bits easily obtained.

How easy is it to make new bits? Are they made of unobtainium, or is
there generally some reason that they can't be can't be fabricated at
home? Always wondered that, never tried actually doing it... :-)

The proper ones are iron clad copper. So you get very good conductivity,
without the downside of the bit being eaten by the flux. Probably not
easy to make you own.

tbh I tend to use a 25W iron with a larger bit and a 13W iron with either
a smaller angled bit or a bit with a fine point for the really delicate
stuff.

Maybe a temp-controlled iron would be better, but I've never really found
anything that I can't do with the non-controlled ones (the exception
being when the 25W iron doesn't really have enough guts to work on a
really big joint, but such situations have been rare)

The bigger ones can come in handy for some lead free work (that tends to
need higher temperatures) and also for some desoldering tasks.


--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

On Mon, 25 Mar 2013 14:37:03 +0000, Dave Liquorice wrote:

On Mon, 25 Mar 2013 14:16:26 +0000 (UTC), Jules Richardson wrote:

How easy is it to make new bits? Are they made of unobtainium, or is
there generally some reason that they can't be can't be fabricated at
home?

If you make 'em from a lump of copper the copper disolves in the solder.
Commercial bits are iron plated to prevent this.

Thanks (& to John)!

(Makes sense, too - years ago I do remember trying to re-shape a damaged
bit, and it didn't last long)

I just did a quick google, and iron plating onto copper seems to be quite
a common (relatively-speaking) question. It sounds like it's a bit more
difficult for the hobbyist than some other forms of plating, although
perhaps not impossible... but then if you have an iron with readily-
available bits, probably not worth the hassle.

cheers

J.

Dave Liquorice wrote:
On Mon, 25 Mar 2013 14:16:26 +0000 (UTC), Jules Richardson wrote:

How easy is it to make new bits? Are they made of unobtainium, or is
there generally some reason that they can't be can't be fabricated at
home?

If you make 'em from a lump of copper the copper disolves in the solder.
Commercial bits are iron plated to prevent this.

Aren't a lot of the temperature controlled irons using ceramic bits now?
I don't think the bit of my iron has any metal in it.

--
Chris Green

On Mon, 25 Mar 2013 01:13:29 -0700 (PDT), Jim K
wrote:

"Toolstation Taunton opens for business to the trade and public on Monday 25th March. Located inside Wickes Extra on Priory Fields, this latest Sales Counter offers customers ease of access and ample parking."

Er.. Why would wickes want a competitor trading in their store?

It's a different market; a different sort of customer, isn't it? Each
sees the "other" one as their competitor and resolves to shop in their
"own" store. Both stores benefit, to the deficit of others such as
B&Q.



--
Frank

On Monday, March 25, 2013 2:16:26 PM UTC, Jules Richardson wrote:
On Mon, 25 Mar 2013 13:25:33 +0000, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

I'd want one with guaranteed spares availability and a wide selection of

bits easily obtained.



How easy is it to make new bits?

Very difficult to make good ones.



Are they made of unobtainium, or is

there generally some reason that they can't be can't be fabricated at

home?

Not sure how you'd go about it,then plating it with iron and then coating it to protect it fron the rather agressive Lead free solder flux, but maybe you cna get around that.

Always wondered that, never tried actually doing it... :-)

me neither just too much hassle with little to gain.




tbh I tend to use a 25W iron with a larger bit and a 13W iron with either

a smaller angled bit or a bit with a fine point for the really delicate

stuff.

I use
http://www.rapidonline.com/Tools-Equ...Station-517877

have ten in my lab .

and two of these
http://uk.farnell.com/weller/wd-1-eu...lug/dp/1256931

http://uk.farnell.com/jsp/search/pro...ote-1256930-pr

with holder the above comes to ~£500 for the set but very good for SMD stuff.


I quite like the brass sponge over they typical water sponge.





Maybe a temp-controlled iron would be better, but I've never really found

anything that I can't do with the non-controlled ones (the exception

being when the 25W iron doesn't really have enough guts to work on a

really big joint, but such situations have been rare)

it does depend on what you're doing we have a micoscope set up
http://www.meijitechno.co.uk/stereo-...roscope-bm.htm

Mostly used when soldering compents of 2mm or less in size.

On Mar 26, 2:23*pm, whisky-dave wrote:
On Monday, March 25, 2013 2:16:26 PM UTC, Jules Richardson wrote:
On Mon, 25 Mar 2013 13:25:33 +0000, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

I'd want one with guaranteed spares availability and a wide selection of

bits easily obtained.

How easy is it to make new bits?

Very difficult to make good ones.

When I needed a very fine bit in a hurry, I made one from the inner
core of a piece of co-ax, wrapped around a normal bit with a filed
chisel tip at the end. Worked a treat, but eroded like buggery,
especialy with the high temp and aggresive flux I was using lead-free.

MBQ