Has SK Grimes gone batty?

[TheFlyingCamera]

I called SK Grimes today to get a price quote on a pair of Technika-style lensboards drilled to a 52mm opening. Their price for the two boards plus drilling? $120. Plus shipping. For generic boards!

The shame is that I called around three different LF dealers asking about if they had them and/or could drill the boards. Two told me that they could sell me the boards, but they'd have Grimes drill the holes. It ended up Quality Camera in Atlanta would drill them for me at no extra charge, so the two boards were $70. That's almost a 50% discount off Grimes' price. I know Grimes uses a lathe to mill the holes, whereas they're going to use a drill press at Quality Camera, so the Grimes holes will be prettier, but I can live with a whole lotta ugly for $50.

To borrow a phrase from a WWE character, "whassup wit dat?"!

 

[wilsonneal]

I have to agree with you. Every time I've checked a price at SK Grimes I was stunned. No doubt they do pretty work, but each time I had a need I found a less expensive option. That being said, I think there are some projects for which there are few or no other choices.

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

I know- I've got something that will probably HAVE to go to them- I need a flange made for my antique brass lens, and a waterhouse slot cut, with stops made. They're probably the only folks out there who could do it right, so I'll just have to pay them whatever. It just kills me though that the bread-and-butter stuff is so exorbitant.

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

When SK Grimes does something, though, you know it will be top quality, no questions asked, and that costs a premium.

I had them make a custom flange and set of waterhouse stops, for instance, for my Petzval. The Petzval I got in exchange for a box of film, so I didn't mind splurging. Aside from having a nice finish, the flange was tapered so it was lightweight but strong enough for the big lens, and fit on a Sinar board, and I know they have front standards from various cameras on hand to test that everything will fit right before shipping the item to the customer. That's all worth a little extra.

 

[naturephoto1]

I have to agree with David. No one ever claimed that SK Grimes is inexpensive for their time and their work. All of the adapter manufacturing they have done for me has been stellar. But, not inexpensive.

Rich

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

I understand and expect that when I'm having something custom-made to work with antique cameras, or adapting lens cells to fit a shutter they weren't originally designed to fit. But drilling a hole for $60?

 

[Dave Wooten]

Local Yokels

Scott,

I agree with you and also with David....a suggestion, I have had several metal boards drilled for special projects and have just taken it to a local machine shop...Western Machine, here in Vegas, on one project I did use a generic aluminum board, works fine...so check with local machine shops...often camera "Specialty" gets a premium etc..

I believe also it is no problem for a local shop to make and thread your flange....for lense to shutter mounts, SK is my first choice.

 

[mark]

Heck, I drill my own boards. No reason to pay someone to do it, unless you have no other need for a hole saw.

 

[Nick Zentena]

What you're paying somebody like SK Grimes versus somebody else is they'll know what you need and will do it right.

Some body else might manage to bungle the job three times before getting it right. Learning on your dime. Unless you find a machine shop willing to slot the job in during lunch I wonder if it would even be cheaper. They'll need to set up for the job. If they're busy the machine will be in use and setup for something else. So there is all that time. Plus the hassle of trying to figure why you want a hole is a nice new lensboard

OTOH Mark is right. You can pickup a drill press and some bits and do it yourself. Odds are you'll find a use for the press other then the camera.

 

[DeanC]

Use the right tool for the job. Grimes is a great choice for shutter work, delicate machining and clever engineering. The may not be the best choice for "Here, drill a 52mm hole in the center of this piece of metal".

It's like anything else. I might take a custom car to a really high end hot-rod shop to get the valves ported for that extra 0.5% worth of power but the guy at the gas station down the street does a fine job of changing the oil in my Accord...

 

[resummerfield]

What you're paying somebody like SK Grimes versus somebody else is they'll know what you need and will do it right.

Some body else might manage to bungle the job three times before getting it right. Learning on your dime. Unless you find a machine shop willing to slot the job in during lunch I wonder if it would even be cheaper. They'll need to set up for the job. If they're busy the machine will be in use and setup for something else. So there is all that time. Plus the hassle of trying to figure why you want a hole is a nice new lensboard.....

One time I used a local machine shop to mill a back to accept a Maxwell screen. It ended up fine, but it took longer, and cost as much or rmore, than sending it to SKG. SKG does outstanding work!

 

[Sal Santamaura]

Has SK Grimes gone batty?

Why question the sanity of a business, if indeed such an entity can be evaluated with respect to sanity?

Every business establishes what products to produce and/or services to perform. It determines what its costs will be for those things. The market sets prices for them, based upon willingness to pay. If sales don't cover costs plus whatever profit the business feels appropriate, individual products/services are discontinued or the business ceases to exist. There's no more to the equation.

I observe a tendency here and on other (photographic or not) bulletin boards to complain about prices higher than the complainer wants or is able to pay. Such complaining accomplishes nothing, since it cannot alter the equation.

 

[Peter De Smidt]

A small drill press and hole saw or adjustable cutter can be had for a very reasonable amount. Then you can drill as many boards as you'd like. Indent the board where you want the center of the board with a nail (one light stroke with a hammer should do it), back the board with wood, clamp it, make sure the guide bit goes right in the indent you already made, use oil and drill slowly. Plus, the drill press has many uses....

 

[Bruce Osgood]

If the goal is to have a 52mm opening in a board/plate, what difference does it make if it is lathed or cut? Unless SK Grimes is adding threads then it is a different story. But simply removing material to 52mm is not THAT precise an operation.

 

[Scott Peters]

Tempe Camera - $20-$25, plus attached the flange for me screws and all. Tempe, AZ - you can google them.

 

[MikeM1977]

The last lens board I made out of wood (either teak or cherry, I don't rememeber) and a scroll saw. Not pretty and the hole isn't even perfectly round, but no light leaks.

 

[Alan9940]

I'm so glad to see this thread regarding SK Grimes because I began to think I was simply nuts! I contacted them, via e-mail (perhaps, not the best way) over 2 months ago about fabricating an L-bracket for my Fuji GA645Zi. It was weeks before I received any response, and the quote was stunning; $250 to $700! I didn't pay $700 for the camera so, obviously, that end was out of my budget and totally ridiculous, IMO. Though getting e-mail responses was like pulling teeth, I finally got a response to my question: Whadda I get for $250? Answer: basically, two separate pieces of extruded aluminum bolted together at a right-angle, one threaded hole to attach to a tripod, and one captive 1/4-20 screw for attaching the camera. I'm thinking...I could probably do this myself for...what...$10 - $20! I haven't placed my order...

 

[JG Motamedi]

I think of Grimes as a luxury service. It is wonderful to be able to call them and ask them to send a Canham board with an Ilex 4 flange. No hassle, no question that you will get the right thing, eventually.

Want it cheaper? Call MPEX order the flange and lensboard and either cut it yourself or bring it to a local machine shop. I did just that a few weeks ago, and saved $50. Was my effort and time worth $50? Not really.

On the other hand, This summer I had Grimes make a few 4x5 to 1/4 plate reducers for me. I supplied the materials and was charged $225. A month later I went to a machine shop in Brooklyn and had the same thing done for $100 less. That was worth my time.

I suppose it all depends how you value your time.

For more specialized work however there is no replacement. I had them remove a burnished element out of barrel recently. Would I trust anybody else to do this work? Probably not.

 

[Michael Kadillak]

SK Grimes

I cannot understand in a market driven economy why people get upset when they make one service solicitation and expect that it is not the number that they expected. Ever hear of a "Go Away Price Structure?"

If it was your business and you had 100 jobs on the board and someone called about a quick turn around lens board drilling you would do the same thing.

Don't take it personally - it is just business. Get on the horn and make some more calls.

Do the same thing with purchasing a car, your insurance, mortgage, managing your career etc.

Onward!

 

[Tom Hoskinson]

Use the right tool for the job. Grimes is a great choice for shutter work, delicate machining and clever engineering. The may not be the best choice for "Here, drill a 52mm hole in the center of this piece of metal".

It's like anything else. I might take a custom car to a really high end hot-rod shop to get the valves ported for that extra 0.5% worth of power but the guy at the gas station down the street does a fine job of changing the oil in my Accord...

...Ok as long as they don't crossthread the drain plug...

 

[ragc]

I'm with Mark. SK Grimes is not needed for a simple hole.

 

[DeanC]

...Ok as long as they don't crossthread the drain plug...

Well, that's why I don't take it to Jiffy Lube.

 

[Steve Hamley]

Folks,

I have a local machine shop I use when I need something faster than Adam can do it, like mounting a flange on a lensboard. They charge $7 per hole. That's per screw hole. After using them, Adam looks pretty darned good in the price department.

But $60 to drill a shutter/lens hole does seem a bit high especially given the turnaround time typical of their shop.

Steve

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

Mike- I wasn't asking anything special for the turnaround time- that never even entered into the discussion. I called two other shops first, both of whose answers were "I can sell you the lensboard, but I'll send it to Grimes to have it cut". I found a third answer which was "We'll do it here on our drill press and only charge you for the board, the hole is free". I went with option #3. I should have my lensboards next week sometime. I do have a drill press myself, but I'm not a terribly skilled operator, and if I dork up a lensboard in the process of drilling the hole, I'll have to buy another lensboard. If they dork it up, they have to eat that cost. That's worth it to me to have someone else do it.

 

[aldevo]

After viewing this thread I sent a quick email to a friend who is involved with GE Aerospace in Lynn, MA and he informed me that the total loaded cost of a trained machinist is typically now costed at about $125-175/hr. And that's for so-called "lot work" where fairly large quantities of the same part(s) are required.

So that SK Grimes' quote isn't as outlandish as you might expect...