Waiting on Bow Irons!

Please, if someone orders parts from "somewhere" don't take so long to send them. There are good companys waiting, and (customers) who need your goods. And they are very good parts by the way, so don't let that go to your head and take months to send them. Thank you- I love this forum. Olrono

Hi Olrono,
Who are you talking about? Let us in on it so we can all avoid the same mistake in future.
I am becoming frustrated with Alchem and wondering why this forum endorses them given the amount of criticism from members about their incredibly slack service.
Baskethilt

Alchem

Slobowscrossbows.com could be worth a try. Good Luck!

I hear ya, Olrono. it is frustrating to order parts only to find out that they have a really long lead time.

It would nice if parts that aren't in stock for immediate shipment could have an approximate lead time listed. at least that way you know what your ordering.

Baskethilt wrote:I am becoming frustrated with Alchem and wondering why this forum endorses them given the amount of criticism from members about their incredibly slack service.

Alchem got mentioned (or endorsed) largely because they exist. When I first joined this forum they were the only parts supplier that I knew about hence I would mention them as a possiblitly. And I think some people, Geezer and Lightly, have had good luck ordering from them.

Now I'm thinking I should order something from them so that I can have some first hand experiance with the company.



I should add that we are always interested in new and different suppliers for parts.

On that note, thanks Kiwijim for the heads up on slobowscrossbows.com. There prices look decent too

You should order from the man who actually makes the prods and parts for Alchem.... http://slobowscrossbows.com/ My friend just ordered three prods and a set of bow irons and Garvin said he had them in stock and would have them out in a couple days....i will let everyone know if this isnt the case but it sure will be nice to not have to order from Alchem anymore.

I really really really wish I had seen this before ordering from alchem! Its been three months! Every time I contact him i get the same response "Should be ready to ship in two weeks" I'm disk of hearing that. I lodged a dispute through PayPal then he sent me a few of the parts I ordered and again promised the rest in two weeks. Pay pay got the notice of that shipment and canceled my dispute!
Two weeks ago he said it would be ready to "ship next week" I emailed today and got the same "its getting tempered, should be ready next week"

I'm completely sick of this guy. Screwing me around.

PLEASE DO NOT USE ALCHEM if you plan on building your crossbow any time within a year of two......
I've hired a local water jet company to make crossbow parts of my own design...I plan to sell them for $100.00 a set plus shipping. I'm testing my hand forged tempered leaf spring prod for safety as I really think I'll never see the prod I ordered from alchem.....

I put in a request for a refund today for an order from November. Will order direct from slobow.

Good luck with the refund, it will probably take as long as the product itself. Anyway Gary from Slobows is a top notch guy. After a bad deal with Alchem. I now use Slobows . Gary makes the prods for Jim at Alchem

jds6

Make sure you file a Paypal dispute before the 45 day cutoff . You can always cancel it in the miraculous eventuality that the item ships.

I will give Alchem credit in that my money was refunded within a couple hours of the request today.

I don't know what the problem is. The items I got last year were good quality but again, it was a three month wait.

Hi all, another new guy here, glad to make your collective acquaintance(s) On this here topic, I am building my first crossbow, and went through Alchem. After having just read all the negative things everyone seems to have said I'm a little nervous that I won't see my parts for some time. I went through this years ago with a smith from Salamander armory. I waited 3 years on a sword that was actually finished.
Anyway, I digress, I just emailed Jim(?) from alchem inquiring about my order which i placed this past week. He assured me that the prod was sent out to heat treat on friday and would be back next friday, with all the other parts (tickler, nut, irons and string) were ready to ship. If and when I get these parts in I'd be happy to let you guys know how long it took.

Welcome Grey. Hope things work out for you with Alchem. I too read all the negative stuff and decided to avoid that path altogether.

If you have metalworking skills, there are good sections in the Crossbow Building Wiki on making a prod from flat stock.

Since I'm not interested in making an historical replica, I started by using other things than steel/iron prods. The prod in my Avatar bow was made with an inexpensive commercial replacement prod from Ebay. My second prod (bow inb progress) is made from 3 lengths of black fiberglass chainlink tension bar for something around 200# draw. I have a 3rd, a pistolbow prod, that is multiple strips of thin spring steel strips available from a number of source.

greyprice, welcome.

I suspect Jim is a good person, just very slow to ship often. I look forward to hearing how it works out.

Share lots of pics of your build!

All the best,

Grey, I've been hearing the same "its out for heat treating, should be ready to ship next week..." for now four months.... get your money back if you can, then go to slo bows. He has several in stock. I talked to him last week.

The key to quick service from Alchem, and even to a lesser extent with Slo Bows, is to contact the vendor ahead of time to see what they have in stock before placing your order.
Gnome

We noobs didn't have that tidbit of information.

I can only report about my experience, but asking for stock does not necessarily mean to get true information in this special case.

I once ordered the strongest prod after getting in contact about stock and shipping time.
Needless to say I had to wait several months with a lot of seldomly answered requests via e-mail with obviously lies about promised shipping the next day.

The end of the story was a very delayed first crossbow (finished after the second started) with a slightly (works, but not nice) asymetric prod, lower than its designated draw weight (175lbs instead of 190-225lbs!).

Since I ordered from Europe I was sure the trouble of sending it back and getting refund wasn´t worth the efford beside my tiller was prepared for the prod measurements so i had no other choice.

Really bad customer service (and even this sounds to me like a compliment), at least when you casually buy from him. My thesis is that commercial customers are preferred by all cost and casuals get the things that are left or beyond quality.

Would never ever recommend alchem again.

But I wish you all the luck you can get.

Greetings Rizzar

Havent heard a single good thing about Alchem. I wonder how they still exist....

Inertia?

Alchem: For a long time they were they only folks with medieval crossbow parts, and generally their quality is good. Over the last ten years or so, service has got worse. As Jim gets older, he seems to get crankier. If one complains too much, he tends to shut down entirely. Since I've known him for years and have always dealt kindly with him, despite often terrible service, I can usually get a positive response, but it ain't easy.
For most folks, the solution is to go directly to Garvin, at Slowbows... he makes most of Alchem's stuff anyway.
How do they survive? Well mostly it's because for Alchem the crossbow-parts business is just a sideline. I would say it's a very good idea to call Alchem before ordering to make sure they have 'it' in stock. Geezer... sorry to see an old friend winding down...

In other words, Geezer, he holds you hostage after he has your money, and if you ask for what you already paid for, you get shafted. That is just unacceptable, and if he is so old and cranky that he disdains his customers to this degree, he should close shop. I had nothing but trouble with him, and will never deal with him again. Gary is a great guy, fast, quality products. My last order just arrived the other day, and that was after a total computer meltdown that wiped out his business computers.
Dane

Hi all, its been 2 months now, and I finally got in the parts for my first crossbow. I had emailed Jim (I think) from Alchem, he gave me the same response about heat treating, which, aparently everyone gets and would ship the other parts first. Well lo and behold, there on my porch was a long box yessterday with (que dramatic music) prod and parts. I'd almost given up.

The hard part is over, then. Now the fun begins!