Jay C posted:Really sorry to hear all of you are having issues. There have been times where I had to wait longer than I wanted but overall I've been happy, or maybe just lucky. I can't imagine trying to do the things I do without their parts.
Yes, there are some very serious health issues being dealt with.
As a side note, Dave told me the business is for sale because they want to concentrate on this issue. I know they are doing their best. Maybe someone should buy the company and make their fortune with it.
Jay
Just checked their website info to confirm my septuagenarian memory...
This would be the second sale of NWSL. Dave and Lynda purchased/moved the works to Montana in 2008, having purchased it from Fred and Sheryl Martin of Seattle, WA, the founders. NWSL was established in 1959.
Yes, there's no small measure of skills required to design the tooling, maintain/upgrade equipment, track inventory, etc., etc.. As far as that memory of mine goes, I'm really not aware of any other company serving the wide range of this hobby's scales/needs who might fill the void....particularly in the gears department! And I very much doubt that "A business like NWSL requires a staff of qualified machinists and machine tools dedicated to producing the thousands of parts they produce. Once a tool is set up to machine bushings they probably machine thousands of them and then set the machine up for another part." My sense of how the Martins and Rygmyrs have run this business is that it's pretty much a 'Mom & Pop' enterprise. And, in such a situation health issues....and especially their financial cost...can be devastating. Some of you have 'been there....done that.'
With the aging demographics of this hobby....particularly O2R/O3R..., for both customer and for many of our under-appreciated contributing specialists, like NWSL, patience all around is increasingly necessary....IMHO.
Encouragement, understanding, and prayers are probably needed more than anything else. Meanwhile, asking forum members to check their dust-covered stock/parts drawers for one's immediate needs is spot on.
Dave, Lynda....God bless you through his care and healing.
KD
