Supporting Our Customers Is A Key Priority.
19 days Until We Ship!
Looking at the IMTS.com website there is a countdown to when the show starts, T-31 days and 19 hours. The real date for us to put everything on a truck is 16 days. Saturday August 25th is when our truck shows up here and everything is on it ready or not. It is a date that we plan for look forward to in anticipation for months, but you blink and it is here. To see more of the machines that we are bringing see booth6646.com
Our preparations have been going well and we have two of the 6 machines almost finished. They should be done Friday. Two more next Friday and the last two the day prior to shipment. With something new on each machine it is a challenge to say the least. Our engineers have all been working overtime to get a lot of neat new features for you. Here is a quick run-down:
o “The Jobber” New Servo cycle control with New automatic grinding wheel dresser
o Thrufeed Microsize Machine: New Operator Control, with a pulse generator
o BEDROCK Series of Centerless Grinder with volumetric stock removal capability and New CNC Regulating wheel Dressing
o Hi-Accuracy system grinding transmission valves. Robotically unloading, cleaning, gauging and palletizing
o Generation X Guidewire grinding machine with New Laser Gauging System
One of the really cool things that we do in our booth is actually grind parts, get our hands wet with coolant and enjoy ourselves. Many people look at tradeshows as work, tedious experiences, boring, monotonous, “another part of their job” or an interruption to reading the USA Today while they sit at a conference room table. Not in our booth! We promise you the following:
A fully engaged Royal Master Grinders Employee who is knowledgeable in the products and is prepared to answer all of your questions on site. You will never leave our booth feeling like you needed more of an answer, or wondering if you will ever hear from us again.
This is your IMTS Team that will be available at Show Site:
John Memmelaar Sr President
John Memmelaar Jr Vice President
Rodney Allen Vice President Sales and Marketing
Bob Hoffman Customer Applications Engineer
Rich Fletcher Customer Applications Engineer
Todd M. Chief Engineer
Arnold B. ...
They welcome me with those famous words…“Arnold, You Are an Ironman!”
“Swim 2.4 miles, Bike 112 miles, Run 26.2 miles, brag for the rest of your life!”
I once heard someone say “if you want to see what you’re made of, come try an Ironman.” That was the first step I took on my journey to finish sports most grueling one day event. Sitting in front of my computer, I watched a video on Hulu of the Ford Ironman World Championships of 2008 and was instantly fascinated at the determination and joy on the triathlete’s faces as they crossed that finish line. I would do this race and finish!
It’s July 22nd at Four AM and the buzzer goes off. With not much sleep that night, I slide out of bed. I had prepped my gear the evening before so after a quick breakfast I grab my bags and the family heads to the car. We’re staying at a lodge about 12 miles outside Lake Placid (ironically it’s the last 12 miles of the bike route which is all up hill). As we near the town I realize I had forgotten my timing chip back at the room. Not wanting to wake our youngest who was staying with my parents I had opted not to turn on the lights and missed the chip. My already nervous wife graciously drops me off at transition and runs back to pick up the timing chip. You can cut the tension in the air with a knife as we prepare the rest of our gear for the day’s event. Body glide, water bottles, gels, tires…all check out. I get marked by one of the volunteers with my race numbers and finally slip into my wetsuit. My wife shows up with the timing chip about 15 minutes before the professionals start. With my chip strapped on, I make my way out to the lake and with 2,900+ people wait for the cannon to signal the start of our day. As we tread water the announcer amps up the crowd and the cannon fires exactly at 7 AM!
The swim of the Ironman in Lake Placid is a two loop course that totals 2.4 miles. What you don’t realize is that as all 2900+ people start, you end up swimming to stay afloat! It’s a contact sport at this ...
IMTS2012 update
There is a familiar question looming around Royal Master last week. It is the very basic “where are we at with …..” This could be anything from a sub assembly for a feeder for the show to the status of our new booth. Regardless of what the topic is, the answer is typically, “pretty good, but we are waiting on X”
X is usually a singular part for a feeder, a vendor who took a few extra days of vacation or we have everything and are just waiting for it to be put together. When we return in full force next week from vacation, we will have most everyone at Royal putting something together for the show or preparing a small but important task.
Many of you may remember Brianne, our intern who made her blogging debut two years ago. Now going into her sophomore year of college, she is back for another summer with us. Her responsibilities have increased as now she is just not handling my budget and some pre-show promotions and database management, but she is now responsible for our leads that we get from the show.
Our Booth 6646.com will be back, and we are currently working with Creative Thunder Design (www.creativethunderdesign.com )to put the finishing touches on it before we go live with our 2012 version. It will have all of our details on the show, what we are doing in our booth as well as other projects that we have done this year, all updated for 2012. If you have anything that you want to see, let me know.
Also two years ago Arnold our Head programmer made his Arnolds World Debut. Last weekend he SUCCESSFULLY completed an Iron Man triathlon. 2 mile swim, 112 miles on a bike, and 26.2 mile run. I will be talking with him to make a blog posting of his experiences. Congratulations!
What I did on my Summer Vacation
Summer vacation this year came with a few unexpected surprises, twists and turns. My daughter and I drove out to visit a friend of ours in Kansas. Chris and I grew up together , restoring cars as we got older, and lucky he made a career out of teaching others to restore classic automobiles. This program at McPherson college ( www.Mcpherson.edu) boasts a world class restoration program with sponsors such as Jay Leno and Hagerty Insurance, as well as spots on ESPN and a few classic car programs on Cable.
As I went through their shop and Chris gave me a tour I noticed a Fadal, Bridgeports, lathes of various types, and other metal and wood working equipment. I was impressed with their program, and the quality of workmanship that they do on these cars. Currently they are working on a 1915 Pierce Arrow, 1908 Holsman, 1929 Stutz Blackhawk Phaeton, 1928 Franklin, 1966 Mustang Fastback, 1957 Cadillac, 1953 Studebaker, 1950 Mercury Convertible.
From there we visited a friend of his that had a number of older Mack Trucks from the 1920’s. He had a unrestored 7 ton Mack, and outside his shop he promised the next time we came he would fire up his oil well engine that has a 12″ bore and 18″ stroke for us.
From there My daughter and I traveled with our friend to Colorado Springs. The area was well under control with the fires subsiding, and we met other cars of the Pre 1915 vintage for a car tour. After about 400 miles in four days, on Friday 16 cars set to climb pikes peak in our cars. After 2 1/2 hours up, we found the summit in our 1912 Model T Ford and parked. Proud of ourselves to be able to climb the 19 mile highway with a 7000 vertical change in altitude, we had a lunch, and began our decent. 45 minutes later we were at the bottom safe and sound. Below is a video of the decent in various stages.
What does this have to do with Grinding and Royal Master? Not much. Why Did I write about it? It was fun to walk into others lives for a two week period, see the machines that we make in use in an educational setting, drive a car with parts that I have made in our machine shop up a really big hill, and ...
