Chris Berry Posted October 11, 2019 Share Posted October 11, 2019 From what it sounds like the company and its owners need to swiftly adapt and realise that investment in a proven product will reap rewards. Laser engines are head and shoulders above other makes but it seems that adaptation, investment and forward thinking seem to be beyond the powers that be. No reflection on you Jon, you do a cracking job! Edited By Chris Berry on 11/10/2019 19:28:29 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fly boy3 Posted October 11, 2019 Share Posted October 11, 2019 Hi Jon, wonder if MrTidy reads this thread. If not perhaps he can be shown it. Enjoy the rest of your hols, best wishes to your mum. Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Edwards 2 Posted October 11, 2019 Share Posted October 11, 2019 Laser Engines are a specialised business making a very niche high end product. In a market where everything else is disappearing, we're b**** lucky to have them, and they deserve every scrap of support that our small community can give them. Be patient people. You're buying a rare example of British engineering excellence. That takes time and is worth the wait. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cuban8 Posted October 11, 2019 Share Posted October 11, 2019 Seems to me that the whole shooting match needs to be taken over by someone who really believes in the company, its products and its staff. We are world leaders in shooting ourselves in the foot. Best wishes Jon, I guess so much is simply out of your control. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin Harris - Moderator Posted October 11, 2019 Share Posted October 11, 2019 I'm not sure that Neil Tidey has much to do with the company these days. The boss that Jon refers to runs the parent company which provides the machining of components as a very minor sideline. Delays experienced by Jon in getting components made at very competitive rates between mainstream production is the price we pay for being able to buy exquisite hand built engines at affordable prices. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cuban8 Posted October 11, 2019 Share Posted October 11, 2019 According to Companies House, Neil resigned a few weeks ago. **LINK** Not good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fly boy3 Posted October 11, 2019 Share Posted October 11, 2019 Thanks for the info Martin, I,m behind the times as usual. Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul d Posted October 11, 2019 Share Posted October 11, 2019 no phone, no website, no stock and no one there? 'niche' product or not, bloody poor way to run (haha) a business. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Former Member Posted October 11, 2019 Share Posted October 11, 2019 [This posting has been removed] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Walby Posted October 12, 2019 Share Posted October 12, 2019 Jon is holiday, I know they have had IT issues with there internet connection and Jon sorts these out. PD - Patience is a virtue and venting your spleen won't make Jon build engines any faster. Have you messaged Jon with your request Have you selected the model Have you purchased the model Have you fitted all the gear into it Is it ready for the engine Previously once I have got to stage 5 there is a Laser engine close to being purchased. If you can't wait then go else where, if you can wait then join the Laser appreciation society and wait patiently with the rest of us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich too Posted October 12, 2019 Share Posted October 12, 2019 Posted by paul d on 11/10/2019 20:55:42: no phone, no website, no stock and no one there? 'niche' product or not, bloody poor way to run (haha) a business. I am a big fan of the work Jon does and Laser motors but you can’t argue with that.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich too Posted October 12, 2019 Share Posted October 12, 2019 Posted by Tom Sharp 2 on 11/10/2019 23:05:32: Posted by Cuban8 on 11/10/2019 20:54:42: According to Companies House, Neil resigned a few weeks ago. **LINK** Not good. The list puts Mr Tidy aged 75, most people nowadays retire at 60 or less so in my opinion he has put in a good innings. Mmmm, imho people are working longer, not less. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich too Posted October 12, 2019 Share Posted October 12, 2019 Jon, we recently changed to a similar phone system after 40 years with analogue that worked perfectly well, and our experience is the same as yours. Enjoy your well deserved break and best wishes to your mother. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul De Tourtoulon Posted October 12, 2019 Share Posted October 12, 2019 Modelling is just gong downhill especially Methanol engines, I live in the South of France ( no John isn't here on holiday ) we are 30 in our club and only 4 of us fly ic engines and with 5% methanol fuel at 35€ the 5 litres 3 of us now mostly fly petrol, the others eletricery and worse still EPP artf's, and to put a nail in the IC planes coffin the youngest flying them is 65 years old, so enjoy your holiday John, there are other thing in life than model planes,,, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Fry Posted October 12, 2019 Share Posted October 12, 2019 My understanding of the business, the parent company a a serious precision engineering component maker. It happened to develop the Laser range because Neil Tidy wanted to, and used a bit of spare capacity to make a few bob. It was never the core business. Neil retired quite a while ago. Nowadays, Jon an employee of the core company, is Laser. The core business does not prioritise production of parts for Jon. And if Jon is away, no one checks if the Website is working. Assuming the core business are not stupid, that is because it is of marginal productive sense to make Laser engines. So look after Jon. No Jon, no Laser I suspect. I still reckon laser motors are too cheap. Compare and contrast their cost to Saito and OS. A bit more profit might perk the attention of the parent company Edited By Don Fry on 12/10/2019 08:53:03 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Berry Posted October 12, 2019 Share Posted October 12, 2019 It sounds as though Jon is chief cook and bottle washer. Engines can’t be repaired, produced, packed and developed by one person.They need a few FTEs to manage all those functions. The big market as I see it at the moment is for compact 40-50cc four stroke petrol engines. There are plenty of smaller ones and larger ones but the mid size is limited to NGH. OS and Saito make 40cc but they haven’t quite got the power needed for 50cc warbirds and the stroke equivalents are either too big or too noisy. The petrol market is where laser should be investing albeit not at the expense of the smaller glows and V engines. i know Jon has been playing with a 180 petrol for a while. But resources mean progression is limited. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon H Posted October 14, 2019 Author Share Posted October 14, 2019 One and all rejoice. The website is fixed... However, the email server is now dead so i guess i will try and fix that and clear out the remaining email messages. The phones are also down, but did work earlier so there is hope they too will return to the party at some point today so i can call back all the people i have to call. I hate this place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich too Posted October 14, 2019 Share Posted October 14, 2019 Welcome back Jon Is there no chance of you taking over Laser? Seems the obvious solution, since it would probably sink without you.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul d Posted October 14, 2019 Share Posted October 14, 2019 Jon, take your undoubted knowledge and skills and walk away my friend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon H Posted October 14, 2019 Author Share Posted October 14, 2019 All of the technology is now working. Perhaps now i might be able to get something done. Rich, no chance. i have no money to buy and he wouldnt sell anyway. Even if he did i dont have any way of getting the parts manufactured so it would fall on its backside. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Fry Posted October 14, 2019 Share Posted October 14, 2019 Be nice to Jon. Be nice to the parent company. The machines used to turn out the bits for our toys are serious money, like a house in London each. A petition to get Jon's girlfriend a visa? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Former Member Posted October 14, 2019 Share Posted October 14, 2019 [This posting has been removed] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel R Posted October 14, 2019 Share Posted October 14, 2019 "i know Jon has been playing with a 180 petrol for a while. But resources mean progression is limited." I'm just an innocent bystander, but I would have thought getting that 155 & 180 petrol to market was #1 priority. Closely followed by plugging the resulting top ends into the V twin format. Thing is, the first post announcing the 180 petrol was in 2014 on this forum, now almost 5 years ago to this day. Jon - not a criticism BTW - Laser needs more staff. Even a part timer to deal with pack & dispatch or do some assembly. Edited By Nigel R on 14/10/2019 13:00:05 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon H Posted October 14, 2019 Author Share Posted October 14, 2019 Don, i will take that visa petition. Its going to be a nightmare Nigel (and Chris at the top of the page), yes, that all sounds quite reasonable to me. Its just unfortunate i am the only one with that outlook. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robert chamberlain Posted October 16, 2019 Share Posted October 16, 2019 I am having similar problems contacting advertisers from here I the U.S. The SLEC E-mail won't work and it has a dot com in the address. In the Special Issue of RCM&E, page 23 ,fig 2 has a line drawing of a balsa stripper I bought years ago which uses a surgical blade to strip blanks of balsa, but I need a couple of new blades. Any ideas how to contact Slec from over here or to get some blades? I could modify it to use X-acto but I would rather get the long style the unit uses. Regular surgical blades, about the size of X-acto ,are too short and slip around. The blades I need are about 3 inches long and are secure in the housing . Any thoughts? Thanks,---Bob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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