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Sandvik catalog issues and complaints

CBlair

Diamond
Joined
Sep 23, 2002
Location
Lawrenceville GA USA
I have never cared much for the Sandvik catalog, like so many other online catalogs the company organizes it for the customer support and vendors but not for customers.

I just spent two days at home trying to find the boring bars for the fine boring head. And then this morning two hours on the phone with two different people at Sandvik to find that they changed the numbers and there is no real direct link to the catalog page to tell you how to find the new part numbers.

Well there is sort of but it is not obvious and once you leave a page you cannot go back to that page without re-entering the part number of the part they no long sell. GRRR!!!!


What a load of crap! Finally got good part numbers but what a journey, even the tech support guy had a hard time finding it.

Charles
 
Just for fun, post the obsolete part you were trying to find, I'd like to see if I can find the new cross reference.
 
Sandvik is the worst. Their website is so slow and clunky. I don't even try to find a product in there unless I know it exists before I start.

I think that to some extent these companies do this on purpose to make you afraid to buy or switch tooling without a rep helping you.
 
Just for fun, post the obsolete part you were trying to find, I'd like to see if I can find the new cross reference.

Ok, here is the part number for the boring head, you need to find the boring bars that go with it. Not that hard, then you need to find the way to get to the new part number. I just missed it. Still it sucks as you cant go back to the previous page.

Sandvik C5-391.37A-12 048B

I am sure you will find it but let me know how long it takes you.

Charles
 
Took about 1.25 minutes to find R429U-A12-08028TC06, which is labeled "Boring bar with indexable insert for fine boring heads". It actually took less than that to find it, but I had to go back and confirm that the interface "cylindrical shank with 3 flats, metric: 12" was the correct bar to fit your head.

Did I get it?


Edit: This tool shows a lifecycle state (LCS) of "released" which means it's in production and currently available for purchase.
 
Sort of, there are 6 sizes you need to complete the tool set, only two of them are shown as available for sale and they are the same size, just different length. To find the other sizes you have to go to a different page where they have changed the part numbers. I dont remember what the numbers were. If you only went to the first tab on the boring head page then you didnt find the ones that are currently offered.

Charles
 
I just had to go back and do it over again just to remember how to find the new good part numbers. Open the tool that is shown as not available and in the block on the left side will be the new part number. But once you open that one you cant go back to the previous page to check the next size. Very tedious, you have to write down the part number for each one before you go to the new page.

Oh and by the way, they want $300 for each of these. But I found a couple on ebay that will soon be in my pocket for a lot less.

Charles
 
It seems that everyone hates the Sandvik website. I like it. My only complaint is that they need to get it running on some better servers, as it's very slow sometimes.

It's simple enough when you get familiar with it. Most confusion stems from people not being able to figure out what sandvik considers a "tool item" or an "adaptive item" and so on.

It took me about 10 seconds to find the matching bars for your head.

Get to the product page for your head, click on "Matching products - workpiece direction". That gets you the list of bars that fit.

The rightmost columns in the list are list price and availability. Availability is colour coded; gray = no availability (out of production and no stock), orange = limited availability (out of production with remaining stock OR in production but no stock), green = available.

When you expand an item in the list it will also show you your net price and specific availability.

The most expensive bar in the list is £221 list, which is indeed about $300. Maybe take the code to a reseller if Sandvik won't discount it for you.
 
Thanks Gregor, but you missed the point that those bars are not available, which makes the tool useless. However if you expand each tool you find a new part number that replaces that tool. But you have to know to look for it and then it opens in a new page. Not a good way to find what you need. Once you know it works that way you can figure it out but it is not intuitive.

As I have mentioned before, it works great if you know the part number you want but if you dont know exactly what you want but are looking for a tool to fit your need good luck. Not made for browsing and very much like reading a spreadsheet instead of a catalog. My opinion of course.

Once I found the suitable part numbers, I found everything on Ebay, NOS 4 different size bars for $240 total. Those are more my kind of numbers.

Charles
 
I just had to go back and do it over again just to remember how to find the new good part numbers. Open the tool that is shown as not available and in the block on the left side will be the new part number. But once you open that one you cant go back to the previous page to check the next size. Very tedious, you have to write down the part number for each one before you go to the new page.

Oh and by the way, they want $300 for each of these. But I found a couple on ebay that will soon be in my pocket for a lot less.

Charles


Right click / open in new tab doesn't work ???


---------------

Think Snow Eh!
Ox
 
I just had to go back and do it over again just to remember how to find the new good part numbers. Open the tool that is shown as not available and in the block on the left side will be the new part number. But once you open that one you cant go back to the previous page to check the next size. Very tedious, you have to write down the part number for each one before you go to the new page.

Oh and by the way, they want $300 for each of these. But I found a couple on ebay that will soon be in my pocket for a lot less.

Charles


So my "hack" for the sandvik website is to either click with the center mouse button, or ctrl+click on ANY link, to open it in a new tab. Then I don't have to go back, I have the page I just left + the new page. Makes it simpler.
 
Thanks Gregor, but you missed the point that those bars are not available, which makes the tool useless. However if you expand each tool you find a new part number that replaces that tool. But you have to know to look for it and then it opens in a new page. Not a good way to find what you need. Once you know it works that way you can figure it out but it is not intuitive.

Hi Charles, I understood what you meant and thought I explained it but maybe I didn't explain it very well!

The rightmost columns in the list are list price and availability. Availability is colour coded; gray = no availability (out of production and no stock), orange = limited availability (out of production with remaining stock OR in production but no stock), green = available.

When you expand an item in the list it will also show you your net price and specific availability.

You can also exclude obsolete parts from the filter, and yes as you found, if an obsolete part has a compatible replacement, it will show a link to that part.

As I have mentioned before, it works great if you know the part number you want but if you dont know exactly what you want but are looking for a tool to fit your need good luck. Not made for browsing and very much like reading a spreadsheet instead of a catalog. My opinion of course.

Again I could have explained it clearer, but basically everything in the Sandvik catalogue has links mating parts, usually in the form of "Machine Direction" and "Workpiece Direction", or as "Spares/Included Items".

eg:

<- Machine Direction Workpiece Direction ->

Holder - extension / adapter - boring head - boring bar - insert
 
Hmmmm...

Control / click doesn't open anything in new tabs on my machinery.

Must be newer O/S.
I think that I am on "8" maybe?


--------------------

Think Snow Eh!
Ox
 








 
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