Posted: 5/4/2008 6:13:33 PM EDT
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To my current and future customers, I would like to take the opportunity to thank each of you who have made my first few years in business such an overwhelming success. This success is a direct result of the trust and interest you have graciously showed me by allowing me to work on your guns. As many of you may know, I am currently studying Mechanical Engineering at Bradley University in Peoria, IL. As a result of this success, I have found myself spending a great deal more time smithing than I ever anticipated. Although, I love this work, and find it very satisfying, it has begun to hinder my academic progress. I am in a pivotal position in my life, and need to maintain focus on what is important to ensure success in all avenues of my life both now and in the future. I have established my shop based on outstanding customer service, quality and integrity. However, I am at a point where I am overwhelmed with demands on my time, and I am finding myself struggling to make deadlines and I simply refuse to let my reputation falter or let my clients down. As a result, I have come to the following decision: Until further notice, I will only be accepting Full House Builds and Rebuilds. I will no longer be accepting smaller jobs and finish work. ALL current commitments will be kept and your work will be delivered as promised with all the care and quality you have come to expect. Many of you know me personally, and know that this is not a direction that I am excited about, however, school ranks at the top of my priority list, and in order to be successful at school, I simply must lighten my work load to accommodate increased time for my studies. I have 2 more years to complete my engineering degree; therefore, this will only be a temporary situation. This decision will allow me to focus more of my time and efforts on school while still allowing me to deliver outstanding customer service and workmanship of the highest quality. Thank you, Bob Miller |
What part of Australia are you from? I almost married a woman from Mackay and spent 2 weeks in Brisbane. I was about a hair away from moving out of the US and into the east coast down there. Though you guys can't have handguns, I really liked the country and setting. Beautiful. Big freaking bats, but beautiful. Bob |
Study hard and you won't regret it. During my final year of school (BSME), it would not be an exaggeration to say that I never slept for more than 4 hours straight. Up at 0800 for breakfast and class until maybe 1400. Then home for lunch homework and nap. Up for dinner at 1800 and homework until 2200. Sleep a few, homework for a few then sleep until 0800. Rinse and repeat. 
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Bob: I hate to ask, but can you recommend another smith in Illinois to send out stuff that isn't as full house build? I had spoken to you about reliability package for my Kimber's but did not set anything up. I guess you snooze, you really do lose.
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I am currently taking on the work that has already been discussed. I'm not going to leave anybody hanging like that. Just because you don't have your pistol here or a deposit made, doesn't mean I won't take care of you. Please shoot me an email if you are interested and I'll work with you. I can say that you are going to have to wait till June or July before I will even be able to think about getting to the project though. I'm pushing 30 guns at the shop right now waiting for semester to end. Some are close to being finished, others are in progress (machining finished), others are still waiting for me to get started on them. I like to work the pistols one at a time but try to work the machining in one shot...like checkering and sight cuts and barrels. It makes sense to run a few through on one setup instead of tearing them down and such. It saves on time by setting up only once. Once they are machined, they go back in line and the hand work is finished out one at a time down to polish and prep for finishing. I want to point out that this is not permanant. I'm not 3 to 6 years behind right now, I'm just trying to make sure my deadlines are met first with school and my customers a very close second. I have to keep school on the high priority or I'm just wasting a lot of time and money. Take care and email me again with the Kimber plan and we'll go from there. Bob |