Phoenix hammer... what gives???

[ironantlerforge]

I am interested in getting a new power hammer and have tried to get hold of the Phoenix company via phone and e mail a number of times to almost no avail. Someone did call me back after a number of initial calls and said they would send me some info. but never did. I have never received an e mail reply to my questions. If they are this hard to reach when you want to buy a hammer how much more so when your having problems. Is this hammer worth the trouble of dealing with this???

[Jose Gomez]

I had exactly the same issue with them when I was shopping for a hammer. From what I have heard there customer service does not get any better even after you shell out the 12000 bucks that they are asking for there machine. I know that Phoenix hammers are outstanding machines, but the absolute absense of assistance from the company is enough to make anyone look for an alternative. There are plenty of hammers available, just not with all of the bells and whistles that the Phoenix has. Still, I am not sure that any amount of features are worth the extra few thousand dollars that they charge for there hammers. If you have your heart set on a utility style hammer you might look at Big Blu, the Iron Kiss, Or building your own Kinyon style machine. Otherwise, there are always the self contained hammers like Say-Mak (sold through the Ozark School of Blacksmithing I believe), Striker, Anyang, Kuhn, Sahinler, and so on. You will be able to have any one of these hammers delivered and installed for well under the purchase price of the Phoenix. All that I am sure of is that it only took me two weeks of calling every day to realize that I did not want a Phoenix that badly. What good is a guarentee if they never answer or return your call.

[ChrisB]

I was looking hard last fall at them. You can find the same story about their communication skills all over the web. I emailed them in Oct and got a reply 3 weeks later.

Daniel, You realize ironkiss hammers are made right in baltimore? I've been meaning to drive up from SoMd to check them out but my schedule is always tight. I emailed John @ Iron Kiss and had a reply the same day.....

[PeterDE4]

I liked the look of their machine and was impressed by the video's on their website. I started leaving telephone messages requesting additional information in the late Fall of 2006, which were not returned. I wrote to them in February, 2007 requesting the DVD. If I recall correctly, I received it about 4-6 months later. I had already started building my own hammer by then, so it was kind of moot.

[markh]

Phoenix builds nice hammers but the price is rediculous. The feature that sets them apart is the 11" stroke. However, a special-order Ironkiss can be bought with the same stroke for 1/2 the price. John Larson has an amazing reputation for customer service an professional attitude. If I were looking for an air hammer I would get an Iron Kiss with an 11-12" stroke. The anvil mass and ram weight match up with the Phoenix for about $6000 less. Larso also claims that his choice of cylinder allows the hammer toperate on much less cfm and a lower psi. Phoenix has a reputation for horrible service after the sale and they are always late with delivery.
If you are stuck on the Phoenix, contact David Kayne at the Blacksmith Depot. They often times buy and sell pre-owned Phoenix an Bull hammers. I wouldn't buy one from the company.

[JAllcorn]

I emailed Phoenix early this week asking for info. No reply.
I faxed a request next day.
Next day a lady called (talked to my wife), something about email down, would try to send some info.
Still waiting.

[ironantlerforge]

after a week or two of trying to contact them a lady finally called. She sounded nice and promised to send me some information. I never got the information and she has yet to respond to e mail or phone messages. This was about a month and a half ago. Sense then I checked out the Iron Kiss hammer and have decided to go with one of those. They are very impressive and John, the builder, has great customer service. I'm glad now that Phoenix hammers have such lousy service because if they didn't I would have never bothered to check out the Iron Kiss and would have ended up spending a lot more money on something that probably is not as good.

just my 2 cents... go Iron Kiss!...

[GOATMAN]

yea... IRON KISS IS THE WAY TO GO!

[GreenLantern]

Thanks for this thread. I emailed to see if they had a distributor in OZ, I got no reply.

[John Larson]

Someone just directed me to this set of comments. I've spoken to a couple of you folks. For the rest of you, please feel free to contact me via Blacksmith Power Hammers - Iron Kiss Hammers, LLC. or 410-925-2255. Please keep in mind that I'm a bit hearing impaired. You folks are always welcome to visit my shop in Joppa, MD and check out the hammers. John Larson Iron Kiss Hammers