ironantlerforge Posted July 18, 2008 Share Posted July 18, 2008 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??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jose Gomez Posted July 18, 2008 Share Posted July 18, 2008 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisB Posted July 18, 2008 Share Posted July 18, 2008 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..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterDE4 Posted July 18, 2008 Share Posted July 18, 2008 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markh Posted July 19, 2008 Share Posted July 19, 2008 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JAllcorn Posted August 23, 2008 Share Posted August 23, 2008 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ironantlerforge Posted August 23, 2008 Author Share Posted August 23, 2008 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!... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Leppo Posted August 25, 2008 Share Posted August 25, 2008 yea... IRON KISS IS THE WAY TO GO! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreenLantern Posted August 25, 2008 Share Posted August 25, 2008 Thanks for this thread. I emailed to see if they had a distributor in OZ, I got no reply. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Larson Posted August 27, 2008 Share Posted August 27, 2008 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Madmike Posted August 27, 2008 Share Posted August 27, 2008 Hi John, I never miss one of your posts on the farwest's as I'm willing to build myself an air-hammer with a different air-sheme from the typical Kinyon and am still waiting for the video you sometimes speak about there I'm French and as my English is not perfect, sometimes my words don't exactly translate my thoughts So don't see here any kind of aggression or industrial spying, I'd just love to see one of your monsters at work ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Hammer Posted August 28, 2008 Share Posted August 28, 2008 (edited) Madmike.... If you want to see an extended (over five hours) video of John's hammer in use by three industry experts, order the UMBA video RD119. You should be able to find it on the UMBA website at UMBA Online I'm not sure videos are sold internationally, buy it wouldn't hurt to send a note to the Librarian (Roger Degner) and ask. If you go to the website listed above, and click on "Library", you will find an email and snailmail address for him. He provides these videos for $5 each (with a $2 mailing fee (regardless of number of videos ordered) within the states). I have no idea what international shipping would be, but I assure you it will be worth it. Edited August 28, 2008 by djhammerd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markh Posted November 5, 2008 Share Posted November 5, 2008 I tried for a second time to get a reply from Phoenix about current pricing and have not heard back. It's been about 3 weeks since my email. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisB Posted November 6, 2008 Share Posted November 6, 2008 Call John at Iron Kiss. The Iron Kiss does have the clamping feature if thats what has you looking at the phoenix. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
primtechsmith Posted November 6, 2008 Share Posted November 6, 2008 If the weather holds John will be at our Hammer in this Saturday with a hammer running for anyone interested in trying it out and learning about Iron Kiss. Peyton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hammerjoe Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 Heck give the guys at Big Blu Hammer a call. I bought one of their hammers about a year ago and could not be happier. They have awesome customer support and have all their products instock ready to ship. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Earl Q Posted November 15, 2008 Share Posted November 15, 2008 I saw a Iron Kiss at Boones hammerin a couple of years ago. The thing was missing a dozen bolts, and the dies were so out of square I was scared to come around it, as were other people. The salesman was not very conducive to questions or comments. What's the use? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redanvil Posted November 15, 2008 Share Posted November 15, 2008 I saw the iron kiss hammer in its art-deco styling at quad state a couple years ago crushing aluminum cans. Its a pretty expensive can crusher. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisB Posted November 16, 2008 Share Posted November 16, 2008 Hmm Iron Kiss hammers gets mentioned a couple of times then all of a sudden a Big Blue promo comes along backed up with two intangible slams against Iron Kiss. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redanvil Posted November 16, 2008 Share Posted November 16, 2008 hey chris.. no slams here . just an observation.We have removed much of this posters BB spam, and banned the account. It is sad when someone has to resort to this kind of poly to get attention Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Larson Posted November 16, 2008 Share Posted November 16, 2008 I see that my dies are so outta square Earl is afraid to come around my Iron Kiss Hammer. Ha, Ha, Ha. :-) Missing a dozen bolts? Baloney. Several bolts may have been removed to enable the access door to be opened to show folks the plumbing. People at Boone's were using my machine and enjoying themselves for quite a few of the past few years. I demo my hammers at hammer ins within driving distance of Baltimore. People like Primtechsmith observed it in action in the past two weeks, people at many hammer-ins have observed it in action over the years. I was at Tipton IN in 2007 and the great Clifton Ralph used the machine along with his students Steve Parker and Kurt Farhenbach for the full weekend. You can get a dvd of that for $7 from the upper midwest blacksmithing association librarian at umbaonline.org. You can visit my web site Blacksmith Power Hammers - Iron Kiss Hammers, LLC., call me a 410-925-2255, or visit my shop and use one of the hammers for as long as you want to stay. So if you want good information check it out. I do not do high pressure sales talks, tell tall tales, or act pushy. Really, the whole point of me doing hammer-ins is to let the machine do the talking. I will happily answer your questions to the best of my ability and help you think through the hammer selection process. You may use my e-mail [jolarson@comcast.net] so that we can both speak without my half-deafness being a problem and without any time constraints. Most of the hammers on the market have stood the market test for many years. They all have their virtues. In my opinion, you have to use the machines to make a good decision, based upon the kind of work you want to do. Visit shops and use their hammers. Visit my shop and use mine. You cannot believe advertisements. You can believe your own experiences. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Larson Posted November 16, 2008 Share Posted November 16, 2008 I don't know how the web site name was goofed up. The proper url is ironkisshammers.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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