Issues with Myers Castings

[deverett]

Hello,
This is Brent Myers. My wife and I are running Myers Engine Works. I thank all of the customers for there support. My father has passed in 2021. He loved going to the engine shows and catching up with all of our friends from around the globe. It is my plan to continue the work of my farther, and all the other mens work that we now have the honor of selling the casting kits they built. You may still find some of there names on the blue prints dating back to the 1970’s. We have had customers break parts. We have shipped parts that did not meet the expectation of the modeler working with them. It is not some thing that makes me proud to hear that folk are complaining to a forum rather than simply asking for a replacement part. To that end here is my phone number. No mater the sale date of the kit, I will replace any sub standard parts. No mater the failure mode of the part , you get a new one. Period
Here is my phone number: 419-376-3206

That is eastern standard time.
I look forward to many years of keeping the craft of model engineering alive and well
Brent and Nan Myers

That's very heartening to know, Brent. I hope you have continued success with your venture.

Dave
The Emerald Isle

 

[GreenTwin]

Hello,
This is Brent Myers. My wife and I are running Myers Engine Works. I thank all of the customers for there support. My father has passed in 2021. He loved going to the engine shows and catching up with all of our friends from around the globe. It is my plan to continue the work of my farther, and all the other mens work that we now have the honor of selling the casting kits they built. You may still find some of there names on the blue prints dating back to the 1970’s. We have had customers break parts. We have shipped parts that did not meet the expectation of the modeler working with them. It is not some thing that makes me proud to hear that folk are complaining to a forum rather than simply asking for a replacement part. To that end here is my phone number. No mater the sale date of the kit, I will replace any sub standard parts. No mater the failure mode of the part , you get a new one. Period
Here is my phone number: 419-376-3206

That is eastern standard time.
I look forward to many years of keeping the craft of model engineering alive and well
Brent and Nan Myers

I bought a Myers oscillator kit in 2012 and was very pleased with the quality of the castings and the way they machined.
I also saw some great Myers castings on display at the 2019 NAMES show, and again was impressed with the quality of the castings.

I would hope that the great Myers casting kit tradition can be continued long into the future.
I know from the experience of running my own business that you can do things perfectly for 20 years, and then if one problem occurs, everyone is up in arms, and folks will only remember the one problem, not the 20 years without problems.

So my advise is to be very proactive, and inspect every casting that gets sent out, to eliminate any castings with visible defects or serious distortion. My business lives or dies by quality control, and I think that is true for many who run their own business.

Communication is also critical.
The joke in business circles is "Ignore your customers, and they will go away".

I won't name any names, but I have seen another great casting kit company fail a few years ago due to quality control and communication, when the ownership changed, so there are some lessons to be learned, which again tie into quality control and communications.

Best of luck in running your dad's business.
If you put forth the effort, you can make it succeed.

.

 

[olympic]

A few years back I found most of the castings for a Myers Rider Ericsson Stirling pumping engine scattered about on a flea market table. I gave the lady her $10.00 and ran.

Though I had not bought their kit, Myers kindly supplied the few missing pieces cheerfully and expeditiously, and they are fine.

 

[GreenTwin]

As I look back through my photos of NAMES 2019, I took a few at the Myer's booth.

And now that I think about it, I recall having a chat with someone who I guess was Mr. Myers.

We had a great chat about making castings, and building engines.
He was a super nice guy.
I assume it was the "Mr. Myers" himself.

He had a great array of castings, large and small.
I was very tempted to snag a few of those.

That was my first and only visit to NAMES, and boy am I glad I went, since the pandemic mess has trashed many of the shows for so many years, including NAMES this year.

 

[GreenTwin]

More Myers photos from NAMES 2019.

There were some great castings on display, and some BIG ones too.
All very nice castings in my opinion.

 

[GreenTwin]

My NAMES story was that I was in the process of building the green twin oscillator, but it was not quite finished.
I had always wanted to go to NAMES, but was always busy with my work schedule.

I was very busy in 2019, and so I did not plan to make a trip to NAMES.
The day before the show, I decided "damn the torpedoes, I am going to NAMES; who knows when I will ever get a chance to go again" and so I told my wife "I am going to NAMES; be back in two days".
She was not in a position to go on a long trip on such short notice, else I would have brought her along.

In hindsight, it was a good decision, since I think the 2019 NAMES was the last show has been held in recent history. NAMES cancelled in 2020, 2021 and 2022. Will we ever see another NAMES show? Who knows in this crazy world of vaccine passports and such.
I definitely won't be attending any shows that require any proof of anything. Live free or die as they say.

I got to NAMES, which was a 12 hour drive from my house, and was checking into the motel.
Two guys in front of me were chatting about NAMES, and so I started talking to them, and said I had an unfinished engine, and would probably not display it.
They said they wanted to see the engine, so we walked out to the car, and I showed it to them.
They both recommended that I display it, and so I did.
A total of about five people walked over and looked at it during the entire NAMES show, and not really any significant comments from anyone.

Also on display next to my green twin was a Cretors-style flywhee that I made the pattern for and cast in aluminum.
I took my flywheel over to the guy who I guess was Mr. Myers, and he said "Oh I see you purchased one of our flywheels".
I said "No, I cast it".
It was very noisy in there with all the IC engines running, and so he did not understand what I said.
He said "Yes we offer some nice flywheel castings don't we" or something like that, and I repeated "No, I cast it".

He said "Oh, YOU cast it; that is very nice", and so we chatted for a while.
Great guy to talk with about model engines and castings.

This was my humble little unfinished green twin display at NAMES, along with my Cretors-replica flywheel.

And as I was walking down the aisle at NAMES, I ran into my casting buddy from Louisiana.
I said "What are you doing here ????", and he replied "What are YOU doing here ????".
Small world as they say.

 

[100model]

That was my first and only visit to NAMES, and boy am I glad I went

I went three times, 2007,2009 and 2012. Best show in the world bar none! Seems a long way to fly from Australia to Toledo and then to Detroit just for the weekend but I got my moneys worth. After my first visit I always made a point to see Myers castings stand and my favorite is the three cylinder radial engine scaled down from a steam engine that powered an aircraft. So sad to see that it has been postponed so many times.