Jerry Evans-South Africa-BRASS SPEC PLATES

Firstly, let me explain my situation, making brass plates is not the way I earn my living. I do it as part of the hobby and, as such, I only do these things in my spare time - my "daytime job" must take precedence.

    I started offering "Brass Engine Plates" to the guys on the "Oldengine.org" and "S.E.L" lists (of which I am a member) as a service to the hobby - it is not a profit making venture (as will be seen when you look at the prices advertised on my web page) but is taking more and more of my time. I derive a certain amount of satisfaction from making these plates and it also helps in a small way to finance my obsession with the hobby.

    I go to great pains to replicate the original makers plate as closely as possible and this takes many hours to draw the artwork. I do not use modern computer fonts - I actually redraw the letters individually from the original plate. (This is the reason I need good resolution pictures to start with). To do the artwork for a simple plate, can easily take more than 20 hours of actual work on my side. (I do NOT charge for doing the drawing.- that is my contribution to the Hobby).

    What this means is that if you are in a tearing hurry for your plate then I'm not your guy. I always try my best to get things done as quickly as possible but sometimes it can take a few months (or maybe more) to produce a new plate (ie. one that I have to create new artwork for). The artwork is the holdup - plates for which I have previously created artwork go much faster but I still do NOT work to deadlines. As I mentioned, I do them "as and when" I have the chance - I do not "drop everything" to make one or a few plates for anyone. I wait until I have a decent batch and then make them all together.

    Another problem that I encounter is payment. Don't get me wrong, I've never had a problem with engine men - I actually ask my "customers" not to pay until they have received their plates in the post - I do trust engine people and I've yet to be let down by one. My problem is that I live in South Africa and we do not have PayPal (at least PayPal does not do business with South Africa) and our "rip-off artist" banks charge me so much by way of "bank charges" for an international money transfer for a brass engine plate or two that it just does not pay me to ask my customers to do a transfer as most of it just ends up in their coffers. (That's over and above what your bank charges you to do the transfer in the first place).

    For this reason I will usually ask you to pay the money over to someone else - it could be to someone I want to order goods from in your country (or another country - U.S.A., Britain or Australia usually) who accepts credit cards or PayPal or it could be to a friend of mine who lives in the U.S.A. Or I might even ask you to buy me something (only engine related) in your country and have it shipped to me.

Please understand that I am not a "scammer" - these options are all that are available to me and everything will be done legally and you will not be involved in any extra costs. If you belong to the "S.E.L." or "Oldengine" mail lists I'm sure that many guys on these lists will vouch for me. I'm also a member of "Smokstak" but not very active there.

O.K. that covers the "negatives" - now for the "positives".

    i) Since 2005 I have made many plates for guys all over the world and have only received positive comments from them.

    ii) I do pride myself on the quality of etched brass engine plates that I make. I strive to make accurate replicas of the original (of course this does depend on the quality of the original pic that you supply to me).

    iii) My etched brass plates are made in the same way as the originals - they are not cheap substitutes. I ONLY make etched brass plates - I do not make anodised or printed substitutes. They are usually indistinguishable from the original (again depending on the quality of the picture you supply to me). One point here is that I only use one thickness of brass supplied by one company (ie. 1 mm engravers brass but this does sometimes vary slightly due to their specified tolerances).

    iv) Before I actually make the plate I will send you a (low resolution for email) proof for your approval. This includes sizes as well as "hole centre" dimensions (although I DO NOT drill the holes) . You are free to discuss any changes or mistakes at this time and I will rectify same and supply another proof. Only once you are happy with the artwork will I go ahead and make the plate. Also please understand that the finished size of the plate my vary slightly from the size given on the proof - this is because these plates are finished off by grinding to size by hand on a disk linisher and sizes do vary - I cannot and do not work to close tolerances on final size.

    v) My prices are published on my web page: <www.oldengine.org/members/evans/plates/index.htm> and have hardly changed over the last few years.

(If you are considering asking if I make any other kind of plate (ie.
"cast plates" - "anodised plates" or any other type of plate then save yourself the time and do not ask. I only make "etched brass plates".)