It is the best of times, it is the worst of times...

qualitymachinetools said:
Oh trust me, I know the web site needs help. Big help. One thing when comparing to Grizzly though, any photos that you see on our site are NOT edited. You can't see anything they have close up, because the pics are all completely edited for a web site.
I have met with at least 10 web designers, and end up in the same boat every time. No one can do anything near what I think looks good at all. I am not a web designer, I am a machine guy. I just met with another person today about doing a site, who sounds promising again, but we will see. Always the same story!

There are all these web sites out there, and I can never find anyone to make one that I like. And its not like I am offering them $2500 to do it, the last one quoted $15,000, and still I thought what they were doing was horrible.

There should be reviews on that machine though, there are a lot of them out there. Give me a call if you have any questions about it too. I know all of the machines very well, inside and out.
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Here's a sample of the kind of work I do. Not so good you're far off but could be done. And not for $15,000! Seriously?
http://www.bigcountryraceway.com/
 
GA said:
Yeah... some pages seem to load better than others...

The page for the 1236 Lathe, when I load it, has some of the text for the accessories overlaid on top of one picture at the bottom, while under another.
Yet the page for the 1340GT comes out correct... Go figure.
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I run into this a lot. Web site designers all assume that everyone is comfortable reading 12 point type. I'm not and so I have Firefox configured for 18 point minimum. Web site designers are also all apparently unaware that proper HTML allows the text to "reflow" in such a way as to accomodate the user's browser configuration.
 
Hate an unfinished thread/thought but had to leave work right away. A machine tool web is not that big a block to mill. The layout should be profexssional, simple and easy to navigate. You have to "think like a user" and make sure people can find what they want quickly. Once they find the category of interest, there should be separate pages with as much information and photos on the item - within reason - as possible. Thumbnails allow several pictures to reside in a compact space and each can link to a full size picture that has been trimmed to balance load times with detail. There are still a lot of users on dialup, so graphic density and size is very important. You don't like to have your users sitting and waiting for a page full of huge pictures to load.

The format should be consistent (template) through the site which makes it look cohesive and also makes it easy to update. We host and maintain a web site for a real estate company and it's important for us to be able to get new property up quickly and it's important for the customer to see the new info posted quickly. Quickly also means "less expensive" since we only charge by the hour to update. Customer should get a lot done for them at $20/hr. And a straight forward layout makes it easier to hand the site over to the customer, or transfer it to another support agent. uncomplex also increases the chance that the site will display the same in all browsers (yet another pain for a designer - who plays by all the rules?).

The designer should also be able to balance their passion for maintaining and designing with the realization that the site belongs to the customer.

Font types and sizes are important and really should be kept minimal and consistent. Most browsers now have a "zoom" feature that allows the user to move in on a page to see the fine print. It's a hard balance -12 pt Ariel is easy to read at 1024x768 for most, 14 is too big, but not too big at 1280x960. Can't predict the screen resolution of all your site visitors. The web stats will tell you that later.

all off topic - show us that new machine
 
Dayton freight tracking shows an eta of 9/30. If you are wagering folk, place your bets that it will be precipitating when I get off work tonight.
 
She is. I'm sore all over from 3+ hours wrestling the beast into her home. I'll do a bunch more pics tomorrow, but highlights include: 3 hp motor, pull out chip tray, cast iron base and turning to (many) inch threads without any change gears. So far it is more than I expected!
home.jpg

home.jpg
 
I wish mine were delivered on 9/30... Gonna have to wait a while longer.

Glad for you... it is like Christmas in Sept... :)
Take care of that back after wrestling it into place.
 
maker of things said:
She is. I'm sore all over from 3+ hours wrestling the beast into her home. I'll do a bunch more pics tomorrow, but highlights include: 3 hp motor, pull out chip tray, cast iron base and turning to (many) inch threads without any change gears. So far it is more than I expected!
View attachment 84716
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Looks like it belongs there. Must have been a heck of a move.
"It is a far far better thing than ever you've done before" (I've been dying to put this ending quote from the "tail of two cities" in this thread since I saw you used the opening quote from the same book as the title of this thread.)

Chris
 
She's looking good. Just like it belongs there. :)

That lathe only has 8 speeds correct? Is that sufficient, or will you eventually go to a two-speed motor or VFD?
 
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