Tim Horn Baseboards

[Tim Dubya]

Found a vid on tut 'tube showing how easy* these are to build and how robust they are once completed.

 

 

Cheers

Dubya

 

*if anyone can mess this up, it'll be me

[Tim Dubya]

My boards rocked up on Thursday, two weeks earlier than advised and are absolutely superb! 

 

 

I've made up the one plain board,

 

 

 

so today (with suitable birthday hangover), I shall be attacking the right hand scenic board.

 

 

These really are worth every penny,  if like me, you've tried and failed to make a decent set yourself, consider them a bargain.

 

 

 

Thank you Mr H.

 

Cheers

Dubya

 

 

Edited October 4, 2021 by Tim Dubya
rotational drift

[robertcwp]

Has anyone used Tim Horn's traverser fiddleyard boards, please? I would be interested to know how well they work.

[PMP]

10 hours ago, robertcwp said:

Has anyone used Tim Horn's traverser fiddleyard boards, please? I would be interested to know how well they work.

Not used his traverser but have a turntable, quality is excellent throughout. Tim’s are the best commercially available boards I’ve seen. I think the traverser and turntables aren’t available as kits, they come ready made to ensure build accuracy and quality.

[Jack P]

Does anyone know the best way to get a hold of Tim? Or an up to date price/stock list?

[Satan's Goldfish]

20 hours ago, Jack P said:

Does anyone know the best way to get a hold of Tim? Or an up to date price/stock list?

 

He'll have had a busy weekend.... email is normally a safe bet but have patience as he's a busy man.

[Satan's Goldfish]

Quote:

 

Ta, he’s best to email me at timhornlasercut@gmail.com 👍🏻 but having been a week away I’ve got lots to catchup on!

[Jack P]

3 hours ago, Satan's Goldfish said:

Quote:

 

Ta, he’s best to email me at timhornlasercut@gmail.com 👍🏻 but having been a week away I’ve got lots to catchup on!

 

Oh wonderful, I did only email him recently so he's probably still getting to it! Good to hear he managed a week away!

 

[Satan's Goldfish]

On 12/04/2022 at 23:47, Jack P said:

 

Oh wonderful, I did only email him recently so he's probably still getting to it! Good to hear he managed a week away!

 

 

🤣 I think it would be classed as a working week away, no breaks for Tim! He was with Heaton Lodge...

[PenrithBeacon]

It would seem that Tim Horn's Facebook page is now his only Internet presence. 

[B15nac]

Just received some boards perfect as always from Tim. About 5 week wait. 

 

Regards Neil

[Enterprisingwestern]

11 hours ago, PenrithBeacon said:

It would seem that Tim Horn's Facebook page is now his only Internet presence. 

 

That's me b*ggered then!

 

Mike.

[PenrithBeacon]

1 hour ago, Enterprisingwestern said:

 

That's me b*ggered then!

 

Mike.

Yeah and my club which wants to start a new layout. Nobody is on FB and neither do we want to be! It's seems odd to me that Tim would restrict his customer base but there you are. 

There are other suppliers but they don't seem to be of the same standard. 

[Phil Bullock]

Tim is largely a one man band and faces the same issues experienced by others in that situation …. Work or internet.

 

He built the boards for my new layout and confirm what others have said …. Top notch quality! 
 

 

[Bucoops]

Facebook has its issues but it allows a small business to have a global web presence for free. You can also extend it to have a payment system for selling the actual products - probably a step too far for a one man business but the option is there.

[Clive Mortimore]

1 hour ago, PenrithBeacon said:

Yeah and my club which wants to start a new layout. Nobody is on FB and neither do we want to be! It's seems odd to me that Tim would restrict his customer base but there you are. 

There are other suppliers but they don't seem to be of the same standard. 

No one in a club is on Facebook, hurry up and at least join the late 20th Century. 

[Colin_McLeod]

1 hour ago, PenrithBeacon said:

Nobody is on FB and neither do we want to be! It's seems odd to me that Tim would restrict his customer base but there you are. 

 

Seems odd to me that you would deprive yourself of something you really want because you don't want to go on FB.

 

If you really really loath FB you can go on it for the sole purpose of buying a baseboard and then leave.

 

No different to you going into a town you don't like to purchase an item that is only available from one shop in that town.

Edited May 15, 2022 by Colin_McLeod
typo

[Clive Mortimore]

Of course if you were to google Tim Horn Baseboards the first entry is a link to his facebook page where the following address appears 9C Millers Close, Fakenham, NR21 8NW so you can do the reliable old 19th Century postal system. 

 

All in all your excuse that no one in your club is on Facebook is a pretty poor reason for a rant. You don't have to be on Facebook to read Facebook pages. It also has his e-mail address (I bet you are not on e-mail) and a telephone number, how modern.

[AY Mod]

 

"Hello, is that Tim? I got your number off the internet"

[Satan's Goldfish]

All orders to Tim are via email. I've shown him the recent comments here and he'll compose a reply for me to share when he has the time to.

[Satan's Goldfish]

A message from Tim;

 

“There are other suppliers but they don't seem to be of the same standard”

 

And that is why you can’t order my boards online at present. I have to design, cut, sand, tidy, clean, and pack to make everything, I don’t open a container from china to stock my shelves 😊

 

I get moaned at on a daily basis about not being online or difficult to reach, ironically by e-mails which I receive. I can fully understand the frustration but I’m not in the position to offer internet sales, pretty much everything I make is cut to order unless I have the time to make a bit of extra stock at the same time as the order I’m cutting. Making stock just pushes everyone else’s order further back though.

 

Like so many small companies (not just model railways) if the main person is stuck on replying to e-mails, quotes, queries, phone calls, walk in customers, being ill, personal/family problems/dramas etc etc then the work isn’t going to get done. I can spend every single day making money, but I’m only sitting on the money until the order goes out the door. It’s an impossible task to please everyone and after 9 years in business it’s one I’ll never get right. I’m not a businessman, I’m somebody who’s passionate about making baseboards and models, I just happen to sell what I make. I’m not VAT registered so that will give you an indication as to how small my business really is and it’s not worth employing people direct as a business. 

 

I try to reply to emails in a timely fashion, normally on a Monday and Friday, some quotes take an hour or two to work out with many e-mail conversations back and forth until the person decides they will leave it and ask the same questions a year later, again and again. I always try to be positive but at this moment in time it the worst time ever to be in business with spiralling costs and material supply issues and courier fees. 

 

My main e-mail address is timhornlasercut@gmail.com although my usual tim@timhorn.co.uk still works as well. I don’t have a price list as prices are changing far too frequently and I hold very little in stock, but I’m happy to give quotes at the moment if I feel I can complete the work within a 3/4 month time frame. 

 

Best wishes, Tim

[woodenhead]

It feels to me there are two businesses wrapped up in one - there are the standard baseboards that could be run as production lines and then there is the bespoke stuff that takes the time but brings in good income.

 

I get the impression that Tim is happy with the current set up, he retains absolute control over quality, his business model is simple to execute (with no vat) and he has enough work to keep himself busy and paid.

 

He could split the business - have a production line for standard modules which could be delivered through an employee and then a bespoke business that he concentrates on.   But, that then complicates his business - first an employee, then quality control and costs, he could keep things simpler with a bit of outsourcing of the standard modules but that will probably bring VAT into the mix and also the big element of quality control looms large.  But all this assumes he wants and needs to grow the business beyond where it is, why chase the extra dollar when the level of additional effort is simply not worth the reward and then he is also in a place where he has to begin raising revenue through advertising.

 

As I see it, he has an operation that keeps on delivering repeat business, mainly through word of mouth, he has more than enough work to keep him satisfied and he has a level of stress that he is ok with.

 

Sounds like he has it made and well done because not everyone finds that.

[AY Mod]

19 minutes ago, Satan's Goldfish said:

A message from Tim;

 

“There are other suppliers but they don't seem to be of the same standard”

 

And that is why you can’t order my boards online at present. I have to design, cut, sand, tidy, clean, and pack to make everything, I don’t open a container from china to stock my shelves 😊

 

I get moaned at on a daily basis about not being online or difficult to reach, ironically by e-mails which I receive. I can fully understand the frustration but I’m not in the position to offer internet sales, pretty much everything I make is cut to order unless I have the time to make a bit of extra stock at the same time as the order I’m cutting. Making stock just pushes everyone else’s order further back though.

 

Like so many small companies (not just model railways) if the main person is stuck on replying to e-mails, quotes, queries, phone calls, walk in customers, being ill, personal/family problems/dramas etc etc then the work isn’t going to get done. I can spend every single day making money, but I’m only sitting on the money until the order goes out the door. It’s an impossible task to please everyone and after 9 years in business it’s one I’ll never get right. I’m not a businessman, I’m somebody who’s passionate about making baseboards and models, I just happen to sell what I make. I’m not VAT registered so that will give you an indication as to how small my business really is and it’s not worth employing people direct as a business. 

 

I try to reply to emails in a timely fashion, normally on a Monday and Friday, some quotes take an hour or two to work out with many e-mail conversations back and forth until the person decides they will leave it and ask the same questions a year later, again and again. I always try to be positive but at this moment in time it the worst time ever to be in business with spiralling costs and material supply issues and courier fees. 

 

My main e-mail address is timhornlasercut@gmail.com although my usual tim@timhorn.co.uk still works as well. I don’t have a price list as prices are changing far too frequently and I hold very little in stock, but I’m happy to give quotes at the moment if I feel I can complete the work within a 3/4 month time frame. 

 

Best wishes, Tim

 

It's worth noting that he, and you, felt the need to spend time on a Sunday to communicate all because someone is being needy and unable to use common sense. Thanks to you both.

[PenrithBeacon]

7 hours ago, Clive Mortimore said:

Of course if you were to google Tim Horn Baseboards the first entry is a link to his facebook page where the following address appears 9C Millers Close, Fakenham, NR21 8NW so you can do the reliable old 19th Century postal system. 

 

All in all your excuse that no one in your club is on Facebook is a pretty poor reason for a rant. You don't have to be on Facebook to read Facebook pages. It also has his e-mail address (I bet you are not on e-mail) and a telephone number, how modern.

Gee whizz! Now that's what I call a rant! Wow! That sort of  anti-social behaviour is, I believe, fairly typical of Facebook users which is precisely why nobody in the club wants to use it. 

When I clicked on Mr Horn's link Facebook demanded that I log in or create a new account.  No thanks.

Actually I do have three email accounts although one is unused and has been for a number of years now. I'm typing this an a smartphone which used more as data terminal than a phone. I use it to search the Internet, read books, watch films, order groceries,  medication, books , dvds/bluerays & modeling supplies. I do Zoom/WhatsApp video calls on it, use it as a SatNav and pretty well all else which is available on the Internet. It also acts as a very capable point and shoot camera. See the photo below which I took yesterday. 

But no, I keep away from social media and your post above very eloquently says why.

[AY Mod]

40 minutes ago, PenrithBeacon said:

When I clicked on Mr Horn's link Facebook demanded that I log in or create a new account

 

I've just tested it incognito, it didn't demand anything. I disallowed the cookies and could still access the page with his address, email and phone number. If you don't want to just use public domain info rather than belly-aching on this form of social media go ahead; do without it but, please, stop maligning Tim Horn's business and wasting other people's time.