[Ron Wood]

Harry,
Of course we are not accusing you of lying…just of ranting about a gentleman that you obviously know nothing about. You are a real Boy Scout Harry, protecting all of us dim witted individuals that are willing to pay an honest price for a museum quality restoration and do not expect it to be delivered like a pizza. Your lack of patience is legend. You get all bent out of shape when you do not get same day responses to your posts. You want things that are pretty and you want them right now. Well, things do not always work that way. There are precious few craftsmen capable of world class work and most of them have waiting lists months, if not years, long. I do not doubt that Mr. Danner does wonderful work, and I look forward to seeing some of it firsthand. I am glad you are satisfied with the quality of his refinishing…it looks very nice and I have nothing to say against it.

You have taken great pains and no small amount of snide remarks to point out that Ted takes more time than you are willing to wait to restore Lugers. Big deal. Ted is up front about his schedule and delivery time, and if he expects an upfront investment, it accomplishes a number of things:

-It eliminates tire kickers and lookie-loos…only serious individuals wanting quality work will even consider using his services

-It keeps him from being stuck with a gun that somebody decides they do not want to pay for and he can’t recoup his fee.

-It underscores the fact that he is in a very small and select group of artisans that can legitimately command such upfront investment because they deliver the ultimate in quality.

-It discourages whiners who otherwise would have nothing invested and would feel free to gripe and moan incessantly while the work was being done and would not hesitate to broadcast their lack of patience and childish rants to whomever would listen.

Ted is a gentleman and not deserving of your warnings about his slow delivery. Regardless of the customer, he will tell you himself if he can’t accept a commission because of overload, or that the delivery may well exceed a year in advance. He doesn’t make unreasonable promises just to satisfy an impatient customer. So go ahead, “stick to your guns”…you are shooting blanks. And by the way, there is absolutely no comparison between the work that “Lugerman” and Ted does. It is like comparing an autobody shop paintjob with a quality auto restoration. There is no hypocracy at all.