What Is This Tool Called, And Where Do I Find It?

[thefanninator]

Does Regad have a website we can look at? I've seen Mando and Fine Leatherworking.

[mikesc]

QuoteDoes Regad have a website that we can look at ?

Nope, as with a lot of the specialist suppliers in France to the luxury goods trades, they are known to their luxury goods manufacturing and artisan customers by "word of mouth".

Last thing many of them want is to be "pestered" by people who might become "difficult" customers, so they make it so that you have to really seek them out, and they get enough work and sales that they don't need to advertise directly .I had n't heard of them before seeing them mentioned here ( I'm not involved in the "bags and belts" part of the leather industry, we are in leather fashions and adult ) , but, as I thought I might be able to help bridge an apparent language problem, and maybe save you guys some money ( that is if Mr Regad comes back to me with prices lower than those of Mando, which should be the case, as I was asking for a wholesale / distributer type deal from him ), he told me that I'll be hearing from him this coming week, I'll know then, and post here as soon as I do.

As regards looking at the items, the catalogue posted in .pdf form on page 2 of this thread by Lippy that he received from Mando covers the "standard" items from Regad, I didn't ask him about "special tips" yet as when they were first mentioned in this thread I had already spoken with him.

If the pricing that he comes back to me with is substantially different from the pricing that mando are reselling Regad units and tips for, then I'll ask about the possibility of making "custom tips" ( but as with anything "non standard" that is not a "one off", I would expect him to charge for "set-up" and "tooling" and so on, plus the cost of each "custom tip" ), that said, I'd think that most of you could get or make copper or brass or bronze tips to your own needs that would fit Regad units once we know the internal diametre of the Regad handles that the tips must fit into.

Brass , Copper and Bronze are not expensive here in France, but I don't want to get involved in making "custom tips" for Regad machines myself.

But, as I said further back, If I can save some of you some money by getting direct to French suppliers and ordering enough to get wholesale or distributer rates to pass on, then that is OK, plus he was quite happy to export a few more units etc than he would do normally when selling via French retailers ( who frequently mark-up much more than retailers do in the UK or USA etc ), he told me that he sells direct to Hermes, Vuitton etc, because they don't just buy one unit at a time etc.

In my experience it is quite rare for French companies to "deal direct" if they already have retailers in place, they usually insist that one becomes a retailer, and commits to purchasing a large amount of stock, and has "walk in retail premises", we don't have a "walk in shop" any more, the overheads are too high for the "passing trade" that we would get as we have chosen to no longer live and work in a large town or city. ( online selling only is just so much better, especially when you are in our market, I don't want to see or speak with 99% of those to whom we send out discreetly packaged fashion leather, leather lingerie or leather adult items ), and in a really small place like the village / town where we live now, the customers for what we normally design and sell would be hesitant to push open the shop door in case anyone they knew saw them.

Not that we have sign on the door where we live anyway, just a PO Box number with our brand name, a bunch of highly targeted websites, and a dedicated phoneline that is answered a couple of hours a day 4 days per week.

We also do not do trade shows, as we don't sell via retailers, only direct to private customers via websites.

Edited October 5, 2014 by mikesc

[thefanninator]

Thanks Mike and thank you for offering to do this!

I just thought Regad might have more tips than Mando and others offer. I'm definitely interested.

Edited October 6, 2014 by thefanninator

[Lippy]

Well, Regad does have a website. Try clicking on this link.

http://scrapyro.e-monsite.com/pages/8-fonctions-en-1-appareil/

It appears to be a lower cost machine that uses the same or similar tips.

[mikesc]

Yes they do have that brochure / site but it is for much lower grade devices, with no real temperature control, and very limited tips ( used for "hot foil" ) that are sold as hobby equipement to scrapbookers and moms who want to decorate Xmas cards.I mentioned it to Mr Regad ( he was MDR <= French abreviation for "mort de rire"*, equivalent to ROTFALOL ..said ( translated ) "Oh Dear, please don't equate what we put up there to what we do for leather artisans and Hermes etc, those are toys, ignore them".

Those I have seen at handicrafts shops in France, I think they say something like "children should use these only when supervised by an adult, suitable for age 7 and above"( but obviously written in French, I don't know, and didn't ask, if he sells these to any international wholesalers, importers, distributors, he was insistant, those are "jouets" / toys.

Regad don't sell them directly either, even in France, only through retail shops who buy from them.

Note both the "contact" links on the page ( top nav bar and right sidebar ) go to 404 not found., done deliberately ( his words ), so you'll go to your local hobby /art supply shop, and ask them for the devices.

*"mort de rire" actualy means "dying with laughter"..but like most things doesn't translate literally "word for word" , but "the sense" does translate.

Edited October 6, 2014 by mikesc

[Lippy]

Mike,

Thanks for the update on the smaller Regad machines. It looks like the "real" machines have digital controls and the others are more of a traditional wood burning tool. That said, there's a big difference in costs.

Really interested in knowing Regad's feedback on pricing. Do you have any connections at Vergez Blanchard?

Cheers,

Tom

[CustomDoug]

Any updates on this ?

Personally I don't see why those smaller units would not work just fine.. maybe not as professional looking but they heat up with a controller (and leather doesn't need that much heat), enough so that pyrography on leather is possible. So it should be able to handle edge creasing and help with burnishing. Also the tips look to be built exactly like the pro units use. So if the tips were definitely interchangable, I'd like to try one of them before shelling out for the digital ones. I'm sure the pro tips would have to be sourced from Mando or Regads - Anyone in France close to a store that sells them?

Doug C

Edited October 14, 2014 by CustomDoug

[mikesc]

Still waiting to hear back from Mr Regad, I'll "relaunch" via another phone call or another email if I hear nothing by the end of this week.

re the "non digital" "toy devices".I can only go on what he said.

But, if I actually had a use for one of these "pro devices" ( or this kind of decorative finishing ) , I'd be inclined to build my own.

Only a question of making a power supply that has say 10 positions and temperature controlled "feedback" from the handles ( at the point of contact with the tip ) to keep the temp at the chosen °C or °F.

Making the brass tips isn't going to be rocket surgery, nor building controllers or handles..

But , I don't have a need ( ATM ) so..

Given how inventive and skilled I've seen some folks here to be ( reading a lot of past threads ), surprised that no-one has made a working one, and then made and sold them to others..Particularly given the transatlantic shipping costs involved in shipping base units at around 5 Kgs from France to the USA.

That said, I'll post here as soon as I have something concrete by way of pricing etc from Regad for the "pro" units and handles, tips etc.

Availability and suitability of the "toy" ones ( his words ) ?

There are a couple of large "hobbyist" type shops in the nearest large town to me ( around 20kms away )..next time I'm going near them I'll drop in and see if they have them, again I would think that the weight of the control boxen would be painful to ship, but I'll take a look.

Don't you already have this kind of "controllable" ( the 12V DC controller can be adapted from a car battery charger, and temperature measurement "probes" are very similar to those in digital meat thermometers ) heated "pyrogravure / soldering iron" available in other countries ?

Edited October 15, 2014 by mikesc

[CustomDoug]

It's not that a battery charger can not be made into a heat control unit.. they do it for wood burning units, so it would work for us too. But who needs the hassle. There are seperate heat control units available and on the market already, for the pyrography market.

I feel like Mr. Regad is playing down the non-digital units as 'laughable toys' in hopes of selling the much more expensive PRO units. I can't blame him for that, and I'd personally prefer the PRO units if I had the extra money.. if for no other reason than they look cooler. But honestly their "toy" unit (R300) is a more refined set up than what is sold by the Campbell-Randell (Leather machinery specialist and supply) here in the US, made for doing the same exact thing. The price looks to be about the same too, give or take.

I was planning on the Campbell-Randell unit to tide me over until I can come up with the $700+ for the Pro unit.. but honestly I'd much rather have the R300 toy. One advantage is the multitude of tips that Regad already offers. Another is the threaded handles of the R300 toy unit, are so cheap that you could potentially have a dedicated handle for each tip, seriously :

http://www.vaissiere-peintures.fr/manche-pyro-regad-produit-564.fr.html

I've found about 4 different places that offer these.. but none seem to ship internationally as far as I can tell. Maybe one of them is in your neighborhood or close to you?

http://www.vaissiere-peintures.fr/pyro-r300-regad-produit-379.fr.html

http://www.creavea.com/mr.html?query=R300&sid=0B288D792E492E7948566784FBD774EB.boutique1&productsPerPage=90&channel=fr

https://www.eanfind.fr/produit/T2OWWD2Z69

http://www.rougier-ple.fr/pyrographe-r300.r.html

http://www.scrapyro.com/appareil-multifonctions

Though probably not necessary, I'm thinking that the following tip could possibly be made to work with the tips from Campbell-Randell (less expensive?):

http://mando.fr/fr/fileteuse-manuelle/142-resistance-chauffante.html

Alternatively, there is another tip (#SD21) that could possibly be threaded (tap and dye) to accept the Campbell-Randell tips (less expensive?). But then again, the non-Pro tips at least are really cheap:

http://www.vaissiere-peintures.fr/pointes-a-pyrograver-regad-produit-381.fr.html

Doug C

Edited October 15, 2014 by CustomDoug

[mikesc]

Hi Doug, yes "retail prices" for what he calls the "toy" are much better than the "retail prices" of the "pro" units that anyone knows of ( at least until he gets back to me with prices, bear in mind, he may just say 10% or 20% less than "retail", I won't know until I get his written reply )..

re how close the outlets you found are to me ..

vaissiere ...other end of France..about 700 kms crow flies..900 by road ..8 hours hard driving ( but sticking to the speed limits ) each way..and no allowance for traffic..

crevea...even further South..762kms crow flies ...1000kms road..10 hours each way..and no allowance for traffic (

rougier ..shops at Vannes or Brest ' I'm about the same distance from both of them 100kms crow flies ..130 road..2 hours each way ( 2 lane each way highways and small, narrow Breton roads ) ..closer to 3 hours each way given the traffic in those two towns.

scrapyro..( Regad themselves ) 750 kms crow flies..900kms by road..9 hours each way ( right through the "massif central" ) (

mando..Paris..380kms crow flies..450kms road..about 4 hours each way ( plus Parisian traffic ..world's worst drivers )..I hate Paris ( full of Parisiens ) , I try to avoid it at all costs..

Maybe the shops at the town nearest to me have them ( but Google doesn't know ) or can get them ..

I'll research by phone later today ( 04.00 am here now ..I type slowly I have to hang around the house Wednesday in case a postal delivery ( Juki sewing machine parts from college sewing in the the UK ) comes here instead of to our PO box..

right now..I'm going to get some sleep..some delivery driver may be ringing the doorbell and waking me in just 5 hours..