Yep, that'd be me.
My real name is Chris, the nickname Duke started about 10 years ago on AS. I don't frequent the forums much anymore but I still check in from time to time.
Hey, yeah I probably could. Frankly speaking, pop-ups are currently coming from 2 sources I know of. Hyway and VEC in India, which are copies of the Hyway slugs. I've stocked both, personally prefer the Hyway.
VEC is pretty cool because they have a really nice catalog of pistons that are tough to find. I think they make the Golf packaged ones as well.
I see some talk about LRB in this thread as well. Lee at LRB also has had a lot of pistons developed over the years that are unavailable through some sources. I stock and sell some of the oddball ones. Very little problems with them in my experiences and they help a lot of people get their equipment running again. In some circumstances they fit the bill just fine. I don't stock normally these where we could stock a Meteor. For a lot of models we also offer cheaper unbranded pistons. A lot of our customers find good use from them. Sometimes there's issues. If anyone has bought a TS760/076 piston that has originated in China lately I'm sure they can attest to this.
I think you'll find some differences between the two if you measure. I know for sure after selling a lot of aftermarket there are some variances from batch-to-batch and from manufacturer to manufacturer. For the most part the most amount of engineering that goes into a lot of parts is just in the copying of it. Which leads to the next thing of why there is such a variance in pricing between OEM and aftermarket stuff, in my summation it is a result of the following.
- OEMs bear the costs of R&D
- OEMs typically have Quality Control programs/employees
I'm sure there's way more to it, but I'm just a seller of parts, not a developer or a manufacturer. Simply put, aftermarket parts aren't really engineered parts, but copies. The quality of the parts depends on the quality of the work of the people and materials used in the manufacturing processes. We all know the $2 Farmertec piston is going to have a marked difference between the $40 Meteor or the $80 OEM. It's just the way it is.
Really the bottom line is we stock and source parts from all over the world and through various sources. Most of the times we can deliver good parts to our customers that they are satisfied with for a fair price. When we have issues we back it up, plain and simple.
We don't give our customers the "techniscist said OK to run" bit
I'll try almost anything in my saws, sometimes hoping for a "hand grenade" video moment! Although so far that hasn't happened. For my part while I'll try anything and will test anything, I always recommend OEM if anyone asks if reliability is the definition of win. After trying about anything that's in the market...that hasn't changed in my most humble opinion. Having said that, these popup's can be fun for "play saws" and I've tried a few now, HyWay and I guess now VEC's. Actually had used "Golf" brand slugs in some old Jonsereds, and while it can be argued they aren't pretty, they never failed. It's good to know the different options for finding these, thank you for posting this.
