[TheForge] Bill Gichner

[PlumDon at aol.com]

If I made add a note to Bill Hochewa's timely comments:
 
Stories about Bill Gichner abound. He made more contribution to the  
blacksmithing community than most of us will ever realize.And none will ever  know the 
financial contributions he made to many.  We may grit our teeth  over the 
prices he charged but, in the end, he helped all of us realize more for  the 
stuff we sell. 
 
I bought my first power hammer from Bill nearly 20 years ago. He was a  
persistent salesman and pushed me into getting it. It was a 50# Little Giant and  a 
clunker. But it worked most of the time. I gave him a small down payment and  
it took me a couple of years to pay off the $2200. It was an outrageous 
price.  But he never charged a cent of interest or said a word if I was late on a  
promised payment. He delivered it by himself in the old blue van. Pulled into  
the front yard, jumped out and unrinated on my azaleas. It had been a three 
hour  trip for him. He unloaded it by himself and he put it into my tiny shop 
by  himself. I kept offering to help but he said he could handle it fine...it 
was  part of the deal. I got eight years of use out of it and sold it for 
$1800.  He was absolutely right on to push me to get it right away. 
 
He was a neat guy. This past September he bought a small piece of equipment  
from me. Ninety years old and still wheeling an dealing. Quite remarkable,  
really.
 
 
Don  Plummer
Plummer Design Works
392 Hallman Mill Road
Phoenixville, PA  19460
610-495-5058