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I have a friend who has a jointer that he can ship from Canada to Taiwan, but I am wondering how it's done, and what kind of costs can he expect?

I would like to go with sea freight because its probably much cheaper than air...

It's fairly large, takes 2 people to move it so I am guessing around 300lb, it's also a standalone (not a benchtop) unit.

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Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com

It's not a question of choosing between air and sea, it's going to have to go by sea ...no shipping agent would even consider sending a 300lb machine by air.

It's ironic that you are living in a country which probably manufactures more jointers than any other, with the possible exception of mainland China.Can you not get a perfectly serviceable domestic jointer at a reasonable cost ?

A vast majority of those manufacturers do not deal with anyone but their customers, so unless you're ready to buy a truckload or more they won't really take you seriously. However there are industrial tool suppliers, which was like the guy I bought the bandsaw from. I was just wondering how much would it cost to get the jointer shipped here because they were going to give it to us... and the quality may be better than whats available here (if it's made in Canada).

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Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com

Just curious, what make of jointer is it?

I have a friend in Taiwan who may have an idea of what it would cost for 300 lbs from Canada to Taiwan. I do a lot of domestic shipping & think it would cost around $150 to ship it across the continental US. A guess would be $300 to $400 but that's only a guess. I assume there will be taxes & duties when it gets to Taiwan. Will you have to hire a broker, more $$$.

Another issue with freight shipping is discounts. Published rates are very high & actual rates will be much less, maybe 40 to 60% less. It's a confusing game.

Kevin Looker

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I'm not a luthier.
I'm just a guy who builds guitars in his basement.
It's better than playing golf.

no idea what the make and model, it belongs to my friend's father. I will ask him to take some pictures to see.

Are freight companies like factories, as in they only deal with companies and not individuals? I heard of van lines but the rate is extreme, something like 10,000 dollars or more but they're moving an entire household, also they pack the stuff for you.

As for taxes I am not sure how they can tax free items.

_________________
Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com

I got a shipping quote for a 400lb jointer from B.C. to Ontario for a little over $300. I would think that Canada to Taiwan would be more costly than that.

Alex

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"Indecision is the key to flexibility" .... Bumper sticker

The cost of sea container freight is much less per pound than air shipping. But air shipping is probably cheaper and it is not as expensive as you might think.

To ship in a sea container you must have your box put in a container mixed with other people's items.
The cost gets expensive because you must pay someone at a shipping company in Canada to organize getting your box into the mixed container. And then when it arrives you must pay to have your box removed from the container. Because the sea ports are controlled by "organized" labor every step costs a lot of money.

To ship by air cargo all you have to do is take the box to the airlines and pay the cost at the counter of the airline and airline workers do the rest. The same on arrival you pick it up from the airline. All through this process only the airline employees handle the box.

These logistic costs make shipping small amounts by sea very expensive and a lot of fees suddenly appear. In the USA is Customs decides to inspect something in the sea container that is not your box you still have to pay a share of the inspection cost. You also have to pay a share of container storage in case of inspection delays. You can ship with a company like UPS and they will give you a fixed rate but the rate is not cheap because they know about all the hidden costs.

To ship by air you should ask your friend to contact the airline that flies to Taiwan and ask what their cargo charge is per pound or kilo. That is basically all the shipping cost should be other than some modest fees they add at a fixed rate.

We ship pallet loads of wood from South America to California all the time and we now use air cargo because it is always cheaper and faster than sea containers.

But even considering that air is cheaper it will be expensive because of the distance to Taiwan. From SA to USA the cost is about $1 per pound by air cargo.

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Lance Peck

A dollar per pound seems a lot cheaper than 10 dollars per pound UPS seems to charge for parcels...

_________________
Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com

If you bring something into your country that has value, something that you could resell, they are going to tax you because it wasn't sourced locally & taxed.

Kevin Looker

_________________
I'm not a luthier.
I'm just a guy who builds guitars in his basement.
It's better than playing golf.

Yes that is because UPS has to perform all the process I described. Whether they send by sea or air they have the expenses to handle the process and they make a profit.

The airline covers all of these costs in their handling. The airlines are subsidized by passenger income so they can charge less to load cargo on planes. And as we know the airlines do not make a profit!

When you ship on the airline you actually do most of the process yourself.

But I'm not saying the airlines will only charge $1 per pound to Taiwan, you need to ask the airline cargo department directly. Do not ask a shipping company for the rate.

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Lance Peck

Eesh...Its gonna be expensive to ship. I'd guess at least $500 based on our shipping costs at work
Don't forget about packing it. Cast iron doesn't do well in salty sea air. You'll have to really grease up all the parts and pack it with desiccant. It will probably still be pretty red when you receive it

I just heard from the guy, says its one of those early Delta/Rockwell jointers, possibly 8". Seems like its a better machine than anything they will have here. But since sea shippers charge by volume rather than weight maybe they can also pack it with other useful stuff to help offset the shipping cost.

_________________
Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com

Forgive me for saying but how useful is a jointer for Guitar making purposes?

Well, you can use a hand plane for pretty much everything (and I do for jointing plates, and the block plane gets a lot of use), but a jointer makes short work of squaring and flattening rough stock, trueing neck surfaces after laminating a blank, even basic cleanup on a scarf joint if its sharp and set up.

I've only had mine for 7-8 months or so, but it makes some things a while lot easier. Hand planes are great, but I'd rather spend time using them for the finer aspects of dimensioning and joining. Definitely one of my new favorite tools.