Importing a Lathe or Mill from China ???

[#.0]

I'm in the market for purchasing a new lathe & mill and have been noticing a lot of similarities between equipment brands.

It appears like a few of the brand name models such as Harbor Freight, Enco, Grizzly, Precision Matthews, Saber, Hafco, Smithy etc all look almost identical.

After visiting a few Chinese web sites with lathes and milling machines I found even more similarities between the manufactures.

I've been comparing prices with the Chinese equipment and it seems to be almost half the cost of what some of these companies are charging.

Most of this Chinese equipment can be ordered with no minimum quantity and they offer free freight on board shipping to any shipping port located near your area.

They want a third of the cost for the machine deposited via wire transfer to their company to start the process which takes about 60 days for them to deliver and it comes with their manufacturer warranty.

I'm just wondering if anyone else has imported machine equipment from China and any feedback would be appreciated.

[migaloo 1965]

Free freight on board means FOB, this is the cost of putting it on the ship in China and not free to your port. I would not recommend a chinese machine if you are only getting a 50% discount from local suppliers prices; 75% less would be more realistic. Your local suppliers may have similar machines because the Chinese have copied them. Keep in mind local suppliers need to offer guarantees and service so the extra price you pay is required. Unless you are prepared to visit China and the factory you are buying from i suggest you do not consider China. You are looking at a one off purchase and not a long term business relationship so this purchase is very dangerous. Buy from a local supplier and save yourself a headache when it comes to service and spare parts.

[jetpig1]

What are you wanting to make ? Are you hobby or business ? It really is a huge difference in consideration of level of purchase. Your expertise and committment is important as well. The Chinese stuff is going to require an understanding that it won't be smooth sailing out of the box, may not make your part, and if it breaks, it would require you to solve the problem yourself, generally. If you are at a hobby level, this can be engaging and challenging, which is what the fun is all about. If you are a business, it might be a real painful, possibly workable situation, but ya might want to tool up proper, "arm for bear" as it were. Many trade offs.

Peace til it hurts, Geo

[fastlanecafe]

Skull man-
In a word, forget it. If you are looking at one of those Harbor Freight or Smithy machines, the price is only about 1000.00 retail. Sending 1/3 of the money to some Chinese guy and hoping to get something is a real gamble. Most of these guys are temporary visa types who have some relative at the factory. ( remember, these websites can be created in a few hours) You may get something like a damaged or defective unit before the guy's visa expires and he heads back to the land of his ancestors. Even if the whole thing is legit, you still have the customs paperwork,dock charges and duties to handle, and if its beyond your ability, figure to spend a few hundred to have a broker do it for you. Once you have gone through all this, you may open your crate to find rust, metric screws, 220v 50 hz motors etc etc. Then when you go hat in hand to smithy or HF for parts or tech help, don't expect a warm reception.

[alexccmeister]

If you want to order from China, buy from a reputable company like SIEG (siegind.com). You can read their Q&A as well to get a feel of their biz. I myself bought an X2 from Sieg. Cost me USD80 for the sea freight charge and that is including shipping a C3 lathe from them. What you want to ask from them is the CIF charge. They will calculate for you the cost of the equipment including shipping all the way to a seaport nearest you. Not FOB cost as this is only to the departure seaport in China and you have to bear the cost of the sea freight from China to the US. I suspect if you ask them for the CIF cost of the machine, it may cost something close to a grizzly or a HF machine. So you are better off getting it from them locally.

Also, you will have to pay to have the goods cleared from port so that adds to the cost. For me, I have to have it shipped from China coz we don't have a dealer where I come from.

And in answer to Migaloo's comment about chinese copies, Maybe true but then again SIEG Industry is the manufacturer and supplier for X1, X2, X3 and all the C lathe range around the world including HF and Grizzly. They just rebrand the goods to their respective company names.

Just my two cents.

Alex

[teamtexas]

I bought a Grizzly lathe mill combo that was a china import. I've had to change the lathe motor 3 or 4 times (I've lost count), but grizzle stood behind it and sent me what I needed to get it back up and running. I hate to think what it would have been like to deal with a China company to do the same.

By the way, the instruction books on these imports are a joke. It's written it a poorly translated english. I like to call it CHIGLISH.

Dan

[#.0]

I'm looking to purchase something similar to the Precision Matthews PM9X39 Mill and the PM1236 or PM1340 Lathe.

I have a shipping port located about thirty miles away from my business and I'm not in a real hurry to get things started.

This company says they will make the machines in any color and it comes with all the accessories with only a few options that are very reasonable in price.

I'm not sure how much the duty tax and port fees will be to have it imported to the United States but if I can get the machines for less then half the price it might be worth the trouble.

[#.0]

Originally Posted by teamtexas I bought a Grizzly lathe mill combo that was a china import. I've had to change the lathe motor 3 or 4 times (I've lost count), but grizzle stood behind it and sent me what I needed to get it back up and running. I hate to think what it would have been like to deal with a China company to do the same. By the way, the instruction books on these imports are a joke. It's written it a poorly translated english. I like to call it CHIGLISH. Dan

I'm starting to believe all this stuff is made in China and just with someone else's name on the front in a different color.

[DRD]

I have imported machines from China.
After you pay the shipping, duty and customs taxes, you have not saved that much.
If you have to hire a broker, to take care of the duty and customs taxes, you will not save a dime.
And then, if you have problems, you have no support.

If your going to just purchase a machine for your own use, buy it from a dealer were your located, then you have support. Belive me, these cinese machines have problems, and you will need support.

Good luck

[fastlanecafe]

Skull man,
You could buy those 2 units from a local importer for about 2000.00 each, so unless the price from the Chinese is 1/2 it not going to be worth it. ( unless its just an exercise in doing it ) If you move forward, spell out the specifications and ask the Chinese for a pro-forma invoice reflecting those specs and priced CIF port to door. Then pay with a letter of credit issued by your bank. The LC and all the duties will cost you about 700.00 on a pair of machines. Take the factory color, as any "custom" color will be a quick slap over the old one with grease for masking tape.

[#.0]

Originally Posted by fastlanecafe Skull man, You could buy those 2 units from a local importer for about 2000.00 each, so unless the price from the Chinese is 1/2 it not going to be worth it. ( unless its just an exercise in doing it ) If you move forward, spell out the specifications and ask the Chinese for a pro-forma invoice reflecting those specs and priced CIF port to door. Then pay with a letter of credit issued by your bank. The LC and all the duties will cost you about 700.00 on a pair of machines. Take the factory color, as any "custom" color will be a quick slap over the old one with grease for masking tape.

You're probably right about keeping the factory color and just painting it later if I don't like it.

This company is asking a little over 1600 bucks for the milling machine and around 2000 for the lathe which is less than half price.

When you start adding a few options like power feeds for $177.00 and 3-axis digital read outs with glass scales for $353.00 the price becomes even more competitive.

They're asking for 30% deposit via T/T telegraphic transfer or wire transfer or a L/C letter of credit on site from the bank with FOB delivery term from Qingdao, China and it comes with a one year warranty after delivery.

[Al_The_Man]

Here is a couple of tips that may save money, I am referring to Canada, but I believe all procedures and Commodity codes are the same.
In Canada, You can often bring items in bonded, to either your local freight forwarders warehouse or a Customs warehouse, this allows you to clear your own shipment if you so wish to.
All the documents and codes are on the Govt sites.
If you decide to hire a broker, go to the Customs web site, anyway and look up the commodity code that covers your shipment and record the ten digit commodity code number.
This you can pass this on to your broker, often brokers do not necessarily spend a lot of time looking up the correct number as there are many sub categories of the same product, plus they may not be familiar with the type of product or description.
What can happen is they may pick the one they think covers it and you could be paying 6% ~ 8% duties unnecessarily, the next number closest # could be duty free!.
Don't forget, it is the broker and not customs that pick the commodity # out.
For an example, is the machine fitted with a certain size of motor? or chuck type? or attachment? All these can have different classifications.
If you go any of these routes, to save you time in the Commodity PDF, your machine will be in chapters 8400 or 8500.
Don't forget Insurance, I received a machine which had 1/8 plywood for a crate, this fell off a loading dock, so it was a bit beat up when I got it, fortunately the supplier sent a whole replacement with no request for the old one back.
Al.

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