New location for China Shipping

[Chris_NZL]

Hi All,
Does anyone know the current location where the Tormach Mill's ship from in China (Tormach have told me that information on their website is out of date). I am wanting to buy a PCNC1100 and am trying to get a quote from a local freight forwarder so I know the total cost of ownership before I buy - they want to know the location from where they are to pick up the crates but Tormach are telling me they don't give out that information until I have paid, but Tormach are offering a $415 delivery service to my freight forwarder from their agent. Cheers, Chris.

Similar Threads:

• Need Help!- Need recommendations on a shipping agent/broker from China to US
• Newbie- Setting Home Location, Table Travel, and Home Switch Location in Stepconf
• Scriber Drill M08 Location before X Y location
• Newbie- Buying from China, what are the Shipping/customs/FCC/brokerage fees
• Delrin, UHMW, Teflon, Nylon Offcuts - new location, new shipping AND A SALE!

[daniellyall]

You have to be careful who you use some have some realy stupid ideas about shipping drop of here, Simply put make sure it's not TNL who do it, we had to pay extra for it to be dropped of in there blenheim yard, instead of it being dropped off in chch then taken to nelson then back to blenheim, it would of been driven past there yard and the workshop 3 times before being dropped off.

[wbleeker]

Chris I don't know where they ship from in China, but when I bought my mill I had it shipped from Las Vegas to California and then to Sydney via NZ, at the time it would have been more expensive to bring the mill from China and the accessories from the US.
Hope this helps
Will

[Labern]

I used door to door freight forwarder. Really good service. He even gave me the boat info so I could track it on the way over.
Price from China was the same as coming from the states. Also the main mill would be delivered from China but some accessories would still be sent from the US if I had chosen that option. I wanted it to arrive all at once so just got it delivered from Tormach in US.

[Labern]

A year ago they told me it would be $390usd to have the mill sent to Qingdao Port where the freight forwarder can collect it.
There would be 2 crates from China sent to Qingdao Port and a skid from Wanuakee,WI which the forwarder could pick up from their warehouse.

[Chris_NZL]

Hi, Thanks for the feedback. I approached 3 freight forwarders with Door to Door being one of them, they have been the most responsive so far. I'm also looking at getting the Mill and Accessories from Las Vegas to get around the two location problem. It's good to know I'm heading down the right track. After I got the first quote from Door to Door I did wonder if it would be much more from the USA as the actual sea freight was only about 15% of the overall cost and the distance between Shanghai and LA to New Zealand is not that much different.

[Labern]

Had same problem. Contacted about 6 companies and it seems like they don't want the business.
Buy the way you can get the 110v converter from B&H photo much cheaper even with the delivery cost. It's exactly the same unit.

[Chris_NZL]

It seems everytime I think I have sorted things out Tormach turn round and add another charge or provide some piece of information that changes the situation to the point where you wonder "why didn't you tell me that from the start" - Yes, they can ship everything from Las Vegas, but they don't tell you that they want to charge $USD300 to ship the accessories to Las Vegas (because, I assume, they don't distribute accessories from there) until you specifically ask them that exact question - very frustrating. I never thought it was going to be this difficult or frustrating. Why would anybody think it a good idea to ship one part of an order from China and the rest separately from North America ? I'm sure Tormach genuinely believe they are being helpful, but there appears, to me at least, a disconnect with the practical side of the logistics of shipping.

One of my quotes FOB Shanghai for the Mill and Base was $NZD 629 (excluding taxes) but the shipping cost from their warehouse to Shanghai port was about $NZD 600) - but that doesn't include the accessories - so actually paying $NZD 1500 to ship from WI is not such a big deal. The sea freight is actually quite a small component of the over all cost ($165 form Shanghai to Auckland). To date the most expensive part of the shipping is getting it off the ship, through customs, onto a truck and delivered 7.3 KM - $NZD464

[Labern]

Yep it's a frustrating money pit for a while.
I asked Tormach about the 110v supply and they just said I needed to change a few solenoids to 220v and I should be fine. Got my mill and found the control panel runs on 110v. Yeah I could have researched that bit a bit better. I just saw the 220v/110v and thought it can run on either.
Also got stuck with a fumigation fee when it came into the country which delayed it 2 days and cost another $120.

[Chris_NZL]

Did you buy a 770 or 440 ? I am getting a 1100 which I though ran directly off 240?

[Labern]

I got a 1100.
No. It requires 2 sources of power.
US 2phase (220v)
And US single phase (110v)
So the controls side runs on 110v and main power 220v.

So you need the power converter.

I guess your in Auckland? You can come see my set up if you want.

[Chris_NZL]

Glad I asked that question ! It's all laid out on page 4 of the manual but I assumed that would be built in - I had thought the issue was running a 770 or 440 outside of the USA. One thing I have learnt with Tormach is that if anything can be made an accessory it is, it keeps the cost of the "Mill" down but if you bought a new car, you would expect it to come with wheels, right? I now know the R8 spindle doesn't come with the R8 collet, guess I should check to see if it comes with a drawbar. What power converter did you end up buying? Can you advise any ratings? Thanks for the offer of viewing, yes I am in Auckland (Remuera), I may take you up on that offer.

[Labern]

Exactly.
It's rather frustrating that you need to specify every little component.
I got the metric TTS starter kit and it came with everything.
It comes with a standard drawbar but I got the power draw kit.
The power converter I got was the same as what Tormach offer. https://www.tormach.com/store/index....show&ref=32009
But I got it from B&H photo for $50us. I think $105nz including shipping.
Im in One Tree Hill.
Just PM me if you wanna come around.

[Labern]

Really?
I got my brother to hook it up and he's an electrician, he told me at the time that there were some components that are 110v only. I know you can switch the power supply a on the computer to 230v. I Also reverted to the manual.
But I would like to know how you set yours up.

[Chris_NZL]

Looking at the schematic dated March 2015 in the manual I downloaded it shows a 230/120 transformer part number XFM1 (sold as PN31097) that supplies 120 Volts to the Machine control board. The 230 volts goes directly to the VFD. There is another transformer XMF2 which is a 230/48 volt transformer supplying the stepper motor drivers. There is a separate input and 3 outlets for the coolant pump, computer, and monitor that are not connected to the 230 volts, however there is a direct connection between the Machine control board terminal J5-2 to what looks to be the neutral which is probably providing a reference point for the coolant switch controlled by the Machine control board. So, if you had a 110V coolant pump (which they do sell as standard, then yes, you would need a 110 V source. However they also sell 230V coolant pumps, I guess it depends what you end up with. I may ask them about that.

[Labern]

Ok that must have been it. I have a few accessories like the coolant pump that was 110v.
Sorry for miss leading you there a bit.

[Chris_NZL]

No worries, in fact you highlighted a point I hadn't even considered. I've made a note to confirm what voltage coolant pump I will be getting - as plugging a 110V coolant pump into 230 volts would give you a lot of coolant, but only for a short time LOL

[wbleeker]

I have the 1100 as specified from Tormach with no changes and it runs on 240 volts, you don't need to change anything on it
Will

[Chris_NZL]

It seems that if you are buying any accessories, the best location to ship from is head office. There is no advantage in shipping from China unless you are only buying a Mill and stand. In this case the FOB shipping from Shanghai was going to be $NZD 629 + $USD 415 to truck it to the freight forwarder. I could have (most likely) reduced that cost once I got the warehouse address after payment. Neither of those costs included the port fees to get it out of China. I though the next best thing would be shipping from Las Vegas but after I got the quote from my freight forwarder I discovered that Tormach doesn't actually distribute accessories from that location either unless they ship them their especially, at additional cost. In the end I had everything shipped from Tormach head office, this came out to $NZD 1925 being 3 pallets amounting to 4.278 cubic meters and weighing 977 Kg delivered to my door. All that remains to be paid is the GST (a kind of sales tax, here in New Zealand). I purchased the PCNC1100 with the deluxe stand. The third pallet was the accessories, including the power drawbar, a couple of vives, a bunch of tooling, and a few accessories. I would imagine shipping to Australia (the east coast at least) wouldn't be too much more as about 60% of the cost is getting it on and off the ship. I used Freight Forwarders Auckland | Customs Brokers - Door to Door Freight in the end. Mill should be here in 4 or 5 weeks. Thanks to everyone for your advice.

[Chris_NZL]

Yes I used a bigger, NZ sourced coolant pump, and switched the computer to 230V - both inputs take 230V. (actually on one 1100 I use the same wall socket for both inputs. Works fine).

Cheers Keen

Hi,
I don't suppose you remember any details of the pump? Some I have researched out have some dubious specification - they might look like they have a good flow rate but not at any useful height. One I found quotes 35l/m at 2M https://www.topmaq.co.nz/item/view/P...?sku=MECO01200 at $188 down to 20l/m at 2M https://www.machineryhouse.co.nz/P232# at $127 Either of these options have a higer flow rate than the standard Tormach pump and they work at 230V. I also see many people using a submersible pond pump and while some have impressive flow rates, they don't all have the lift. I'd prefer to stick with a more traditional approach for the time been and find a good pump to fit the Tormach tank.Cheers, Chris