Table saw Australia

[Cabbie]

I am looking for a table saw that would be better than my Proxxon one

What are Australian members doing to get a good one? Do the Byrne's model get shipped out here?

Thanks chris

Edited March 24, 2019 by Cabbie

[gjdale]

Chris,

 

You can’t go better than the Byrnes saw and many of us Aussies have the privilege of owning one. You just have to be prepared to pay the exorbitant postage fees, which are beyond Jim’s control. At the time I bought mine, the postage added about 50% to the cost of the saw. Nowadays, you’ll also have to be prepared to pay GST as well....

 

It hurts, but it’s worth every penny! As the saying goes, “quality is remembered long after price is forgotten”.

[No Idea]

I too am lucky enough to have one of Jim's table saws and I shipped it to the UK.  As Grant has said the cost of shipping is high; in fact by the time I had paid shipping and also 20% Customs VAT on both the cost of the saw and postage it pretty much doubled the price.  Was it worth it - absolutely in fact I have since bought a thickness sander from him too.  There is no way I could justify the cost but its just the best gear you can get, and your only here once.  I should have bought them earlier!

[Moab]

Chris; the Byrnes saw is by far the best small table saw available...Moab

[Cabbie]

Thanks to all, i was pretty sure that is how the replies were going to go.

It is good to know that the Admiral doesn't get to see my card purchases! 😁

[Cabbie]

Whilst you are all here, just had a look at Jim's site. What are the best saw blades to buy?

And what accessories are a must buy. Thanks Again Chris

[mtaylor]

Most of us were using Thurston blades, but they are closing down (IRC) at the end of the month.   They suggest this place as being comparable: https://www.malcosaw.com/ 

[Jaager]

There is a PDF and/or HTML from Hobby Mill (Jeff)  covering the operation of the Byrnes saw and recommended blades .

I would get a backup for each blade.  The bevel cut option may not be cost effective.  The cross cut sliding table is elegant

but you could cobble something to do the same function from low cost materials.  Do a search here for the saw accessories post.

I regret not having the proper attribution here, but an excellent version of the cross cut table is shown - where the table is short enough on one side to allow the fence to stay.  The deluxe fence is good to have as is the micro adjustment.

 

I wonder if there would be a price break on shipping if several units were together - if more than one of your fellow countrymen did a group deal?

Time has a way of having things available today, impossible to obtain in the future.

[mtaylor]

1 hour ago, Jaager said:

There is a PDF and/or HTML from Hobby Mill (Jeff)  covering the operation of the Byrnes saw and recommended blades .

I would get a backup for each blade. 

 

I wonder if there would be a price break on shipping if several units were together - if more than one of your fellow countrymen did a group deal?

Time has a way of having things available today, impossible to obtain in the future.

It might be worth looking into on quantity shipping.   I would suspect that if it is, then all would need to be dropshipped to one address.   VAT is still a killer though.

 

Here's a the Hobbymill info:  Byrnes Saw Operation.pdf

[Bob Cleek]

I certainly wouldn't advise "smuggling," or anything illegal, but I wonder if a passenger flying in brought a Byrnes saw over as his "carry-on" or passenger luggage on a trip they were taking anyway, could one get around the exorbitant shipping expenses? People are always shipping cars, too. You could get a lot of Byrnes Model Machines inside a car that was being shipped as container cargo. Somebody could develop a profitable little sideline importing them.

 

[tkay11]

8 hours ago, Bob Cleek said:

I wonder if a passenger flying in brought a Byrnes saw over as his "carry-on" or passenger luggage

It might be construed as a dangerous weapon.

 

Tony

 

[Bob Cleek]

17 hours ago, tkay11 said:

It might be construed as a dangerous weapon.

Yes, it seems they ban carrying onto a plane anything a creative mind can possibly imagine could be used as a deadly weapon. For some strange reason, though, since those restrictions went into effect, I've never had any problem at all boarding a flight with my Dearly Beloved . If they only knew!

 

[wefalck]

Putting it into the checked-in luggage will you get around this, but beware that customs can open any luggage they find suspicious. I did bring back piles of Sherline equipment (including drive units) from USA trips that way.

 

You will have a maximum worth of goods that you can import as a tourist coming back that depends on your country of residence. Beyond that you will have to go through the 'red' channel and declare your purchases. How your goods are assessed can be a bit of a hit and miss - customs officers are not always sure how to categorise 'exotic' articles. In most cases you will have to just pay the VAT though. It is a good idea to keep invoices and also documentation material, e.g. catalogues, to show customs (and security) what the strange equipment is being used for.

 

The main culprit for the exorbitant shipping costs from the USA is the US Post Office, who decided around 2004 to abandon 'surface' shipping as an economical option. You may have had to wait for your parcel two to three mounths, but it was way cheaper. Mr. T. would do the US retailers and customers in the rest of the World probably a favour, if this was re-introduced ...

[John Allen]

Several things over the years has led to the demise of reasonable rates thru the U.S. P.O. there was a big diffence at one time over gound and priority express as much as $5 to $15 USD or more. Amazon and  E Bay was the ruination of reasonable shipping rates the last several years.

 

John

[wefalck]

But private ebay-sales are transported via the postal services to a good deal. The volume of parcels has multipled over the past 20 years, so shipping rates should have come down according to the teachings of classical economics ...

[KeithAug]

6 hours ago, wefalck said:

The volume of parcels has multipled over the past 20 years, so shipping rates should have come down according to the teachings of classical economics

I think they have just found a way to make a lot of money!!!!!!!!!!

[mtaylor]

Quite a bit of stuff I've ordered (Not Flea-bay or Amazon) is ground shipped via the post office.  Takes about a week or so from the east coast to here on the west.   Small parcels do seem to be air shipped and take two to three days.  Costs are everything in shipping.  Aircraft are faster but there's fuel, airport fees, and a crew. Trucks have fuel, one driver, and some fees like toll roads.  Not sure what the cost breakdown is exactly.

 

I think it boils down to weight.   Heavy stuff comes by truck, light parcels via air.

[Cabbie]

Might be a bit of an expensive saw if I just fly over to buy one!!!!!😉🙄

Edited April 18, 2019 by Cabbie

[geoffs]

On 4/17/2019 at 10:43 AM, Bob Cleek said:

I certainly wouldn't advise "smuggling," or anything illegal, but I wonder if a passenger flying in brought a Byrnes saw over as his "carry-on" or passenger luggage on a trip they were taking anyway, could one get around the exorbitant shipping expenses?

Returning overseas travellers can bring in goods to the value of $A900, tax and duty free. The limit is  increased to $A2700 for a family travelling together. This normally deals with  alcohol, tobacco, cameras, laptops and the like but there's nothing to exclude the odd machine tool 🙂

[John Allen]

23 hours ago, wefalck said:

teachings of classical economics ... 

True to a point but Amazon is the Post Office and the demise of economical rates that are virtually non existent now.

You are forced into Priority or fill the box flat rates.

 

I had recently sent several packages, 7 to 10 day economy shipping was $ 18.00 USD 2 or 3 day priority was $ 20.00 USD. These are to the best of my memory at that time, not to long ago economy would have been in the $ 7.00 to $ 12.00 USD range.

 

I get the present day economics, fuel, and other factors that play into this but Amazon has taken away and restructured rates of the P.O. hopefully the P.O. is finally making some money.

[Bob Cleek]

Interesting point. And if you buy through Amazon Prime, you get free shipping. That pretty much prices out all the competition and everybody who doesn't sell through Amazon. I suppose it's time to start looking at Amazon a bit differently. Can you say, "anti-trust?"

Edited April 19, 2019 by Bob Cleek