? Howto: Buy a Stubby from Australia

Google "and all that", can help :-)

"f/256" skrev i melding news: snipped-for-privacy@rogers.com...

Yes, thanks, I had tried "Stubby Lathes", stubbylathes, Omega Tools, and whatnot, but this was helpful, indeed, - Thanks!

(Although i was passed on to an "international dealer in France, that is something like living in New York, and being given the address to a shop in Houston.)

Bjarte

You may find that the dealer in France has an exclusive arrangement with Omega and that it is not possible for you to buy directly from the factory.

StubbyLatheUSA

is now the exclusive importer in the US. The exclusive arrangement is not for the purpose of jacking up the price, limiting your options or any such thing. It makes it possible for you to get the kind of continuity and service after the sale which we all would like to have. I hope that you can see that it is just not possible for the factory to support owners world-wide -- Omega is a relatively small company and needs to focus on production and development of new products.

Bill

Perhaps your relatives down there. Perhaps they could buy it from the factory, and ship it to you themselves? Probably a lot of trouble for them, however.

steve

I don't know that you'll find what you're looking for there, but the factory web site is

Bjarte Runderheim wrote:

"Bjarte Runderheim" skrev i melding news:28yed.2922$ snipped-for-privacy@juliett.dax.net...

Thanks to all helpers and advisors!

At the moment I have sent a request to the french dealer, and pending that, I am checking shipping possibilities in case I may need to involve my kin down under.

Well, - as we all should have learnt in this space age; the shortest way between two points is _not_ a straight line! No longer. No sir.

Bjarte

"You may find that the dealer in France has an exclusive arrangement with Omega and that it is not possible for you to buy directly from the factory."

I wonder what is the price of this lathe at the factory (ex. work). What is the percentage of the dealers, distributors and the one that has an exclusive arrangement. If advance payments are made who owns the lathe during shipping? If something goes wrong with the lathe and its warranty who will be able to find the solution and how quick will it be done? Is the manufacturer of the lathe responsible for the warranty of the purchased components assembled to make the lathe or only for the parts and structures he made? A good example is if the electric motor is defective who will honor the warranty, the motor manufacturer or the original manufacturer of the lathe? At the end of the day do I have to deal with the dealer, distributor or directly with the motor manufacturer?

limiting your options

Wow -- a lot of questions which I will try to answer.

You will find that the price of the lathe at the retail level is much the same regardless of where you are -- with some caviats. The major difference has to do with the value of your native currency. The value of the US dollar is down 30% against the Australian dollar in the last two years; that is a major difference and one which we hope will change. The Canadian dollar is also weak on the international market which helps another lathe manufacturer we all know. When the dollar gets stronger (if?) we will readjust US pricing. As to the percentages made by the factory, the distributor and the dealers... clearly we are not going to be specific here. On the other hand, when I order a large batch of machines and pay for them up front, I'm going to get a better price than the buyer of one machine. Further, that allows a certain economy of scale at the manufacturer level which helps to hold the cost down. That said, the markup is not very good and if I were not retired with other assets and income, I could not afford to be involved in this venture. I hope that this addresses your money- related questions.

As to who owns the lathe during shipping -- since it is paid for, my company (Stubby Lathe USA, Inc.) owns it. During shipping from MO to the retail customer in the US, we still own it. Title passes when it is delivered to the customer. For all practical purposes, though, this is just a formality which is necessary since we operate out of Missouri. If title passes on MO soil, MO sales tax is due.

As to advance payments made by the retail customer -- he is dealing with people who have been around the turning community for many years and nobody has had any trouble with any of us so far.

Now, if there is trouble with the machine...

Initial help setting up the machine, if necessary, will be provided by the selling dealer. These are all folks with a good knowledge of lathes in general and the Stubby in particular otherwise they wouldn't be dealers. If I've sold the machine directly, then I'm the dealer.

If the dealer cannot resolve a problem then Stubby Lathe USA jumps in. I (I mean S L USA) have (will have as of my first shipment) spare parts and direct access to Omega.

For replacement lathe parts, motors, controllers during warrantee, you get what you need and I worry about who has to pay for it which will not be you. For motors and controllers we are passing on the manufacturer's warrantee but we will deal with it. What could be more fair than that? The one thing which is unclear is exactly the length of the warrantee on individual items and we know that we must get more specific about that. For instance, the Cutler Hammer controllers we are supplying come with a 1 year in service or a 1

1/2 year from ship, whichever is shorter. But, I've been told that they have so little trouble with them that they tend to be much less rigid than that. I have direct access to the engineers responsible for the controller and have met with the product manager. The feeling I get when dealing with them is comfortable.

As to how quickly a problem is resolved... A lot depends on your ability to help us with diagnosis -- report symptoms accurately etc. We've done some things to help that. In the US the controller will now be accessable. These things have an amazing ability to self-diagnose these days and you can see what it is telling you. Further, if you really must change a parameter because of your work style or specific situation, it is easy to do and we will help you through it. My belief is that the purchasers of Stubby lathes are honest and trustworthy. John Jordan in the past has operated this way and I will continue to operate this way -- send what you need now and worry about the money later. If I get stung I'll rethink it but not until then. You will get what you need to get up and running.

So, to recap -- initially you will be dealing with the dealer. Long run -- S L USA.

Now, as to all of the above -- the Stubby is a really trouble-free machine -- join the Stubby group and find out. And if you have a question or a problem, there are tons of people in the group willing and able to help you. It is a community of people who love their machines and, if you are in the market for one (or for any top-of-the-line machine), will be willing to let you take a test drive. That is how many of them ended up with a Stubby.

I hope that answers the questions, at least for the US. I'm told that the European arrangement will be much the same.

Bill

Thanks Bill,

Your reply is very professional and gives me a warm feeling. It is good to know that you have direct access to product design engineer. As for the Canadian dollar, today it is worth around 0.81 US. Who knows it may go down or up? In dealing with you or your dealers do we have an escalation clause or is the price firm in US dollars at time of ordering?

same regardless of

the value of your

Australian dollar in the

change. The Canadian

manufacturer we all

to the percentages

and pay for them up

Further, that allows a

cost down. That

assets and income, I

company (Stubby Lathe

US, we still own

purposes, though,

people who have been

with any of us so

selling dealer.

Stubby in particular

then I'm the dealer.

(I mean S L USA)

what you need and

controllers we are

could be more fair

For instance, the

or a 1 1/2 year from

trouble with them

feeling I get when

to help us with

help that. In the US

ability to self-diagnose

do and we will help

continue to operate

machine -- join the Stubby

tons of people in the

their machines and,

will be willing to let

snipped-for-privacy@nb.sympatico.ca

Depends on where they are in Oz, For example, I am as far from Melbourne, where the Stubby is made, as Oslo is to Athens. Frogland is only a hop,skip & jump from Norway. It is about 2 days driving,

1800 km, just to get out of WA. Oslo had the best camp site in all Europe when I was there, nice HOT showers

I cannot remember voltage used in Norway, I think it is 220V, 60Hz. Oz uses 240V, 50 Hz and this should be taken into consideration.

I would love to have a Stubby but bought my Woodfast before the Stubby was introduced and don't do enough turning to be worthwhile upgrading Alan in beautiful Golden Bay, Western Oz, South 32.25.42, East 115.45.44 GMT+8 VK6 YAB ICQ 6581610 to reply, change oz to au in address

same regardless of

the value of your

Australian dollar in the

change. The Canadian

manufacturer we all

to the percentages

and pay for them up

Further, that allows a

cost down. That

assets and income, I

company (Stubby Lathe

US, we still own

purposes, though,

people who have been

with any of us so

selling dealer.

Stubby in particular

then I'm the dealer.

(I mean S L USA)

what you need and

controllers we are

could be more fair

For instance, the

or a 1 1/2 year from

trouble with them

feeling I get when

to help us with

help that. In the US

ability to self-diagnose

do and we will help

continue to operate

machine -- join the Stubby

tons of people in the

their machines and,

will be willing to let

========================== Bill, I'm not sure what the US/AU exchange rate is, but the price for the S500 (on the Omega web site) was much lower than I expected for a Stubby. What is the current price for that lathe in US dollars?? It may be more affordable than I thought!

Ken Moon Webberville,TX

No escalation clause -- the price agreed to at time of the deal is firm. Anything else would lead to nothing but trouble. Currently we have no stock so all orders are being accepted against machines not yet in the country. We will soon be able to ship from stock, though.

Bill

Good points made below. People forget how big Australia really is and how little Europe is.

Would Omega direct ship to an Australian address a machine configured for Europe and which they know is going to Europe? Probably not.

Does the user want to be using a potentially unsupported machine to save a few bucks?

Further, it is unlikely that, when all is said and done, that much money could be saved. The Australian buyer would be paying retail and then having to run the export/import traps for one machine for the first time. There are a lot of unknowns here.

Bill

The S500 --

We feel that it is not in anybody's best interest to import the S500 to the US. The difference in cost between it and the S750 when landed in the US just doesn't make it a viable machine for our market. Keep tuned for new and interesting information on this front, though.

Bill

Hi Bjarte, the dealer in France is Roman Scheidel, who actually is a US citizen ! you can reach him at +33 2 37 31 57 76. Talking about currency conversions: I recently found that, converted in Euros, purchasing a Glaser gouge from an Australian dealer is cheaper than from the US.

Pascal

OK, I am prejudiced and only purchase the best woodturning tools

- Australian made. I note from reading foreign eg UK & US magazines that tools are expensive, horribly expensive in the UK for the same tools. Taiwan metal lathe here $3000 is about 2000 UKP in Britain = $5000 Oz. UK made stuff is often less expensive here than in UK - major exception being books & magazines - I buy Model Engineers Workshop , 3.65 UKP = $8.20 , is $12.25 from the newsagent Alan in beautiful Golden Bay, Western Oz, South 32.25.42, East 115.45.44 GMT+8 VK6 YAB ICQ 6581610 to reply, change oz to au in address

"Bill Rubenstein" skrev i melding news: snipped-for-privacy@news.kc.sbcglobal.net...

little Europe is.

Europe and which

could be saved. The

export/import traps for

Now, just as a point of interest to me, assuming 240V 50hZ AC is OK for the american version of the Stubby 750, what would be the cost of taking one to Oslo, Norway?

Bjarte

Another good question. Power difference is not a problem -- vfd-s don't care about 50 vs 60 hz and anything in the 240 v range is ok.

But I could not support the machine properly and could not step on Roman's toes if you are in his area. I know that exclusive arrangements can easily be seen as a method of controlling prices and such but it really does benefit everybody. It gives you a supported, first-class product at a fair price and it gives Omega the capital it needs to produce machines in quantities that make it more affordable. As an experiment, go to a machine shop with a drawing or picture of a Stubby and ask them to price the manufacture of one like it. See what it would cost. Be careful, though, about going ahead since the machine is covered by two patents .

Bill