Hello from Australia + request for advice

[Eldi]

My name is Eldi, I live in Sydney and have no formal education in machining. I learn a lot from this amazing forum and watching YouTube.

I would like to ask your help with some advice.
I am interested in buying a benchtop CNC milling machine from a guy in Tallahassee FL and ship it to Australia. The total weight of the machine + all the accessories is approximately 650 Kg (1400 lbs). It would need to be crated securely, placed on a pallet (maybe bolted to the pallet), and then shipped via sea-freight to Sydney Australia.

I would be grateful to get some recommendations for a trustworthy freight company that can also do the packing.

Thank you!

 

[Apprentice707]

When I decided to sell my holiday home in Florida and retreat to my base in the UK I used these people and this agent. They were very consientious and the furiture arrived in the UK with no damage, no doubt they would be the same with your goods.

Good luck with your shipping.

Regards

B

 

[Eldi]

When I decided to sell my holiday home in Florida and retreat to my base in the UK I used these people and this agent. They were very consientious and the furiture arrived in the UK with no damage, no doubt they would be the same with your goods.

Good luck with your shipping.

Regards

B

View attachment 144728

Thank you, I will certainly contact this freight company.

 

[bluejets]

I am interested in buying a benchtop CNC milling machine from a guy in Tallahassee FL and ship it to Australia.

First thought comes to mind...more money than sense.

 

[H Pearce]

First thought comes to mind...more money than sense.

Maybe, but machinery is not so cheap and available as in the US. It could well be worth doing.
I ended up buying a machine from South Africa and shipping it to New Zealand as it was the cheapest way….. even with $$$ for shipping.

 

[H Pearce]

My name is Eldi, I live in Sydney and have no formal education in machining. I learn a lot from this amazing forum and watching YouTube.

I would like to ask your help with some advice.
I am interested in buying a benchtop CNC milling machine from a guy in Tallahassee FL and ship it to Australia. The total weight of the machine + all the accessories is approximately 650 Kg (1400 lbs). It would need to be crated securely, placed on a pallet (maybe bolted to the pallet), and then shipped via sea-freight to Sydney Australia.

I would be grateful to get some recommendations for a trustworthy freight company that can also do the packing.

Thank you!

Hi,
My last big shipment I did through DHL. Went well but for sure not the cheapest. Be aware that the packing materials need to be certified. Probably the only real way to get it correct is to have a professional company do it. Australia can be very demanding on things like this.

 

[SmithDoor]

My name is Eldi, I live in Sydney and have no formal education in machining. I learn a lot from this amazing forum and watching YouTube.

I would like to ask your help with some advice.
I am interested in buying a benchtop CNC milling machine from a guy in Tallahassee FL and ship it to Australia. The total weight of the machine + all the accessories is approximately 650 Kg (1400 lbs). It would need to be crated securely, placed on a pallet (maybe bolted to the pallet), and then shipped via sea-freight to Sydney Australia.

I would be grateful to get some recommendations for a trustworthy freight company that can also do the packing.

Thank you!

Welcome to the group

Dave

 

[Eldi]

First thought comes to mind...more money than sense.

It is expensive; however, as @H Pearce noted, finding a high quality, bench-top inc milling machine in Australia (one that is not made in China) is not obvious. I have been searching for 1.5-2 years now, without success.

 

[Mago]

My name is Eldi, I live in Sydney and have no formal education in machining. I learn a lot from this amazing forum and watching YouTube.

I would like to ask your help with some advice.
I am interested in buying a benchtop CNC milling machine from a guy in Tallahassee FL and ship it to Australia. The total weight of the machine + all the accessories is approximately 650 Kg (1400 lbs). It would need to be crated securely, placed on a pallet (maybe bolted to the pallet), and then shipped via sea-freight to Sydney Australia.

I would be grateful to get some recommendations for a trustworthy freight company that can also do the packing.

Thank you!

Welcome Eldi
About 23 years ago I decided I needed a bench top cnc mill.
I had a Seig Lathe and a Sieg mill/drill that i was very happy with.
The Australian agent was in Brisbane and had machines using Sieg software.
I wanted to use Mach3,
Contacted Seig distributor in UK and ordered it from them.
Arranged to have it shipped to Western Australia directly from China.
Also organised that Seig would provide a certificate that the packaging of the machine had been fumigated to meet Aust quarantine requirements
After a considerable delay (I thought) it arrived.
My shipping agents went to collect it but customs would not release it until it had been Gassed by them, forget the certificate, we do it our way , more cost.
The machine arrived in my workshop on a softwood pallet and encased in a plywood box.
Once on my bench and all the ways clean4ed of red grease, plugged it in and it all lit up and worked ever since
You should expect dramas on the way but t5his is aprice we model engineers meet every day
Mago

 

[jirvin_4505]

Welcome to forum
you mention little formal training and learning from youtube
much the same as myself

interested in what machinery you already have and what are your goals?

given that this is a hobby forum I’m thinking this is the type of machining you will be doing

i wouldn’t dismiss doing a cnc conversion on one of the seig bench top or hareforbs bench top mill drills. Lots of YouTube’s available plus it will be a great learning experience

i found getting the cnc was the easy part. Learning cad and cam software was a much steeper learning curve

there was a Emco cnc up my way on Facebook for 4500.00 recently

often cnc mills on Facebook also

again what size machine are you looking at and what size jobs do you want to do?

cheers Jeff. Sunny qld

some ideas
https://www.ausee.com.au/shop/item.aspx?itemid=4464cnc kx3

little demo of my converted seig sx2 mill

 

[homemachinist]

Hello Eldi,

pretty much what Jeff said.

interested in what machinery you already have and what are your goals?

I have a Sieg SX3 and it can take 1.5-2mm depth of cut with 10mm carbide endmill on 4140 without bogging down, I've added DRO on all axes and it's good for my hobby use.

You can look up used machine dealers and they do have decent used Taiwanese mills for a reasonable price. You can get a Taiwanese turret style milling machine brand new for $10k or so at Hafco, not sure how much you're spending on the import & customs.

 

[Robsmith]

My name is Eldi, I live in Sydney and have no formal education in machining. I learn a lot from this amazing forum and watching YouTube.

I would like to ask your help with some advice.
I am interested in buying a benchtop CNC milling machine from a guy in Tallahassee FL and ship it to Australia. The total weight of the machine + all the accessories is approximately 650 Kg (1400 lbs). It would need to be crated securely, placed on a pallet (maybe bolted to the pallet), and then shipped via sea-freight to Sydney Australia.

I would be grateful to get some recommendations for a trustworthy freight company that can also do the packing.

Thank you!

G'Day Eldi.
Last year I imported a crate from South Africa. It came to Sydney via Singapore. The Crate was 596 KG and packed in a sea container with other unrelated crates. That import cost me $8,496.00 AUD. The importers were Globelink International. Just letting you know about transport costs versus machine cost.

 

[Eldi]

Thank you @Mago @jirvin_4505 @homemachinist @Robsmith for your replies, I appreciate your advice!

I would like to start a journey that will take me into building small models, engines of various types, etc. I am doing it as a hobby, but with a thought at the back of my mind that maybe (maybe) someday in the future I would be able to earn little money from making custom-made scientific apparatuses, which are not available as off-the-shelf products. My background and current occupation is pure scientific research. I’ve always had the desire to design and build things, and when I graduated high school wanted to study mechanical or aeronautics engineering. However, due to strong objection from my parents I ended up studying and doing other things…So at a later stage in life I am finding myself, again, enjoying tremendously from making and building things.

Anyway, my approach in life was always to buy the best tool/machine that I could afford at that point in time. I am limiting myself to a benchtop milling machine or one that is not benchtop but still with a small footprint. I have the opportunity to purchase a German-made machine in excellent condition, with many accessories and tools for approximately 1/4 - 1/3 the cost of a new one.

I have been working with a gantry-type CNC machine for doing some woodworking, so I am familiar with the general principles of CNC operation, CAD and CAM design, I primarily use Fusion 360 and Vectric Aspire software. I lack a lot of knowledge in metal machining and everything related to it, this is my weak point.

Since I wrote the first post, there has been some changes in my life circumstances. My family and I will most probably leave Australia for good within 4-5 months, as my parents are getting older and need me more and more, therefore we are going back to my home country. So shipping to Australia is no longer relevant, which definitely makes my life easier in terms of shipping cost and due to the strict import policies in Australia.

Thanks again for your kind attitude. I will also appreciate any advice for how to study the basics of metal machining (both theoretically and practically).

 

[homemachinist]

Sorry to see you leave mate, all the best with your move.