When I looked at this originally it was on my phone and I could not see well enough. Looking at it again I can see them. 

Indeed.  I couldn't see them until you pointed them out.  I hope I get that video of it making some toothpicks soon.  Its feeling like that last week before the start of summer vacation as a kid.

The anticipation is huge when waiting to get your hands on it after all that time thinking about the hammer. I tracked the boat with vessel finder everyday when waiting for mine. It was worse when the port of long beach was so backed up that the boat sat there for almost 3 weeks waiting to be unloaded.

I had never heard of vessel finder.  That's really cool.  I spent some time looking at ships moving around the local area and checking what they were.  I'm sure my boss will be grateful for your mention of vessel finder once my hammer makes it to a ship and I start spending time tracking its progress.

I got email this morning with a few pictures and a video of the testing of my hammer.  It turns out that China pretty much shuts down the first week of October for the national holiday so they won't be back to work until after the 7th of October.  I'll send the balance of my payment and start the countdown until I get that call from my local warehouse.

 

 

Now that I've bought the thing, I have some questions.  Is the little petcock at the bottom to drain the oil that makes it past the rings and doesn't blow out?  Is there an air filter on the intake air?

That would be a good question you should ask the maker of this hammer.

That little tap is coming from where the oil sump is on Beth's Anyang...

Alan

Its...its BEAUTIFUL.  Said in my Arnold Ernest Toht voice. http://indianajones.wikia.com/wiki/Arnold_Ernst_Toht

I just sent final payment.  I expect delivery mid to late November.

They're back from Golden Week and I got this photo in email.  My payment still hasn't appeared in their account, the banks are probably digging out from a week of backlog.  They said they're ready to ship as soon as they get notice of the wire.

 

Looks good!   ;-)

 

 

Looks like it comes with a free shop storage cabinet too.......Henry Ford would approve!

I guess the money must have cleared the bank.  I just got the final confirmation paperwork with a ship date of October 26.  That seems like a long time to get a box into a container and on a ship.  I don't know if they're sandbagging or if it really does take that long.  Assuming the dates are real, I'm looking at an early December delivery.  One nice thing I noticed about ordering it on the stand is that it just needs to be plugged in and it will run.  It comes with the motor starter and switch pre-wired and a box with start/stop/Estop buttons on a conduit stalk that's part of the stand.

It's not unlikely that the delivery date is dictated by the available shipping slot, it's common to look for unused space in a container that would otherwise travel part empty, That way a cheaper shipping rate can be negotiated. And I suspect with a lot that comes from China.....a saving of transportation cost could be the largest part of the profit!

They may have found a better slot.  I asked if the 26th was the real day or if they were giving themselves some room for error and they said its scheduled to ship on the 19th.  I don't know how much that will impact the day that I get it since this will have it landing here right around Thanksgiving.

Actual shipping from China is not expensive.

What you need to be careful of is the exporter offering you CIF terms, then shipping 'free' or at 'negative freight' - this is when the exporter gets paid by the shipping agent to put the customers goods in the container, and themselves nominated on the BOL. You are then 100% committed to using them to clear the goods through customs, and pay all manner of extortionate charges that they just make up, and heaven forbid that they have to store the goods in their warehouse for a few days once the container has been unstuffed at '!$mygodhowmuch$!' per day, because you have not been on the ball with the paperwork, and they wait until the last moment before they ask you for a *whatever* number that you can not lay your hands on until the next week !

Get into dialogue with all parties involved early about what you need, what you need to do, and when to avoid any delays once that ship docks !

I'm working with a local customs broker who has been very attentive and has not turned up anything fishy.  This exporter has sold to other people here in the US who have not complained to me about a shipping scam so I think (hope) that I'll be OK on that score.  I'll get notice at least 48 hours prior to the ship leaving via the ISF form and then my shipping broker says that 5 days prior to arrival I can expect to hear from the shipping broker on this end telling me where and when to pick up.

 

Sounds like you have got it all in hand ! This was not a specific warning about the hammer manufacturer you have bought from, just a heads up that if you are not up to speed on the paperwork you can get hit with disproportionate charges when shipping LCL  

I sure hope I do.  My import experience is limited to asking a travelling friend to bring me something back in their luggage and I can't even imagine the different ways that someone who's dishonest would rip off the newbie.  I hired a customs broker because I figured that paying storage while I filled out form incorrectly 6 times before getting right would pay for anything the pro would charge.  I will readily admit that I'm pretty fuzzy about how the hammer will get from the ship to the back of my truck and I hope the broker I hired will help me figure it out.

6 more days to ship!

My experience was that the warehouse let's the broker know that the hammer is available for pickup. You go to the warehouse and stand in line with your paperwork, pay them a little money for warehouse fees, then they tell you to go to a specific dock in the warehouse, hand a guy at the doc a form, he goes and grabs the hammer and loads it onto your trailer. If there is any major damage to the wood box, take a hard look before you sign the form the forklift guy asks you to sign because once you sign you accept shipment. 

Hello . I snap your hammer on TZ runfa webcam. 

I have used H13 steel for hammer dies on the latest hammers. Runfa can mill these for you. You can fit top dies up to 80 x 115 and bottom die 80 x 140 on your 25 kg hammer.  

 

IMG_0309[1]

Edited October 14, 201510 yr by Åge Hjortland

Cool about the web picture.  I went to their site but  couldn't find the webcam.

I stuck to the 4140 for the dies.  I figured I won't be getting them hot enough for H13 to matter and it will take a long time for me to wear out the normal steel.

I just got a copy of the import form from the freight consolidator confirming that its going out Friday.

I'm in the home stretch.  All of the shipping and customs forms have been filed.  I have a ship name and a schedule that I can follow.  I even know that it was packed in a 40 ft reefer container.  That part is a surprise.  I guess that's where they found some cheap last minute space.

Reefer should be nice and dry - probably a good thing on the ocean.

The ship with my hammer on it docked a couple of days ago in Oakland.  The next day I got an invoice from the freight forwarder for $156 to cover emptying the container, filing some paperwork, the port security charge, and rental on the trailer used to move the container.  Since mine is such a small load, I paid minimum charges on all of it.  The invoice also contained a pointer to a web site where I can track my package's progress through customs, then warehouse.

The following day the web site was updated to show that my container is being held at customs for an X-ray inspection.  So now I will need to pay for shipping to/from the X-ray machine in the port, and for the X-ray itself.  These charges are pro-rated by either the weight or volume of my portion of it, and I'm sure there is a minimum charge there as well.  No one can tell me when or how much yet.

From there, after the X-ray, customs can release it or go for either a quick, or a full inspection.  All inspection costs are borne by the owners of the cargo.  Its all paid directly to the private companies that contract to do the work, not to customs.

Meanwhile, the clock is ticking to return the empty container to the shipping company with rental charges on the container starting after a week.

One thing I did not understand when I got a quote from the customs broker to handle my shipment for me is that he is only 1 of the people in the chain between the ship and my garage that I need to pay.  There is the freight forwarder who gets the box from the ship to the warehouse, all of the people who will shuttle the container between the various inspection points, the inspectors, and finally the warehouse that will accept it and put it on my truck when this is all over.  I knew enough to know that I didn't know so in my mind, I doubled the quote from the customs broker, and if things stop at the X-ray that should be enough.  If this goes to a full blown empty the whole container and lay hands on every box in it, then it can get really costly.