From experience

[RickG]

...I can go buy an old Startrite or Wadkin tablesaw, maybe for £500 if I'm lucky. It'll need love, but it will work great and often be better than a new £500 tool today. How much did that cost when it was made 25+ years ago though? A Sedgwick that looks similar ish runs for £3300 today. Well above and beyond what most will pay.

The other consideration here is that the Sedgwick Similar-ish model is £3300 today because so many in the market don't by that model. If they did, and Sedgwick were making X,000 more of those a week, the price would be lower and more like it was.

The problem is we all want good engineering and want to support British jobs that would make this gear, but we're not prepared to pay British-type wages. But the British people making the stuff we want NEED to earn good money to be able to buy OUR goods and services that WE provide. - It's all a circle of life.

Also, in the "good old days" the countries in the Empire were forced to buy from Britain. They weren't allowed to go to cheaper suppliers. So we had a captive market. The poorer countries HAD to pay our wages. After January the UK will learn for the first time in 100s of years, what it's like to not have an international free trade market and no Empire! Hold on to your seats!

 

[DBT85]

The other consideration here is that the Sedgwick Similar-ish model is £3300 today because so many in the market don't by that model. If they did, and Sedgwick were making X,000 more of those a week, the price would be lower and more like it was.

Would it really be that much cheaper though? Even if that saw was only £1500 there is a limited amount of people they can sell it to so at some point there is a floor in the sale price as there is a ceiling in amount you can sell at any price at all.

A £500 saw in 1990 should now be about £1150 going by inflation, but while i don;t know the original cost, I'd not be shocked at all if a Startrite 275 of Wadkin AGS12 was actually nearer £1000 or more back in 1990.

After January the UK will learn for the first time in 100s of years, what it's like to not have an international free trade market and no Empire! Hold on to your seats!

Please don't remind me

 

[RickG]

Would it really be that much cheaper though? Even if that saw was only £1500 there is a limited amount of people they can sell it to so at some point there is a floor in the sale price as there is a ceiling in amount you can sell at any price at all.

A £500 saw in 1990 should now be about £1150 going by inflation, but while i don;t know the original cost, I'd not be shocked at all if a Startrite 275 of Wadkin AGS12 was actually nearer £1000 or more back in 1990.

Please don't remind me

If a manufacturer is making bigger quantities of anything, they can negotiate better prices on materials. You can also find it can make the difference on transport costs too. It costs little more to send a van to deliver with 200 motors onboard than it does with 20.
When paint spraying lathe parts, if it takes a man 1 hour to clean a spray gun and ready it to spray, then it doesn't matter to him if it's to spray 20 sets of lathe parts or 200, its still only 1 set-up time.... and the list goes on.

As for January... no, I won't mention it again.

 

[DBT85]

If a manufacturer is making bigger quantities of anything, they can negotiate better prices on materials. You can also find it can make the difference on transport costs too. It costs little more to send a van to deliver with 200 motors onboard than it does with 20.
When paint spraying lathe parts, if it takes a man 1 hour to clean a spray gun and ready it to spray, then it doesn't matter to him if it's to spray 20 sets of lathe parts or 200, its still only 1 set-up time.... and the list goes on.

As for January... no, I won't mention it again.

Oh of course in those cases yes a saving is made. I just don't think you'd see the costs come down as far as people would like to see it!

 

[Blackswanwood]

Also, in the "good old days" the countries in the Empire were forced to buy from Britain. They weren't allowed to go to cheaper suppliers. So we had a captive market. The poorer countries HAD to pay our wages. After January the UK will learn for the first time in 100s of years, what it's like to not have an international free trade market and no Empire! Hold on to your seats!

A rather amusing example of export practices in dealing with the "Empire" is cars. I think it was the Morris Minor that could only be locked with the key on the drivers door ... passenger gets out, driver leans over and locks the door and gets out and locks their door from the outside - not a problem. But the cars were reconfigured so the car was left hand drive for the local market ... apart from they left the lock on the now passenger door so to get in or out the driver had to get in through the wrong door and shuffle across or lean across, unlock the door and then walk around.
And we wonder why they stopped buying British!

 

[RickG]

Oh of course in those cases yes a saving is made. I just don't think you'd see the costs come down as far as people would like to see it!

You're right. You can make all the production savings, but you still won't get over the fact that quality does cost. If you're hell bent on buying the cheapest machinery on the market, you'll always be buying cr@p, no matter who's making it.
Plus, if you're wanting to support British jobs, then you need to be prepared to pay for British labour rates.

 

[DBT85]

Plus, if you're wanting to support British jobs, then you need to be prepared to pay for British labour rates.

Indeed. The reality is that I can't afford £3300 just for a table saw. So my only options are lower down that bracket where you're trying to pick something thats not tat. My desire to support British tool makers is irrelevant in that scenario. For £3500 I could get a Fusion 3 saw and a C Flux 1 cyclone extractor to go with it. I'm guessing they are also made in Asia somewhere even at that price. @Nick Laguna UK I assume could answer that one.

 

[MusicMan]

Like pcb1962 I also derive great pleasure from making workshop furniture, tools, jigs and the like, and occasionally sharing ideas and designs with others on here. The workshop is often used for relatively minor projects in the house. In the last five years I have completed a few major projects. These include a large desk designed as a film editing workstation for my son, a large restoration of a Georgian bureau for his fiancée, and a sizeable desk extension just completed for myself, and a large bookcase again for my son. The large desk and the restoration took a year each, hampered by available time, and several health issues. But that's OK. Over a longer period I've also restored several machines (three German Boley metalworking lathes, an Inca Universal saw with a planer coming along and a Wadkin table saw) to good operating condition. Projects take me a long time and I can't churn them out like many here. But I learned long ago that it was important for my mental wellbeing that I make things. It doesn't matter much what they are, as long as they do what they are supposed to do, and look good if they are supposed to look good, especially if my family will use them long after I am gone.

 

[Nick Laguna UK]

I'm guessing they are also made in Asia somewhere even at that price. @Nick Laguna UK I assume could answer that one.

Hi @DBT85 - sorry for my late reply, I've just seen your question.
Yes Laguna is made in Taiwan.
USA own all the tooling and work alongside the factories to produce the designs.
We purchase in $USD which also tends to be one of the key points in setting pricing as it depends upon the exchange rate.
Cheers, Nick.

 

[TFrench]

But I learned long ago that it was important for my mental wellbeing that I make things.

This is so important. Workshop time is my decompression - what I'm doing is irrelevant, so long as I'm out there accomplishing something. I realised quite recently that I get quite ratty if I've not been able to get anything done for a few days!

 

[clogs]

the other prob is that it seems acceptable to screw people......
People like DeWalt price for the market not the tool......it's called a CARTEL......they all get together and we get screwed.....
things would def change if we altered the import duty on tooling .....
I once spoke to a Dewalt rep here and was not aware af the real cost in the States.....I'd just got back......
not sure now but there was a wharehouse that only sold on line....everything was sold at 1doller over invoice......!!!!! they cleaned up but u had to wait for delivery and not many in the states will wait...."I want it now".....perhaps it'll change....
But we are such a small market in the grand scheme of things.....
and most youngsters wouldnt know anyone making things at home.....so who's gonna buy the tools in 20 years ...very few is my best guess....
shame, a lot of fun can be had in a shed......hahaha....