Thread: Inflation low - Except for woodworkers :)

Actually the US dollar appreciated by approximately 5 cents before it was forced down. Fed is trying to put out fires on many fronts. It is a discussion for a different forum but the meta economics are very interesting at the moment.

Originally Posted by MrSlow

Actually the US dollar appreciated by approximately 5 cents before it was forced down. Fed is trying to put out fires on many fronts. It is a discussion for a different forum but the meta economics are very interesting at the moment.

Agree it's very interesting. I know the dollar was appreciating and I agree that the Fed launching 'QE infinity' pulled it down a little - I just don't think that the Fed necessarily wants the dollar to come down - they are using it's strength to save the debt market.

Just on Inflation in woodworking tools. If anyone was looking at Benchcrafted Vice setup for a workbench I just saw that the machined leg / tailvice set will go up to $1950- from tomorrow! That's a spicy amount of money for bench hardware. It is definitely nice gear tho, so not saying it's not worth the money, but as with all the other woodworking tools, particularly Veritas, Lie Nielsen etc, the price is getting up there. It's interesting to me that stationary power tools have yet to really go up in price from what I can see - maybe they are a longer-lead time item(s) and so a few months behind in terms of price changes. I wonder whether the current pricing will become the new normal relative to our incomes for a long duration, or whether this is a short term / transient period. Time will tell I guess and nothing seems to stay the same for very long these days.

Cheers,

Dom

Originally Posted by DomAU

... I wonder whether the current pricing will become the new normal relative to our incomes for a long duration, or whether this is a short term / transient period. Time will tell I guess and nothing seems to stay the same for very long these days...

I recall that the world coffee shortage in the mid 1990s caused the supermarkets to massively increase prices on coffee products - some 8 - 10 times the pre-crisis prices if I recall (I remember I stopped buying instant coffee).
The wholesale coffee price subsequently recovered to around 20% of its peak, but the retail prices NEVER fell. Seems that once the market has become used to the new norms, its better for sellers to accept high margins with existing market share rather than compete too hard on price & thus drive margins low. (e.g. It might be better to accept 500% margin but stay on a low 10% market share, rather than compete on price to get 25% market share but drive margins, to say 50%, in doing so).

However IF or dollar recovers & the US economy tanks, we might get back to a point where the prices of US tools starts to look reasonable again.

Yeah Timbecon were nice enough to send out an email warning of the incoming price increase on Benchcrafted a little while ago, sadly they're now basically in fantasy land for me. They're absolutely gorgeous but an absurd amount of money with the exchange rate and what I'm assuming is pricey import costs.

Maybe there's a spot in the market for someone to fill in Australia now? Edit: I should say for a leg vice - I know HNT Gordon are the premier Australian vice manufacturer

McJing have a leg vise kit - Leg Vice Hardware Kit There's probably some available on Aliexpress or Banggood too if you want to have a look. People have gotten by over the years with much more agricultural setups.

Double post.

Actually have one of their Moxon kits in my workshop ready to assemble - sadly there was a manufacturing defect on two of the acme nuts and the replacements are tied up in limbo while I wait for work to reopen.

Timber prices and inflation.
Don't worry, the price paid for red cedar timber has not increased in the past 30 years, so stop buying tools and buy some timber
Regards
Greg

Originally Posted by Greg Ward

Timber prices and inflation.
Don't worry, the price paid for red cedar timber has not increased in the past 30 years, so stop buying tools and buy some timber
Regards
Greg

That may be true for red cedar, and particularly at the wholesale level, but are you sure the price of timber from the USA like hard maple, walnut and cherry hasn't / won't go up? Also, I'm not sure that the price of local timbers hasn't likewise increased over the last few years - most places charge in excess of $7k+ per cubic for most species like Blackwood, Celery Top Pine etc. Although I haven't been woodworking long enough to know if that's been the going rate forever.

Cheers,

Dom

I can't comment of overseas costs, the AUD will have an infuence. But don't know where you get your local stock from.
Our wholesale price for camphor boards is 1500/cm. silky oak, 2000/cm, hardwoods 1500-2000/cm
rosewood, white beech, red cedar, mackay cedar, blackwood 3000/cm, huon 4000cm
Slabs I accept are a separate issue and may be double these costs as they are priced on size and quality. For example, camphor slab 3m x 800mm x 50mm $350. but split, probably back to the 1500/cm, price or $175
Greg

Originally Posted by Greg Ward

I can't comment of overseas costs, the AUD will have an infuence. But don't know where you get your local stock from.
Our wholesale price for camphor boards is 1500/cm. silky oak, 2000/cm, hardwoods 1500-2000/cm
rosewood, white beech, red cedar, mackay cedar, blackwood 3000/cm, huon 4000cm
Slabs I accept are a separate issue and may be double these costs as they are priced on size and quality. For example, camphor slab 3m x 800mm x 50mm $350. but split, probably back to the 1500/cm, price or $175
Greg

Yeah right, that's cheap! On that note, I have been trying to get my hands on some NG Rosewood for some doors i need to make but haven't been able to find any in Victoria for the last few months. If I could get it for circa $3000- that would be a bonus.

At retail, the prices seem to be about double what you quote here in Vic.

Not that you can go anywhere to get timber at the moment with these restrictions.

Cheers, Dom

So the tenon saw arrived yesterday. Good lord is this what I've been missing all these years? I thought I hated western saws but this cuts like a knife through butter. Damn you Lie Nielsen! Gonna send me broke.