Request for Narex Chisels

[martin morissette]

Hi, I would like to use this public space to request more Narex hand tools from Lee Valley. It looks like LV is the sole canadian distributor for Narex and they have a nice line of bevel edge chisels coming in 2011 (http://proe.cz/narexby2/downloads/novinky_2011.pdf). I would like to ask LV if they plan to distribute these as well.

Thank you very much and have a great day

[Jonathan McCullough]

Those look really nice. I mean really nice. The handles resemble old Buck Brothers chisels that are the most comfortable I've ever handled, and a lot of people like the quality of the steel. But I think Rob Lee dropped that they're carefully developing their own Lee Valley/Veritas line of chisels. Can't you order from Highland Hardware? They sell Narex chisels, too.

[martin morissette]

Highland woodworking tools is located in the US and you have to give your first born to cover the shipping/custom charges to Canada :) If LV plans to produce this type of bevel edge chisels, I just hope that they will make them flat.

[Brander Roullett]

I picked up the Mortise Chisel set, and they look very well made.

[Zach England]

I have shipped stuff to Canada and it is cheap. Maybe it is different as a commercial seller, but I just write "gift" on the customs form and there have never been any questions. Does the recipient have to pay a VAT upon receiving it?

[brian c miller]

I have both the bevel edge & mortise chisels.

I wish that the beveled edge were English like the mortise and not metric.

[martin morissette]

If they ship by UPS you pay 35$ for the custom fees plus taxes plus shipping. I bought a 30$ tool from california once and I finally paid a whopping 100$ total for it including all the fees. I was so mad, I decided not to order from the US anymore if they ship by UPS. US postal services is way much cheaper and you have 1/10 chance to get your package processed through the customs, then you have to pay 5$ for the handling plus taxes on the item value. I don't think businesses would take the chance to write down 'gift' on the custom label considering it is illegal if it is commercial.

[Zach England]

Maybe someone can buy the chisels in the US and "give" them to you. Then you could "give" the person the cost of the chisels (plus a few dollars for their trouble).

I'd be willing to do it after Christmas, but would like to avoid the post office until then.

[martin morissette]

Thank you for the offer but so far, Highland doesn't have this line of beveled edge chisels yet. They are coming only in 2011.

[Sam Takeuchi]

I think knowingly falsifying customs declaration to avoid tariff and marking merchandise as gift is illegal. The chance of your package catching attention of the customs officer may be low if you send low valued item here and there, but I don't think it's a good idea to be making this behavior a public knowledge or volunteering to do it. No matter how your word it, customs officers have the discretion to open and examine goods that go through customs and make judgment. And no part of "gift I send you and you pay the cost of" will matter to them if they determine it is falsely marked and declared.

[John Coloccia]

On one of my trips to Finland, I brought my brother-in-law a guitar. I tried to declare it at customs. There was no one there. I rang a bell or something, and someone finally came out of the back room. He looked at me rather strangely, as if to say, "Can't you see we're taking a nap...no one actually declares anything you twit". About 20 minutes later, he found the right form...I believe they had to print one out or make a photocopy. I filled it out and payed my couple of Euros and was on my way.

It's funny how simple or difficult it can be depending on the day and the official.

[Sam Takeuchi]

Normally they don't get many people needing to declare something that often. In many countries, customs allow much larger customs allowance for people crossing the border in person than simply goods crossing the border. Unless you are coming in with large amount of cash (in EU, I think it's 10,000 Euro), high valued item (i.e. jewelries and other things, perhaps Hotley plane will fall into that category), cultural objects (generally art, prints, crafts etc of historical or cultural significance and/or age). Or item so large or heavy (I think 15" jointer or pole lathe would definitely catch their attention if you are coming off the plane with those...). Other than that, they don't seem much interested. Probably they were wondering why you wanted to even declare something they weren't interested in. Something like guitar is rarely inspected simply because it's such a common item people cross the border with. There is a threshold of value or any of above criteria where declaring the object (in this case, a guitar) becomes mandatory, but it's pretty high up, so probably 90% of guitars that go through port of entry as personal possession don't even need to be declared. Of course if you are carrying more than reasonable number of guitars for personal use or gift, they might get interested and might have to declare.

Those same items can easily get taxed if they come through the border in mail or courier, however. Often times low value (in low hundreds) triggering duties (different country, different rule).

[Rob Lee]

Hi, I would like to use this public space to request more Narex hand tools from Lee Valley. It looks like LV is the sole canadian distributor for Narex and they have a nice line of bevel edge chisels coming in 2011 (http://proe.cz/narexby2/downloads/novinky_2011.pdf). I would like to ask LV if they plan to distribute these as well.

Thank you very much and have a great day

Hi Martin -

Yes - we're looking at them. We're also going ahead with our own chisels - there's room for both..... choice is a good thing!

Cheers -

Rob

[martin morissette]

Thank you Mr. Lee,

I am always pleased with the way you answer to customers. You earned my loyalty a long time ago.

I wish people would understand that they may pay a little more by shopping at LV but in the end, they support a company that really want to please and keep their customers. It always gets to the saying : you get what you pay for. And so far, I always get more than I pay for at Lee Valley.

By the way, I love your carcass saws. They feel like an extension of my arm (oh and they cut well too :))