Tonewood uk to Australia...

[Rob the luthier]

Hello,
My name is Rob and i am new to this forum which may i say is excellent, i am a guitar maker from Scotland who within the next 18 months will be emigrating to Australia with my family, everything is great apart from my tonewood collection and machines, i would really like to bring my Spruce tops and bandsaw,thicknesser etc with me, but after reading the customs restrictions im a bit miffed, the last thing i want to do is bring any bio-hazards into Australia but on the other hand i dont think i could relocate to Oz and afford to start again, if anyone has been through a similar situation or has any advice i would really gratefull...

Regards Rob...

[nnickusa]

Hi Rob,
Welcome to Australia. Gonna be a bit warmer than you're used to...

Have you checked into the restrictions and allowances for moving household goods into Australia? I would think the rules are different for that, rather than commercial imports.

I've recently had two big lots of spruce set from Alaska with no issues.. Neither shipment was so much as opened for inspection.

Presumably, you'll be using a shipping company for moving your furnishings, etc. Ask them for any information they have regarding the customs restrictions that are applicable in your situation.

Cheers,
Nick

[Allen]

As long as the wood is clean, dry, free of anything that looks like pests then you shouldn't have any problems. It may get inspected, and even fumigated but that will still be far cheaper than replacing it.

When we immigrated here we had a household full of antique wood furniture, wicker baskets etc. We were given the option of having it fumigated on our end, or letting customs do it here. The shipping company recommended that it be done here, as they most likely wouldn't care that it was done on the other end. Only to make sure that they killed any little critters once it hit these shores.

From memory it was about $300 for the fumigation back in 2002.

Where do you plan on setting down roots?

[Rob the luthier]

Cheers Nik and Allen, you have both gave me more to think about, will do some more research...

[Allen]

We were told that more or less, wood wasn't any problem at all. Make sure you declare what it is, because they will do a random check on various boxes etc. If they find anything not on the manifest as it should be then they will go through the lot and then it's going to get expensive.

All of us import wood and if those simple criteria are met, then it's never a worry.

[Bob Connor]

G'day Rob

I'll be in Edinburgh late May/early June if you'd like to discuss this further over a series of single malts.

Regards

Bob

[Rob the luthier]

We were told that more or less, wood wasn't any problem at all. Make sure you declare what it is, because they will do a random check on various boxes etc. If they find anything not on the manifest as it should be then they will go through the lot and then it's going to get expensive.

All of us import wood and if those simple criteria are met, then it's never a worry.

Cheers Allen, i feel a lot more reasurred now, im going to have some well travelled wood by the time i get to Oz lol... Thanks for your help...

[Rob the luthier]

G'day Rob

I'll be in Edinburgh late May/early June if you'd like to discuss this further over a series of single malts.

Regards

Bob

Hi Bob, i may still be in Nottingham then but if im back in Scotland on time i may just take up that mighty fine offer...

[kiwigeo]

If Bob C is there it'll be single malts....followed by a couple of gallons of that horrible black stuff that looks like it's just drained out of a engine sump

[Bob Connor]

If Bob C is there it'll be single malts....followed by a couple of gallons of that horrible black stuff that looks like it's just drained out of a engine sump

Yum

[Nick]

If Bob C is there it'll be single malts....followed by a couple of gallons of that horrible black stuff that looks like it's just drained out of a engine sump

Yum

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