Originally Posted by
handlewanker
Interest on the loan.........oh dear, that is only a 30% tax return for a 100% outlay .....in OZ that is.
Anything you buy that is work related and gets tax deducted is still a burden when you have to pay out top dollar and only get back peanuts......better than nothing I suppose.
I suppose a loan is one way to finance a workshop.........loans are almost as bad as credit cards at 20% +.
I went down a different path when I set up in business in '95.......it's called an asset builder loan account......min take out is $20,000, then you only have to pay the interest each month on the amount you use if you want to, no other charges........same rate as your mortgage.....ours was 5% back then.
About that time I shredded my credit card as the rate was too high.
If you want to end it you just pay off the principle, but the beauty of it is you don't have to re-apply for a loan once it's set up and you have a surplus balance..............also you have to have property with enough equity in it......a careful funds management strategy is a must have or you'll end up owing your soul to the bank.
Hmmmm, Tormach is ALL Chinese??...... wow, the China syndrome is alive and kicking in USA despite what Trump has dreamed up on the platform of lies and lost promises last election day.
Perhaps attributes was a long word to use for the Skyfire, Haas or Tormach et all banana bunch,...... comparison maybe.............in my book if it ain't at least got linear rails, it ain't a CNC mill no matter what the size was and anything without balls crews or ISO 30 is a non starter too.......oh yeah, and a factory fitted enclosure is a must have.
I have ISO 20 on my mill.....it might be BT20 as it has a pull stud......but for anything bigger I'd go for BT30 (with the pull stud
Not to get political or anything but everything Trump makes is made in China and funded by Russia. He makes nothing in America....
IMO, something like a Tormach is a different experience to buying direct from Chinese vendors like Skyfire. Having an honest, trustworthy local business to deal with and having local help, a local guarantee and a level of QC that is.... um.... how to put this.... more culturally aligned with our expectations for the price, changes (almost) everything.
My main issues with buying direct from China are the frustrating customer service experience (or lack there of) and the large number of dishonest vendors combined with a lack of recourse when you get screwed-over. For the most part, quality meets expectations - i.e. It's low but consistent with the price.
It is far too common for Chinese vendors to do unethical things like sending broken goods and then expecting us to pay the $500 or $1000 in return shipping. Or worse, as people here found, taking people's money without being honest about their lack of ability to deliver. Dealing with Chinese vendors direct is often a nightmare.
I also had no response to the emails I sent to Skyfire asking for pricing. Sounds like I got lucky though. A vendor with a track record of steeling thousands of dollars from people here with no communications for 2 or 3 years is more than a red flag. Even if it only happened twice, nobody here should be trusting a company like that with thousands of dollars before seeing the goods.
I know what it's like with a start-up. Sometimes you accept people's money thinking you can deliver and then stuff happens. When it does though, you give back the money immediately and apologize. Keeping the money and going radio silent for two years is steeling. There is no acceptable excuse for that.
With that said, a little common sense is needed from our side when buying anything online.... At the very least, if you have to buy from Skyfire, pay through PayPal and raise a claim if they haven't delivered within a month. If it is going to take 6 months and you are ok with that, pay at the end, not the beginning..... this is common sense! You aren't a bank to fund their start-up costs... letting the money ride past your claim period is stupidity.