Replies

1. 
   PeteBradley | Dec 17, 2005 04:48am | #1

   Cost of cast iron rising? You sure this isn't just salesman talk for "buy it now"?

   Pete

1. 
   douglas2cats | Dec 17, 2005 05:01am | #2

   Cost of cast iron rising? You sure this isn't just salesman talk for "buy it now"?

   It's legit. There's been a real market shortage of steel/iron/pick-a-metal for over a year now and it's getting worse. Most of it seems to be driven by the Chinese who are buying up everything in sight as they're industries are starting to expand and more & more stuff is globally outsourced to them. U.S. Auto makers in particular are getting hit hard by the steel shortages and rising prices.If you build it he will come.

1. 
   highfigh | Dec 17, 2005 05:37am | #3

   I thought I heard that the scrap iron market had stabilized recently. Maybe we should look into this and report the findings. If it has actually improved, it would be good info for others here who are in the market for tools and told the price is going up, when it would either go down, stay the same or there would be more for the money in terms of accessories or improved quality.
   "I cut this piece four times and it's still too short."

1. 
   douglas2cats | Dec 17, 2005 03:27pm | #5

   It's possible the scrap iron situation is improving. I'm not so close to that problem that I'd consider myself an expert there. I'm basing my assumption that the cast iron situation is still in the same gutter as what I see on a pretty regular basis with steel shortages at work. I work for one of the big-3. There's not a week that goes by that there's not some sort of crisis going on in regards to steel of one spec. or another not being available. We manage to muddle through and finally get what we're after but not without a lot of aggravation. The little manufacturers with less market clout and purchasing power are having an even harder time. This has been going on for at least a year with not much sign of letting up and seems to be getting worse instead of better. I've also started to hear of problems delaying some electrical components due to similar problems with copper but I don't have much involvement in that area, so I don't know if that's rumor or fact.If you build it he will come.

2. 
   PeteBradley | Dec 17, 2005 05:24pm | #6

   Interesting. It's not clear to me though how much of a small band saw's price is raw materials. I would think it's pretty small percentage.Pete

3. 
   kesac | Dec 19, 2005 04:56am | #7

   Well, considering that most power tools are now made in China, no matter what the brand name, I'm not surprised.  Look at what the price of plastic has gone thru in the last two years.

2. 
   detailman | Dec 17, 2005 07:44am | #4

   Hi Pete,
   I had actually read about this cast iron problem a few months back. It was apparently starting to affect the cost of the lower cost machines, at least on a % basis, since they use almost as much cast iron as many more highly priced machines.
   Who knows, if its not cast iron, electricity, or wood, there always seems to be something causing the "price" to go up.
   Happy woodworking,
   detailman