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Just a general question about what to expect bring kilns bought in the US back into Canada. Is there anything I should do or expect to make the customs happening easier and less $$. I have my short list of which kiln I could love to use: Skutt Clamshell, The Glassglow 350, and the Euclid kiln..square custom made in Ont. Canada. All three of them are fairly close in price and quality. The Euclid will take at least 7 weeks to be shipped West to BC. Has anyone got recent experience with the border and bringing equipment into Canada? Thanks Val

It's not hard Val. Have the kiln company prepare export paperwork. The trucking company will do the rest. You may have to arrange a power of attorney with a brokerage company at the border.

If you don't already have a trucking company, try these guys. I've been using them since 1972, they'll pick up anywhere on the west coast.

Moznik Trucking
(604) 599 6536

I think you may run into some electrical appliance regulations. Seems to me they have to be rated by CSA or ULC ?

When you get to customs just empty out your pockets--they'll do it for you anyway. Use this same method for purchasing glass, supplies and pretty much everything else.
-Amy

We've brought in dozens of kilns and had no problems other than the need for the right paperwork with Canada Customs and paying the GST. The only paperwork you need is the Commercial Invoice and a "NAFTA Certificate of Origin". They can be sent with the shipment, or faxed to you or your customs broker in advance. We've been doing our own customs clearance (both southbound to US and northbound back to Canada) every couple of weeks for years.

Most trucking firms have a relationship with a customs broker and can arrange to do the customs clearance. If you're near enough to a border crossing, you can do it yourself. It is NOT complicated. Every commercial Canada Customs crossing has a computer set up on the counter for you to prepare the import documents. It takes about 10 minutes to do the paperwork, then you wait for them to process it, pay the GST and you're done. Customs will take MC, Visa or cheque. You can do the paperwork in advance and fax it to the trucking firm so the shipment comes straight through on their cargo manifiest.

The biggest nuisance is the wait to have the paper processed. Depending on how many others are waiting (usually commercial truckers) it could be 15 minutes or 4 hours.

I bought a Skutt GM814 recently. Ordered it through a local ceramics shop. As "The Glassman" says, there is a difference in electrical requirements for Canada. I was told that Skutt makes them individually for us. It took a month to arrive (which beat some books shipped by US Post.)

Maybe you've found a great price from a US source, but I poked around on the web and didn't find a significantly better price that what the Canadian dealer offered, particularly with shipping factored in. Also, since this was my first kiln, I wanted the local dealer to be responsible for shipping it back if it were defective.

There is a Skutt dealer in Surrey, if that's any help.

Off topic--do you think there'd be interest in creating some sort of web directory of Canadian suppliers of glass-related stuff? I am spending a ton of time figuring out where in Canada to get things like polishing compounds, suitable drill bits, blasting equipment, enamels, whatever. It's all here, but tracking down who sells what is a pain.

Gail
Saskatoon SK

Gail's suggestion of a directory of Canadian suppliers is great. I'm forever ordering stuff from US websites, but later find obscure suppliers in Canada.

Eleanor Brownridge wrote:Gail's suggestion of a directory of Canadian suppliers is great. I'm forever ordering stuff from US websites, but later find obscure suppliers in Canada.

"Obscure Canadian suppliers" -- isn't that redundant?

If people want to send me links to Canadian suppliers (obscure or otherwise) I'll put them on a page in the Resource section of the Warm Glass website. Just sent me an email with the links and a brief description of what they sell.

I did decide to buy the Skutt clamshell in Canada through the dealer in Surrey. One of the reasons was that supporting a Canadian co. is a good idea; and this company did work with me re. the price. I liked the Euclid kiln and the Jen ken very much but far from my home and that caused me to lean towards a company closer to me. The clamshell offers a few very interesting ways to work with glass that attracted me to it. I have worked with large oval electrics for many years with ceramics and it was time to change. Princess Auto Supply sounds like a company that might be a good source for some tools and drill bits in Canada. There might be more supply source, but they are hard to find.
V.

Thanks, Brad. May I post a new message inviting people to send suggestions to you? Or would you rather do it?

Would you mind including companies that don't have a website? They are the hardest to find, obviously.

Maybe there will be someone on the list you could hit up for board sponsorship.

Gail

Brad Walker wrote:

Eleanor Brownridge wrote:Gail's suggestion of a directory of Canadian suppliers is great. I'm forever ordering stuff from US websites, but later find obscure suppliers in Canada.

"Obscure Canadian suppliers" -- isn't that redundant?

If people want to send me links to Canadian suppliers (obscure or otherwise) I'll put them on a page in the Resource section of the Warm Glass website. Just sent me an email with the links and a brief description of what they sell.

Brad,

I put together a list of what I have so far. Can send as Word or html doc but haven't figured out how paste into a board message or board email without losing the html, although html in enabled in my profile.

Want to give me your email address? Maybe it's, uh, walker@warmglass.com?

Or you could grab the list from the web at duke.usask.ca/~bunt/CanadianSuppliers.htm

I didn't annotate much--don't feel I have the experience yet to comment.

Gail

Gail

Gail,
I tried your weblink to Canadian suppliers and couldn't get it to work. Please check that it is correct in your message.

I'd love to know where to get things besides glass. Too bad more Canadian companies don't have great websites.

Eleanor