Montgomery Kettle (ultralight chimney-boiler) reservations

Hi All!

Al – I'm happy to ship these to the UK! After some investigation, it looks like USPS first class is the most economical: $14-$20 US depending on the final weight of the packaging. Unfortunately, that's not insured, and insured is more: about $30. It also looks like a UK recipient would be responsible for paying VAT and after a brief investigation into that, it looks like I'll need to do more research to find out exactly how much that would be.

Jesse – I still expect to have the first batch done by early June, but can't quote a date on the second. Everything is in a bit of a holding pattern until I finish this semester at grad school. Expect more pictures, etc. in late April to early May.

Dan – A rabbit hole is exactly what I've called this myself! I does make me feel a bit better that I'm not the only one with this kind of strange addiction. I have spent a lot on this project, but not 18K! Whoever thinks that DIY is about saving money is wrong – it's a compulsion. Having said that, I know no other way. :)

Russ – Thanks! You're on the list, but please set up the ability to PM, so I can reach you when the time comes.

Best,
Devin

Forum member Callahan just sent me some very useful information about how I might be able to ship these internationally for less than I estimated above. I'll make further investigation into international shipping costs as I get closer to the ship date, but please rest assured that I will use the least expensive carrier that I can access with relative ease. As a check on my research, I may ask for some feedback from those of you who are outside the US on what services seem most cost effective.

I've ordered loads of stuff from the US to the UK. I don't usually buy from vendors that use UPS or Fedex, as they are expensive, and always seem to get pulled for Customs fees.
With USPS Airmail, it is a lottery if you get stung for Customs fees. Sometimes you do, sometimes you don't. The higher priced USPS tracking options seem to get stung for Customs fees more.

If you do get stung for Customs fees, it is 17.5% of the combined product cost plus shipping cost. So for example if an item cost $80 + $20 shipping, the Customs fee will be $17.50. The UK courier will then add a $12 'handling charge' for picking your parcel up from Customs and delivering it. So as well as paying $100 up front, a UK customer will have to hand over another $39.50 to receive the parcel.

The exceptions to this are if the combined cost plus shipping cost is under £18/$27. This limit is increased to £36/$54 if the parcel is marked as a gift. These attract no charges.

Another Duty charge is applied on higher value items, but is waived if the collected fee would be under £100/$150.

Thanks Mike!

I've been looking at the HM Revenue and Customs website, and between that and what Callahan sent me, am finding the same info you give with one exception. It looks to me as though all properly declared, non-gift items between £18 and £135 face the VAT (generally 17.5%) and handling charges ($12 US). Callahan said he's been able to effectively dispute the handling charges.

Is the lottery that you talk about actually policy or do you think it related to the declared value or status of the item received?

Hi Devin,

Kudos to you for taking this product from vision to reality. Though I have no immediate need for a Montgomery Kettle, I thought I would mention my interest because I suspect I am not the only person who is closely watching this little boiler evolve. If all goes well I will probably sign up for a future production run, but I wanted you to know us late-adopters are keeping an eye on things too.

Hi Devin,

Sorry for opening another can of worms for you!

I've bought kit from the US in the past, though nothing in recent years, and the VAT and handling charges sound about right. Clearly if I make it into the second batch it'll be a while before this all takes place, but I might have another option for myself with some friends in Florida who have family near me and travel back and forth quite often. I'll check with them to see how they feel about possibly helping me out.

Many thanks,
Al

Hi Devin.

The £8/$12 handling charge is often discussed on UK forums. I've never read of anyone succesfully challenging it, so would be very interested to hear how Callahan did it.

The 'lottery' i was referring to is simply down to manpower. The UK Customs simply don't have enough people to physically examine every parcel that arrives from overseas. They pick out parcels at random. I used to get stung for charges on about 20% of my orders. I think they must have increased their workforce though, as i've been stung more often than that recently.

The UK distributor for USPS(Parcelforce) will hold on to your parcel if the Customs pick up on it. They pay any fees on your behalf, then send you the invoice, to which they have added their handling charge. They will not deliver it untill you pay it. If Customs haven't picked up on it, they deliver right away.

Fedex/UPS operate differently. They deliver straight away, but pass on the details of the parcel to UK Customs, A week or so later, a Customs invoice arrives at your house. I believe it is Fedex/UPS policy to do this with every parcel, so there isn't much chance of escaping fees using them. Their handling charge is part of their expensive shipping costs compared to standard USPS.

Don't put yourself out on the shipping issue Devin. You've done enough hard work getting the kettle up and running.
I'm happy for you to choose the easiest option for you.

As long as it's USPS. ;)

Please :) AM I in batch 2? 3?

Dave – Thanks for the note of interest! As things develop further, I'll be sure to post updates.

Al & Mike – thanks for the info, and for kick-starting my thoughts about international shipping. Paying more than necessary for shipping doesn't benefit you and doesn't benefit me, so I'm definitely interested in minimizing this cost as much as possible. USPS still looks pretty good, but it sounds like DHL may be even better – I will investigate!

John – You're on there! #50, and the last to be in the second batch! Welcome on board. :)

Hi All,

Thanks to everyone for showing so much interest in this kettle! To date, I've taken 50 reservations, and that's as much of a backlog as I'm comfortable taking on at this point. Time to stop hawking my wares on this forum and start working on these orders!

If you're interested in getting updates on the kettle, as well as notice when more are available, please PM me with your email address. Thanks to the amount of interest there has been, I've been able to justify devoting the bulk of my summer to working on this. In other words, you can expect more kettles, more info, even a website in the coming months! So if you're still interested, hit me up with your contact info and stay tuned!

Best,
Devin

i am interested as well. How long before they will be available?

Hi Katharina, just responded to your PM. Thanks for your interest, and more kettles will be available some time this summer. I'll be throwing everything I have at this starting in the beginning of May, but I can't give more precision than that. Sorry!

Best,
Devin

Hi All,

I’ve started production on the first batch of kettles, as well as a blog following my progress: http://www.theboilerwerks.com. So if you’re interested, check it out. I just posted a video of how I make the base for the kettle, illuminating the metal spinning process.

Edit: blog link fixed. Thanks Jeff!

I bugged Devin enough to post that video. Being a metal working guy myself, but having never spun any material, I found it extremely intersting. Give it a quick look to see the work that is going to go into these kettles – impressive.

Devin, very nice work. Looks like you're getting very comfortable with your machinery. Those parts are looking great. I like the way you center the aluminum plate between the mandrel and clamp. I really got to give that stuff a try one day.

Thanks Steve! The motivation was welcome, by the way. It is pretty interesting to see what the process looks like from a 3rd person viewpoint. It does look like I'm pretty good – what a nice trick!

If I ever lose a finger, this is the machine that took it. :)

LOL, let's hope for your sake that you don't lose a finger, cause there are some eager and happy buyers lined up for that kettle, excellent work.

By the way, I really enjoyed your 10 "easy" steps, psshhhh, I'd have a lathe tool stuck in my chest if you put me in front of one of those. Cheers.

"It does look like I'm pretty good"

Yes, that's because you are!

The skills necessary to create the fire bowl and kettle, and the pre-production tooling to produce them, and the idea from which they stem, all point to one incontrovertible truth, which is that you Sir, are an artisan.

We've seen the inspiration, determination, sheer hard work, skills, photo's and video, denial is futile!(o:

Very well done.

Getting hard to resist this one. I am looking forward to seeing some of the reviews once this comes out. My guess is that my name will be on the list before long. Great to see the video on the creation of the firebowl. Looking to the next one in the series. Would be great to see some more pictures on your site of the kettle itself.

>LOL, let’s hope for your sake that you don’t lose a finger, cause there are some eager and happy buyers lined up for that kettle, excellent work.

Thanks, Eugene! But seriously, that thing is scary. I always wear gloves when I use it so that I’ll hopefully get some warning. :)

Callahan: Thanks, really. I took the DIY path out of necessity, but learning the craft has been very rewarding. At least there’s some payoff to doing things the hard way. :)

Philip: Thanks! Check out the video I just posted. It should give you a better idea of what this kettle looks like in the flesh.

I love the new video and seeing it in action. Question – is the fire tending always that intensive? How is the performance if you don't stoke and blow the fire?

Glad I'm on the list!

Thanks,

Mike

Hi Mike!

>is the fire tending always that intensive? How is the performance if you don't stoke and blow the fire?

I should start by saying that I wouldn't take the video as showing the peak performance of the boiler – among other things, I started letting it burn down too early. Letting it burn down reduces ash, but I started too early.

I would say that this isn't a "set and forget" stove. You probably will be feeding it for the few minutes it takes to boil. Blowing in the intake isn't necessary – it's just a force of habit for me. I just boiled 2 cups without any blowing in under 5:00.

Very impressive. I like the way you can feed it through the top. I just signed up for email updates so when you have cleared the initial 50 orders I'll be interested.

I have been looking for something like this that is made here in the States. I will be following the blog, and am very impressed with your progress. Seeing the videos of you crafting the base brought me out of lurking status to get on the list for when batch 1 and 2 are done.

If and when you start to produce your next batch, please let me know. I'm interested in purchasing one of these.

Thanks Jason! If you send me your email address – at devin[at]theboilerwerks[dot]com – I'll add you to the mailing list.