As I write this months newsletter I am sitting by the river. It’s just got dark and the only sounds are the chirping grasshoppers, my little travel keyboard and the flickering of my camping stove as it tries to boil a kettle. Next month is the Annual General Meeting and conference of the British Artist Blacksmiths Association which I’m very excited about going to, but not keen on staying in a tent thanks to past experiences. So I’m having a trial to see if I can get a good nights sleep in my tiny 3 door hatchback. An idea only even possible because I am, in case my branding hasn’t alerted you, comically short.
An End to US Orders (for now)
I usually try to keep these newsletters light and positives but unfortunately I do have to address that I have had to stop all orders coming from the USA. The “de minimus” exception to international tariff has been scrapped as of 29th August. I case you don’t know, the de minimum exception means that commercial shipments with a value of under $800 are exempt from international tariffs. Therefore, all orders I send to the US are subject to an additional 10% import tariff to clear customs.
A 10% tariff would be manageable, but as the infrastructure isn’t in place for this, USPS has been given the ability to also charge a flat fee of $80 on any imported parcel from a country like the UK (any country with a tariff rate of less than 16%) for the next 6 months. To my (limited) understanding, there’s no clear indication when the flat $80 fee could be charged, and it’s far too much for small hand-forged treats unfortunately.
I love my US customers and am very saddened to have to stop shipping there for now. I can only apologise for any inconvenience this is causing but I can’t allow customers to be unexpectedly and unpredictably hit with these large import fees. I currently only sell internationally via my Etsy shop to simplify customs, and if the situation changes or the flat fee stops in 6 months as promised, I will be re-enabling US orders as soon as possible
New Addition to the Workshop
A while ago I managed to find myself a very old, rusted, and seized flypress. It took a lot of cleaning and a lot of oiling but the old workhorse is now in glorious condition. When I say a lot of cleaning, I burned through multiple wire brushes on the rust alone, and as anyone who knows metalwork is aware, wire wheeling with an angle grinder is not the most fun to be had. Thanks as well to the wonderful Arthur Purdy of Woodgate Forge for welding up a new handle for it as well. Arthur and I have also spend a day shaping and fabricating ourselves each a pair of combination dies. With a fully restored flypress and new forging dies, this should vastly increase the range of things I am able to create in the forge by adding a lot of much larger and heavier projects.
