Shipping a machine tool from China

Crating that matches the weight

A plywood box is not a machine crate. What you want is a base substantial enough for a forklift to handle, the machine bolted to that base rather than resting on it, and bracing that takes the load off the moving axes.

We agree the crate specification before the machine is packed and ask for photographs of it packed, not of an identical machine packed on a different day.

Transit locks and what they protect

• The gantry, locked so it cannot travel and hammer the ballnut at each end.
• The Z axis, supported so its weight is not hanging on the screw for six weeks.
• The spindle, removed or braced — it is the heaviest thing on an arm and the most expensive to replace.
• The controller and any pendant, packed separately where the machine allows it.

Moisture is the quiet one

A sea container crossing the tropics condenses. Bare machined surfaces arrive with surface rust, and precision surfaces arrive pitted if the trip was long enough.

Rust preventive on the ways and the table, desiccant in the crate, and a sealed wrap handle it. It is a cheap step that is skipped whenever nobody asks for it.

What to do when the crate arrives

• Photograph the crate before opening it, from all four sides, including any damage to the packaging.
• Note damage on the carrier's paperwork before signing. Signing clean and complaining later is a much weaker position.
• Open, inspect for transit damage, and check the axes move freely by hand before powering anything.
• Check the electrical supply and the VFD settings before the first power-on, not after.

Insurance

Marine cargo insurance on a machine is a small percentage of the value and worth it, because the failure modes here are total rather than partial — a dropped crate is not a repairable machine.

Check what it covers. Some policies exclude damage attributed to inadequate packing, which is exactly the failure that happens most.