Kundig Uniq Sander Disaster

[Rick Fisher]

FS: you're right I was recently reading a thread on another site that was a year old with current responses and confused the two. Old age is setting in way too fast!

Starting to notice that myself .. ugh ..

[Anthony Spotorno]

Just got off of the phone with Holz-Her

1. They offered to refurbish the machine and ship it back to me, no $ compensation.
2. Full refund
3. Or I can purchase the S model. The S model moves my investment to over 21k and I do not do enough production runs to need the power feeder, nor justify the thousands more for an edge sander.

Final status: I'm returning the unit for a full refund.

This machine was almost 17k, a big investment for any shop... I expected a new machine not the floor model, and delivering a floor model with defects was very bold and rash imo. There are other units, while not as nice as the Kundig that I can purchase for thousands less and they will be fine for our shop.

Yes, I could have kept the machine, the damaged parts could have been replaced, the rusty hand prints on the cast iron could have been sanded out, but overall the experience with Holz-Her has been very poor, until I told the sales rep that I was calling my lawyer, they would not return emails or calls, what does that say about the type of service I would have received after the sale...


So now off to research another edgesander. Thanks everyone for your comments, oh and to the person that mentioned they were talking to Holz-Her about a Kundig, they will soon have a "New" unit for sale lol.

[Joe Jensen]

The $17K is higher than the $13K a Holzer rep told me maybe 3 weeks ago. He had inventory of the Uniq but not the Uniq S. There was a really nice 2009 Uniq that sold at auction a few weeks ago for around $6K US but it looked like I'd spend over $4K getting it to Arizona so I passed.

[John Sincerbeaux]

I paid 15k for mine (new) about 5 years ago.
Here's my theory.
Holz-her is no longer a "current" dealer of "new" Kundig machines.
Their website no longer lists Kundig.
Kundig no longer lists Holzher.
Why did Holzher not offer to order a new machine?
"website not updated"???? Not buying it!

I should have have a legitimate answer by tomorrow😀

Anthony, why not make a trip to Germany/Austria, visit Kundig in person and order a "new" Uniq (US spec) have them ship it direct? I have visited two separate factories in Germany and seen my actual machines in production. Both trips were a blast and the German factory reps treated me and my wife like gold.

[peter gagliardi]

You could get a very nice used unit with more capacity in length and height from either Oakley or Wysong and Miles for about 1/3 the cost. Edgesanders are pretty basic machines, and if you were worried you could hire a guy to go thru it for only about $1000-1500.00
The only thing I see the kundig does different is that the belt mechanism tilts instead of the table- probably a headache waiting to happen over time too.
I bought a real clean and well cared for Oakley 648 oscillating unit from a small furniture company when the owner retired. I paid somewhere right around 2k for it.
Ekstrom Carlson is a good name as well, but they are rarer.

[Joe Jensen]

I paid 15k for mine (new) about 5 years ago.
Here's my theory.
Holz-her is no longer a "current" dealer of "new" Kundig machines.
Their website no longer lists Kundig.
Kundig no longer lists Holzher.
Why did Holzher not offer to order a new machine?
"website not updated"???? Not buying it!

I should have have a legitimate answer by tomorrow

Anthony, why not make a trip to Germany/Austria, visit Kundig in person and order a "new" Uniq (US spec) have them ship it direct? I have visited two separate factories in Germany and seen my actual machines in production. Both trips were a blast and the German factory reps treated me and my wife like gold.

I would bet you are correct, this conclusion fits the data best. We will be able to confirm at AWFS...joe

[Anthony Spotorno]

I would bet you are correct, this conclusion fits the data best. We will be able to confirm at AWFS...joe

The sales manager stated that they are bringing a Uniq S to the show, and that it was new in the crate still... Not sure why they would bring it to the show if they were not authorized to sell it.

I'm already scheduled to be in Germany in Oct. Dunno how the wife will feel about taking time to go to factory. I'd love to see Martin's factory, a sales rep from one of their dist is supposed to be here tomorrow to discuss a new table saw.

I've checked, and at this point do not see any other dist for Kundig, will have to check Oakley, Wysong or Miles and others have mentioned.

[Darcy Warner]

Mattison edge sanders were tanks as well. got to love a 3600 pound 8x64 edge sander.

[Joe Jensen]

The Oakley or Wysong and Miles type edge sanders are very different. The Euro edge sanders have one side like the big cast iron sides and the other side has a veneer sanding unit that can be adjusted to remove a very small amount. You can even use them with a power feeder to sand finishes between coats. They are quite different from the big old iron edge sanders.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nowabCJzm5A

[Rick Fisher]

The Oakley or Wysong and Miles type edge sanders are very different. The Euro edge sanders have one side like the big cast iron sides and the other side has a veneer sanding unit that can be adjusted to remove a very small amount. You can even use them with a power feeder to sand finishes between coats. They are quite different from the big old iron edge sanders.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nowabCJzm5A

The veneer sanding side with a feeder is a really nice option. I have it .. and use it more and more .

[Rick Fisher]

I would ask for a new Uniq .. you may have to wait 3-4 months.. but its life.. Email Kundig.. see if they respond .. Also, there may be a new Uniq in Toronto.

[Joe Calhoon]

The split fence on those are good for uniform removal of solid wood as well. I had a chance to use one in a shop we installed a CNC machine in. Nice machines and you get a built in OSS all in one compact machine.

[Anthony Spotorno]

The Uniq was picked up by FedEx today. For future reference, never ship anything via FedEx Freight. The driver put the sander on the lift gate too close to the truck when he raised the lift gate, crunch more damage...

I had told Holz-Her to just refund my money, and they had agreed. However, I did look for alternatives and veneer sanding is the feature I wanted most. Not too many edge sanders have that option. So in the end Holz-Her and I have come to an agreement. I will be receiving the Uniq S model, new in a crate in the next 2 weeks, no freight charge and a very discounted price on the unit.

They are looking on how to get it to me without using FedEx so it is not damaged.

I'll keep this thread up to date with when / how the new unit arrives.

[Frederick Skelly]

Good for you! Look forward to hearing more.

[Darcy Warner]

I just shipped two machines via FedEx freight last week, the drivers were great. Of course I have a fork lift so no need for a lift gate. I have pretty much had almost every freight company there is pick up and drop off machinery with no issues ever.