Just moved from Canada

[AndreB]

Good Evening,

I have recently moved to the UK from Canada on a four year posting. I found this site while I was still living in Canada, and have been an avid follower of the forums since then. Now that I am here, I figured it was time to join and thought it would be good form to introduce myself prior to asking all sorts of questions. I've done the usual gamut of household projects and small items of furniture, as well as building a rowboat and canoe in the past two years. I've had to leave my larger tools in storage in Canada, so I will likely be inquiring about machinery, as European machines are quite uncommon in Canada, and I am very curious as to how they compare with the Chinese imports which seem to have taken over the market in Canada. Thanks in advance, and looking forward to interacting with the fine group assembled on this forum.

Best Regards,

Andre

 

[Mike.C]

Hi Andre,

Welcome to the forum. Why did you wait to join until you came to the UK, eveyone no matter where they live are welcome here. :lol: :lol: :lol:

Cheers

Mike

 

[sawdust maker]

Hi Ander

Welcome to Blighty!

The unfortunate situation it that you will soon find that most things sold in Britain have "Made in China" on them. We appear to make very little. This is a sorry state of affairs but true.

Paul

 

[ByronBlack]

Hola Andre!

Welcome to UKW - I'm sure you'll enjoy your stay here. In terms of machinery, something to get you started with; this site will be your friend:

www.axminster.co.uk

Enjoy!

 

[Philly]

Welcome aboard Andre!
Philly

 

[Paul Chapman]

Welcome to the forum, Andre.

Cheers :wink:

Paul

 

[Losos]

Welcome Andre

This is one of the few forums I visit regularly because I find the people here both knowledgible and polite and that's what I look for in a forum.

As Mike C said, you didn't need to wait until you were in UK, everyone is welcome here

As to machinery it's true, a lot of stuff has Chinese origins, my TS & PT are made in Austria (But I suspect some of the parts are from the Far East)

Oh BTW do you use the term Jointer / Planer in Canada 'cos in Europe the Jointer is a Planer and the Planer is a Thicknesser :lol:

Confused? Well I certainly am :lol:

 

[TonyW]

Hi Andre and welcome - I am sure you will like it here.

You have probably noticed that we get a lot of water in this country so your canoe making skills may well come in handy

Cheers
Tony

 

[mailee]

Hello and welcome Andre. Along with the other things you will also notice we pay a lot more for our tools over here, espesially if we buy them from the US. Hope you enjoy your stay. :wink:

 

[DomValente]

Wlcome aboard Andre

Dom

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Andre

Good to have you onboard.

Cheers,
Neil

 

[Alf]

Welcome, Andre. Sheesh, if you'd said you were coming we could have organised ourselves to save a little postage from LV... #-o :wink:

Cheers, Alf

 

[devonwoody]

Welcome from a member who lives down in Devon. We do not have as much water as your previous residence but it is warmer.

As mentioned above Axminster are one source of tools and the highly priced machinery items are the European ones

i.e table saw £600 not European

i.e. table saw £7000. might be European.

 

[Chris Knight]

Andre,
Welcome. As others have said, there was no need to wait - now you'll just regret not having all that stuff we could have told you to bring with you!

 

[JFC]

Welcome

 

[AndreB]

Thank you all for the warm welcome,

The price of most things has come as a bit of a shock, although there are certain things I've noticed that are cheaper here than in Canada ie. dairy products/cheese, and of course, beer . I do regret not bringing my table saw, band saw, etc with me, but this will give me an excellent excuse to upgrade!!

Losos: We usually call them jointers and thickness planers, although I've also heard the term lunchbox planer for the so-called portable thickness planers! Also, I can't say that I'd ever seen a combined planer/thicknesser prior to coming here. They just don't seem to sell them in the North American market. Not sure why, as they seem like an excellent idea.

Thanks again for the welcome,

Best Regards,

Andre

 

[Losos]

certain things I've noticed that are cheaper here than in Canada ie. dairy products/cheese, and of course, beer .

If you think beer is cheap in England you should pop over to the other side of Europe (Czech Republic) where it's much cheaper still and it's very very good stuff.

Beer and glass are about the only things they can make here :lol:

 

[woody67]

Welcome Andre You sad,sad man :wink: - if you think you spent alot of time on this site whilst in Canada, you can look out now you're in Gods country ! :wink: Every time you have a thought, or a query, I guarantee you'll come here - and won't be disappointed.

 

[tim]

Welcome Andre

Which part of Canada are you from?

The price of most things has come as a bit of a shock, although there are certain things I've noticed that are cheaper here than in Canada

I imagine that car insurance falls into that category, along with short haul flights...

Cheers

Tim

 

[AndreB]

Hi Tim,

I moved from Kingston, Ontario, about mid-way between Toronto and Montreal, right where Lake Ontario turns into the St Lawrence River(Thousand Islands). Its a very pretty area.

As for car insurance, I was pleasantly surprised. It came to about 1/3 of the cost I was paying in Canada, although I've gone to a much smaller car here.

Don't even get me started on the flights. The cost of air travel is outrageous in Canada due to a the lack of competition.

Have a nice evening,

Andre