Moving to England

[roombacurious]

doorboy wrote:
By the way, Dan.
While driving--stay to the LEFT.


My wife was going round a roundabout today when a guy comes out of nowhere and misses her car by inches driving the wrong way round! Then he stops, mutters something (probably rude) and drives off, still going the wrong way!
Forget about the tools - bring the Hummer over! :wink:

 

[devonwoody]

Dan, changing the subject, when flying over Devon please do not break the sound barrier, one of your mates cracked my ceiling around twenty years ago, and when I eventually catch up with him, he owes me. :wink:

 

[woodbloke]

Dan, changing the subject, when flying over Devon please do not break the sound barrier, one of your mates cracked my ceiling around twenty years ago, and when I eventually catch up with him, he owes me. :wink:

I was actually present at an air display at Lee on Solent in the 60's when a Fleet Air Arm pilot did a very low pass at over the sound barrier. The ensuing shock wave lifted the roofs of hundreds of houses (bouncing off the ground and then coming up under the eaves). Needlesss to say, locals nor the 'chain of command' :roll: overly impressed - Rob

 

[White House Workshop]

Damn, these volumes are confusing! I stand corrected - thanks guys. Only problem now is I might just leave my son-in-law thinking he's worse off than he is (he lives in Mass)!

Dan,
Exotics are VERY expensive here and just about impossible to get hold off, so a few pieces thrown into drawers or boxes will either be very useful for you or you could sell them to willing purchasers in here. I'm already in the queue, especially now that BA are rigidly enforcing the 53 lb weight limit on checked bags and I used to stuff my bags with all sorts of stuff in the past! Species I've had no luck in getting hold of include redheart, kingwood, black bean, curly red birch (hardly exotic that one).
Put a Post-It on your dash to remind you to drive left. My wife was almost killed after being in the UK only 2 days when she pulled out onto the right side of the road straight into the path of a truck. Fortunately there was a wide grass verge for her to escape onto.

 

[AndreB]

Hi Dan,

I was posted here about 6 months ago from Canada. I live near London, but have been up to Mildenhall/Lakenheath a couple of times, nice area, and far less busy/frenetic than around London.

I've used my North American tools here on a transformer no problem, only thing I've really noticed is the Shop Vac doesn't have quite as much suction on 50 Hz. Shame about not being able to bring over Lumber. Canadian military allows up to 500 lbs of Hobby Materials, and the movers had no problem with stuffing lumber into my sea container under that classification. Maybe you could work something out with them :idea: :idea: As for purchasing tools, etc , I would think you could order them from the US and have them shipped through the military postal system. I've done the same through our postal service no problem from Lee Valley, etc. However, I have also seen some very nice hand tools here that are unavailable in North America that are quite tempting.

I've managed to get a house with a two-car brick garage, lots of space, but the humidity/damp is brutal in the winter so far, might want to make sure you have a cabinet or something fairly airtight to store tools when not in use.

As for living here, its fantastic. Its so easy to travel, in six months I've already visited 4 other countries besides the UK. Like everyone else has said, make sure you get off the base and get involved in the life around you. Its a bit of a culture shock at first, but pretty near every day I see or do something new here, and feel extremely lucky that I have the opportunity to experience life in the UK.

Take care and have a good move,

Andre

 

[00dannyboy]

Alright,

How do I know if my 60Hz motor will not burn up on 50 Hz. Also, is there a way to convert 50Hz to 60Hz?

My large tools (tablesaw, morticer, drill press, slow grinder, high speed grinder, dust collector etc. are all 60Hz motors. (not 60/50 Hz)

Are those types of motors universal motors that can take the difference?

thanks,

dan

 

[Digit]

Yes! But you don't want to know about it! :lol:

Roy.

 

[00dannyboy]

i guess that there is major expense involved. New motors, electrical converters?

tell me, tell me.

lol

dan

 

[9fingers]

Dan,

I already told you about your motors earlier in the thread.

Brush motors are universal and don't mind the frequency difference, induction motors will run slower but safely.

Bob

 

[Digit]

It can be done electro/mechanically, or electronically, neither would be cheap Dan.
If the machines that you are concerned about are belt driven, then the easy route would be to change the motors and starters when you get here.
Alternatively, if you are here for long enough, or would then rotate elsewhere in Europe, perhaps buying new machines, then selling them on afterwards might be a practical option.
Many machines are produced to take either type of motors and a call to manufacturers/importers might well produce what you require, albeit, at a price.
Once again resale before returning Stateside would help recoup any losses.
Have you checked to find out if somebody on the base, who is moving on, has Euro standard machines they might wish to dispose of, I know that use to happen at Greenham Common when I lived in the area.

Roy.

 

[wrightclan]

Dan,

I lived in Scotland (you know, that place up North) for 8 years. (Actually for about 11 in total, but recently moved back to the States after eight years this time.)

I used a mix of American voltage and European voltage tools. I had an American router, planer (thicknesser), drum thickness sander, handheld circular saw, drills, etc. No problems with any of them (by the way, I made my living with them for about five of those years.) The only thing was, the drum sander (induction motor) did tend to get hot faster than in the U.S. But it had a thermal cutout switch to protect it.

I bought a used British table saw over there and a jointer. Liked them both so much I shipped them back to the States along with my American tools, which made the trip both ways.

 

[White House Workshop]

Dan,

If you have Delta tools check the motor plate. Mine are all dual frequency. They run happily off a 3KVA transformer - one at a time!

 

[00dannyboy]

I'm looking into a frequency converter right now. hopefully they dont cost too much.

anyone have a 220v 50Hz to 110v 60Hz frequency converter lying around?

probably not,

thanks,

dan

 

[devonwoody]

Try the usaf

 

[Digit]

Try the usaf

My idea as well.

Roy.