Salut Steve, bienvenu sur le forum,
Je continue en anglais pour que ce soit correct sur le forum (frenchie aussi et accro a ce forum).
Hi steve,
1----
Veritas is a nice plane for sure IMHO the most versatile available new today. If you're in uk now, take the advantage to buy second hand tools, as the shipping will be more expensive, once you get back in France.
Or as suggested you can look for and old #5, also called sometimes the jack plane, and it earns its name.
For saws, I have Lie-Nielsen tenon saw and like it.
You'll find saws as well as handplanes easily in this country (I mean UK). They're also some second hand tools shop, and you hardly find any in France.
UK web sites are also worth it, especially of you're in uk, as postage is low and VAT lower than here, really worth checking !
I always do a benchmark before buying (not time saving but money saving for sure
)
2---
For information,
I've ordered many tools in us and canada. the exchange rate makes it a good deal for us in France, at first sight. But you pay for postage, and custom taxes as well as VAT (droits de douane et TVA) and some exchange rates fees by you bank. You remember that over here VAT is 19.6% ! Plus Custom charge, are high. If I do remember I must have paid
for the LA Jack Veritas, something like 30 to 40 $ for postage, and around 20 or 30€ of custom charge. Plus around 4 or 5 € for my bank.
Also avoid UPS as they also charge an additional 15€ of "frais de dossier"/handling files fees (which I consider is a theft !).
So the basic for buying in america is the fx rate must be higher than 1.4 or 1.45 €/$, and sometimes you're lucky and customs don't charge you. To help luck, favor some small postages (low values), consider fragmenting your purchases (even if it might cost more).
Once you have done all this, you end buying some tools directly around here. But for the LA Jack, even with all this it is still advantageous to buy it abroad (not the case for example for the jointer plane in the same brand).
Whatever, most sites abroad (LN, LV, ...) are really professional, and answer your inquiry about postage fees, etc.
A little out of subject but worth saying to help you choose where to buy.
Salut.
