American Gear Over Here

[Lonsdale73]

Earlier this week I mentioned I'd bought an Incra Mitre Gauge. What I didn't mention was I bought it from the States. Even with carriage and customs fees added it was still around 30% cheaper than buying it here in the UK. Probably not come as news to most of you.

What might be of interest though is the company I bought it from have been in touch to ask if I thought there'd be much call for a 'direct from the States' service. From comments I've read on here I suspect that might be well received. They've asked which products would be of interest so I said I'd as the question here. Therefore what items would you guys like to see more readily available at nearer to State-side prices?

They have pointed out that - where applicable - they can supply metric versions which prompted the question have we gone completely decimal? Mentally, I can switch between feet/inches and metres/millimetres easily enough however once we're into the realms of 32nds and 64ths I much prefer mm! How about you guys?

 

[Steve Maskery]

I, too, am amphibious, but I definitely prefer mm to 64ths!
I'm a bit surprised, pleasantly so, that there was such a big saving. I went over 3 years ago, when the pound was worth about $1.50, and I was struck, not by how cheap stuff was, but by how expensive it was. I did buy a few tools but not much. I remember Harbour Freight had some nice spring clamps for 99c each, I use them regularly. But a lot of other stuff was no different to here.
Food, in particular, was expensive. Yes, you can eat out quite well affordably, but go to the supermarkets and anything that isn't highly processed junk is quite expensive. Lemons (and they are not even imported) 99c each. About twice what they cost here. Kitchen window cill herbs, $4.99, about 3x the UK price.
I was thinking of starting a thread on this:
https://www.woodpeck.com/onetime-tool-c ... 18-fw.html
It works out at over £309 today.
I love jigs, of course, and I'm all for high-quality stuff, as this most certainly will be, but £309 to round a corner? Really? Who on earth has that sort of priority for their spending? I don't get it. They certainly live in a different world to mine.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Neat idea, though. ..... and for my next project, ...

 

[Lonsdale73]

Woodpecker gear was something I'd like to see; it's good stuff but by no means cheap. I remember seeing those radius jigs and going all Billy Connolly when getting to the price. Not as fancy but I found these: radiusjigs

Similarly, I spotted these: precisionsquares For the cost of one Woodpecker version one can have five of these. I ordered one on the basis if it proved to be junk then I wasn't losing much. On arrival, it looks like the Woodpecker versions and when checked against my Woodpecker 1281 and Incra 5" squares it proved to be perfectly square. As did the three I subsequently ordered.

 

[johnnyb]

Years ago I ordered a reasonable bit of stuff from over there. One time I ordered a Hitachi gas nailer...One arrived then the next day another! I sold the extra one....kerching.
I've brought used stuff recently from ebay. Probably not worth it these days. One dollar is .79p atm! Also factor in import charges.

 

[mbartlett99]

I've been working stateside for the last couple of years - San Diego right now. Last year prices seemed okish compared to previous ears but not great, a few bargains like DMT/Veritas. This year pretty much of a muchness. Woodcraft & Rockler sell direct to UK and have done for a while. Woodpecker are available in the UK via Peter Sefton I believe.

Food over here - bloody terrible.