Electrical Tools From The USA

UKworkshop.co.uk

Help Support UKworkshop.co.uk:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Woodythepecker

Established Member
Joined
30 Jul 2004
Messages
686
Reaction score
0
My stepson (Mike.C to those who know him) is due to finish a contract in the US at the end of february and he will be coming back to the UK soon after.

While over there he has been to a few woodworking shows where he has found some big named power tools at up to 50% cheaper then over here. My question is could these tools be used over here with some sort of converter? If so would the cost of any converter outweigh the saving on these tools?

He has seen 110 volt on some of these tools. Is this the same as the 110 volt that is used on building sites over here? if so with a different plug would he be able to power a US tool with the yellow box type converter that are used on these sites?

Regards

Woody
 
Some stuff on this in the archives; try "USA power tools" and "import" as likely search words. e.g: this thread I won't pretend to understand if that answers the question though.
blush2.gif


Cheers, Alf
 
Thanks Alf, i will let him know that he can get a converter. Whether the VAT and import tax will make it worth his while bringing anything back is another matter.

Mind you i have just seen a few nice things on the Rockler.com web site that i might ask him to get.

Regards

Woody
 
100th post....

I run all my US tools off a transformer. The transformer was also bought in the US as a step-up from 110 to 220, I simply use it tother way round. I know, there are problems with doing this (as I seem to remember from my degree and electrican stuff), but it's 3KVA and works fine, not even breaking a sweat under the heaviest load I put on it -- and most importantly only cost me $105 back in 2000 (used). Biggest load is taken by the tablesaw on start-up, but nothing takes more than 15A when running. Kills the flu' tubes when I switch it on though! Think I need a load capacitor to smooth it out....

The only tool I've burnt out was my dremel. Motor was really small on that and it ran rather well - for a short while. Actually, I think it's the variable speed control that packed up, but they're cheap so I bought a 220V one to replace it. I also burnt out a ShopVac, but that was really old, and since I put a new 110V motor in it's been running fine for 3 years so far. If you don't get water in them they last a lot longer! Fine thing to say about a wet-dry vac.
 
Back
Top