German Festool Stores and woodworking classes

[Mgkidd4200]

We have now been stationed in the Kaiserslautern area for about five months and I am ready to get back into my woodworking.  Does anyone have a recommendation of where to buy Festools in this area?  I have signed up for a roadshow demonstration in September as a start.  Also, any ideas for woodworking classes?  I miss being able to attend Gregory Paolini’s classes in NC.

 

[MikeGE]

Welcome to Germany!  I was stationed in Darmstadt for 22 years before retiring this April and remained in the Darmstadt area.
I bought all of my Festool equipment, as well as my Minimax SC2 Classic saw and dust collection ducting, from Dr. Keller Holztechnik in Mannheim.  Most of the sales staff speak English and they accept the VAT form for the tax exclusion.  There are likely similar stores in the Kaiserslautern area, but Mannheim is a short drive from you, and worth the trip.  The down side is they are not open on weekends and close for lunch; however, being retired now, this is not a problem for me.
You didn't mention if you speak German, but the only place I know of in Germany that offers woodworking classes (no Festool) in English is Dictum, with the main store in Munich.  Dictum has stores throughout Germany, but the Munich and Niederalteich stores seem to have the most woodworking courses.  You might try the Wood Skill Center on Ramstein AB for suggestions on courses.
One caution about buying Festool here is you will only find the 230V 50Hz versions.  These might work in the U.S. if you have a 220V distribution.

 

[six-point socket II]

Hi,

Welcome to Germany!

Only 60km from Kaiserslautern you can find Heiko Rech:https://werkstatt.kurswerkstatt-saar.de/die-kurse/

You can E-Mail him and ask if he offers something that might be of interest to you.

Festool has some Partners for woodworking classes in Germany as well:https://www.festool.de/unternehmen/heimwerker-kurse

Kind regards,
Oliver

 

[Mgkidd4200]

Thank you both for your suggestions.  Unfortunately I do not speak German yet but hope to learn the language.  I will definitely look at both stores.  There is one store in Kaiserslautern and have signed up to attend the Road show in Sept. 

 

[MikeGE]

Unfortunately I do not speak German yet but hope to learn the language.

Don't worry about this.  Even after working here for 22 years as a DoD civilian, my German language skills are just above the basic level.  I haven't had any problems navigating around the stores, and you'll pick up quickly what you need to communicate.

 

[sancho57]

Mike, You can get festools in 110V they make both. The store may have to order it but festool does make 110v and sell them in europe.  They dont have the price fixing like we do in the states.

You will have to get at least a 3.3 KV or greater tranny to use them in your shop until you come back to the states.
When I bought my 110V CMS VL stand in the UK. I switched out the switch for to a US plug. Looking back now all I really needed was to buy a adaptor.

When I was in England I used my US there with no issues. Everything from my 2200 to Kapex to my TS 75 module for my CMS. No issues.

As far as classes,

I highly recommend Guido Henn, He is famous here for the Chaos Wall.

He does offer classes and speaks and writes very good english.

He is much like Greg very well respected and a author has written a few books on woodworking to.

Do a member search here under members and send him a PM.

I did when I lived in the UK and He answered me quickly.

Hieko as mentioned is another very good woodworker.

As already mentioned. Him and Guido have videos together on his channel Holztwerken . You can go to you tube and find his videos as well as Guidos.

Guido is located near Colone Germany.

Here is PT 1 of 3 of the Chaos wall from You Tube to give you a idea about Guido.
=10s