Moving to Germany

[Mgkidd4200]

I am the owner of numerous festool saws, routers, sanders and drills.  The military is transferring me to  Landstuhl soon and wish to ask two questions.  First, how is the easiest way to use my Festools made for 110 current in Germany with 220 volts?  Second, are there woodworking courses in Germany similar to what is offered is the US.  I have attended six more courses at Greg Paolini’s in Asheville, NC. Thank you.

 

[grobkuschelig]

I can’t commend on the power supply topics, but welcome to Germany.

Festool have a couple of “partner-workshops” with whom they work.
You can find them here:
[URL]https://www.festool.de/unternehmen/heimwerker-kurse[/URL]

The closest is roughly two hours from Landshut.

In addition, there are a lot of independent carpenters that offer courses, so you should be able to find something of use.
English might be an issue, but I assume your German is already up to speed from reading all the Festool manuals! [emoji51]

 

[Gregor]

To connect your existing 110V tools to german mains you'll need a transformer (230V mains -> 110V) that can take the current, frequency shouldn't be an issue AFAIK (Festools should all be 50-60 Hz, a precautios look at the labels should confirm that)

Depending on how long you're planned to stay in Germany and your selection of machines (both that you currently have and what plan to use here):

For shorter stays it might be well worth to take the plunge of performing a deeper investment into their cordless range.

Reasoning is that mains power will be irrelevant for the tools as only the chargers are different (possibly only the plugs, but don't hold me to that) so you'll worst case only have to change these wherever you go next. When exploring this option you should factor in that we don't have price fixing here in germany, you'll routinely get basically all Festool stuff well below list price.

Example: TSC 55 Li 5,2 REB-Plus/XL-SCA (the one with two 5.2A Airstream packs and two SCA 8 chargers) with list price of 1036€ on first google search for 760€ to your german doorstep (prices incl. VAT), that's 25% off without a special sale. Sure, it's metric - should you want it imperial then the sticker is some € and a call to festool service to have it in your postbox some days later.

As you already have some cordless (drills): A TCL 6 charger is ~50€ NIB (incl. TAX and shipping).

In case of a longer stay it also might be worth it to get NIB corded ones here. You'll have the 3 years Service all Included (so no problems in case of problems) and no need to deal with a transformer. Also used ones in reasonable condition sell for 80+% of current NIB street price (in case you're not in too much hurry to get rid of them) and as Festool does their yearly price hikes here too you'll get more for it every additional year... Also the tools obtained here should work perfectly fine in the US on a 220V outlet, and will likely be cheaper than buying them in the US (at least they should be, as you're closer to the source and have no cartel pricing).

So it might make good sense to bring only existing accessory systainers (and cordless ones) and to get the tools and additional accessories here. There should also be a nice profit on cordless tools bought here and taken to the US.
YMMV.

Welcome to Germany, have a pleasant stay.

 

[Mgkidd4200]

Thank you for yours replies.  It has helped a lot.  I particularly liked the idea of purchasing more tools while in Germany. I have already used this logic with my wife.  We will be in Germany for at least 3 years, possibly 5.  I am pleased the prices are not fixed as they are in the US. 

 

[Administrator_JSVN]

We can't make recommendations on how to use your tools in Germany, because all of our tools are intended for use only in the country in which they were sold.

I'll make sure that my German colleagues see this. They can chime in about training or other events at the Festool GmbH facility.

(Tyler)

 

[bertv]

We can't make recommendations on how to use your tools in Germany, because all of our tools are intended for use only in the country in which they were sold.

Well, technically a US base in Germany is considered US-soil, so...

 

[ElectricFeet]

I particularly liked the idea of purchasing more tools while in Germany. I have already used this logic with my wife.

You purchased your wife in Germany  [eek]

;D

 

[Gregor]

The 'intended use' restrictions posted the last days are getting more silly by the post, first the PLANEX isn't a sander and now:

We can't make recommendations on how to use your tools in Germany, because all of our tools are intended for use only in the country in which they were sold.

Honestly?
What's next?
Warranty voided as tool had been used outside the shop it was bought in?

 

[semenza]

The 'intended use' restrictions posted the last days are getting more silly by the post, first the PLANEX isn't a sander and now:

We can't make recommendations on how to use your tools in Germany, because all of our tools are intended for use only in the country in which they were sold.

Honestly?
What's next?
Warranty voided as tool had been used outside the shop it was bought in?

Well,    in the context of the topic    this is in reference to the OP's question about the electrical differences.

Seth

 

[l0pht]

I am the owner of numerous festool saws, routers, sanders and drills.  The military is transferring me to  Landstuhl soon and wish to ask two questions.  First, how is the easiest way to use my Festools made for 110 current in Germany with 220 volts?  Second, are there woodworking courses in Germany similar to what is offered is the US.  I have attended six more courses at Greg Paolini’s in Asheville, NC. Thank you.

Ramstein has a pretty solid woodworking shop and community. They will also give you transformers to use for your 110v equipment. They will work just like they do in the USA. I had quite a few companies swap me 220v items for 110v refurbished when we moved back from Germany to the US about 3 years ago. Maybe keep bugging the Festool guys and they would hook you up :wink:

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Mgkidd4200]

That is great that Ramstein has a wood working community.  I am currently at a Festool Cabinet course with Gregory Paolini in Asheville, NC.  I really want to continue my education with woodworking and Festool.  I have quite a bit of equipment and will try to bring most of it.  I am very interested in the CMS table and options found in Europe. 

 

[sancho57]

You will need as a min a3.3 KV tranny. You will also need to get a adapter so you can plug in your US tools. I found my tools ran a little slower but were fully functional and had no issues. There is a difference between tranny’s. A friend gave me a 3.3 KV one and I noticed it couldn’t  keep up like when I ran my 2200 w the CT. Another friend left aged me his and I had no issues. I did notice the rpm of the tools was a little slower then when it was plugged in to US 110V power.  However the tools worked satisfactorily the 4 years I was in Europe.