buying tools in Ireland vs UK

howyegettinon1

can anyone recommend a good place to buy tools in Ireland at decent prices?

I would rather order from an Irish company but they cant come close on a lot of prices compared to the UK

take this circular saw for example Hitachi c9u3

- cheapest in uk plus free shipping on larger orders - so about 200euro inc VAT

- cheapest I could find this on Irish websites is 230 inc VAT - with some prices going as high as 300

Why would any one chose to buy locally if your charging 30-100 euro more and still paying for delivery on top?

Maybe I'm looking in the wrong places?


38mm auger - 33euro UK - 53 euro Ireland

Are companies just hoping you don't look elsewhere and rip you off or is there some genuine reason for the robery

the_pen_turner

its got to do with exchange rates and buying power.

even the largers retailers in ireland are small compared to the uk.

i buy a lot in the uk. mostly accesories and attachments
FFX usually.
there are a lot of savings to the had. sometimes 40% or more
saying that i buy all my electric tools and batery tools in my local tool shop. if something goes wrong i can go in and stand infront of the person im talking to . much less likely to be fobbed off

Big Shed

Compare Screwfix prices RoI to U.K. It'll make your eyes water.
For instance, a pair of boots in England are £35. Over here €60. That's not just currency conversion that's someone taking the,, ,,,,

the_pen_turner

Big Shed wrote: »

Compare Screwfix prices RoI to U.K. It'll make your eyes water.
For instance, a pair of boots in England are £35. Over here €60. That's not just currency conversion that's someone taking the,, ,,,,

The over heads are a lot higher here.
The number of customers less so that cost can't be spread out as much.

Still a shocking difference though.

Jamesgrace

It's difficult to justify paying extra here for tools and there isn't as much choice either. I can understand why, given the size of the market in the UK but I usually end up shipping it in. Out of curiosity, what's the big auger bit for and which brand did you settle on?

pete62

Better to buy local at least if something goes wrong you can bring it back. Remember to keep your receipt!!

howyegettinon1

Jamesgrace wrote: »

It's difficult to justify paying extra here for tools and there isn't as much choice either. I can understand why, given the size of the market in the UK but I usually end up shipping it in. Out of curiosity, what's the big auger bit for and which brand did you settle on?

amazon is great for buying from UK especially for returns, untill you need VAT, I use parcel motel alot for private purchases but to pay without VAT you need to ship to an irish address which alot of companies dont ship to ireland.

The auger is for a timber frame pavilion im planning on making this summer, want to do traditional framing with tenon and mortices
I'm starting a thread soon on if you want to take a look

I havent dicided yet on brand, its either IRWIN which is about 25euro or BACHO which is 50euro. for one frame I dont think I can justify buying the BACHO one

Calahonda52

OP: have you a drill press to go with the 38mm auger, some power needed and could be a real wrist breaker in a hand drill

howyegettinon1

pete62 wrote: »

Better to buy local at least if something goes wrong you can bring it back. Remember to keep your receipt!!

I do agree there, some of those online retailers can be a nightmare to deal with, but if your savin 100quid on 500 euro order, even if you have to pay for return shipping your still saving some.

If only amazon shipped more to ireland it would be priceless!!
Had to return a humidifier after 2 years under warranty, 0 hasle. sent me return label and refunded me in full in a week.
If I had bough this through someone else online I couldnt see it going so smooth

But then again you might buy locally and they might not be so acomidating either with something like that

howyegettinon1

Calahonda52 wrote: »

OP: have you a drill press to go with the 38mm auger, some power needed and could be a real wrist breaker in a hand drill

Thanks for advice I've been actually trying to decide on a drill to buy to match that auger, cant decide what to go with.

I would love a drill press though. Any recomindations, on either the drill press or the drill for the job?

This is the drill I'm looking at, I'll need a good SDS down the line so was hoping to kill two irds with one stone - Hitachi DH26PX - 125euro on FFX
says 32mm MAX for wood

http://www.mcquillantools.ie/hitachi-dh26px-830w-sds-plus-rotary-hammer-drill-and-chuck-adaptor/

nosilver

howyegettinon1 wrote: »

can anyone recommend a good place to buy tools in Ireland at decent prices?

I would rather order from an Irish company but they cant come close on a lot of prices compared to the UK

take this circular saw for example Hitachi c9u3

- cheapest in uk plus free shipping on larger orders - so about 200euro inc VAT

- cheapest I could find this on Irish websites is 230 inc VAT - with some prices going as high as 300

Why would any one chose to buy locally if your charging 30-100 euro more and still paying for delivery on top?

Maybe I'm looking in the wrong places?


38mm auger - 33euro UK - 53 euro Ireland

Are companies just hoping you don't look elsewhere and rip you off or is there some genuine reason for the robery

Its amazing how many people won't calculate using a real exchange rate.
Currently, assuming you are paying by debit or credit card, the gbp/eur rate is €1.18 - so that would mean the UK price is £169 to equate to €200

Vat here is 23% v 20%

And economies of scale come into it too.


The other thing some people do is quote the highest prices they see here, but never quote the highest prices they see in the UK - why is that? Surely for proper comparison you need to compare real exchange rate + vat difference + similar highest / lowest comparables to come to a fair conclusion.

Then if the item gives you trouble, its a lot of hassle to return it to the UK.

With anything, always look at all angles to get the overall best value - price is just one aspect imo.

Jamesgrace

I thought that might be the case, I'm a traditional framer myself. Highly recommend bosch drill bits with a flanged tip, I've found any other bits put a lot of pressure on the drill and make for an unpleasant drilling experience. A heavy mallet is also a great help.
Best of luck with it, which wood are you going for?

the_pen_turner

What are you using the auger bit for. 38 me is a bit hole. Would a spade bit or Forster bit work. They would be easier to drill
I'm planning on buying a Milwaukee hole hawg for drilling holes like that. .

If you only need it for a few holes , I think you should hire one of those angle drills plumbers , elect r it ions use

howyegettinon1

Jamesgrace wrote: »

I thought that might be the case, I'm a traditional framer myself. Highly recommend bosch drill bits with a flanged tip, I've found any other bits put a lot of pressure on the drill and make for an unpleasant drilling experience. A heavy mallet is also a great help.
Best of luck with it, which wood are you going for?

Noway! I might have a few questions for you if you dont mind
Would you have a link to the drill bit your talking about?
Yeah was looking at the 3lb mallets, i'm gathering all the tools at the moment
I'm looking at going for larch, it's mento last without treating it ( i think it's mento to be the red colour larch, apparently whiter larch rots easier? - what would you recomend as an alternative?

structural questions here, for a 16x16foot pavilion up on 6 posts, 2 sides will have 3 post for support and front and back will span from corner post to corner post.
so the tie beam will be 15foot long, what should I use here to span that lenght? 7x14 or is that bit of an overkill

this is pretty much the frame I'm looking to go for

http://timberframehq.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/16x24-Plan11.jpg

howyegettinon1

the_pen_turner wrote: »

What are you using the auger bit for. 38 me is a bit hole. Would a spade bit or Forster bit work. They would be easier to drill
I'm planning on buying a Milwaukee hole hawg for drilling holes like that. .

If you only need it for a few holes , I think you should hire one of those angle drills plumbers , elect r it ions use

using it for mortising, not sure what would work, from googling augers seems to be the way to go. I did look at hole hawgs and angle drills but they are steep and one purpose machines, I'm only putting up one frame and dunno how soon I will need another 38mm hole
I'll look into the forster bits though

Renting isnt a way for me as I will be tipping away at this over time

tom85

Big Shed wrote: »

Compare Screwfix prices RoI to U.K. It'll make your eyes water.
For instance, a pair of boots in England are £35. Over here €60. That's not just currency conversion that's someone taking the,, ,,,,

0 vat on boot in UK

Jamesgrace

howyegettinon1 wrote: »

Noway! I might have a few questions for you if you dont mind
Would you have a link to the drill bit your talking about?
Yeah was looking at the 3lb mallets, i'm gathering all the tools at the moment
I'm looking at going for larch, it's mento last without treating it ( i think it's mento to be the red colour larch, apparently whiter larch rots easier? - what would you recomend as an alternative?

structural questions here, for a 16x16foot pavilion up on 6 posts, 2 sides will have 3 post for support and front and back will span from corner post to corner post.
so the tie beam will be 15foot long, what should I use here to span that lenght? 7x14 or is that bit of an overkill

this is pretty much the frame I'm looking to go for

http://timberframehq.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/16x24-Plan11.jpg

Make sure it's European Larch and not Japanese Larch for durability. That 14" beam sounds a little on the heavy side and may not be available in Larch, I'd say you're well covered by 12" depth and I would probably go lighter than that but if in doubt, oversize. It's a good choice for outside, oak is superior but costs more and weighs more, hard going on your own.

Link to a 32mm bit below, there doesn't appear to be a 38mm available but these bits are excellent and will save your drill.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B004WO6FN6/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1489909930&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=bosch+auger+bit+32+mm&dpPl=1&dpID=31%2Bic4gCSdL&ref=plSrch

That's a nice design, what part of the country are you in?

howyegettinon1

Jamesgrace wrote: »

Make sure it's European Larch and not Japanese Larch for durability. That 14" beam sounds a little on the heavy side and may not be available in Larch, I'd say you're well covered by 12" depth and I would probably go lighter than that but if in doubt, oversize. It's a good choice for outside, oak is superior but costs more and weighs more, hard going on your own.

Link to a 32mm bit below, there doesn't appear to be a 38mm available but these bits are excellent and will save your drill.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B004WO6FN6/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1489909930&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=bosch+auger+bit+32+mm&dpPl=1&dpID=31%2Bic4gCSdL&ref=plSrch

That's a nice design, what part of the country are you in?

Thanks for that! I'll ask if its European or Jap, it's the sawmill in tullamore that ahs the larch, I'm over in ballybrittas myself

That drill bit looks same as the ones I was looking at by bahco and Irwin just a bigger diameter

If going with the 32mm bosch is there much left to clean up with a chisel?

Jamesgrace

That bosch bit is wider at the tip, meaning that the majority of the shank isn't in contact with the timber as it travels into the beam. Huge difference, less chance of the drill twisting and struggling to both cut and overcome the surface tension that you get with regular bits.
With a drill, go for the highest wattage you can afford, they can burn out really quickly with this type of work.
As for the bit being smaller than the mortise, it's quite difficult to drill every overlapping hole exactly in the centre so a little space either side keeps things neat. This is if you're using 1.5" tenons, or are you going bigger?

howyegettinon1

Jamesgrace wrote: »

That bosch bit is wider at the tip, meaning that the majority of the shank isn't in contact with the timber as it travels into the beam. Huge difference, less chance of the drill twisting and struggling to both cut and overcome the surface tension that you get with regular bits.
With a drill, go for the highest wattage you can afford, they can burn out really quickly with this type of work.
As for the bit being smaller than the mortise, it's quite difficult to drill every overlapping hole exactly in the centre so a little space either side keeps things neat. This is if you're using 1.5" tenons, or are you going bigger?

I get you now, didn't realise tip was wider I'll go with the bosch then.
The one im going for is 830W, I will leave buying it untill I need it and I think I will go with buying it locally, can walk back into the shop and get a new one instead of waiting 3-4 weeks for a replacement and going with 1.5" tenons

Thanks again!

Jamesgrace

Best of luck and enjoy