Now I'm starting to understand why...

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Catalunya
Now I'm starting to understand why there are so few amateur woodworkers in Spain.

First: Lack of space, most of us live in flats ( I moved to a house about 1 1/2 year ago) so there is no room for heavy machinery plus the neighbours would have someting to say, but I managed to make a few projects without powered machines and a lot of elbow grease so:dunno:

Second: Finding good hardware and tool shops is like searching for the lost ark.
And when you find one they do not have good tools or the choice is between two at the maximum. ( Not to talk about the price!)

Third: Wood here is quite expensive and although there are lumber stores if you are not a professional you have hard time if you are searching for any help in deciding what wood to buy,or just asking for the price to make up your mind.
In some of them they just seem not to see you at all, attending known customers that arrive later than you.

Fourth: Last week I posted a thread asking about Wood slicer bandsaw blades because I wanted to change mine for the first time. Well the price was 29$ plus 15$ shipping (total 44 €)( the cheapest option) so I restrained myself.

I went to the shop where I got my bandsaw and they said that they didn't have any stock on bandsaw blades, because they don't sell that many.
I should order it and wait for two or three weeks. Moreover they only supply the spare blades from the bandsaw brand, no choice of other brands.
What professionals do then? I asked. The guy on the counter shrugged and said " they always have a spare one"

Price of the blade 32€, about 40$ at the actual exchange rate. So 4$ difference, about same waiting period and no possibility of choice. I think next time I'll order the woodslicer.


But o yeah! there are a lot of big DIY stores where they sell crappy tools, crappy hardware and only chipboard, plywood, and processed pine lumber, charging twice or three times as much for it. Honestly guys, I envy you in that. Maybe I should move to US:(

And I'm not talking about finding sharpening stones!

Sorry guys I'm just pouring my frustration.:(
 
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hey toni i moved it fer ya and dont feel bad we all have bad days,,, let me tell ya abptut today ..... naw it wasnt worht my finner exercize:) so back to tyour band saw blade,, tell us the length you need and the tooth config your after!!! and we can find one fer ya..
 
Toni, my friend, I feel for you. Having such constraints placed on a talent like yours must be very frustrating. Keep us all in mind when you're looking to find something that is not readily available to you locally. Something can always be worked out.
 
You can count me in too Toni. Where I live in southern California it is crowded, expensive and you have to chew your air BUT, there is just about every type of store known to man within an hour drive, most within minutes.

P.s. What is the cheapest way to ship to Spain. I was looking once out of curiousity and UPS and Fedex are . . . . WOW!
 
Normally, I would encourage you to move to the U.S. But, currently the employment situation is not good.
Wish I had suggestions for the wood.
If you do a search, there is an excellent tutorial somewhere about resharpening bandsaw blades. Time consuming but it can be done and is a money saver.
 
Now hear this Toni

this is your captain speaking,, we need your length and the teeth config for that spainish bandsaw you got.. we got a whole line of dentists over here just waiting to get you a new set of teeth:)
 
You can count me in too Toni. Where I live in southern California it is crowded, expensive and you have to chew your air BUT, there is just about every type of store known to man within an hour drive, most within minutes.

P.s. What is the cheapest way to ship to Spain. I was looking once out of curiousity and UPS and Fedex are . . . . WOW!

Thanks a lot Glenn. I take a rain check on your offer;).

As far as shipping to Spain from US honestly I do not know, an item that comes in a flat rate box usually costs me around 60$, as you say UPS and FedEx are out of range.

I neither know if you can send anything by surface mail or snail mail as some say nor how much would it cost.

Another thing to have into account is custom duties. As shops have to declare the value of what they are sending the taxes can be outrageous.

So far I've been lucky and paid nothing except for an item that I had to pay as much as about 38$ when the price of the item plus shipping was about 50$.

As far as I know things with a declared up to 25$ are free of charge, and second hand things also but I'm not sure about the last.
 
hey toni..........with christmas coming up it`s entirely possible that "gifts" from across the pond could be mailed........what length blade does your saw take.....and what are you cutting?.......scrolling takes different blades than sawing veneers.
 
FWIW, I have used Global Priority Mail. A few years ago that was $10. Don't know what it is by now. But if the item fits in a Priority Mailer, that may be the way to go. And a band saw blade would fit in one.

Toni, do you also have to pay something to receive that package? And what is that based on, if that is the case?

Inquiring minds..... :dunno:
 
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Toni, are you sure you are not living in Japan :eek: :rofl::rofl::rofl:

I have to tell you, your problems sound SOOOOO familiar :doh:

Like the other guys have said, tell us the length of blade you need and the size and tooth pattern, we will get you set, and if you get one of the family to mail it to you, they can take the blade out of the package, and send it as a "Gift" and as "Used" good, which at the very least should cut down on the duties you have to pay.

Lots of Family here want to help Toni, I know I speak for others when I say "Please, let us help you out!"

Cheers!
 
hey toni..........with christmas coming up it`s entirely possible that "gifts" from across the pond could be mailed........what length blade does your saw take.....and what are you cutting?.......scrolling takes different blades than sawing veneers.

hey toni!!! you had better listen the big guns are talkun now:) you give us your stats and we will get you a new set of teeth..you dont want to upset santa claus!!!
 
Hi Guys.

I'm overwelmed for having so many good friends wanting to help me, at the moment I only need a 133" blade good for resawing or cutting veneers from hard maple or similar woods.

As far as set and teeth pitch I have no idea at all, I'm still a learner in these things.

If any of you want to send me one and can accept paypal payments send me a pm with the total cost and I send you my address with the payment.

As there is no need of covering me with bandsaw blades ;) let me make a list to Santa as Tod suggested and then I'll come back to you, I have to make up my mind about what I want and how much I can spend.

You are great people and I feel privileged of knowing you!:thumb:
 
FWIW,
Toni, do you also have to pay something to receive that package? And what is that based on, if that is the case?
Inquiring minds..... :dunno:

Hi Carol.
Thanks for the info, to answer your question that is the main problem, there is no way for a normal mortal to know it in advance. I once called the customs office and they told me that it depends on the product that you are getting, some products are more taxed than others, to protect local bussines I guess.

One thing is for sure whatever amount is the tax on top of it you have to pay the VAT tax which for most items is 16% and in some others climbs up to 30%.

So imagine something that costs 50$.

50$ + 40$ shipping + 8$ ( 16% of 50) + whatever the tax maybe you end up doubling the cost of the item and maybe more.

The good thing is that I do not believe that they check every single package that arrives because I bought several things from US and never paid anything ( I cross my fingers) except once. I have to mention that they were not expensive items, the more expensive one was about 70$ so :dunno:

The favourable exchange rate helps a lot but even that is diminishing.
 
Santa's helper!!!!

welli seem to have enuff whiskers to fill in for santa , so i can help in this sleigh delievery ...finally afte rlots of pryun he finally broke down he's one tough cookie he needs alot milk to soak them soft:)
 
toni your good for a gallon or two,, :) just take alook at how long it took!!!! 26 hours of proddin just to get you to give us what we needed to get your blade in route:) that one dry cookie in my books:)
 
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