Possible relocation.

T Bredehoft

T Bredehoft

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I had no idea there were so many forums.

Due to late life changes, I'm considering moving to Holland for the rest of my life. (I'm 82) I would like to continue in Hobby Machining, am wondering if there is such a thing there. Are metals available? are odd ball tools (1 ton arbor presses, small drill presses, etc available or would they have to be shipped from somewhere else (I'll bet they are available in Germany)

Anyway, this is a feeler, no decisions have been made, the subject has only been touched upon (build a shop in a Container) And up until that was suggested my relocation was not a option. So I'm treading very softly at this point.

Are any of us in the Netherlands? native or otherwise? I would expect to get a new mill and lathe, but have tooling for same. After 40 yeaers in the trade I have hand tools sufficient.
 
T Bredehoft said:
Are metals available?
Click to expand...
O course they are, they are just named differently. Holland (the call it the Netherlands) is a rich, fully developed, industrialized country. So is the entire Continental Europe, it is a single market, you get any item shipped to your address, even internationally, paying just a bit more than domestic shipping. Until the last year the UK was also in the European Union, now you may end paying a bit more buying from there, but in the end it's the country that has always lead popularizing machine work and model engineering.

T Bredehoft said:
are odd ball tools (1 ton arbor presses, small drill presses, etc available or would they have to be shipped from somewhere else (I'll bet they are available in Germany)
Click to expand...

Odd ball bench tools and manual machine tools are not being made in Europe (with very few expensive exceptions) since 30 yrs or so. It is the same situation as in the USA, just slightly worse.
There are many individuals (check http://www.lathes.co.uk/page3.html, or Ebay) and traders selling quality used machinery, otherwise if buying new you will be restricted to new items made in China. I get these all the time, last month bought the 1T arbor press which needed some cosmetic care, but no big complains considering the price paid. For example, check vevor.de, or AliExpress.


T Bredehoft said:
Anyway, this is a feeler, no decisions have been made
Click to expand...
Good luck and enjoy it if you will move!
 
my wife a couple of years ago got interested in this retire abroad movement and started checking into different places. They even do conferences which we went to one Arizona. It seems it’s a lot harder “start over” and there seems to be more change coming. I ship to the UK and EU and in February the axe fell on the UK with draconian laws about importing to the UK. Nnow they want me to buy a license and work with a importer/lawyer, collect taxes and remit them to the “crown” along with all this paperwork. So I’ve had to quit doing direct sales to the UK.

In late July they changed the rules to very similar to UK in the EU. Not until many pages into very similar gobblyguke to the UK did it say that the US is exempt but you should let your customers know there is going to be delays through customs and added taxes. Right before that last notice notice I’d shipped to France and Portugal. According to my tracking they still have not arrived. Meanwhile my EU dealers are receiving orders from me in record time, as they are tax exempt.

we were looking at northern Portugal and there is no way you could import my tools and according to locals machine tools are very hard to find and expensive when you do. So unless I decide to just get into “being” and give up on my little biz or making Ive given up on that little happy place.

weirdly to I got notice that shipping has been cut off to Australia and NZ.
 
I think you are smart to consider this move if you can. My father-in-law was born in the Netherlands and I asked my wife to look into dual citizenship. that never happened but the company I work for now has an office in the town he was born in over there.

I doubt you'll have any problems continuing with our hobby, the EU is very well developed industrially and their citizens have more time to pursue hobbies than here in the US from what I have heard.

Best wishes whatever you choose to do, but I doubt having access to materials or tools will be a factor in the decision.

Cheers,

John
 
Time has passed and things have steadied down. I've applied for a Residency Visa, unlimited stay for 5 years, then renuable. I have built a Wood Shop in a spare bedroom. Since I last wrote, I've been here 40% of the time, badly mauled the end of one finger (jointer) and one thumb (table saw)
and continue to enjoy life and friendship. I'm 17 miles from the North Sea, can work outside (first of Feb) unless it's windy, and have no problems keeping busy. The language (in lesson books) is only starting to make sense, but except for people my age, born before the war, everyone speaks English.

"Is that for economic or COVID reasons?"

Romantic...
 
There is also the magainze De Model Bouwer, that will give you a view into what groups are in NL. I envy you that you are 'home', I left at age 10 in 1958 and would love to have lived there as an adult.
Marktplaats.nl is a great resource for used tooling.

My ex-wife learned rudimentry Dutch from Introduction to Dutch by William Z. Shetter, should be easy to find.

Veel succes
gerrit
 
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