Geneva, Switzerland trip

[Jim Paulson]

Hi creekers,

Making a trip to Geneva, Switzerland this summer and wanted to ask if any Neanders have made it to the Pfeil factory in Langenthal near Bern.

I am going to primarily see granddaughter:) and family, but also hoping to see features of interest (tools, carving,chip carving, etc.) to woodworkers. Any thoughts?

Jim

[Mike Allen1010]

Hi Jim,

I hope you have a great trip to Geneva! I never made it to the Pfeil factory, but on a totally unrelated note -- the best cigar store in the world (outside of Havana) is in the Noga Hilton in downtown Geneva -- Gerard's. He will even package up your Cubans with generic bands and a "product of Switzerland" box so you can bring them home - very Swiss!

Just like Lie Nielsen, Lee Valley etc., Gerard's is another place where I can spend way too much money and come up with no possible explanation my wife would ever accept!

All the best, Mike

[Jim Paulson]

Hi Mike,
Yeah I'm looking forward to seeing my granddaughter, family, and another place with so much history.
Must be a lot of specialty shops in Geneva. Thanks for sharing about Gerard's too.

Take care,
Jim

[Bob Jones]

Check out the antique shops. It's fun to see actual antiques and not just 30 year old junk. I just got back from Switzerland and I was able to see several pieces that were 200+ years old and were fun to investigate.

[Jim Paulson]

Check out the antique shops. It's fun to see actual antiques and not just 30 year old junk. I just got back from Switzerland and I was able to see several pieces that were 200+ years old and were fun to investigate.

Hi Bob,
I sure hope to see a few antique shops in between museums and such. Maybe I'll see a Swiss infill plane:) My wife is Swiss so I'll behave.

Take care,
Jim

[Jim Matthews]

I would drop Wayne Barton (http://www.artisansofthevalley.com/ed_tp_swiss2005_article.shtml) a line, he may know carvers that would welcome visitors...
<http://www.chipcarving.com/>

[Jim Paulson]

Hi Jim,

Great idea. I'll certainly try to do that just in case I can make it to one of his travel stops.

Thanks for the links. I haven't been in contact with Wayne in some time.

Take care,
Jim

[george wilson]

I'd love to see Pfiel. They are my favorite carving tools.

I don't see how they make carving tools as cheap as they do(cheap is a relative term). In the 1980's,I was visited by an American harpsichord maker living in Switzerland. He told me that even a ditch digger there made $50.00 an hour. So,how can they make carving tools that retail for $40.00 each(or so?). I don't know how much the dealer markup is,either.

[Mike Henderson]

I don't know any woodworking places, but I used to go to Geneva to attend standards meetings. Geneva is a very nice city, button down - the Swiss are very organized and proper. Good bus system - honor system - you buy your ticket before getting on the bus and no one checks your ticket except (they tell me) you can be challenged while on the bus and have to produce your ticket.

Make SURE you walk down Rue de Bern at night. Unless it's changed, it'll be a sight to see.

Mike

[Jim Paulson]

I agree George those Pfeil carving tools are my favorite as well and a good buy.
I hope I can get a tour.

Thanks for your comments Mike, Barb and I are still new at traveling abroad.

[george wilson]

Those carving tools could possibly cost MORE over there than they do here due to the difference in the cost of living.

My American/Swiss visitor in the 80's also told me that you could get a SMALL pizza and a PONY size beer for twice as much as you'd pay for a full size pizza and beer here. I'd be interested to see if their tools cost more at the factory. Let us know.

[David Weaver]

They probably have a VAT over there, even if the cost isn't much different here without the VAT, I'd imagine they mark them up pretty good over there and put a VAT on them.

I'm assuming the markup that woodcraft has is pretty large, because they generally have the highest prices on items that more than one vendor carries, and they have exclusive distribution on pfeil in the US to make it so that they never really have to sale them anyway.

There's a canadian seller who can afford to pay ebay fees and still be a fair bit cheaper.

That said, I guess the cushion probably does help keep the carving tools from going into a downward spiral of quality just to meet low prices. It's not easy to get your hands on good carving tools, maybe it never really was, and what little I do, I also like the pfeils a lot.

[Sam Takeuchi]

I don't know how much tools cost there, but everything else, I guarantee they charge arm and legs for everything. I lived in Neuchatel (and Zurich for a bit) for 5 years (right between Geneva and Zurich along the main CFF/SBB line by the lake Neuchatel) and as much as I loved Switzerland and miss the place, I don't miss their prices. More expensive than Japan. At least it's not as expensive as Norway. Money disappears as you breathe in Norway...

P.S. Don't try to ride tram, s-bahn, bus and train without ticket. If they bust you, they are very unforgiving. Actually I've never been checked on tram or bus, but it's not worth it :D If you see other people seemingly going without buying tickets, it's because a lot of them have Abo (pre-paid pass). I'm sure your wife being Swiss, she'll keep you in check :)

[Bruce Page]

Not woodworking, and probably not for everyone, but I wouldn’t miss the Large Hadron Collider. :)

Have a great trip!

[Jim Paulson]

Heh Bruce,Thanks a bunch for mentioning the accelerator. It has been awhile since I thought about physics. I used to work as a DOE environmental scientist stationed at Argonne National Laboratory. I imagine it would take some effort to visit that facility, but I'll certainly check it out.Sam, I can tell you that my wife likes to be on time so I guess that goes with a people that make time pieces.Take care,Jim

[John Coloccia]

I was in Geneva last year visiting some close friends. I didn't have a chance to drop in on Pfeil. However, you're very foolish if you don't:

1) go to Gruyere for fondue
2) go to Cafe de Paris for steak
3) go to Antiquites Scientifiques (19 rue du Perron)...you'll spend an hour in here looking at all the strange scientific and medical devices, along with other artifacts. I actually went in looking for a set of proportional dividers

[Jim Paulson]

John,

I appreciate the input. Now I'm starting to see how fast the time there might go. I confess the Antiquites Scientifiques sounds interesting too.

Jim