Q 1) I took one of my many 16 Ga extension cords and decided to make it into a 220V unit, and ran into a situation.
The Leviton female portion has the 3 terminals marked the "proper" way: Brass, Silver and Green. However, the male part (PV 615) has only green, and 2 brass connection points. Does this mean that both poles are "live", and everything will work OK?

Q2) I have 2 robust tools from my 10 years in a 220V country - a electric plane, and a belt sander.
I had used the tools using a transformer, but What the heck, I have 220V in the workshop, so .....
The sander has a blue and brown wire. Only. No ground (earth). Can I wire any wire to either of the 2 spade plugs?