Stuart’s gone to the Woodworking Show for many years, including this year, but I also attended it this year and thought it would be interesting to share my perspective on the show.
There are a few more shows scheduled for this year; here’s the Woodworking Show schedule.
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Because of scheduling, the only time I was able to attend the show was when it first opened at noon on Friday, and then only for a few hours. I was immediately struck by how the vast majority of people attending the show were grey haired men. I only saw a handful of women attendees and two kids total.
Now I know that the time I picked might have biased the crowd towards the retired population, how kids would probably still be in school, and younger adults would be working, but it reminded me how I really don’t see as many women or young people in woodworking as there should be.
Stuart’s Note: From what I’ve seen, the attendee audience is much more diverse during weekend days, and there are also larger crowds. Kids sometimes participate in the hands-on demos and learning exercises, but it’s mostly the adult men asking questions and buying things.
I veered counterclockwise, past Powermatic and ran into MicroFence. They had quite a few of their products at the show, including the plunge base for laminate trimming routers shown above. I’ve been somewhat skeptical about the high prices of their products ($400 for the above base), but after seeing them in person I can at least say they are very well made and probably worth the money if you are looking for that kind of precision.
Later, I checked out the different local woodworking organization booths. I’m lucky enough to have several in my area, and after talking to the Minnesota Woodworkers Guild, I think I might check out a meeting.
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I told the guy at the booth that I’m just a hack and it can be intimidating going up to a group of people that are very accomplished woodworkers. He told me he could probably be described as a “hack” too, and he said everybody in the group is very supportive no matter the skill level.
Following around the circle I ran into Stockroom supply. I have been especially interested in their products since I posted about the Moulding Sander last year. I passed on the Moulding Sander, but I did pick up a discounted sanding mop to try out without having to pay the high cost of shipping from Canada.
The people at the booth were really helpful. I talked about what I was looking to do with the mop and they helped me select which kit would be best.
I checked out the really solid CNC at the Digital Wood Carver booth. There I talked to Laney Shaughnessy, a woodworker I have been following on Google+ and Twitter for a long time. He was showing off the CNC’s capabilities to the crowd.
I asked him a little about the machine and he said the model at the show was about $5000 with all the options shown. It included a rotational 4th axis (the thing that looks like a lathe). Unfortunately they weren’t showing a demo of the rotational axis when I was there.
Next I ran into the Bosch booth. I was a little surprised that, at least at the St. Paul show, there was no Dewalt or Milwaukee presence. Stuart had talked of them being at past shows. I really didn’t see anything of note, their booth was pretty much a stack of tool cases they were selling.
Peachtree Woodworking Supply had a huge presence. They took up almost an entire aisle and there were only four aisles at the show. Stuart had remarked in a previous Woodworking Show post that they didn’t have any show discounts, but at this show I found that several products had special show prices.
Stuart’s Note: Maybe I didn’t look hard enough?
For instance, a 48″ section of mini T-track normally costs $20 on their website, and was marked down to $15 at the Show. I saw that many of the other extrusions were similarly discounted.
I also picked up a 4″x 8 ft section of black dust collection hose for $11, compared to a 4″ x 10 ft section that’s priced at $20 on their website. Again, not everything had a show discount, but there was quite a bit of merchandise that did.
I saved visiting the Lee Valley and Woodpecker booths for last. Lee Valley had a demo setup so you could try out many of their Veritas planes, and they also had a good selection of tools on display that you could just walk up and handle.
Out of all the tools I picked up, I think the Narex Chisels surprised me the most. Stuart had posted about Narex chisels before, but this was my first exposure to them. The Narex chisels were much lighter than they looked, and were very well balanced. This is something you’d never be able to tell by just looking at them online.
The Woodpeckers booth was one of the busiest ones at this show. I actually went back several times, just wanting to say hi to the guys there and ask them a few questions. When I finally did have their ear I told them how I rally liked the Delve Square, but it would really be useful to have a 6″ one.
It’s really nice to get a chance to put hands on some of the tools we’ve written about that aren’t locally available. I wish I would have had enough time to stay and watch some of the presentations, but there’s always next year.
Robert
What no West Coast? And we have ALL the wood.
Stuart
The biggest sponsors or exhibitors might not be willing or able to make it that far?
Art
They had them out West in CA for many years in a row … not sure if they skipped the East back then and are just swapping out a bit. I’ve been to a few out in the San Francisco bay area and are held by the same people.
Diplomatic Immunity
” I was immediately struck by how the vast majority of people attending the show were grey haired men.”
Wearing plaid I presume. I’m thinking the lack of kids in woodworking could be that shop isn’t even taught in some schools anymore probably for insurance reasons. Parents with children don’t have money for woodworking as it can be an expensive hobby and even wood is expensive.
As someone that is slowly getting into woodworking I’m always amazed at how much of a money syphon it can be.
Chance
The show was a total bust.
It wasn’t so much grey haired men walking around as much as they were shuffling around, trying to get to the next gimmicky, cheesy, made in China bargain “tool”. I really did not get the feel that the attendees were sincere woodworkers, more like garage hobbyists looking for something to do on the nice weekend. I was talking to the Bosch rep for half an hour and in that time 1 person stopped at the booth and asked if a plung base would fit his trim router, and that’s it. At first I thought I was hogging the rep, until I realized it didn’t matter, no one else wanted to talk to him. It was the same with Powermatic, Lee Valley (at least while I was there), Woodpeckers was a bit busier, but you could barely get a glimpse of the bargain bins sprinkled throughout the floor full of, well, crap, because of the hordes flocking to them.
I was also disappointed that there really was no “show specials”. A couple bucks here or there, but nothing that made my wallet start on fire. I went there with the intention of buying several things but only walked away with one item from Woodpeckers (and it was like pulling teeth to get 5 bucks off) because of the reps attitudes and lack of deals.
I was disappointed overall and see no reason why I would return.
fred
When I was starting my home shop and hobbyist woodworking I went to a show like this that was more of a local/regional nature. it was long before the Internet and I was a bit impressed – so I attend another – perhaps 2 years later and was much less impressed as there was a certain sameness about it. Many years later, I happened to be in Baltimore – and heard that one of these shows was nearby – so I attended that one – well that was enough for me to swear off them. Like you I did not find any bargains (was looking for some Lie Nielsen planes at the time) and the lectures were of minimal interest. I was also a bit amused by some of the folks running around. I’m not sure that woodworkers at these shows are just older versions of folks who attend Star Trek conventions – but even though what little hair I have left is grey and white – I’ve decided that the shows are not for me. Maybe if you are new to the hobby – you might get something out of attending
JayT
“Next I ran into the Bosch booth. I was a little surprised that, at least at the St. Paul show, there was no Dewalt or Milwaukee presence. ”
That’s because the power tool companies are not sponsoring the booth. They rely on a local dealer to purchase the inventory and buy the booth space. The manufacturer is usually more than willing to provide some sales reps to help man the booth over the weekend, but not the inventory.
Evidently at St Paul, a local Bosch dealer was willing to do that, but not any of the local DeWalt or Milwaukee dealers. It will probably be different at the next show location.
Daniel Lawson
The woodworking show in NJ seemed well attended as I went on Friday and on Sunday. (I get in free as a FF but I would still pay to go) I picked up a lot of little things from Peachtree that were slightly discounted but I would not have to pay for shipping. No Milwaukee but Bosch, and Dewalt were there as well as Fein and Jet and I think Powermatic. I looked at some of the cheap stuff but I have been shying away from those things and looking at better brands as I advance in my woodworking skills. I look forward to the shows every year because sometimes buying stuff online you don’t get a chance to feel it or try it out which can make or break the deal. There were a lot of seasoned people there on Friday but I saw younger and more kids on Sunday.