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View Full Version : Would AWFS show be of interest to hobbiest?



Roger Jensen
05-04-2009, 1:56 PM
Would the AWFS show in Las Vegas be of use/interest to a hobbiest? It would be nice to see a lot of equipment in one place, but if they are all $100K machines it would be of limited value to someone like me.

Just checking to see if anyone else has attended a commercial show like this. The Woodworking shows have been a disappointment for me, so I'm looking for something a bit larger.

Thanks,

Roger

David DeCristoforo
05-04-2009, 2:05 PM
It depends. These shows vary from year to year in terms of who exhibits at them. The best thing is to peruse the exhibitor list
http://www.awfsfair.org/index.php?option=com_sobi2&Itemid=179
to see if the kinds of stuff you would like to check out are going to be represented. For example, if you look at this year's line up under "F", Fein, Festool, and Felder are listed but Freud is not.

Jason Beam
05-04-2009, 2:55 PM
It was to me in '07 (and several other creekers, too!).

It still is to me this year. I've already got my hotel room booked and will be taking a couple of the classes that are offered.

In '07, Nancy Laird was gracious enough to organize a creeker meetup. We had dinner and she made up name tags for us on her laser and everything. It was very cool to meet everyone. :)

As for the show, check out the floor plan. Delta, Jet, Grizzly, Bosch, Steel City, SawStop, Rikon and dozens of others are already signed up to be there. It's still early and I'm sure many others will be on the list. The thing is enormous. It could easily take 3 full days to take it all in, for sure. The cost of admission is practically nothing for all 4 days and if you get a hotel room with a shuttle service to the convention center, about all you have to worry about is food and board.

There ARE $100k machines there, as well. Lots of CNC finishing, routing and such. They're not really something you'd likely buy, but they're neat to check out anyway. I'd say there was a really decent mix of both large and small there last time. I had a blast!

Joe Jensen
05-04-2009, 5:30 PM
I went to the Atlanta show like 10 years ago. HUGE HUGE HUGE, similar in size to the consumer electronics show which consumes all of the Vegas convention center space.


I am going to Vegas and I think a fellow forum member from Canada is going as well. I will likely fly there Thurs and spend part of Thurs, Fri, and sat at the show.

As far as huge machines go, there are multi million dollar machines. Machines that will take rough panels in and spit out sanded, stained, and UV cured finish out the other side.

I saw a demo of a CNC cutting out a 10 foot tall, arched top raised panel entry door in 8 minutes. 20HP cutter :eek:

Jamie Buxton
05-04-2009, 6:07 PM
I'll bet you'd find it fascinating. You might not find much useful for your own shop, but it'd still be interesting to see what the bigger outfits do. Now, whether you want to fly a thousand miles, and tolerate the weirdness of Vegas, I can't tell you.

Richard Wolf
05-04-2009, 6:46 PM
and tolerate the weirdness of Vegas, I can't tell you.

I thought that was a plus?:):)

Richard

Laurie Brown
05-04-2009, 6:49 PM
Where can I find out if there will be any woodworking shows in my area? (SW VA)

Wade Lippman
05-04-2009, 9:01 PM
I went 2 years ago because I was shopping for a combination machine and a cyclone; the show was the only place to actually see them all.

I enjoyed it, but found it only took about 5 hours to see everything I was interested in. I settled on a cyclone which I got a good show discount on, and decided against the combination machine. The salesmen were honest enough to admit it didn't do anything particularly well.
I don't think I would go again without a compelling reason.

My son and I then went up to Zion for a few days, and THAT was great. Highly recommended for anyone in attendance.

David DeCristoforo
05-04-2009, 9:15 PM
FWIW, the "rule of thumb" with these shows is the same as with a casino. Don't bring any more money than you are prepared to part with!

John Thompson
05-04-2009, 11:33 PM
Personally Roger.. if you have never been to the Atlanta International WW Fair (IWF) or the AWFS Show.. go if you have the chance. This is not a local show but a show for distributors.. businesses and vendors.. You will see almost every machine manufacturer from around the world showing there wares there. And I'm sure you don't need a machine the size of your house that a log goes in and come out the other end an architechural column but... it's nice to see these kind of things.

And ... all the manufactures of hobbiest machines will be there including Grizzly who only attend the IWF and AWFS shows. And if they have something new to come out with.. they tend to un-viel it at the show. I saw the new Delta Uni-saw and new SS pro TS months before those that didn't attend who could only read about it.

So.. I highly reccommend you go just to see as it is like stepping into another universe you have never seen the likes of. I wouldn't worry about checking who will be there as a local show. At IWF and AFWS everyone who manufactures will generally be there as this is where there distributors come to find out about the the new stuff is.

Good luck and have fun.. be prepared to walk. IWF covers three buildings in the Georgia World Congress Center and each is over 200,000 square feet. Unless you go every day of the Show.. you won't likely see it all as there is miles and miles of vendor booths.

BTW.. the show is for business.. vendors.. etc. When you register or buy a ticket... you are now Jensen Cabinet Works. Just tell them that.. give them money and you will get in the show. It's all about money. :>)

Sarge..

Larry Edgerton
05-05-2009, 7:32 AM
FWIW, the "rule of thumb" with these shows is the same as with a casino. Don't bring any more money than you are prepared to part with!

I came home with an SCMI 520 from the last show in Grand Rapids I went to. I need a wide belt so I skipped last years show......;)