Going to Woodstock...

[Art Mulder]

(This is mostly for folks from Ontario, but if you like to drive, Michigan and Ohio isn't too far. Maybe New York. No further unless you really like to drive...)

Coming up in two weeks (Sep 29,30 Oct1) is the Woodstock woodshow (http://www.woodstockwoodshow.ca/)

This is a big sprawling show. It is set on a community fair/racetrack grounds. So there are booths in the arena, booths in a couple other buildings, booths in the racetrack building, and lots of outdoor stuff also. One fellow on another forum described it as a cross between a woodshow and a country fair.

I'm planning on being there most of the Friday afternoon. If anyone is interested in meeting up, just post here and we can try to work out logistics.

For fellow creekers from south of the border, my guess is that it is about a 2.5-3hr drive from the Detroit border. Buffalo is about 2.5hrs in the other direction. But doublecheck with maps.google.com and you'll find out.

The web page is unfortunately very minimalist. You'll find about 3-4 large local tool stores. Lee Valley has a big booth, Lie-Nielsen has a small booth, but their Canadian rep is about the most amazing dovetail cutter you'll ever see. Rob Cosman can bang out a set of dovetails in minutes, swipe on the glue, and tap the joint closed without even doing a test fit.
There's usually at least two lumber milling places (like Woodmizer, or that down-under place with the portable mill) out cutting up boards in the parking lot. Two or three places selling lumber. They have a local ww'ing competition being judged, and even the traditionaly one-man-band guy out performing by some of the food stalls. And bunches of other stuff.

Oh, and you can also find Creeker David Eisan working the Federated Tool booth, no doubt looking harried and tired.

(I've never been to IWF or any of the big US-based shows, so I don't know how to compare to them.)

[Dave Anderson NH]

Hi Art,

I had the chance to go to the Woodstock show 4 years ago when I was in the Toronto area for a few days. Had a great time and came home with some great veneer from one of the vendors there at a gloatable price. If I'm up that way again, I'll take pains to arrange the schedule so that I'm there during the show.

[Peter Mc Mahon]

Hi Art. It's still up in the air if I can make it [wife is 37 weeks pregnant] but if I am going to go on Friday I will let you know. I live in Paris. Peter

[Lee Schierer]

We probably won't make it up this year. Too many irons in the fire and cash reserves are low.

It is a good show and usually has some good demos and some nice bargains. When the exchange rate is good, us south of the border types can get some great deals on power tools. I found out I could fit a 14" Delta Bandsaw in the trunk of my car during one trip to Woodstock. You can also get back the PST and sometimes GST at the borders if you have bonifide receipts with the tax listed separately.

[Art Mulder]

Thought I'd give this a bump, as it is now just a week away...

I'm attending on Friday with my family and we'll get there about noonish. I'll first be wandering around with my wife and kids, and later on my own. Say hello if you recognize me.

...art

[Frank Pellow]

Thought I'd give this a bump, as it is now just a week away...

I'm attending on Friday with my family and we'll get there about noonish. I'll first be wandering around with my wife and kids, and later on my own. Say hello if you recognize me.

...art
Art, I would like to attend because the event sounds more interesting than the ones they cram into big warehouse buildings in Toronto, but I will be back at Pellow's Camp at the time of the event. Maybe next year ...

[Kevin Blunt]

I 'll be there on Friday all day from start to close. I am from just north of Newmarket so I figure about 2.5hrs to get there. My father and I will be stopping for breakfast along the way and then plan on sitting in on a few seminars and the like. I am hoping to get a real good comparison of the LA block planes from Veritas and LN while at the show and then buying the one I like. I am hoping it is better than the warehouse shows in Toronto.

Art, Can you recall if TJV from Mississauga has been there in the past?

Thanks and looking forward to the show,

Kevin

[Art Mulder]

Kevin, no I don't think I've seen TJV there in the past. Weeks, Morley Miller, and Federated Tool are the big names (in large tool vendors) that I recall.

[Peter Mc Mahon]

Hi Kevin. Ask David Eisan, I think that he would probably have a pretty good idea if they have been there in the past. Peter

[Art Mulder]

I spent a chunk of Friday afternoon at the Woodstock woodshow, walking around with my family.

For those who've never been there... the wood show in Woodstock is set up on the fair grounds of the town, and is spread through four buildings, as well as having outdoor stuff.

In this picture, I'm standing in the bleachers of the racetrack. Most people park on the racetrack itself. The juried exhibition, and vendors are in the building under my feet. The building just visible to the right contains more vendors, including Lee Valley, Stockroom Supply, Lie Nielson, and many others. Two of the tents in the distance are for seminars, and one is for Weeks hardware. The building marked with the Arrow is the Arena, which also is loaded with vendors. The Arrow is pretty much directly over where I found creeker David Eisen, working the Federated Tool booth.
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The main absences that I noticed were Sears and Busy Bee, who did not attend. Ridgid also had a very small booth. However, there were also usually two or more sawmill vendors out in the parking lot, and this year there was just one. Also, I remember a large hardwood vendor used to be set up outside near the race track, and they weren't there this year. But there still were a few wood vendors inside the buildings, who seemed to be doing brisk sales.

As near as I can tell, most of the "regular" show vendors were in attendance. Rob Cosman was there with his Lie Nielsen booth. Lee Valley had a good sized booth. R+D Bandsaws were there, Morley Miller machinery was there. Weeks Hardware had their outdoor tent, same as in Previous years.

Federated Tool was in the Arena again, taking up an entire wall. They had one of the best deals of the show that I saw. They had grabbed a special deal on a surplus shipment of 80 tooth Delta cross cut blades, and had marked them down from $80 to $20 - tax included. Judging by the stack of empty display boxes I saw, I wasn't the only one who thought that was too good a deal to pass up.

I said hello to Paul Fulcher, who was manning his booth and signing up subscriptions to CWW.

Outdoors was woodmizer (I think) and an old circular sawmill, set up for demonstrations)
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The Stockroom Supply guys were there again, demonstrating their v-drum sander. Show special there was $180 for an 18" "the works" kit, which is $45 off their website price. I spent some time there checking out the demo, and asking questions, and liking the answers. Did I buy one? Well, no, not yet. I blew my budget on a DeWalt Planer (thanks, David!) but maybe someday.

The Woodline booth was interesting - have they been there before? The guy there talks a good talk, and runs a good demo. They sell specialized plastic(?) router templates and guides to make funky dovetail-like joints. Only their joints can be heart shaped, and several other shapes that I didn't try to memorize. If you make lots of small fancy boxes, this is possibly something you'd want to check out. They do seem to give you quite a lot in their kits at the show. The finger joint kit seemed pretty quick and slick, and can easily be used to make lock rabbets also. Tempting...

Shocking by his absence was the one-man-band guy. Oh well, it was a bit of a chilly fall day anyways, so no one would have wanted to sit outside to listen to him.

And yes, the green shammy guys were there. As usual. :-)

Oh yeah, There was a small two-booth display of the new SteelCity Toolworks power tools. They seemed to be getting some attention. I didn't really look that closely at them. They do carry a clone of the Delta DJ-20 jointer, and also one in the 6" size, but then again, so does King Canada. We'll see how this new company does. (Elsewhere I've read that they plan to introduce real riving knives on their saws. When that happens, I'll take a closer look.)

I think that about covers the highlights for me.

oh yeah, if you come with your kids, stop by the "Crimestoppers" booth which is outside one of the buildings. They've got a very skilled lady doing free facepainting.
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...art

[Karl Laustrup]

Thanks for the review Art. Almost felt like I was there.

Actually, I wish I lived closer so I could attend. From your descriptions it sounds like a very interesting woodshow. Wish we had something similar around here.

Karl

[Art Mulder]

And another thing...

Festool were *NOT* there. :confused:

I really wonder whether the Canadian distributor even wants to sell these things. They don't come to the shows, their website lists no prices, and they sure don't sell in local stores (Here in London).:mad:

oh well.