Opinions on IWF shows

[Scott Velie]

Any creekers been to an IWF? I got this years invite to Atlanta and I am thinking about going.
Is it worth it for a first timer? It is an 8 or 10 hour drive for me.

[Eduard Nemirovsky]

I just visited WW show at Chantilly, VA. Very good show with a lot of useful stuff. But make a list what you want to buy or you will spend all money:D:D:D

[Jeff Duncan]

It really depends on what your expectations are. For someone working professionally it can be a good way to check out future purchases and see them up close. Maybe even pick up a floor model and save a few bucks. Not really anything close to the Vegas one (I've got to hit that one some year) but a good size and closer to home for some of us.
For guys with hobby shops I'm not sure they'd get as much out of it. There's not a whole lot of smaller machinery as I recall, and many vendors are looking to find new accounts so depends on what your looking for.
JeffD

[Scott Velie]

The Vegas one? Is there more than 1 IWF? I thought there is only 1 every year or even every other.

http://www.iwfatlanta.com/Home/tabid/135/Default.aspx

[Ron Williams]

The Vegas one? Is there more than 1 IWF? I thought there is only 1 every year or even every other.

The Vegas Show is AWFS, Pros and serious hobbyist. You can save a lot of money.

[Alex Yeilding]

Any creekers been to an IWF? I got this years invite to Atlanta and I am thinking about going.
Is it worth it for a first timer? It is an 8 or 10 hour drive for me.
I went several years ago, and found it very worthwhile--I won a wagner moisture meter in a drawing. Other than that, it was more entertaining than useful. It was fun to see the industrial ww equipment, but while I am sure I would find it invaluable in my hobbyist woodworking, I just don't have room for that 20-blade gang rip saw in my shop!

There were some demos of handwork, but that definitely is not the focus, and I don't remember any hobbyist-grade (even high end) power tools. I will probably go again this year, but it is a 25 minute drive for me; I definitely wouldn't drive hours for it.

[Todd Solomon]

Scott, if you're buying high-end stuff, it's a great show.

I spent an hour at the Grizzly booth, looking at everything from sliding table saws to their wide belt sanders.

Speaking of wide belt sanders, I was able to see first-hand answers to questions I've had for years. There's nothing like a demonstration to fill in the blanks, and you just can't get this level of detail from the internet forums. Per my request, the Grizzly salesman sanded a board down to around .009" thick. I have a desire to sand resawed veneers to about .06 to .08" thick. I could not have been more impressed with the demonstration, and see a Grizzly wide-belt in my future (probably the 18" closed end unit, which Shiraz recommended to me over the 15" open end unit). The quality of the sanded surface, the near-perfect uniformity in thickness, and complete lack of snipe, really impressed me.

It's a great place to see the european manufacturers, such as Felder, Mini Max and Laguna. I bought a Felder Jointer/Planer at the show at a deep discount, which sadly was totalled in a roll-over accident on the trip back to San Jose. But that's another story. I have the replacement Felder now, so that nightmare is behind me.

Most of the show was giant CNC machines for high production environments. That was also very entertaining to see.

Todd

[Jim Becker]

IWF is wonderful...but it's first and foremost an industrial show. You will see some machines on the show floor that may be as big as a small house. But it's also a great show to get to touch and feel Euro machines as Todd mentions. It's also one of the only shows you'll see Grizzly attend and they will have the big stuff there given the audience. You will need more than one day to see everything...the ENTIRE Georgia World Congress Center is taken up for exhibits and that's a lot of real estate. Literally. Comfortable shoes are not optional... ;)

The Atlanta and Vegas shows alternate years and are "very similar", if you will...

[John Thompson]

IWF is every two years on even years. AWFS in Vegas is every two years on odd years. IWF is the second largest in the world and twice as big as any show in America. There is a big difference in International Woodworking Fair and the Atlanta WW Show held every spring geared for hobbyist.

I go every two years as about every machine in the world for both WW hobbyist.. professional WW and WW manufucturers is present. It takes me three days to go through all the booths at the World Congress Center (enormous) and you still will miss something.

So IMO, whether you are there to purchase.. browse or just have a curiousity about machines... you can walk the walk and talk the talk for several days with manufacturers and wood-workers from all over the world. An experience in itself.

Of course nothing to rival Wally World.. but an educational experience and eye-opener to say the least. :)

Regards...

Sarge..

[Jim Becker]

ANYTHING rivals Wally World, Sarge...but IWF is a real weekend full of woodworking eye candy for anyone who likes tools and interesting materials, etc.

[John Thompson]

ANYTHING rivals Wally World, Sarge...but IWF is a real weekend full of woodworking eye candy for anyone who likes tools and interesting materials, etc.

I don't know Jim, Wally World can be pretty exciting if you are at an absolute loss with nothing else to occupy your time. :D

Then again... getting to see a machine as long as a yatch take a 45' long log in one end.. and computerized cutters doing there thing on the way through.. and then 5 minutes latter a sculptured "architectural column" emerges out the other end is kind of exciting to me.

Yep.. think I will take your suggestion and skip Wally World! ;)

Regards...

Sarge..

[John Renzetti]

The IWF is 20-23 August this year. Wednesday through Saturday. I feel that they have something for everyone. Seeing it in one day is not advisable. This will be my 7th IWF, already made registered and made hotel reservations. For me it's also a social event. A bunch of us who converse online will get together one evening during the show. One year we had about 200 of us from the Felder Owners Group.
take care,
John

[Jeff Duncan]

Hmmm, I went to the show in Hartford a couple years back and don't remember seeing any Grizzly stuff at all. Maybe they just go to certain areas near their headquarters. Or maybe that senility is setting in:D
I believe the East coast IWF rotates between Atlanta and Hartford, but I can't seem to find my invite right now. I'll take a look later and see if I can dig it up.

[Jim Becker]

Jeff, Grizzly doesn't do the consumer shows and pretty much only does IWF (Atlanta) and AWFS (Vegas) which are the largest industrial shows. I have not seen them at the TSI regional industrial shows, either.

[Jason White]

I've been. It's fun, but primarily geared towards large-scale industrial manufacturing.

Jason


Any creekers been to an IWF? I got this years invite to Atlanta and I am thinking about going.
Is it worth it for a first timer? It is an 8 or 10 hour drive for me.