The woodworking shows are back it seems. Just not as many events/locations pre-covid but it's a start
The one in NJ is like 20ish minutes from me (yay).
https://www.thewoodworkingshows.com/events/
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The woodworking shows are back it seems. Just not as many events/locations pre-covid but it's a start
The one in NJ is like 20ish minutes from me (yay).
https://www.thewoodworkingshows.com/events/
They're back, but they won't come west of Milwaukee.
And they haven't been to the Detroit area for years, even before Covid, and still not on their schedule. My brother and I always went and I'm surprised because they always seemed to have a good turnout here.
Looks like STL is no more. Used to go most every year. Not sure if Indy will get a visit.
Thinking back, the last one was at the start of covid crackdown. I went that Friday or Saturday and by Monday we were no longer out on public anymore.
Side comment, I wish the Veritas/Lee Valley folks had stuff to sell and take home instead if buy and ship to you. Woodpeckers was also that way on some things, not all. I would like to spend my money and have it in hand. Plus my wife might check the mail! Never know, might have forgotten to mention a purchase, by mistake of course.
Yes, absolutely. It's fun! me and the wifre drove 3.5 hr from Abilene to Austin, TX for one and it was worth it!
Back in 05-06 timeframe, it was really a great show. After that, it started to go downhill, getting smaller and smaller each year. They eventually stopped coming west. There was renewed interest and hope when Bad Dog tools acquired them, but it was never like it was before. I can't remember the last time the show came to CA. It's not like there's 40 million people out here and a large artistic community, nothing like that.
At least they're back at it, maybe in a few years they'll unfold the map.
They became a waste of time in my opinion, unless you were a complete green horn. I wouldn't go to one now even if it was across the street.
I kind of agree.
I know what you mean about the complete greenhorn comment. There are certainly a lot of people there that are amazed at the simplest of things.
IMO, The positives are that you can "play" with many new tools, by play I mean hold them etc. Many times factory reps are there that can answer questions.
You can sometimes get good (show) prices, and you don't have to pay shipping on things you buy.
If you look at the list of vendors and know what you're after, you can have a good time, just don't go in blind.
Shows are worth the time if you are talking Trade show, not Hobby show. Suppliers spend massive to set up at those shows, some in the 100's of thousands.
Often good techs. Changed finish suppliers years ago after talking to the smartest finisher id ever spoken to. Long time employees even get a card from someone who gets your questions and you see knows their stuff and more. Paid for WMS Toronto for this year and it vaporized. Wonder if the money went to Bitcoin. Hope it returns next year. Last Int Design show talked to a very bright guy hardware company. Not simple questions for him, me telling him about failures of his stuff, got honest answers. Learned about product redesigns and more.
Agreed - this is purely a hobby show. I been to tons of them. The 'sales' side isn't so interesting since i've seen most of it already, or have it. At least I can watch a sawstop set off a break instead of dropping a hot dog on my own saw. However, sometimes you might see a new product, maybe not. The internet has 'killed' any real deals you get on good tools as most things are price set these days anyway. I have gotten good deals on some nice wood.
Is it worth going - sure, it's not a bad way to spend some time walking around, maybe meeting some folks from the local wood working clubs or sitting in on some of the seminars. Last show before covid, I sat through two power wood carving seminars. It was really interesting to watch, ask some questions etc. Could I watch it on youtube, sure but in-person was more interesting. Is it worth going on a 3 or 4 hour drive each way, nope!
There was a time when I enjoyed cruising shows...I even leveraged them to get better pricing on some of my big tools and take them home at the close of the show by becoming the owner of the "floor demo". I think that ship sailed a long time ago...pre-pandemic by a mile. The world has changed, too, and with availability of almost anything at the click of a "rodent", there's little value to me for the "stuff". I did enjoy some of the seminars, however, but it's not compelling enough for me to both travel for awhile and also pay admission.
I would like to do the IWF/AWF type show again sometime as there's a lot more to see and learn, even from things I'd never buy nor use. But the small shows? Not really of interest anymore other than maybe to tag along with a friend or three for the conversation/camaraderie.
I used to go, mostly to pick up small items like push sticks, router bits or sandpaper, that I would otherwise order on line. But mostly it was one or two retailers that occupied most of the space, and very little if any large tools. If any of the lectures interest you, then go just for that.
The shows were of value until the internet came along (google,YouTube, online catalogs). I think the big draw was seeing stuff you didn’t know was out there. Once the internet made that easy the show lost a lot of draw to both exhibitors and buyers. Same thing happened to Computer Shopper. How many magazines have reader service cards? Print magazines are in decline as well. Times change, methods change.
Chuck
This a a very good point specifically around the bigger equipment and getting 'floor model' items. When I first got into wood-working, you could go to the show and get your hands on the bigger equipment. I even remember bring home my floor model drill press. I bought it at the show and the dealer had a few trucks outside loaded with new in-the create equipment. The cost now is too great to bring the big stuff. Maybe a small bandsaw or two and some bench-top items.
There's a show in Columbus this year. Don't know the date. Our woodworking club will have a spot there.
I'm not going though. It hasn't been much more than Peachtree setting up 50 tables of trinkets and the sponsor-only small power tools. Maybe a few other off brand vendors. Gone are the days when the show was open to all brands and vendors would bring in their top level tools that you could actually put hands on.
I'll probably check in at Woodwerks which is reprising their January Expo (Jan 20-22) after the pandemic. They used to get a bunch of company reps to come in to demo their tools. Would be nice if they get back to that.
Used to go,almost always as a group. Live in central NC, so closest shows were Charlotte, Atlanta, Chantilly or Fredricksburg. Been to Charlotte several times, Chantilly twice and Atlanta and Fredricksburg once each. Did a fly in for Atlanta show. It was right across street from rental car place, so could catch their bus both ways, however daughter was crew based in ATL, so wife spent the day with her, and I went to show. Last show we (wife and I) attended was Chantilly. Opening day happened to be daughter's birthday, who now lives about an hour and a half west of Chantilly. Wife didn't know it, but I had made arrangements for daughter and her husband to be at show. When wife saw daughter, it was the best thing ever at any show. Over the years, most of my purchases have been "trinkets," Items that cost more to ship than to buy. Biggest purchase ever was my Dubby, a couple Forrset WWII blades. Still have the Dubby, and got rid of WWII's. I found Delta 76-3657's cut just as good, and cost one fifth as much. Still regret not buying Dubby a lot earlier than I did. Go to the free seminars!!
Great show in Saratoga Springs NY coming up in March.
https://woodworker.org/about-showcase/
Northeastern Woodworkers Association’s
Annual Fine Woodworking Show
SHOWCASE
Featuring the Fine Craftsmanship of Regional Amateur and Professional Woodworkers
March 25 & 26, 2023
10:00 am – 5:00 pm
Saratoga Springs City Center
Saratoga Springs, NY
Advance tickets on sale starting
January 1, 2023
________________
Lodging for Showcase
The Saratoga Hilton has special room rates for NWA Showcase & Totally Turning. Rooms go fast so make your reservation early.
I used to sell at trade shows.
After the internet became the way most people learn about stuff, the shows tended to be attended by people with other interests. Festivals with entertainment and food are still popular. The people that showed up, and weren't able to look stuff up on the internet, were a tough market. Some companies even set up computers in their booths to show people online marketing materials. This is going back 18 years, so I don't know what's going on now.
Looks like the Tampa show is history too. Used to pick up some crap I could also get online, but oh well. Definitely had gone downhill tremendously over the past few years, and the lectures were definitely aimed at beginners.
I'm planning on going to the event in Columbus, Oh this year.
Patrick
I spent a few hours at the wood working show in Edison, NJ yesterday. It is smaller than it has been in the past with less vendors but overall a good turnout of vendors given a fresh return for the show after the covid break.
From my memory, Woodpeckers booth had a lot more of their products on hand to get your hands on, and had some good show prices, and seemed to offer free shipping on any items that they couldn't sell on the spot. Of course Sawstop was trying to cut hot dogs in half, and for the first time I saw/remember Felder/Hammer and also General show up. While I love my Laguna bandsaw, the Hammer N4400 would be my go-to now if I was in the market for a new bandsaw.
There were a few wood vendors there and prices were actually 'show prices' on a lot of the slabs and boards, and of course there where the bulk 'junk tool' vendors. Ridge Carbide was present as well and I left with a much needed quality dado stack and a fresh blade for my miter saw. Prices were discounted, a bit cheaper than the prices I've seen at online retails. There were also other vendors I didn't really visit, such as arbortech, since I am not into power carving, at least right now.
The seminars were similar to years past and this time I stayed for Prepping &Finishing ASurface by Bill Bush. I've looked at his products in the past (Bush Oil and various sanding products). He sands by hand and in the seminar I learned something new but at the same time it was a sales pitch for the products. What is very interesting was working to remove the remaining sawdust from the cell structure of the wood which in the end before finish, had a fantastic sheen. I might go back tomorrow if I have time to sit through another seminar or two.
Lastly, of course if you are in need of gutter guards for your shop building, you could go visit gutter guard. But i'll tell you, the young lady working the booth looked pretty bored.
I also was at the Edison show yesterday, part of the New Jersey Woodturners booth, spinning tops to sell for charity.
I did visit Arbortech, as I had been thinking of getting a mini carver for quite some time. Their show price of 30% off list pushed me over the edge.
Maybe it’s just me, but I have difficulty getting engaged in the demos. An overhead camera and screen, better audio, and a more enclosed space would help.
Both of my kids have tops from NJ Woodturners from a number of years ago. Passing the both, my son, no 16 said, hey, I still have my top from them and give it a spin once in a while. I didn't watch the sawstop demo as i've seen it, and hope I never set mine off. I was lucky, I was in the front row for the seminar, and agree that if you are not close up, you can't stay engaged as you can't see well. The audio kept breaking up and there was a bit of drown noise from the seminar next door. The setup isn't 'great' for these types of seminars. However I do know Raritan Center does have a really good presentation room. I've presented in it (not for woodworking) and it's AV is very good. I guess they can't put all of the seminars in there, and some of them would make a total mess of the room.
I just drove 3 hours to the Columbus show and it was a waste of time. The shows that used to be in Detroit were huge, at least 10 times larger (or so they seemed). The one in Columbus was at the Ohio Exhibition Center which is where the State Fair is held and is huge. The building listed on the web site was not the correct building. There were no clear markings or directions and it has hard to determine which building the show was in. I don't understand why there were so few venders. Has competition from the internet cut into the amount of business conducted at the shows? I hope/wish the one in Detroit comes back in its old glory.
Frank, you're familiar with this show? Does it draw a crowd? Do you know if this is it's first year back after COVID?
I have two woodworking products I'm looking to sell (a small power feeder, and a high end cross-cut sled for table saws) and this looks like it might be a good low-key venue for getting them in front of woodworkers eyes live for the first time. I also have my own woodcrafts, my full time livelihood for many years, I could show for sale too. Thanks!
I always like Peach Tree booth for miscellaneous items
Hi Warren, WMS in Toronto is odd years only, you’re going to have to go to Quebec in even years.
SIBO is in Drummondville Oct 24-26 2024
Regards, Rod
I did also, but they don't show up now. Prior to Covid, 2019, they missed the show-ring. I remember seeing a message that they were not going to make the show because one of the key people had a health condition, or something to this matter. It's a shame because they always looked like one of the most busy vendors at the show.
Seems to have found its way back to KC..
The show was back last year after covid, and it was definitely smaller. The one I went to in January right before Covid was pretty decent comparatively, even without Peachtree making the show. However Lee Valley was there and had a fantastic setup and 'try before you buy' workbench. There was also a few vendors there selling power hand tools (Makita, Dewalt, etc) But 2023 show, at least in NJ, Lee Valley was still a no show, as was of course Peachtree and a few others. The machinery companies don't even show anymore except sawstop. I remember buying my jet floor drill press, and it was available for pick-up that day in the parking lot where it was loaded from a trailer right into my vehicle, in it's original create, not the floor sample.
I really suspect the internet sales did have some affect on vendor attendance, but I suspect it is also the cost to pay for the booth, travel costs and labor to man the booth. I don't think it is cost effective for the larger companies like Rockler or Woodcraft to show in 'mass' with a lot of stock to see, because they'd send a local store and anyone local enough to the show can just go to the store all year long.
I do think the show is making an attempt to rebound as this year they brought in Tommy MacDonald (from Rough Cut) as a voice for the show and as an instructor. It might not help bring in the vendors to show this year, but if they boost the attendance based on the education/classes, the show can make a business case to vendors for next year. It is all a pure cost-benefit analysis for the companies. For example, last year, Woodpeckers booth was mobbed and looked like they were selling a ton. Especially considering buying at the show cut the cost of their crazy high shipping prices. For Woodpecker, it's a benefit for them to have less competition at the show.
It also helps if you spend some funds at the show to bring back the vendors. If they don't see any profit in attending, they won't show up. Last year I gave Ridge Carbide my support and bought 3 blades, as well as grabbing some lumber from one of the wood suppliers.
Regardless, my son gets extra credit in his wood-working class at school for showing up to the woodworking show so I need to go either way :)