How was the Houston WW show today??

[Roy]

What's the verdict on today's show? Good prices, great deals, superb demos????

Regards, Roy

[Leon]

Not too impressive. No new vendors IIRC. The classes were mixed in with the show vs. being separated in the back and sides. I went primarily to look at the MiniMax and Laguna band saws and their prices were higher than calling the 1-800 number. MiniMax had broken equipment and bad mouthed the competition.

[Wuudchuck]

It was a great show. Lots of exhibitors and plenty of neat demos. The laser engraver by Epilog was pretty cool.

But what is it with the guy selling the yellow handled brooms? I mean this guy has been at every single show in Houston and Galveston this year. In fact, I saw him just a couple weekends ago at the Galveston Home and Leisure Show.

Wuudchuck

- Free Woodworking Plans

[Leon]

LOL,, Oh did you miss the Wire stripper guy and the Land sales booth?

[Swingman]

Unimpressive, fewer exhibitors and even fewer of the "supplies" that I usually go for, and lots of "jigs" that a decent woodworker could make himself for a tenth the price. (Apparently we are entering into a new age of wood working: "Jigs for Dummies".)

I made a list before I went and ended up buying nothing but an overpriced cup of coffee.

The company was excellent though.

[Wuudchuck]

I saw the wire stripper guy, but I must have missed the land sales booth. Bummer. I needed some land too. LOL

[Leon]

Yeah.. LOL Thank goodness for the company. At least the company was entertaining.

[Darrell Dorsey]

It was typical. Same old folks, no really good deals, but lots to see. I did learn a little from Kelly Mehlers talk on Jointers. That was helpful. This is the second time I've set in on one of his talks at the shows, I really enjoy him. I wished I had time to sit in on his other seminars. The did combine speakers with vendors. For example Kelly gave his talk under the Delta tent using Delta tools.

I went nuts and spent $140 on plane, a LN rabbit block plane. I'm not a big hand tool user but I do use a block plane quite a bit and wanted something for tenons. It's a sweet looking plane and should meet my needs. I hope I don't regret the purchase.

[Swingman]

Delta themselves did seem to have a bigger presence than in the past, instead of relying on local folks like Circle Saw ... too bad their tools no longer live up to expectations.

One of the local exhibitors I know, a franchisee of a national company, specifically mentioned that the organizers gave them more room and spread them out to make it look like the show was bigger.

[Roy]

Sounds like I can be glad I saved my money and spent the day working with SWMBO in the shop.

We don't own any LN, but I have had a chance to handle a couple (not the rabbet yet) at the local wood plane meetings. One of the guys has the little apron plane which is a joy to use, and of course several folks I'm jealous of have the larger LN hardware. The LN's tend to be the most fondled by everyone at the meetings.

Omagosh! Tool Envy!

I doubt you will be unhappy with your purchase.

Regards, Roy

[Steve DeMars]

I found the show to be informative. Now I'm interested in turning . . . . and so is the wife . . . I told her red heads don't like woodworking, but she won't listen . . . Enjoyed the Porter-Cable dovetail jig demo . . . Saw tons of tools I "really" need . . . . Did pick up a Bosch Router pack . . . and almost a Grex pinner . . but felt guilty since I'm new to the hobby . . . maybe next year . . .shop is still in the construction phase . . . Found out that Texans have woodworking clubs galore, wish they did in the Baton Rouge area . . . Well back to work on the shop tomorrow . . .

Steve

[bluemax1811-newsgroups]

I was a little disappointed. But then I did not go to buy much this year, so I was bypassing a lot of the booths that would have tempted me into going broke. I've enjoyed past shows because they had a large collection of odds and ends that are hard to find in one place, including great collections of discounted books. I was tempted by the Powermatic bandsaw at show price of $699. I did buy a Forrest WWII for $79.

One of the dealers told me the show took a big hit because one of the largest exhibitors (The Woodworker's Choice) backed out. I did see the new Powermatic parallelogram jointer for the first time up close and personal. That's a mighty hunk of iron.

Jointech had a very good presentation of their sawtrain table system that brought out the rationale and advantages in a way that I had not seen before.

Bob

[Patriarch]

[e-mail] wrote in news:1144116345.545675.100570 @g10g2000cwb.googlegroups.com:

The Woodworker's Choice is reputed to no longer be in business. Reportedly a victim of the Delta/Black & Decker dealings.

Patriarch, planning on Sacramento this weekend, although not exactly looking for anything special...

[nailshooter41]

Ditto on the company. Had a lot more fun talking to Swingman, Leon, and his lovely wife Kim. That was good time in itself, and actually a lot more fun than the show.

I felt like I was at a giant homeshow type exposition, with a lot of "stuff" going on at one time but nothing of real interest. Not a lot of variety, and lots of the vendors that didn't bother to show, or just had a minimal presence.

There were some show deals on some things, but strangely enough I found I could buy a lot of the things they had there for less money at the average retail outlet. As for actual tools and content, think of one of the larger Woodcraft stores with one of their baloney 20 minute demos they have once and a while and you have gist of the show.

A few years back I would go to those to look at the new stuff, and to stock up on consumables. I would buy the generic "Old Hickory" brand bits for my router at $1.50 for the 1/4 and 3/8 dados, and $2.00 for the roundover bits. I would buy a bag full, and when I was doing a house with MDF trim, or really sappy pine, those babies fit the bill. Use 'em, throw them away. Same with bulk drill bits. Same with saw blades. I used to buy Bosch platinum blades at about 40% less than retail at the show, but I didn't even see Bosch there except as a product on a tool vendor's table.

Freud was there, but they were selling their blades for more than Amazon, and in some cases more than Home Depot.

No new products. No innovative products. There were no "classes", just demos to sell the products. I only saw a few of booths that had a "hands on" demo where you could actually try the product.

I don't think I would go again unless it was convenient, or I knew of some vendor that was going to be there that I didn't have any access to any other way.

Robert

[bluemax1811-newsgroups]

I wonder if the state of this show is an indicator of the state of the woodworking retail business or its just an off year. I am amazed that companies like Rockler and Woodcraft can stay in business. I am even more surprised that a quality independent store like The Cutting Edge can stay in business. I guess it depends on support from the commercial cabinet shops. I would hate to have to make a living off of cantankerous hobbyists like most of us. I feel guilty when I walk into a well stocked store with $100,000's of inventory and only four other customers, while I pickup the single router bit that I came to purchase and walk past the $2200 Powermatic tablesaw gathering dust. Who buys this high priced stuff anyway?

Bob

[Leon]

Robert, How you doing sir. Does SA ever have a ww show, I know there is one in Dallas in the fall IIRC

I am not sure I would have believed it had I not heard it from the Laguna salesman's mouth a few weeks ago but they have quit going to some shows to simply avoid the hassle of dealing with sales tax collection.

[nailshooter41]

Doin' fine. As for a WW show, forget it here in sunny San Antonio. We used to be on the circuit, but no more. The vendors that frequent WoodCraft told the guys there that the San Antonio market was too small, and that they wanted to be in larger cities (SA is only about

1.3 million) that were more centralized.

Since we didn't provide the types of sales they wanted, they simply quit coming. No doubt it was about the dollars, because if they could make a buck I am sure they would be here. As a side note, I sure didn't see a lot of people pulling their wallets out in Houston, either.

I think that the show guys want to avoid a once or twice a year sales tax issue, and that would be a hassle indeed for some of the larger companies that sell at those things.

But I think that the reality is that many people just don't want to buy at the shows. I know many like myself that will go shop there, but won't pay retail, or a "show special" price which is still higher than purchasing on the internet. When you were able to go to the shows and purchase something that you wanted for about the same or less, that was a good thing. However, even on saw blades, the prices I saw marked on the Freud blades was higher than my everyday price at HD.

As for heavier machinery, it is easier to purchase from a reputable internet dealer, have the machine delivered to the door, and the shipping included usually beats the pants of those guys, or our local guys.

I personally think that they should turn these shows into daily classes and seminars that show people how to use the tools properly and how they can be used, rather than just a quick, wham - bam product exposition. Then I think they could move some product. As it was, I really couldn't tell the difference between the Krieg guy and the guy that was selling the rubber bristle broom.

Robert