Wood Show in Twin Cities

[Dan]

Just got back from visiting my daughter and son-in-law in Minneapolis. Five-hour drive one way. By the strangest coincidence there was a woodworking show in town and we all made a trip to the fairgrounds where I had a chance to chat with Mike from American Sycamore Woodworkers' Retreat. They had some *beautiful* pieces on display. The curly maple rocker especially.

Watched the guy with the foot-treadle lathe, sat in on the demo on resawing with a bandsaw, discussed workbench-making, watched Wayne Barton chip carving, bought a chip-carving knife, got lots of shop ideas, and generally enjoyed myself. Didn't buy anything big but I dropped a bundle on supplies, including the Frank Klausz videos. When the folks at the Lee Valley booth told me if I wanted anything from the catalog that wasn't on display they'd order it for me and pay the taxes and shipping, I couldn't resist just a couple toys.

I was told there was another one coming in April, supposed to be twice as big. All in all, that was a fun time. I wouldn't have been able to go if I didn't have somebody there to put me up for the weekend. Bless her heart for not moving so far away I never get to see her. :-)

Dan

[Traves W. Coppock]

On Mon, 20 Oct 2003 03:55:51 -0000, Dan Crawled out of the shop and said. . .:

snip

where did ya drive here from?

Traves, who at the show dropped a LOT of cash. . .

[Brian Elfert]

I live in the Twin Cities and didn't get a chance to go. It sounds like I missed a great show.

The show in April will be The Woodworking Show. If it is anything like last year, it will be a joke. Two years ago it was good, but way overcrowded. Last year, the show was way smaller, not crowded, but prices were outrageous.

Brian Elfert

[Dan]

On Mon 20 Oct 2003 04:55:19a, Traves W. Coppock wrote in news: [e-mail]:

Madison WI.

Pretty easy to do. Everybody's just so happy to chat for a while. If they can't loosen your wallet for themselves, maybe they can get you to pry it open for somebody else. :-)

Dan

[Dan]

On Mon 20 Oct 2003 10:08:22a, Brian Elfert wrote in news:3f93fa66$0$41283$ [e-mail]:

The only ones I've been to are the last one in Milwaukee and the little bitty one in a tent in the Woodraft parking lot last month. So I ain't all that experienced. This one was better than either of those. Except that the Woodcraft show had that $300 used Jet bandsaw with the riser block, so maybe all things considered, I liked that one better...

Hm. Sounds like I got lucky for once. The guy I talked to was Mike from PSwood.com. He said the April show was going to have over a hundred vendors, and he sounded like he was a full-time showvendor. Wouldn't be the first time I was wrong, but I think I'm still gonna check it out. Who knows? Any excuse to visit my kid. Or is it any excuse to go to a show?

Dan

[Mike at American Sycamore]

Dan it was great to meet you and thanks for attending the show and stopping by to chat. I sure enjoyed the show myself. The guy with the foot-treadle lathe is Don Weber, one of my instructors. His classes are a hoot. Not only is he a great woodworker and instructor...he is a real character. We have alot of fun when he is here at ASWR. I am glad you enjoyed the show and hope to see you next year.

thanks, Mike from American Sycamore

[Dan]

On Mon 20 Oct 2003 09:53:52p, [e-mail] (Mike at American Sycamore) wrote in news: [e-mail]:

Good to see you too, Mike. Where's Don from? I couldn't place the accent. I was thinking New England, maybe New Hampshire, but now I'm not so sure. :-)

Dan