Went to the Chantilly, VA show Saturday. Got married - for the 5 minutes it took to get in as "bring a spouse free", with a divorce once we crossed the ticket taking threshold.
Initially, the show was the usual disappointment primarily due to the lack of variety.
But, things took a turn for the better at the Fein booth (Glen Echo Hardware in Bethesda). Needed to get replacement E_cut blades for the Multimaster since I found out the hard way that they're not so hot for cutting thru plaster (drywall, maybe; plaster, NO). Figured this out after the teeth on the e-cut blade AND the sawzall blade all disappeared after using them to cut thru my plaster walls.
Mentioned this to the guy in the booth and asked what would be the right blade. He told me the grout cutting blade (duh!). Anyway, after settling on which 3 pack to get, he opened a case of odds n ends, pulled out a brand new e-cut blade, a slightly used grout blade and handed them to me. Said, the e-cut was to replace the one I ruined and the grout was to use to finish the plaster work I had left. Very nice bonus I wasn't expecting.
Discovered how nice the Makita Li-Ion tools are. Alas, no Milwaukee to be found for comparison.
But, the best was yet to come.
Went over to the Apollo booth to relate my tale of woe from a few months ago, where I called customer support a few times, emailed them, and got nary a response until one of the guys here interceded on my behalf (thanx again!), finally prompting a call from tech support.
But the main reason to stop by Apollo was to ask about some of the finishing issues I started having (that I posted here as well - just when I thought I had things figured out AND was on the parts that needed a perfect finish, things went into the proverbial handbasket). He directed me over to the guy running the Finishing Lectures. Sat in on the one just starting.
After the lecture, went up to talk to Mike Anderson, the lecturer. He was a WEALTH of information. Had an Apollo HVLP system set up so he demo'd how much finish I should be putting down on the wood (something a phone call wouldn't have accomplished) - way less than I was doing - and I thought I was being scrimpy. No wonder it wasn't drying as fast as the directions stated (I thought it was too cold in the work area). Talked to me about gun adjustments and set me straight there as well. In fact, now that I think about it, in my mad scramble to try to figure out what was happening, I was making things worse from the knobs adjustments side of things.
The chat with Mike was VERY helpful for me and I can't wait to get back to my cabinets (still working on prepping the kitchen for cabinet hanging; drywall needs mud and tape, prime and paint, then I'm ready for cabs). He also gave me a card and said I could email him if I had any further questions.
So, in the end, because some important questions were answered, the show worked out very well for me. In spite of the lighter wallet...
Renata