Visit to Axminster Power Tools Show last weekend

I have visited the Axminster Power Tools show for several years, both when it was at Shepton Mallett and now at Westpoint near Exeter.

I've found it a very good way of seeing what is on the market already, what is new on the market, to look at and feel a very wide range of tools in one place and to talk to their vendors.

Broadly, I know what I am going to be looking for in the coming months and can form opinions of what is good, what is mediochre and what I should avoid.

I like to spend some time wandering around and comparing, if need be several times.

This year, I bought tickets in advance for the Thursday and Friday. Thursday, the preview day, is generally quieter, and I arrived at lunchtime. By around 1500, it had become quite a bit quieter and I was able to wander around and spend time without pushing through crowds. On Friday morning, I went with both Grunff and Phil Addison and we all had another good look around.

Generally......

The show was quite busy, although I had the impression that the organisers might have had difficulty selling all the stand space to trade exhibitors and had done low cost or possibly free deals for craft exhibitors. Having the turning and carving exhibits is fine, but a local model aircraft club seemed a bit of a stretch. Nevertheless, I would rather have something than empty stand space, which always looks crap. It's also a shame that venues like this let themselves down by having mediochre catering and not making enough effort with cleaning the place

- especially the toilets..... However, to be fair, it is not the most horrendous exhibition venue that I have visited, by a long way.

I was in the market for a number of things:

- marking tools

- spindle tooling for panel doors

- clamps (you can never have too many)

- small drill driver

Then I wanted to look for new ideas and technologies and at what is available and becoming available

=3D Veritas (from Canada)make a very nice range of standard and unusual fine woodworking tools. I was particularly looking for a good quality square but they don't seem to make one. However, I did find a very solid straight edge and a marking knife.

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I like to use the very traditional Bessey K clamps and was planning to augment my collection using the special show pricing. However, I also saw their new Duo-clamp product. This is a one hand light clamp but is a lot better and easier to use than its typical competitors. I bought some and tried them out at the weekend. Impressed so far

=3D Utility and Craft knives. I've been disappointed with Stanley knives in recent years. The handles aren't that good any longer and either the blades are crap or materials tougher. Either way, not a pleasure to use. Grunff pointed out a knife range and blades made by Irwin. Took a close look at these. First of all, the blades are manufactured such that they are claimed to have three times the life of plain steel. Secondly, there are a number of well thought out features in the handle such as magnets to prevent the blades falling out. I bought two and tried one out on Sunday. They do what they say on the tin..... nice product. I needed some smaller craft knives as well. Previously I had used X-Acto that I had bought in the US. Here they had some Swann Morton ones. Bought a set, haven't tried yet.

=3D Spindle Tooling. I had been debating whether to go for a set of router cutters or some 30mm spindle tooling for making door panels. I was also looking for additional profile tooling. Whitehill really hadn't bothered to make much effort with what they had to show and talk about, so I was looking for alternatives, of which there were really three - Freud, Trend and a newish one (at least here) Brueck. Again, Freud didn't have that much to offer. Brueck had some good offerings, a good catalogue of tools and cutters. However, I was concerned that the cutters seemed to be proprietary to the blocks. Trend, in their industrial range, have a good range of products and pricing seemed fair in terms of value for money and choice - plus they use standard sizes. I went for a profile block and a special offer on a set of two blocks for door and frame cutting.

=3D Gorilla Wipes. I allowed myself one product that was being sold on a fairground basis and this was it. I had used impregnated wipes before and they were OK but not exceptional. These ones seem to have an alcohol, a detergent of some kind etc. I've used them for glue cleanup (aliphatic and PU) as well as grease, silicone etc. I was especially sceptical about silicones but they will clean it up if uncured.

=3D Small drill driver. I have been looking for some time for something in between the DW 7.2v screwdriver and the Makita 14.4v products that I have. Both are workhorses and do excellent work. However, I was looking for something that could achieve the torque without being overly massive. For mixed work, I have been using the Trend Snappy tools for a while. These are OK, but some are not a brilliant fit in their holder. I looked at Makita - all good products but nothing that fitted the bill; same with Hitachi and Bosch. I had looked briefly at the Festool stand but had not noticed anything special. I'm glad I went back on Friday. Grunff spotted what has turned out to be exactly what I wanted - the C12. This is an impressive product, and I am not easily impressed. The motor is brushless and controls are electronic. The torque selector controls the electronics such that the motor gently cuts when the desired torque is reached - no clicking gearbox. It's well balanced and light with a choice of NiMH or NiCD battery packs in different capacities. The motor runs at high torque and low speed from a light touch on the trigger - better than even Makita manage, and that's pretty good. I bought the version with swappable chucks. There is a standard chuck and then three more. One is an angle chuck that canbe oriented and locked at any angle. A second is an offset chuck which allows a screwdriver to be positioned no more than 10mm from an edge and still straight. This makes a big difference to straight driving in certain situations. Finally, Festool have their own quick change adaptor, Centrotec. This is similar to the Snappy idea. Normally I don't like proprietary stuff, but their implementation is good. Also, I can change things like drills in the holders so anything is easily replaced. I have a feeling that this technology will find its way into other Festool products in the future, but for the moment this is a very pleasing product that's a pleasure to use. There's a complete set of parts lists, drawings in the Systainer box along with warranty and service information.

=3D Other things

- Over the next few months as projects indicate the need, I am going to go for some additional hand planes. I have some very old wooden ones and some slightly less old original Stanley ones, which although looked after have been "well used". More recently, I've added to them with certain planes made by Lie-Nielsen from the U.S. These are also a pleasure to use -feeling solid and behaving predictably and doing what I wanted. I had been sure that there was more to be learned, and I found on Lie-Nielsen's stand a set of three DVDs with David Charlesworth demonstrating sharpening, planing and shooting techniques. These are well done and I've learned quite a lot from them already as well as some useful tricks and techniques. Recommended for anybody liking hand plane work.

- Look at machines. There was not a lot that was remarkably new. Perhaps the most noticable addition was Rojek with quite a comprehensive set of woodworking machines from former eastern Europe. Quite well positioned and I thought better than Sheppach in their class.

- Interesting power tool. Arbortech are known for making a range of rather lethal looking tools for doing large wood carving. They are Australian, and like most things Australian, subtle is not an adjective that is used a lot. However, they make an interesting product called an AS160.

formatting link
This is a saw with two opposing blades for cutting brickwork etc. Its advantage is that it makes coarse dust which just drops down. So for chasing and mortar raking it would be attractive to use. This is not something likely to end up as a DIY or even trade tool in most cases - price tag is =A3700. However, according to the makers, they are starting to enter the tool rental trade. For a few tens of UKL per day, to avoid mess they could be interesting.

- Look at power tools. Apart from the Festool C12, I didn't see much else of note. I reconfirmed earlier decisions about power tools that I had bought - mainly Makita, a few Hitachi and DeWalt and Fein. Nothing has changed to make me alter that decision.

Looked at what was available from the entry level and midrange suppliers. Toolbank had a display of the Techtronics Ryobi home improvement brand tools. There were assorted drills, drivers and combination drills. The product manager was demonstrating one to a potential customer and the clutch mechanism jammed. He was able to free it after jiggling it for a little while. Took a look at this and a couple of others and no these don't have the solid feel of Makita and others. Asked the product manager how he positioned TTI Ryobi. His reply was that they are better than the =A330 jobs in B&Q, but clearly not in the same league as Hitachi, DW, Bosch blue, Makita or the workhorse, Skil.

The only other product range there nominally in the same league is Axminster White. Unsurprisingly, there was quite a range. I looked at a few, and some seemed potentially quite reasonable - especially the better lathes. It was clear though, that there is inconsistency across the range - some tool and machine types were a lot better than others. As an aside, I dropped by the Axminster showroom (in Axminster, funnily enough) on the way home because there were a couple of things I wanted to pick up rather than having them sent. On waiting to pay, there were three different customers with various of their drill products, all bought within the last few weeks. One had a knackered battery, another (new one) had a chuck that was obviously eccentric and a third had a very graunchy gearbox new out of the box. Two replaced and one refunded. I don't think I'll buy anything from Axminster White without seeing and touching it first.

All in all, well worth the trip....

Reply to
andy hall
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I've found it a very good way of seeing what is on the market already, what is new on the market, to look at and feel a very wide range of tools in one place and to talk to their vendors.

Broadly, I know what I am going to be looking for in the coming months and can form opinions of what is good, what is mediochre and what I should avoid.

I like to spend some time wandering around and comparing, if need be several times.

This year, I bought tickets in advance for the Thursday and Friday. Thursday, the preview day, is generally quieter, and I arrived at lunchtime. By around 1500, it had become quite a bit quieter and I was able to wander around and spend time without pushing through crowds. On Friday morning, I went with both Grunff and Phil Addison and we all had another good look around.

Generally......

The show was quite busy, although I had the impression that the organisers might have had difficulty selling all the stand space to trade exhibitors and had done low cost or possibly free deals for craft exhibitors. Having the turning and carving exhibits is fine, but a local model aircraft club seemed a bit of a stretch. Nevertheless, I would rather have something than empty stand space, which always looks crap. It's also a shame that venues like this let themselves down by having mediochre catering and not making enough effort with cleaning the place

- especially the toilets..... However, to be fair, it is not the most horrendous exhibition venue that I have visited, by a long way.

I was in the market for a number of things:

- marking tools

- spindle tooling for panel doors

- clamps (you can never have too many)

- small drill driver

Then I wanted to look for new ideas and technologies and at what is available and becoming available

= Veritas (from Canada)make a very nice range of standard and unusual fine woodworking tools. I was particularly looking for a good quality square but they don't seem to make one. However, I did find a very solid straight edge and a marking knife.

formatting link
I like to use the very traditional Bessey K clamps and was planning to augment my collection using the special show pricing. However, I also saw their new Duo-clamp product. This is a one hand light clamp but is a lot better and easier to use than its typical competitors. I bought some and tried them out at the weekend. Impressed so far

= Utility and Craft knives. I've been disappointed with Stanley knives in recent years. The handles aren't that good any longer and either the blades are crap or materials tougher. Either way, not a pleasure to use. Grunff pointed out a knife range and blades made by Irwin. Took a close look at these. First of all, the blades are manufactured such that they are claimed to have three times the life of plain steel. Secondly, there are a number of well thought out features in the handle such as magnets to prevent the blades falling out. I bought two and tried one out on Sunday. They do what they say on the tin..... nice product. I needed some smaller craft knives as well. Previously I had used X-Acto that I had bought in the US. Here they had some Swann Morton ones. Bought a set, haven't tried yet.

= Spindle Tooling. I had been debating whether to go for a set of router cutters or some 30mm spindle tooling for making door panels. I was also looking for additional profile tooling. Whitehill really hadn't bothered to make much effort with what they had to show and talk about, so I was looking for alternatives, of which there were really three - Freud, Trend and a newish one (at least here) Brueck. Again, Freud didn't have that much to offer. Brueck had some good offerings, a good catalogue of tools and cutters. However, I was concerned that the cutters seemed to be proprietary to the blocks. Trend, in their industrial range, have a good range of products and pricing seemed fair in terms of value for money and choice - plus they use standard sizes. I went for a profile block and a special offer on a set of two blocks for door and frame cutting.

= Gorilla Wipes. I allowed myself one product that was being sold on a fairground basis and this was it. I had used impregnated wipes before and they were OK but not exceptional. These ones seem to have an alcohol, a detergent of some kind etc. I've used them for glue cleanup (aliphatic and PU) as well as grease, silicone etc. I was especially sceptical about silicones but they will clean it up if uncured.

= Small drill driver. I have been looking for some time for something in between the DW 7.2v screwdriver and the Makita 14.4v products that I have. Both are workhorses and do excellent work. However, I was looking for something that could achieve the torque without being overly massive. For mixed work, I have been using the Trend Snappy tools for a while. These are OK, but some are not a brilliant fit in their holder. I looked at Makita - all good products but nothing that fitted the bill; same with Hitachi and Bosch. I had looked briefly at the Festool stand but had not noticed anything special. I'm glad I went back on Friday. Grunff spotted what has turned out to be exactly what I wanted - the C12. This is an impressive product, and I am not easily impressed.

This one:

formatting link
motor is brushless and controls are electronic. The torque selector controls the electronics such that the motor gently cuts when the desired torque is reached - no clicking gearbox. It's well balanced and light with a choice of NiMH or NiCD battery packs in different capacities. The motor runs at high torque and low speed from a light touch on the trigger - better than even Makita manage, and that's pretty good. I bought the version with swappable chucks. There is a standard chuck and then three more. One is an angle chuck that canbe oriented and locked at any angle. A second is an offset chuck which allows a screwdriver to be positioned no more than 10mm from an edge and still straight. This makes a big difference to straight driving in certain situations. Finally, Festool have their own quick change adaptor, Centrotec. This is similar to the Snappy idea. Normally I don't like proprietary stuff, but their implementation is good. Also, I can change things like drills in the holders so anything is easily replaced. I have a feeling that this technology will find its way into other Festool products in the future, but for the moment this is a very pleasing product that's a pleasure to use. There's a complete set of parts lists, drawings in the Systainer box along with warranty and service information.

= Other things

- Over the next few months as projects indicate the need, I am going to go for some additional hand planes. I have some very old wooden ones and some slightly less old original Stanley ones, which although looked after have been "well used". More recently, I've added to them with certain planes made by Lie-Nielsen from the U.S. These are also a pleasure to use -feeling solid and behaving predictably and doing what I wanted. I had been sure that there was more to be learned, and I found on Lie-Nielsen's stand a set of three DVDs with David Charlesworth demonstrating sharpening, planing and shooting techniques. These are well done and I've learned quite a lot from them already as well as some useful tricks and techniques. Recommended for anybody liking hand plane work.

- Look at machines. There was not a lot that was remarkably new. Perhaps the most noticable addition was Rojek with quite a comprehensive set of woodworking machines from former eastern Europe. Quite well positioned and I thought better than Sheppach in their class.

- Interesting power tool. Arbortech are known for making a range of rather lethal looking tools for doing large wood carving. They are Australian, and like most things Australian, subtle is not an adjective that is used a lot. However, they make an interesting product called an AS160.

formatting link
This is a saw with two opposing blades for cutting brickwork etc. Its advantage is that it makes coarse dust which just drops down. So for chasing and mortar raking it would be attractive to use. This is not something likely to end up as a DIY or even trade tool in most cases - price tag is £700. However, according to the makers, they are starting to enter the tool rental trade. For a few tens of UKL per day, to avoid mess they could be interesting.

- Look at power tools. Apart from the Festool C12, I didn't see much else of note. I reconfirmed earlier decisions about power tools that I had bought - mainly Makita, a few Hitachi and DeWalt and Fein. Nothing has changed to make me alter that decision.

Looked at what was available from the entry level and midrange suppliers. Toolbank had a display of the Techtronics Ryobi home improvement brand tools. There were assorted drills, drivers and combination drills. The product manager was demonstrating one to a potential customer and the clutch mechanism jammed. He was able to free it after jiggling it for a little while. Took a look at this and a couple of others and no these don't have the solid feel of Makita and others. Asked the product manager how he positioned TTI Ryobi. His reply was that they are better than the £30 jobs in B&Q, but clearly not in the same league as Hitachi, DW, Bosch blue, Makita or the workhorse, Skil.

The only other product range there nominally in the same league is Axminster White. Unsurprisingly, there was quite a range. I looked at a few, and some seemed potentially quite reasonable - especially the better lathes. It was clear though, that there is inconsistency across the range - some tool and machine types were a lot better than others. As an aside, I dropped by the Axminster showroom (in Axminster, funnily enough) on the way home because there were a couple of things I wanted to pick up rather than having them sent. On waiting to pay, there were three different customers with various of their drill products, all bought within the last few weeks. One had a knackered battery, another (new one) had a chuck that was obviously eccentric and a third had a very graunchy gearbox new out of the box. Two replaced and one refunded. I don't think I'll buy anything from Axminster White without seeing and touching it first.

All in all, well worth the trip....

Reply to
Doctor Drivel

Thanks for that Andy. Wouldn't mind going myself but the NEC is about as far south as I like to venture by road!

Reply to
Matt

I've noticed that there are a number of woodworking shows in the Midlands.

Any of them any good?

Reply to
Andy Hall

I've not been to any for about 15 years now, most of my "work" is with metal or composites. The woodworking is the (occasional) hobby!

Reply to
Matt

Machines are OK, the hand power tools are poor.

Hands up anyone who bought one White hand tool, then bought another one after your first experience ? Not me....

Reply to
Andy Dingley

I told you not to buy it.

Reply to
Doctor Drivel

Agreed on both counts.

I bought their 18V combi drill, and sent it back after a week.

Reply to
Grunff

Yes, but you also told me to buy the Power Pro 18V combi, which I did, and also returned within a week. Life's too short. I'll stick with my Makita. Having said that, Andy's Festool is a super drill, and I wouldn't mind one of those soon...

Reply to
Grunff

How much? All the accessories makes it about £500. For a drill/driver? Please. It good. but not that good.

As I have mentioned, Wickes now sell a 15.6v high torque Kress with an detachable angle chuck for £95, normally £130.

If I was in the market for one of these attachment types I would go for the Kress, which is a very good German make.

But I would "probably" buy the Ryobi kit for around £106, which has a battery angle drill and drill/driver, so no playing with attachments, and just pick up the drills and go.

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Although the Kress is a quality product.

Reply to
Doctor Drivel

Well, it's all relative. Sometimes I buy something not necessarily because it's good value for money, but because it's nice and I want it. For example, the PC I'm using to write this is much, much faster than it needs to be. I could probably comfortably use a PC that's 1/4 the price. But I choose not to.

The Festool drill would fall into a similar category for me. I could have a Makita that offers similar functionality for maybe half the price, but the Festool is so nicely engineered, it'll make you smile every time you use it. That's worth a lot to me.

I don't have any real life experience of Kress (I've seen them in the shop, but that's it). But I do have some experience of Ryobi, and while they're ok, they're not my cup of tea.

Reply to
Grunff

That is the toy syndrome.

You are probably future proofing your self. I did that one buying a Pentium

2 when P1s were far cheaper. I had the machine for 7 years and it still worked pretty fast enough.

What does it do? IT drill bloody holes. It is a drill driver with an angle attachment. It oozes quality, but there is a limit. I have a Bosch 12v drill/driver and ergonomically is the business, but let down on quality.

For what they are and the price they are very good. Horses for courses again.

Kress angle drill attachments are very neat.

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is now being sold under the Wickes label at £40 off at the mo'.

Reply to
Doctor Drivel

It would be almost that had it not been for a good deal that I was able to get at the show.

One should look and try before commenting......

>
Reply to
Andy Hall

Matt, does it drill the holes by itself? All it does is drill holes and drive screws.

Reply to
Doctor Drivel

Does a car drive itself?

Be it a BMW or a Skoda, all it does is to go from A to B.

Reply to
Andy Hall

Me too, and I'm already hankering after an upgrade, but it is my job as well I suppose.

If you shop around you can often find something that satisfies but isn't a totally OTT price. My Metabo cordless fits that category (for me anyway), I got it when it was on special offer at just over £100 which is, I suppose, sort of middling price for a 12v cordless. It's a really excellent tool though, I really can't think of anything that would improve it.

When I bought the Metabo I looked at some Ryobi stuff, for me at least it was simply too big.

Reply to
usenet

Metabo's sanders are very good as well....

Reply to
Andy Hall

My job too - but most of the time I'm just using high-functionality text editors, nothing more.

Not knocking Metabo, they make great tools - but you should really take a look at the brushless motor drill from Festool. The motor gives smooth, steady torque right from low speed through to high. Lovely.

This is one of the problems for me, the other big one being battery life

- the batteries just plain suck.

Reply to
Grunff

Except that, whilst the BMW might get you there faster, the Skoda is more likely to start first time and actually get you there more assuredly. ;-)

Reply to
John Cartmell

Keep telling yourself that Skoda man...

Reply to
Grunff

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