Columbus Woodworking Show
Kelly Handwerk
>Ohio Woodworkers what are your thoughts on this weekend Woodworking Show?
Columbus Woodworking Show
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Re: Columbus Woodworking Show
#2
Re: Columbus Woodworking Show
Jim DeLaney, Austintown, Ohio
>I was there on Friday. Nice show, but smaller (I think) than last year's.
My biggest complaint was the crowding. The aisles needed to be several feet wider to accommodate the crowds. It was shoulder-to-shoulder up and down every aisle, and many of the booths had people standing three deep around them, making it very hard to progress up and down the aisle.
I did buy a couple clamps, and the small Trend plunge router.
Then, I went over to Woodwerks, on the other side of town. Their open house is great, with more of the big manufacturers represented than at the actual show. Delta, Porter-Cable, Bosch, DeWalt, Kreg, Shop Fox, Steel City, and Festool, to name a few. Festool's Midwest sales manager, Larry Smith was demo-ing many of their tools, and I ended up buying the Rotax 125 from him. One BIG advantage is that Woodwerks has nearly the full Festool line IN STOCK, so I was able to walk right out the door with it - no waiting for shipping.
FWIW, Woodwerks also has a small Rocklers franchise, too, so some of the Rockler stuff was available there.
As you can probably tell, I enjoyed the Woodwerks visit more than the actual show, although both were worth having travelled the 175 miles for.
Re: Columbus Woodworking Show
#3Re: Columbus Woodworking Show
Kelly Handwerk
>I have forgot about Woodwerks open house-been there once many years ago. Where is it located again?
I agreed about the crowd of people there standing 3 or 4 deep. Do you go to Hartville Tool? Much closer for you.
Kelly
Re: Columbus Woodworking Show
#4Re: Columbus Woodworking Show *LINK*
Thomas Williams - Columbus
>I went to the show on Saturday. I did not think it was as large as last year, and like last year it was very crowded. Made a few buys and added to the wish list as usual.
Went to Woodwerks today. I always enjoy going there, and today was no exception. While it is too late for this year, anyone who comes to Columbus for the WW show (or any reason) should make time to stop by the Woodwerks Expo as well.
And of course it never hurts to visit the area Woodcraft store either.
Link to Woodwerks
Re: Columbus Woodworking Show
#5
Re: Columbus Woodworking Show
Jim DeLaney, Austintown, Ohio
>Woodwerks is at 1181 Claycraft Road, East of I-270, and South and East of the airport. (614) 575-2400 www.woodwerks.com.
As for Hartville, yeah, I go there about once a month. It's only about forty miles from me. One of the best tool and hardware dealers I've ever come across. I really like that place!
Re: Columbus Woodworking Show
#6Crowded as usual
John Weber - GO BUCKS!
>Show was about as usual. Steel City had a nice display, as well as General, Delta, PC, DeWalt, Makita, Bosch. LN was missing - bummer. LV was there. I bought some drill bits and got a free replacement can of Boeshield. Been going about 15 years, always enjoy with my Dad and Uncle. I also like the Bad Dog bits, but $$$.
John
Re: Columbus Woodworking Show
#7WW Show and WoodWerks/SawStop - Long
Joe Pack
>I went twice...Saturday and Sunday. Saturday was with a buddy I enjoy hanging around with, but is not really into woodworking. We went to the WoodWerks Expo first, mainly to see the SawStop saw in operation, but I ended up getting an almost private lesson in bowl turning. The guitar player was great, the sandwiches and pop were much appreciated, and there were reps everywhere to explain or just plain talk to you. I figured on being there an hour or so, but ended up staying for three.
My main mission was accomplished...I saw the SawStop first hand, was even invited to be the one to push the hotdog into the blade, but chickened out...afraid I would flinch just before the thing banged to a stop and embarass myself. Even ignoring the auto-stop, the SawStop is impressive. It is built like a tank! I wish my TrailBlazer was built to such tolerances and as hefty. The riving knife is great. There is a stand-alone riving knife for non-through cuts when you can't use the blade guard, but, and I didn't realize this, there is a riving knife/anti-kickback system built into the blade guard too, and it looks like it would actually work!. This is the first guard/splitter combination that I have seen that seems to be functional...easy to use, to switch out and to see through. The on/off paddle is a knee bumper, the table is extra deep, cast iron is almost mirror-like...just plain impressive.
Back to the WW show...I watched a couple of presentations by Jim Heavey on Saturday, a couple of turning demos and placed a pretty good order with Lee Valley. I was impressed enough with Jim Heavey to drive back down today to listen to him for two more sessions. He is an EXCELLENT teacher, and I told him so. He speaks in English, doesn't try to impress you with his credentials and readily admits to just being a woodworker who makes the same mistakes we do...he just doesn't show them to everybody like we do! :-) He has the ability to paint a picture with words, then show you the "picture" in action. Listening to him was worth the price of admission.
I enjoyed looking at the Stee City tools, too. Nice to see the real thing instead of pictures and descriptions.
DeWalt had a whole bunch of refurbs at decent prices, although some did not include batteries.
I agree that the aisles were too crowded on Saturday. With all the unused room behind the curtains, you would think the promoters would spread vendors out a bit more. I'm sure they paid for the entire building. I wish they would use it. Part of the problem, too, was having demonstrating vendors directly across the aisle from each other. When both vendors drew a crowd, there was no way to walk through the aisles, not to mention trying to watch one demo while listening to the one behind you. It was almost funny to be watching the young lady with the sandpaper sharpening system she reportedly invented while listening to the Tormek right across the aisle! Sort of like two preachers on opposite street corners.
One last little complaint...If a show is advertised as running until 4:00 p.m., vendors should not be tearing down at 3:30 p.m. I like to look at everything first, make my list of what I want, then go back just before I leave to make my purchases so I don't have to carry everything around for half a day. I went back to two vendors just after 3:30 p.m. and found one partially torn down, with the person missing and the other (Peachtree) already removing price tags and putting tops on their bins. In both cases, vendors missed a sale. Missing out on my $25 or so won't run them out of business, but it sure doesn't make me want to go out of my way to buy from them or their websites.
Anyhow, I totally enjoyed the Woodworking Show, and I already look forward to next year. The WoodWerks Expo and their extensive collection of 'big iron' and manufacturers made the trip even more worthwhile.