fiferb
Member
Anyone going on Saturday the 8th? I'll be there and am wondering if anyone wants to meet?
The Woodworking Show - Charlotte
- Thread starter fiferb
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Tuba707
Member
Bruce, I didn't know when it was, but now that I do, we should meet up. Maybe we could carpool, too, if you come up this direction to get to Charlotte.
Too bad, I have to go on Friday. It would've been nice to meet some fellow members here in my own back yard, but my wife will be out of town on business and my daughter (biologically 11, attitudinally 18) would rather gargle with broken glass (or eat broccoli) then go with dad to ANOTHER Woodworking Show (we dragged her down to Atlanta last year when they took a pass on Charlotte for '07).
Hope y'all enjoy it whichever day you attend...
Hope y'all enjoy it whichever day you attend...
Spent a couple of hours there this afternoon and would have to say I was REALLY disappointed...
While I realize that woodturners generally represent a minority when it comes to woodworkers, past shows I have attended (in Charlotte and Atlanta) had at least made an effort to include some turning displays/instruction and vendors who offered turning supplies and/or equipment (indeed, I bought my first lathe at the previous Charlotte show). This time, the turning community was represented by the Southern Piedmont woodturners group (who had a small demo booth) and CSUSA, who had a couple of mini lathes in their booth at which they were offering some rudimentary pen turning instruction (Kirk deHeer, who gave a number of demos last year, was there, but was pretty much relegated to a salesclerk). Additionally, CSUSA's booth was about 50% smaller than in previous years, and provided what amounted to a token offering of items for sale.
I don't believe I saw one lathe for sale anywhere in the building - indeed, the major equipment manufacturers were pretty much limited to Delta/Porter Cable and Laguna, the latter which had a small area in the back of the room with about 2 bandsaws and a planer, looking like they had pretty much decided to partcipate as an afterthought. (a side note: if you can afford a Laguna bandsaw, they are offering a show deal of free shipping, no sales tax, and a couple of blades. With their 14" model alone running about $1900, their stuff is out of my league, but might be tempting to someone with deeper pockets...).
The classes they WERE offering were pretty lame, and most of the vendors had very small displays with modest offerings. As usual, Peachtree Woodworking Supply and Tool Time Liquidators had the largest displays - Tool Time had what looked like the world's largest selection of router bits but, being a liquidator, one would have to question the quality - but since they sell the same stuff everyone else seems to sell (at the same price) it just didn't impress me.
If I were to look for silver lining, I guess it would be that I took the money I saved by not buying anything at the show and invested it - wisely, I'm quite certain - in PowerBall tickets. $200 million might tempt me to go back on Sunday and buy that big Laguna bandsaw...
While I realize that woodturners generally represent a minority when it comes to woodworkers, past shows I have attended (in Charlotte and Atlanta) had at least made an effort to include some turning displays/instruction and vendors who offered turning supplies and/or equipment (indeed, I bought my first lathe at the previous Charlotte show). This time, the turning community was represented by the Southern Piedmont woodturners group (who had a small demo booth) and CSUSA, who had a couple of mini lathes in their booth at which they were offering some rudimentary pen turning instruction (Kirk deHeer, who gave a number of demos last year, was there, but was pretty much relegated to a salesclerk). Additionally, CSUSA's booth was about 50% smaller than in previous years, and provided what amounted to a token offering of items for sale.
I don't believe I saw one lathe for sale anywhere in the building - indeed, the major equipment manufacturers were pretty much limited to Delta/Porter Cable and Laguna, the latter which had a small area in the back of the room with about 2 bandsaws and a planer, looking like they had pretty much decided to partcipate as an afterthought. (a side note: if you can afford a Laguna bandsaw, they are offering a show deal of free shipping, no sales tax, and a couple of blades. With their 14" model alone running about $1900, their stuff is out of my league, but might be tempting to someone with deeper pockets...).
The classes they WERE offering were pretty lame, and most of the vendors had very small displays with modest offerings. As usual, Peachtree Woodworking Supply and Tool Time Liquidators had the largest displays - Tool Time had what looked like the world's largest selection of router bits but, being a liquidator, one would have to question the quality - but since they sell the same stuff everyone else seems to sell (at the same price) it just didn't impress me.
If I were to look for silver lining, I guess it would be that I took the money I saved by not buying anything at the show and invested it - wisely, I'm quite certain - in PowerBall tickets. $200 million might tempt me to go back on Sunday and buy that big Laguna bandsaw...
penhead
Local Chapter Leader
Don't know if it has anything at all to do with anything, but the AAW Symposium this year (coming up in a just a couple of months) will be in Richmond, VA...not that far from Charlotte.