"Kevin B" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:h4cOb.73235$sv6.154176@attbi_s52...
> Was anybody else disappointed with the Big "E" Woodshow? Weren't nearly as
> many vendors and displays as I expected, but I did enjoy talking to the
> Lie-Nielson rep. Maybe the damn bitter cold kept some vendors away?
>
> Kevin B.
Just got back.
Disappointment? Yes a bit. I'd have liked to see more displays from
manufacturers or tool distributors. My next big purchase is going to be a
jointer and only one (General International) was on display. Nothing to
compare it to.
The good news:
Got to meet Mike and Dana from American Sycamore. Very nice people to talk
to and they had a display of the class projects that made you drool. This
is a definite school to check out for the serious woodworker or anyone that
wants to move up a step or two. My wife wants me to go to make a rocker or
Dana's table.
Ridge Carbide was there. I looked at their 8" dado and the combination
blade. Walked away for a while and was sitting taking a break with my wife.
She said "you didn't bring me all this way and now you're not going to buy
anything?" So I went back and bought the dado and the blade. I'll give it
a try tomorrow. The owner was hawking his goods with much enthusiasm and a
90 day money back guarantee so I have nothing to lose and the cuts looked
very good.
Found a very good wood supplier for pine, including w i d e boards at
a very good price. W. R. Robinson Lumber (413.477.6050)
Some other booths were too crowded to get near.
Will I go back next year? Probably not, but it was worth going one time.
"Kevin B" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:h4cOb.73235$sv6.154176@attbi_s52...
> Was anybody else disappointed with the Big "E" Woodshow? Weren't nearly as
> many vendors and displays as I expected, but I did enjoy talking to the
> Lie-Nielson rep. Maybe the damn bitter cold kept some vendors away?
>
> Kevin B.
Even with four hours of round-trip driving thrown in I'm scoring it as a
nice day... I attended two of the free "At the workbench"
presentations--one on smoother planes by the executive editor of Popular
Woodworking .Christopher Swartz, and the second on scrapers by a fellow
named Paul Anthony. I picked up some useful preparation process information
at these presentations.
The "In the Spotlight" demonstrations were interesting too. For example,
watching the handcut dovetail techniques of, I believe it was Geofrey Noden,
and comparing them to my own techniques was kind of interesting. He is much
more parsimonious in his chopping than I but then does some paring that my
approach makes unnecessary. Is one technique better than the other? Both
yield good looking tight joints so I don't think so...
I wasn't planning on purchasing anything but when I encountered the PS Wood
Machines booth I did pick up four Timberwolf bandsaw blades for my 18" Jet.
I hadn't heard of PS before, but I found out www.PSWood.com is selling
Timberwolf blades on-line as well as Suffolk Machinery. I specifically got a
3 TPI 3/4" blade to saw short logs into boards. After installation tonight I
found that I could take relatively smooth 3/64" slices off an 8" wide board!
That is FAR better than the Jet blades could do!
I had some interesting conversations with vendors and visitors alike and
learned new things today. I call that a nice day!
John
<<Was anybody else disappointed with the Big "E" Woodshow? Weren't nearly as
many vendors and displays as I expected, but I did enjoy talking to the
Lie-Nielson rep. Maybe the damn bitter cold kept some vendors away?>>
Yes, I was a bit disappointed although I imagine the vendors weren't. It
was just a little too crowded for my taste. It was hard to get a good look
at the products and demos through the walls of people. But it was still an
OK way to kill an hour and I didn't have to pay to get in.
Lee
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