Atlanta Woodworking Show

[dlamulle]

Hey friends,

I'm going to drive up to the Woodworking show in Atlanta in a couple of weeks and I wanted to get some opinions of what ya'll think of the show and the experience. Is it worth it? Any other Whisperers going to be there? Should I bring a trailer to haul stuff back? Hotel recommendations, I'm not a Red Roof Inn kinda guy. Let me know what ya think.

Dave

[b33tl3]

I haven;t been in a few years so I will go this year. The lat time I went it was pretty busy. Peachtree Woodworking always has a huge setup. When Stone Mountain Power tool has a big setup they have some pretty good deals on power tools. They had Bosch with them one year and had a great deal on trim routers and jigsaws.

I would say don't get your hopes up too much. There is some cool stuff to see but it's not the end all be all.

I would suggest hitting the show and making a trip to Highland woodworking and maybe Woodcraft why you are in town.

Possible places of interest

Highland wooworking

Woodcraft

Redmond machinery

Georgia Hardwoods

Suwanee Lumber

Peachstate Lumber

CAG Lumber - I haven't been here yet but I want to check them out.

[fireball]

I went to the show in '08 and '09 and they were both pretty terrible. Nothing terribly exciting, the demos weren't that great and there weren't any real deals to be had.

If you're in town definately head over to Highland Hardware - cool places and lots of cool employees who know a lot about woodworking. Also, Peachstate Lumber is a great place to go if you're looking for some hardwoods to haul back home. They've got a good selection and great prices. If I were you I'd give Redmond a call and see if they'll be at the show and see if they have any deals. I bought both my TS and my jointer from them and got fantastic deals.

[harryangel69]

I was at the one last week in st. louis.

Peachtree had a huge set up, and everything was just a little cheaper there than in their catalog. Woodline, Carter, Sommerfeld, Powermatic, General, Festool, Dewalt, Bosch, I quite thoroughly molested all of the Lie-Nielsen planes(some more than others). Take some time to hunt down the Sawstop Demo. That guy still has not learned not to cut a hotdog. About a dozen seminar style sit down classes. Those have schedules and you will need to get there early for a seat. Stockroom was demoing their big three or four products. Check out that sanding mop. If your are looking for a specific tool it is probably there at a good price, so be ready. They had food, drink and beer stands. The beer surprised me for some reason. Everything seems to slow down and people start to trickle out about 2 to 3. It was hot and shoulder to shoulder most of the morning. Tons of other stuff. I just can't think of it all. Almost anything you need or can think of is there.

My impression of the show is that it is a marketplace type of environment with the seminars as an attraction. But the marketplace is specifically geared towards woodworking. The next thing I will probably get to attend will be WIA. I would expect it to be much larger.

I walked away with an assortment of clamps, zero clearance plate, glue brushes, feather boards, push blocks and a specific stone mountain router bit. I know it is a low quality bit, but for five bucks it will cut the two pieces of molding I need. I didn't intend to buy anything.

I would stop by highland and tell them it was the sites that made you stop. I stopped by the rockler outlet in St. Louis. Those guys are super nice.