Atlanta Woodworking Show review

[b33tl3]

I haven’t been in a few years so this was my first time at the Norcross location. It’s easy to get to an there is free parking that’s a plus. The build is not new and the parking lot could use some repair but it was okay because things were spread out more that the old location.

Tickets are still $10 ($8 with the coupon online) but that gets you in all weekend. The only thing I really had on my want list was a new compressor. I want the Makita MAC2400 and it was $286 on Amazon with free shipping. Stone Mountain Power Tool has beat Amazon on multiple occasions for me so it was worth a shot. After talking with the guys best they could do was $299 ☹ oh well I will watch Amazon. I talked to the Grex rep to see if he had the larger compressor they make he said he never brings it and said it's heavy and loud.

Lots of turning and turning demos this year must be a new fad. Didn’t really see any new or interesting products. Bosch was there with the new Miter Saw, Festool had the new RO 90. I played with it some and it would be a nice to have but I don’t have the need for it yet. The Festool rep and I talked about the refurb deals and how those went. Told him I picked up the Rotex 125 on the deal and he quickly told me order the super soft pad for it. He said it will keep it from hopping on large panels. He claimed it’s a common problem they get lots of calls about on the 125 line of sanders due to weight distribution and the new pad eliminates it.

Peachtree Woodworking took their normal 25% of show space but neither Rocker nor Woodcraft were present at all. I found this odd since they have local stores less than 20 miles away. Lee Valley was there with the full display and I talked to the Lee Valley rep for a while he mentioned that he thought it was odd too then started talking about something is up with Woodcraft with stores closing and the fact they are carrying less vendors now. I told they gotta pay for Tommy Mac.

I sat in on 2 seminars A shellac and Varnish class by Peter Gedrys and Furniture Molding with Graham Blackburn.

Peter was outstanding he interacted well with the group and delivered a lot of information in a fun manner. He took all questions no matter how bizarre and believe me he got some weird ones and never made anyone fell bad about stupid questions. After his talk a few of us walked up to look at his samples and he gave us a little demo of some other techniques and some good freebies. He did a great job showing how he makes and uses pads for shellac and lacquer. I even got to take one home.

Graham gave a good talk about molding planes and he incorporated some humor but it was like being in grade school you sat still and quite and did not ask questions until the end. He was also part salesman and part instructor. When questions were asked at the end most of his answers were things like “I go over that in my books they are on sale for $50 each”. Maybe because the first guy to corner him with a question said “I am new to wood working what can I make that will sale” he was a newly retired guy and Graham did take some time with him (way too much) so maybe that soured him for the rest of us and it was his last class of the day. He did give away demo DVDs of his Woodworking in Action shows. I haven’t looked that it yet but the concept sounded interesting.

I would like to see the other seminars but tomorrow will probably be packed. The Lee Valley rep said Friday is the serious woodworkers, Saturday is the hobbyists and Sunday is guys kicking the tires.

So what did I buy? Not much

A GRR-Ripper – I have one and wanted a 2nd.

A Milescraft Crown 45 that came with a trim 45 and depth gauge.

A bottle of Tight Bond II

I will probably skip next year unless there is someone there doing talks I want to see,

[BuilderBill]

Thanx for the review! I was gonna try to squeeze this one in but it looks like I probably won't miss much if I don't.... Might put out some effort just to see the LV guys. Was Highland there?

Bill

[b33tl3]

Thanx for the review! I was gonna try to squeeze this one in but it looks like I probably won't miss much if I don't.... Might put out some effort just to see the LV guys. Was Highland there?

Bill

yes Highland was there they had a tiny booth with nothing to sale but they do have the Festool Reps. I was hoping they would have their new CNC there or at least some info on it but nothing. I talked to Ben about it and he said he would get it in the next news letter.

If you want to score some big points locate a can of Water based Lacquer for the Lee Valley Guys. There was no one had finishes at the show and the Lee Valley guy wanted to locate some water based Lacquer to take back to Canada. He says they can;t get it there and he really wanted to try it. Maybe you can trade it for a tool discount.

[dlamulle]

Hey guys,

Here's my experience at the show.

I drove in from New Orleans with 3 friends and we had a blast. I've definitely been to bigger shows but I spent all 3 days there and after getting on first name basis with all the vendors I liked, I loaded up the truck with stuff. I bought the Ceros sander from Mirka. It demoed pretty awesome and from the other opinions I've read it's a sweet sander with almost NO dust at all. I've always liked the Abranet paper and now I've got the sander made for it. I bought the Rikon 14" bandsaw. It was rated top saw this month and I was ready to get a Powermatic when I got back. It sells here for 999.00 and was 899.00 at Highland Woodworking and they sold it for 699.00 on Sunday. Walked across the isle to the Carter booth and got their guides for it. Bought everything at the Woodpecker booth they had including their new router table setup and got close to10% off. Walked across the isle to Dewalt /PC and they had the PC 7518 motor only for about 245.00 so I grabbed it too. Bought a full set of Easy Tools for turning and several pen sets. Bought a full set of drills and forstner bits from Mad Dog tools. Boy those things can drill through anything. Sat in on the inlay class by micro tools. Very nice demo and very insightful. I got a adjustable edge guide and plunge base for my colt. Gorilla gripper, Grip Tite set with the metal plate for the fence. Two Dubby sleds right and left and the Dubby taper jig. I've used these for a while and I think they are great. Bought 2 Ridge Carbide blades to try them out. I've heard good things and what the heck, let's see how they fare next to Freud, Forrest and Tenryu gold medal. Right next to the pen turning demo was a booth selling screw removers and paint stirrers with a really cute blond lady working there. I think my buddies tested 72 paint stirrers before we left the show lol. The only thing I wish I would have bought but didn't was the Apollo 1050 sprayer. It was 30% off and I wanted to get into HVLP but my truck was already full, lol. I picked up some other small kit stuff and odds and ends and had a wonderful time with my friends drinking a few beers in the evenings and talking about what we're going to start when we get back. Right now we're looking at getting into segmented bowls or other turnings. I've been off the last 3 days due to Mardi Gras, so I've almost got everything together and ready to use.

Dave

[b33tl3]

Wow you stocked up. I would love a review on the Ceros. I looked at it too but I had just bought a Festool rotex.

Which plunge base did you get for your colt. I didn't see those. I like my colt but have been thinking about getting the Dewalt just to get the plunge.

An yes the blonde sealing paint stirrers was HHHHHOOOOOOTTTTT! The paint stirrers were a little weird kinda like pasties but maybe my mind was elsewhere.