Thread: Melbourne WWW 2007

I was at the show on Friday looking for a bandsaw, after reading all the posts here and checking various models in Melbourne stores. Thought I would be buying a Jet 18", taking advantage of a hoped-for "show special".

Well they were there, and with a "special new price" label too. But this price was the same as the $2160 RRPs I had been quoted for the last month - nothing special at all. From talking around the stands, and to interstate dealers on the phone, I got the clear impression that Jet have restricted dealers from showing prices on their websites, and it sounds like dealers were also discouraged from exhibiting Jet bandsaws (and maybe other Jet products) on their own stands. I suppose they have every right to control the market for their products but it left a bad taste in my mouth.

Woodfast for me, with Carbatec a close second.

Eli,

Did you see the Stiletto titanium hammers at the Building Contractors stand.

They were not selling them, but had some there as they were recently reviewed in that mag. You can pick up a copy of the Building Contractors magazine there for free if it interests you. No free Stiletto hammers though

For anyone going tomorrow, have a play with one.

Went in before the show to meet with Terry Gordon to have some one on one tuition and picked up this HNT Desert Rosewood Blockplane

This brings my HNT collection to 6 planes.

Then I did the walk around, meet up with the board members to chat and exchange.

I got a chance to meet with Neil and got some help with my french polishing and bought the Finishing Guide Book, Hide Glue and and some Rotten stone.

Best I had a chance to compare some NL and LV planes, head to head, and get a feel for each one, take some shavings. The LN felt better to hold thanks to the tote and knob and it had a better feel overall. The lack of set screw was not a major drawback. The LV however had a much nice feed adjuster just had a nicer thread. The LV was far more substantial heft. The thing of interest is that LN does not have lateral adjustment, which is just silly not to have and would not be a major re-design. It was a shame the only wood they had to test on was Vic Ash. My decision was made clearer, not final but clearer.

The funniest things I saw today was this very attractive woman at the LN stand, she choose an LN bronze No.4 because it was pretty.

It is amazing what a salesman will tell the gullible customer. to get a sale.

Originally Posted by Nifty1

I was at the show on Friday looking for a bandsaw, after reading all the posts here and checking various models in Melbourne stores. Thought I would be buying a Jet 18", taking advantage of a hoped-for "show special".

Well they were there, and with a "special new price" label too. But this price was the same as the $2160 RRPs I had been quoted for the last month - nothing special at all. From talking around the stands, and to interstate dealers on the phone, I got the clear impression that Jet have restricted dealers from showing prices on their websites, and it sounds like dealers were also discouraged from exhibiting Jet bandsaws (and maybe other Jet products) on their own stands. I suppose they have every right to control the market for their products but it left a bad taste in my mouth.

Woodfast for me, with Carbatec a close second.

The Hammer looked good, and in that price range. One might be making its way to my place. Well that's my preference anyway.

Yes, I liked the Hammer too but it was almost $900 more expensive than the Woodfast by the time the GST was added in. Also looked like delivery might not be until early next year, or whenever the late December container arrives. $900 buys a lot of extra toys.

There was some lovely timber there, and some beautiful finished pieces. I came away feeling most 'umble.

Ok,

Finally got home. They almost had to kick me out.

Started the day by metting up with a couple of reprobates from the forum (A certain dog and his mate the goat lover, and the loverly Mrs Oz). had a chat and a joke. The did my shift at the stall. Met up with lots of members, had a good chat to a lot of people. There were a lot of people showing interest in the forum, so if half the people I spoke to sign up we are going to have a membership explosion.

After that dropped into see Jim Carrol, collected my Free prize draw winnings (Used the money to buy a set of Vermec Cole Jaws).
also picked up an angle gauge (To make sure i am getting the angle right on my chisels)
Dropped by Neil, and met Beaut and Chris. Spent up on polish, hide glue and a sanding gadget.
Then picked up some loverly blanks (Redgum burl, coolabah burl, myrtle, and blackwood)
Then spent the rest of the time wandering around or talking to people at the WWF stall.

All in all had a great day, though I think I am about a foot shorter from all the walking around

Originally Posted by Gra

Ok,


All in all had a great day, though I think I am about a foot shorter from all the walking around

did you get decapitated or something

Originally Posted by ss_11000

did you get decapitated or something

nah just wore the bottom off my feet

didnt you wear shoes??

Had a great day at the show, met lots of forumites and can now put faces to lots of names.

Bought a few things, Teknatool G3 chuck and 25mm Pin Jaws as well as a keyless chuck for the MC900. Also some pen bits and a book on pen making that caught my eye, Pen Turner's Workbook by Barry Goss.

Other major purchase was a wet grinder, went to the show planning to buy the new Triton one, but when I saw the Scheppach Tiger 2000 at the Hafco stand for $225, I was sold. Also got the the wood turners' kit of jigs with this for $129. Seems that Scheppach have seen the "error" of their ways, or Hafco is content to make less margin than C/tec, as the Tiger 2000 is in the current C/tec cattledog for $499.
Hopefully the Scheppach wheel is not as "wobbly" as people have been reporting on the Triton.

Also got some bits and pieces from PWS for my various Incra jigs and some jig knobs and mitre track slides.

As usual got some clock parts and movements from Jonathon Knowles, as they always have very good prices at the show.

Stocked up on a few Ubeaut products at show prices as well.

Had a good look at Richard Raffans' demo, boy can he turn wood! Also had a close look at the various wood working projects in the centre, the writing box reorted by Groggy really caught my eye, brilliant!


All in all a good day, made all the better by meeting so many forumites.

Originally Posted by Eli

The forstners were a real good deal, which probably means I can use each one halfway through the first job. Anybody have any history with those? (carba-tec)

yeah i got the full set a coupla years back, no real problems with them though thye are possibly a little soft compared to the more expensive ones and will blunten and burn on harder woods, not too hard to sharpen so they are pretty good if you are not using them all day every day.

The carbatec boring bar extenstion is worth getting so you can get a 10-12 inch depth from them on the lathe..

Hi All,

Went Saturday and had a good look around.

Called in and saw Neil, picked up his book on polishing, got to read it now.

Had a good chat to Colen Clenton and bought one of his 8" squares with the blackwood handle - its almost to good to use, might have to frame it and hang it on the wall

Quick chat to a few forum members at the stand, hi to all there today.

Learnt that I need to upgrade my triton ROS attachment to a dedicated ROS real quick. Liked the one on the Metabo stand.

Checked out all the Tablesaws, Jointers, Bandsaws and Dust Collection systems that I am looking at. Bit disappointed that a few of the machines that I wanted to look at weren't on show, but I guess they can't bring the whole shop.

Checked out the domino system. Now realise I need one for my next few projects, but don't know how I can justify the price.

Had a chat to Rob on the Lucas Mill Stand. Check out the slab that is down on the Metabo stand that Lucas Mill slabbed and the Metabo guys smoothed and polished with a ROS - its come up pretty good. (Gotta get one of them)

Now I know why people rave about the LN planes - slightly better than the 4 1/2 falcon that I picked up for $15 at a garage sale. (Santa, you looking here?)

Off to shuffle the numbers now to decide what I can afford.

I bought a few bottles of Shellac and a few jars of wax, some oil, a couple of planes, a high angle frog and some ceramic stones.

I spent a bit of time on the club stands and catching up with a few mates.

This year it was good not to be hassled by spruikers and others selling products quite removed from Woodwork.

Friday seemed busier than Saturday to me.

I went today, Sunday.

Here's the story. My best mate is from the States and one of his old school buddies has flown in this week from California for a visit, and he has just recently taken an active interest in woodwork, so he was very keen to go to the show.

Me, on the other hand, am a bit of a home body and only go out and spend money if it's really necessary. So, after some persuading by my mate, I decided to go with them.
We had lunch in some Italian place in the city, which our overseas guest gladly paid for, so there was a free lunch.
My mate then insisted on paying for my entry ticket into the show, so there was a free day out. Plus he drove.

Some high points.

I met Stuart Lees the demonstrator from Triton. A nice, warm very keen lover of all things timber and of course Triton. He has reinforced my decision to pickup a Triton 13inch Bandsaw.

As I had recently just bought the Triton Sharpener I spent a bit of time chatting to a bloke called Bob, who was demonstrating the Sharpener. I learnt a bit from Bob and am now confident of pushing the Triton Sharpener more than I had in the first week of ownership. Bob had lots of Band-aids on his fingers, so he is certainly getting the chisles to that scarey sharp level we all strive for.

Some of the demonstrators are as boring as watching paint dry, but others are sensational. Roger Gifkins has the knack of making his jigs walk out the door. An excellent product, very well marketed.

The high point of my day was on the trip home my phone rang, I hit the ignore button then latter when I checked my voice mail it was the guy from Kincrome ringing me to let me know that I had just won the $400 5 in 1 Zoom Workbench. Yep, you read that right, I won the 5 in 1 Zoom Work bench. Now, isn't that just the coolest day out or what!

So cop this, the last Expo I ever went to was the Timber Flooring Expo two years ago and on that day I won $400 worth of sandpaper. So I just gotta love these Expos.

I'm thinking about going to the Sexpo next time it comes around. Who knows what I might win there.