Thread: Sydney Wood Show Impressions

Originally Posted by graemet

Looks like I'm the first home, does this mean I'll be removed from the forums for unwoody behaviour by leaving before being chucked out?

Yeh Get out of here,Back to the Show for you,Go On back you go
Well!!! What did you think of it?

Firstly:
Liz, congratulations on the organisation and especially the Forums meeting area. The chance to sit down with a cup of coffee and have a yarn with other members was greatly appreciated. It probably cost you in lost rental space and the discounted tickets, so thanks!
I feel that there was a better layout this year, although I sensed that there were probably less people there than last year, or was it just that those school kids left earlier.

Second:
Great to catch up with the blokes that went to lunch and the others I met in the lounge area, putting faces to names.
Not much of a spend this year for me, some burls for turning, a few small tools and abrasives. Roger Gifkins had sold out of his new collets by the time I could get through the ruck to his counter.
Saw the glint from afar as the scurrilous cur was Shellawaxing everything in sight.
Bought some of the Solomons Ebony to play with.
BUT, enjoyed the day.
Cheers
Graeme

Was a great day. I felt that numbers were down on previous Fridays, although I think students were more than double previous years. This made the forum meeting area a real bonus as the other rest areas were dominated by students. Thanks Liz (tried to find you without any luck).

It was good to catch up with the usual misfits . Had a good lunch and told a few lies.

As I am getting ready to move house I kept my powder dry when it came to purchasing anything. though I did buy a small piece of the ebony. Want to see how it will go for pulls.

The amount of equipment on display seemed ot be down. I would not be surprised to find that some only participated to see how the new management perform. So hope that next year is full on.

Having said that I still believe that it is worth the visit. Especially at the special forum price.

Rather disapointing I felt, if you are not into green and black wasn't much there for you, was talking to some blokes at the airport came up specifcally for gear ,but the distributor wasn't there mighty p....d off.Hare and Forbes only a token booth.
Good quantity of bits and pieces from mc jing.
Didnt think it was worth the air fare

This years show for me was great.

It did become a little quite after lunching time, which for me was 15:00.

I got a chance to look around with out having so many kids to walk around (over). I met up a few forum members in the members members area. That was great to put a face to a handle. I am not sure if the same can be said from their side. I missed the 12:00 lunch time meeting, BUT I WAS NOT THE ONLY ONE.....

I was there before the start of the show and I am happy to say I managed to leave a few seconds before the close of the show.

I was planning to go on the Saturday but those plans have changed as I have to now work on the Saturday.

Lastly I wish to thank Liz for the support that she has has shown this forum.

Christos

well i got to go in at 8am as i walked around i felt like a fat kid that got left in the cake shop over nite it was grate!!!!!! so happy

but then 9am and as the gates open next thing i know there was school kids
and along with kids

I had 3hrs of
what are you carving???
how much $ can you make ?
And your to young to carve carvers are all old people

around 12 i went to the door to meet up with you all
to find out i was on the inside of the main door and you were all on the out side

later on in the day i whent to the little room that the show stuck up for the wood work fourm mumbers and i meet 2 or 3 of you

i hope to see you all 2mro at 12 outside main door

if not im on site 222 i think just look for a big carving

and liz did a hell of a job!!!
and her husband is a nice bloke to

Originally Posted by nz_carver

I had 3hrs of
what are you carving???
how much $ can you make ?
And your to young to carve carvers are all old people

And do not forget to ask the following questions.

What are you carving?
How much money can you make?
Are you to young to carve, when other carvers are all old people?

After thinking about this for a few seconds I think this is way too cruel to put on to nz_carver

So here are some replies.

What are you carving?
Wood.

How much money can you make?
Not Much.

Are you to young to carve, when other carvers are all old people?
Nah I am older then I look.

Then with a smile on your face

You have to tell them to come back next year.

I managed 4 1/2 hours before I had to leave to pick up my son from school, and my impression pretty much meets with everyone else.... Too many school kids "hanging around" - some were into it, which is great, they are the future of sawdust creation, but some were just having a day off and they made it difficult at times for those of us who had time constraints to get around, though it picked up after about 1:30 when everything seemed to go quiet. (Note to self: If going on Friday next year, turn up at 12:00 not 10:00 if you want to to avoid the (c)rush)

I managed to not spend much - picked up a Chris Vesper marking knife that I'd been eyeing off on the web, and going to hit Carbatec at Auburn tomorrow or Sunday, as their sale applies there too - providing they left some stock in the store

Not so much of the "big machines" this year - Hare and Forbes only a small range of Scheppach tools, and didn't even have their full catalogue available. One big name missing this year is Timbecon apparently due to staffing shortages - though I understand they are doing Adelaide and Melbourne. Hopefully they will be back in the future, as with No Triton and No Timbecon, everything was green not orange

The other thing that I felt was the demos were lacking in basics that would benefit so many newbies - Yes, the Gifkins demo I watched included basic router table safety (don't feed with the rotation) - I learned a great way to sharpen from Les Miller at the show many years ago, and it was sad to see that those sorts of sessions just seemed to be missing - admittedly there are lots of video podcasts online these days showing these things, but nothing beats "being there"

But all that said.....having not gone for the last year or two, I'm glad I was able to make it this year, and I intend finding the time next year to go again.

Spent the arvo there – deliberately timed it for after most of the school kids left.

Crowd wise, Friday arvo felt a little busier than last year.
What I like about Friday arvo is the exhibitors are still fresh and they usually have the time to chat and explain things.

Hello again to Linda Nathan from Australian Wood Review

There seems to be a lot more timber stands than last year.
But far too many Red Gum and Jarrah slabs for my taste

Gasweld have a much smaller stand than in previous years

The big tool guys – Makita, Festo, Metabo, Paslode, Hitachi, Fein – are there in force as are Milwalke but I must have missed the Makita girl and I don't recall any Bosch gear which is a pity as I'm thinking about a cordless Dremel
For those with the cash, there's one or two show specials on the Festo gear

Roger Gifkins and Chris Vesper seem to be the only small tool manufactures which is a shame as I'm in the market for a good pinned mortise gauge. Colin C are you reading this?

With Stan in the Hall of Industries, the Horden Pavilion doesn't seem as full but the displays are worth the detour.
Particularly enjoyed chatting to the young adults showing off their award winning HSC projects from last year.

Only spent a few $ today – a piece of Tassie Myrtle, 3 issues of Aust Woodworker and a box of driver bits

However, I got to play with more than a few of the LN planes. If you get the chance and the crowd is not to deep, ask David or Phil if you can try one of the planes on their bits of wood and report your impressions.
(It's know it's a blatent plug, but another a post started today (or was it yesterday?) is about sanding camphour laurel. Well David & Phil had a piece of cranky camphour in their vise and having had a go at it with a #5-1/2, #85 and the LA smoother, I can report that the "best" tool for finishing it was the LA smoother, with teh #5-1/2 not far behind, but that was probably because the #85 was blunt.)
Although it wasn't really sharp, LN's new T&G plane feels alright. And for the collectors among us, David has (had?) a #102 in white bronze

Most annoying thing at the Show: the woman banging two sticks together - absolutely NO pattern to it, just an annoying tink, tink ........... tink.. tink ....rattle rattle. It was actually a pleasure to hear one poor demonstrator having major feedback problems. It was bad enough that my friend with severe industrial deafness who was there was complaining about it.

It also cost a few stands some sales as I just had to move away - and get shoved & trodden on by small bunches of 'youffs' - the groups in uniforms and/or supervised by teachers were fine - but there were some small groups who just had to push in front of you when you were trying to look at something, or were walking backwards into people (like me). Maybe I should have bought one of those ebony mackerel stunners

I missed several of the smaller exhibitors from previous years, and they in turn missed out on my money

Yes, I second any vote of thanks to Liz and her team.

We arrived just before 10AM to ensure a spot in the Disabled parking but, from now on, shall arrive later on the Friday as the walking is painful on its own without all the school children. i understand, though, the reason Liz likes to see them there and I know I am sounding like a gumpy old man.

I went to buy from Carroll's, H and F and Gifkins but succeeded only with Carroll's, a very pleasant and helpful woman, was disappointed with H and F, could not get near Gifkins..

We left after an hour as it was too painful but shall try again next year.

Well, I thought it was all good. Heaps of timber on display - plenty of Australian Cedar which was nice to see.

Good to see the Magic Mop girls were there, but I missed the Magic Cloth guy. I sheepishly admit to buying some of the allow "welding" rods after an impressive demonstration. I'm a bit ambivalent about the massage parlour, though. I know he's done it a million times before, but could the Aussie Jig guy appear any more bored or monotone when he's delivering his spiel? He doesn't demonstrate any actual fitting/drilling using the jig - which is otherwise a nice piece of Australian made gear. Get your act together, Aussie Jig man.

And yes, there were a million school kids, but I thought all were mostly well behaved, smartly dressed and genuinely interested in the displays. Encouraging to see them there, I think - even if it was just another day off school for most of them. I saw quite a few leaving the show with quite large slabs of Aust Cedar - probably for school projects etc. Leave 'em alone, guys - they're ok.

The various "show specials" were available and appreciated, although Jim Carroll seemed to syphon virtually all of my spending money out in one hit. Still, I did well I think. Bought a Vicmarc 120mm chuck and extra pin jaws plus a set of VM bowl jaws from Jim, as well as some potpourri lids and other small stuff. Around $500 all up, which came down nicely to around $450.

Also bought a few small pieces of timber - a bit of African Wenge and some of the Queen Ebony just to play with. Some trinkets from McJings as stocking fillers and I was done. A few less exhibitors in the other hall I noticed but still worthwhile. They'll come back.

Got to have a pleasant lunch with some of the guys, and a few (free) cups of coffee in our most relaxing, civilised meeting area chatting with fellow forumites. This was one of the best part of the show experience and I used it severeal times throughout the day. Many thanks Liz and Rick (I got to thank both personally)! Hope this facility is available again next year.

Have fun today and Sunday, guys. Hey NZ Carver - how many days to go?

Wayne

Were there any specials on Lie Nielsen gear?
Zelk