I got the opportunity to go to the So. Calif. Woodworking show at the Fairplex in Pomona on Friday. This was my first time since they moved it to the Fairplex and it worked out well. For the first day of the show it appeared to have a good turn out in attendance. It was a bit smaller than the last So. Calif. show I went to as there were a number of regular vendors who were not there, but those that were there were doing a good job with lots of demos and people playing with the tools. I was limited in time as I could only spend a couple of hours there due to my schedual, but I got to see some good demos and hung out a bit and watched Jim Heavey from Wood Magazine doing his thing with a standing room only crowd. I hoped to get to talk with him a bit as he is always fun to chat with, but he was too tied up.

 

As for purchases, I went in looking to get one of the "Fast Joint Master Precision Joinery Systems" for making some small to medium sized boxes. I have been looking at this for some time so I finally decided to bite the bullet and get the "Master System w/the additional templates". Direct price from Peachtree is $269 but the show price was $189 so while it was pricey it was a much better price than they had at the last show I went to. I also picked up 3 table saw inserts out of the UHMW Polymer (plastic) for my Jet table saw for $7.50 each from the CMT booth as opposed to $18 each from the Peachtree booth and $20 from another vendor. I couldn't beat that price with a stick, so I was happy about it. I was looking to get a couple more of the "4 Way Clamps" from Peachtree, but they didn't have any price breaks on their clamps unless you bought 4 or more in the Bessy's. So since I had already forked out a bit over $200 on the day, and that I have pretty much done all my major cutting board making for Christmas sales, I will wait on the clamps.

One of the things I always enjoy is getting to chat with some other woodworkers I know from the woodworking forums I am on that live here in my area. I was able to spend some time chatting with John Rodgers (aka "grandpabear" on Wood Forums). It was great to catch up a bit and to see John walking as opposed to getting around in his wheelchair. He was looking great after losing a lot of weight and having his knee surgeries. I swear I have never seen anyone have as much fun at a woodworking show than John. As we were talking there were all kinds of people coming up to say hi to him or shake his hand or hug him. He was going to be there all 3 days socializing and picking up a few things for Christmas.

Overall the show was good for me and it was definetly worth the price of admission and parking as well as the 30 minute drive. It was good for hand and small to medium power tools from the resale vendors and they had most smaller power tools from Bosch, Makita, Milwaukee and Dewalt. Festool represented themselves well with a larger display that was well run where people could try out all the tools. But that is typical from Festool. I didn't see as much inventory and variety from the Peachtree and other accessory folks for miscellaneous shop items which I was hoping to find as well as not having more special "woodworking show" pricing which I heard a number of other woodworkers commenting on as I went in and out of the booths. There were no larger power tool vendors or manufacturer reps that I saw which was disappointing but not unexpected. I did not sit in on any seminars due to my limited time so I cannot comment on those other than the brief time I watched Jim Heavey which was very well attended.

I took my camera with me, but with all the people milling around I couldn't shoot anything worthwhile.

 

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Allen Worsham
Corona, CA

allenworsham@earthlink.net

http://www.awcreationsandwoodcrafts.com

'Graze in every man's field, but always give your own milk' J. Vernon McGee

Thanks for the update Allen!!! Grandpa Bear was there!!! Awesome! Sounds like it was a great time for all. Just curious did you see Fine Woodworking doing anything? They are one of my favorite publications.

 

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John Morris
The Patriot Woodworker

I saw FWW talking about something when I was walking by early on, but I couldn't hear what was being said as there was another vendor across the way from them doing something with a router and sander. Also they didn't have anything up on the screen that would explain what they were talking about and they only had about 5 people sitting in there along with the present from FWW. They were also surrounded by other vendors unlike Wood Magazine which was in the back corner with nothing next to them or running tools.This was a smaller venue than any other WWing show I have been to. But since Tami and I went to the big AWFS show in Las Vegas back in July, I am a tad spoiled now for any typical WWing shows.

 

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Allen Worsham
Corona, CA

allenworsham@earthlink.net

http://www.awcreationsandwoodcrafts.com

'Graze in every man's field, but always give your own milk' J. Vernon McGee