I had a good time endlessly wandering around the floor @ IWF. 3 of us went. One to look at software and all of us to look at banders and routers. In between I looked at lots of other interesting stuff. They estimated attendance at about 30,000. Lots of Chinese stuff, some looking better than before. For routers we kind of agreed on 3 (4) brands. For our level of work that meant a price tag of $125K to 200+. By the time a few bells and whistles were added another 20-30K. When we upgrade it will have a push off and clean feature, 18 drills, 12+ tool changer, & a C-axis. Maybe auto load & auto label. There were quite a few auto stackers on display. Price seems to have come down, some now under $100K. We can't currently justify that but they seem quite efficient. They can put away and stack for the next days production overnight all by themselves. 

 

Felder had a very interesting router for machining parts that have already been roughly cut to size. It took up a relatively small floor space and had lots of good features. 

 

Edgebanders by the zillions. Priced from 5K to 700K. Our picks ranged in price from about $120K to 175. Professional level machines with most of the whistles. We don't do large volume banding but normally about 500 to 1200 bands a day. Couldn't decide if machines that could use laser banding were worth their cost. There isn't a big enough selection of laser banding available currently. 

 

I found a supplier of molded rubber products that can make new sleeves for my Max spindle sander. Also found a supplier of silicone membranes so I could replace the one on our 5x10 press. Cost seemed reasonable at about $1500. 

 

Lots of hardware was shown. Nice to actually get to feel it rather than the catalog. Lots of lumber and veneer suppliers. Several specializing in the current rage, natural edge slabs.

 

Looked at tooling. The best is priced that way! We still use Leuco blades and Onsrud router bits both out last the more common small shop tools by a wide margin. We just cut 80 sheets of 3/4" mdf into 2 7/16" rips. We stack cut 3 sheets at a time. Less than 10 second cycle time. We do that about every month and a half for the material distributor who sells it to someone w/o a productive saw. 

 

Anyhow Atlanta was nice, good food, nice weather, rented a nice condo for the duration of the show. Got Marta rail tickets to ride the subways where we needed to go, cheap! One of our guys was new to bigger city life and stuck to me like glue. I think he was afraid he'd get lost and not know how to find his way back. I told him about the bread crumb trick but he didn't buy it. The airport was crowded and the TSA lines we stupidly long.

Anyone else make the trip?

All in all, sounds like fun.

Nope, been several years since I went.

10 hours ago, Larry Schweitzer said:

Got Marta rail tickets to ride the subways where we needed to go, cheap! One of our guys was new to bigger city life and stuck to me like glue.

After riding Marta is probably why he stuck to you like glue.

10 hours ago, Larry Schweitzer said:

Anyone else make the trip?

No. However appreciate your review and perspective of the event. Sounds like it was a beneficial trip for you and your colleagues. 

12 hours ago, Larry Schweitzer said:

We just cut 80 sheets of 3/4" mdf into 2 7/16" rips.

Larry, that is a heck of a recommendation! Consumer grade bits wouldn't last one sheet of MDF! Thanks so much for the review, I love hearing what folks see and about the vendors who showed up, the Chinese market in automation seems to be off the rails in volume doesn't it? My goodness, every time I turn around my email gets packed with CNC and automated machinery from a Chinese vendor!

While walking around, did you notice at all if the machinery was basically the same but with a different label? Or at that level do they really design and build there own? Thanks.

John. Though many CNCs share components, I didn't notice the same practice of "change the paint and call it another brand" like on so much of the basic woodworking equipment. There were more Chinese banders than before. Most all claiming to be designed someplace else. 

The MDF was cut on our beam saw. Part of the reason miles of cut line can be done with a blade is using optimal feed speeds, a very ridged carriage and of course quality blades. It doesn't pay to use consumer level tooling. 

 

Gramps, Marta is a great way to travel. I've been using it for 20 years. The 5 points station can seem like a rat maze where you have to change trains on different levels. I like the really long escalator in the Peach tree station. You could get vertigo looking down it. $19 for 4 days of unlimited travel on the rail & bus lines, dirt cheap, fast, direct to & from Hartsfield airport & no parking hassles! Recommended... It isn't as extensive as in other cities I've been. I lived in London for awhile, great tube system. Tokyo also had a very good, but overloaded system. NY, OK but can't say much good about Chicago's. 

3 hours ago, Larry Schweitzer said:

Gramps, Marta is a great way to travel. I've been using it for 20 years.

Larry, It's been several years since I rode Marta train...vowed I'd never do it again but will admit it was somewhat cleaner than New York's sub-ways; Never ridden the train in Chicago. I did travel the buses with good experiences.

That said, Atlanta remains my favorite large U.S. city. I've never been to Los Angeles and nor have intentions to deliberately go there. 

Over the years, I've flown in/out of Hartsfield numerous times and can say I only had one bad experience trying to fly out due to fog...It certainly beats O'Hare IMHO.