The “AWFS Fair†(Association of Woodworking and Furnishing Suppliers) is a huge trade show that happens every odd year in Las Vegas representing the interests of companies and individuals who supply the home and institutional furnishing manufacturing industries. This includes manufacturers and distributors of machines, hardware, lumber, upholstery materials, bedding, wood products and other suppliers to furniture and cabinet manufacturers. There is also a similar trade show that is done in Atlanta, Georgia every even year called the “IWF (International Woodworking Fair)†but is a separate organization.

So what does the AWFS Fair have to do for the “Typical Woodworker� Well, quite a bit actually. As most of us not only build items in our shop for our family, friends and to sell, we also do a lot of work on our homes through restoration and renovation. So while the AWFS Fair is geared towards the commercial industry that is building cabinetry, furniture and renovating on a larger scale, on the smaller scale the typical woodworker can benefit from many of the tools and products that the “Big Boys†use in their trade. Now I seriously doubt that any typical woodworker has the space or financial resources to put a multiple processing CNC machine with a footprint of 50-200+ sq.ft. costing $10,000-$500,000+ in their garage, or buy thousands of board feet of hardwoods or pallets of drawer slides & hinges or 55 gallon drums of spray finish. But us little guys and gals have access to these same materials, finishes, hardware and machines in smaller quantities and sizes to fit our needs as well as techniques available to us within our financial means through easily accessible vendors online or in our local communities. Also the software for design, marketing and business operations that the “Big Boys†use are also available to us little guys and gals as well to design our projects, manage our costs and materials as well as marketing our products. So whether you are a “1 man/woman shop†with a few $’s to spend or a huge corporation with a lot of employees with a budget of $1,000,000+, the AWFS Fair is a wealth of information for machinery, tools, materials and resources to make your hobby/business run leaner, meaner and be more productive. It is also a great place to get ideas for renovations for our homes.

My wife Tami and I went to the AWFS Fair for the first time back in 2011 and really enjoyed ourselves. My wife enjoyed looking at the furnishing and hardware stuff as well as the different types of moldings door panels on the one side of the convention center while I enjoyed looking at all the different tools on the other side. She came up with all kinds of projects that she would like done in our home as well as her classroom (she is a special educator working with children with moderate to sever autism and keeps me busy making things for her classroom) and I got to figure out what tools I need (or could attempt to justify) in order to do them. So it was a good time for both of us. The 2013 show was the same for us this time around as well as we both came home with a “wish list†for the coming year.

One disappointing thing that we saw at the 2013 show was that there were a lot less vendors than at the 2011 show even though the show was held in the same amount of space. According to the various vendors I spoke with they were down close to 20% from the 2011 show. Since there were less vendors leaving more empty space available on the floor, a few of the larger vendors that manufacture the large multiple processing CNC machines were able to bring in more of their larger machines to fill up the space.  I talked with a number of vendors about how they were doing at the show as well as their opinions on how this show compared to the last show in 2011 and what they would do in the future. Some vendors were doing very well at the show while some were not. Most of those that were struggling was due to the cost of operating at the show verses the return that they would get from the marketing and networking with attendees to generate more sales. The fees charged by the venue have been raised considerably from the previous year. Also the costs of transporting all their machines back and forth across the country and having to pay for the staffing are more expensive than before. But the biggest thing is that with more and more people looking online to get their information on products for purchase, their advertising, marketing and networking dollars spent on trade shows just does not bring in the same amount of business as before. I spoke at length about this with a representative from RIKON Tools. He said that this had been a very difficult show for them and was doubtful that they would be back in 2015 for the next AWFS Fair. This was not the only vendor to have this opinion. On the other hand, I spoke to one of the vendors that was doing very well at the show which was Laguna Tools, who is one of our sponsors here at TPW. Torben Helshoj and his wife Catherine Helshoj are the President and Vice President of Laguna Tools. They and their staff were extremely busy every time we walked by their location at the show. I spoke briefly with Torben, but he was busy wheeling and dealing with clients and couldn’t chat long. Catherine was kind enough to chat with my wife and I for awhile and she was a wonderful person to talk with. She was saying that they were very happy with how they were doing and that it would be a successful show for them. I also spoke with one of Laguna’s other representatives the following day about how the show was going and he said the only drawback for them was that they had too small of a location as they would have done even better if they had more room to be able to bring in more of their CNC machines as they were getting more customers than expected. So it was a mixed bag with the different vendors I talked with. But overall the attendance at the show for the 2 days that we were there was very brisk with the expectations of being even larger on final two days which is when the larger crowds typically show up.

In light of the trend of many companies choosing not to come to the AWFS Fair due to their diminishing returns on their advertising dollars at a trade show, there were a number of the usual woodworking tools folks that were not at the show this time around. Delta, Porter Cable, Dewalt, Makita, Bosch, Grizzly, Milwaukee, Ridgid and a number of other big name companies that had displays at the 2011 show were not there. The only major tool folks that had a presence at the 2013 show were Rikon, Laguna, Steel City, General and Senco. Even though there were a number of the big names that were not there at the show, there were so many cool things that I saw in both the tool and furnishing sides that I could write pages and pages about them. So after weeding through my bag of brochures and flyers, I have narrowed things down to a few that really stood to me while at the show that should appeal to us typical woodworkers working out of our garages and small shops. I was able to get photos of some of their set-ups, but others I was not due to the crowds. Also some folks can get a bit testy having someone shooting photos, so I always ask first before I shoot. So below are a few of the vendors that jumped out at me at the show.

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See addendum added on 8-01-13 at end of this post.

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Bessey Tools:

http://www.besseytools.com

Bessey had a lot of people moving in and out of their display area every time we passed by. They brought in their tried and true products as well as some new comers to the market. They brought in 5 new designs of their “Auto-Adjust Toggle Clamps†with various mounting options for use on jigs or workbenches. With the twist of the thumb knob you can adjust how much holding pressure you want from 25-250lbs. pressure and then the clamp will maintain that same pressure even with the varying thickness of the material. This means that you can work faster as you don’t have keep adjusting the height of the clamp with the thickness of the wood, which saves a lot of time for production work. They also had their new “Rapid-Action†bar clamps that give you quick adjustments to fit the width of your board as well as a new mechanism for tightening up to your project. Unlike typical bar clamps where you twist the handle and the threaded rod with the round pad that goes against your wood at the end rotates as well which can cause the pieces of your glue up to shift, this one has the double spindle mechanism with the threaded rod pushing against a non-rotating plunger so the round pad that goes against your wood does not move so no more shifting glue ups as you tighten it down. Bessey is one our valued sponsors here at TPW and they make great products. You can see videos of these new clamps at:
http://www.besseytools.com/en/downloads_video.php

 

Laguna Tools:

http://www.lagunatools.com

Laguna Tools is also one of our sponsors here at TPW. They had a number of their band saws, shapers and other tools there as well as some of their fantastic CNC machines for larger productions shops that were getting a lot of attention. Laguna has always made great products over the years, but their CNC machines are really top notch and were in high demand at the show. It was a real pleasure talking with Catherine Helshoj the Vice President of Laguna Tools about their company as well as their support for TPW and our wounded warriors.  She said the her and Torben were so pleased to be able to support TPW as we are one of the few groups who not only talk about helping out our wounded warriors, but are actually doing something about it. She committed to doing whatever she could to help promote TPW and was having a meeting later on in the day with some other vendors and media representatives and to try and help us get more support. I am very grateful for all the support that they have given to our site. They are also wonderful down to earth people as well.

Here is a photo my wife took of Catherine Helshoj and I talking at their display.

Woodcraft:

http://www.woodcraft.com

Woodcraft is one of our wonderful sponsors at TPW and one of the best woodworking supply stores out there. I know that I have shopped there for years both in their stores as well as online and so have many of us here on TPW. They carry just about everything you need for your woodworking needs from hand tools to table saws and everything in between. They had a great set up at the show and were always crowded every time we walked by keeping the representatives busy. So due to the crowds I was not able to get in there and chat with them about how they were doing at the show as well as what new stuff that they brought with them. So even though I wasn’t able to connect with the Woodcraft folks, I want to thank them for their support of TPW and for all of us woodworkers.

 

Senco:

http://www.senco.com

Senco has been making high quality pneumatic nailers, screw guns and compressors for the professional contractor as well as for the hobbyist woodworker for many years. But at the AWFS Fair they were introducing a brand new line of battery operated finish nailers and new oil-less compressors. Senco’s new “Fusion†series 15, 16 and 18 gauge nailers work off an 18v battery as opposed to air hose from a compressor or a replaceable gas canister. They can shoot up to 600 nails per charge and the quick charge battery charger can give the dead battery an 80% charge in 15 minutes so you have a quick turnaround time. The new oil-less compressors have been redesigned to be considerably quieter than their previous models and more durable. They were running some good deals on the compressors as I saw a number of smiling guys walking out the door with them.

Kreg Tools:

http://www.kregtool.com

The makers of the best pocket hole jig out there have just raised the bar again. At the AWFS Fair they were introducing their brand new “K5†pocket hole jig. They made some really nice changes to their already great jig to make clamping, adjusting and dust collection better. They also added in built-in storage for all the bits and drivers that also doubles for greater support and clamping on wider boards. The new “K5†will be available in September 2013 to the general public. You can see a short video on the Kreg site below.

Rikon Power Tools:

http://www.rikontools.com

Rikon Power Tools brought out a wide range of their great products for the show as well as a couple of new additions along with a change in paint color from green to blue. Same great tools, different color. Rikon makes some great quality tools in their lathes, drill presses, band saws and others. At the AWFS Fair they introduced their already high quality planers and jointers with the blue paint scheme and the option of a new carbide helical cutting head to make them even better. The new blue machines and the helical cutting heads will not be available to the public until later in the year.

Saw Stop:

http://www.sawstop.com

The folks at the Saw Stop display were very busy at the AWFS Fair. They brought out the full line of their machines along with presentations by a representative every 30-45 minutes on how the infamous hot dog (instead of a finger) will not get cut when it hits the spinning blade for safety. Of course the presentations were done with a video on the big monitors while being narrated by a live person. When Saw Stop first came out on the market a number of years ago they had irrefutable superior safety features over the other saws on the market. But even though they had great safety features, they lacked the same quality in construction and functionality as the big boys in the table saw world. But the Saw Stop is no longer in the back seat as their fit, finish and quality has come up to the level of the big boys. They offer a 1.75hp Contractor Saw; 1.75hp and 3hp Professional Cabinet Saw and an Industrial Cabinet Saw with a 3hp, 5hp and 7hp motor for the large production shops all priced competitively with the other top of the line saws. They also offer mobile bases for their Contractor and Cabinet Saws as well as a job site mobility base (two large wheels on a tubular steel frame that can be easily rolled over a job site) that you can mount the Contractor Saw to for use on a job site. So now there is no excuse to bypass the safety that the Saw Stop brings to the table. The Saw Stop construction is solid and their dust collection is top notch.

Goff’s Curtain Walls

http://www.goffscurtainwalls.com

Goff’s manufactures all different types of plastic curtains for dividing off areas to keep dust, dirt, wind and rain out (or in) ranging from a small area to an airplane hanger. Many companies use these to set apart areas for spraying finish as well as for dust control. Many of us hang tarps or pick up some cheap shower curtains at the local Wal-Mart to give us a cleaner area to finish our projects. But these are all custom made to fit your specific area and includes all hardware to ceiling mount the curtains for easy opening and storage out of a heavier grade material that will stand many years of use. I know that I get tired of having to dig out my tarps and ladder to set up and tear down every time I need to spray finish. Their pricing for a small shop area that is 10’x10’ to 12’x12’ is very reasonably priced. You can see a video at the link below.

http://www.goffscurtainwalls.com/curtain-walls/woodworking-curtains

Damstom Panel Clamps

http://www.damstom.com

This is a brand new clamp from a Canadian company that is just starting to be test marketed to the United States. These clamps are designed for gluing up panels with multiple pieces like a cutting board or counter top. The design is very simple but also very effective. Typically when I glue up a panel I have to use 6 clamps (2 bar clamps for compression, 4 cauls with 2 on the top of the panel and 2 on the bottom of the panel, 4 more bar clamps or “quick clamps†to hold the cauls. But with these new clamps from Damstom you just need 2 clamps which compresses the panel and keeps the panel flat. These are not available for sale yet in the United States as this was the company’s first showing to gauge support and input from others about any changes that they would like done to them. They will be making them in 24†and 36†models. Project cost per 36†clamp will be about $60 US and they hope to be able tohave them available for sale in the fall of this year or early 2014. You can see 2 short videos if the use of these clamps at the link below.

http://damstom.com/product/videos/

Blum:

http://www.blum.com

Blum had a great display with their entire top of the line drawer slides, hinges and lift systems for overhead opening cabinet doors. They had all kinds of soft closing hinges and drawer slides as well as drawer slides with electronic servo drives. So with a touch of a drawer front or small button or even a wave of your foot under a sensor you can open or close your drawers or cabinet doors. The ones that really caught my eye were the new soft closing door hinges for face frame mounted doors that attach directly to the front of the face frame and not clip to the side. When the door is closed the front mount nests into the cup on the door for a flush fit to the frame when closed. These are perfect for doing a kitchen renovation when using existing face frame cabinets when making new doors. My wife saw them and went “Ooooooooooo……you can do that honey!†I gave the salesman a dirty look and he just shrugged his shoulders and smiled at me and then I hung my head in resignation that a kitchen cabinet renovation is in my future. 

So there you have a very brief overview of our trip to the AWFS Fair in Las Vegas. If you have the opportunity to be able to go to the IWF show in Atlanta in August 2014 or AWFS Fair in July 2015, it is well worth the time and a lot of fun. They have lots of great stuff to look at, you can get some great ideas for projects to make, find new kinds of great hardware to use on your projects, play with some cool tools and learn how to make your shop more productive. Tami and I had a blast and enjoyed our time at the show and spent about 10 hours there over two of the 3 1/2 days we were in Las Vegas. We spent the rest of the time relaxing and meandering around in the stores and hotels looking at all that was there as well as eating way too much good food. We really enjoyed going through the Bellagio Hotel as they have a great conservatory that they change 4 times each year to coincide with the 4 seasons. So here are Tami and I in the conservatory with lots of summer flowers. My wife loves sunflowers so this was a perfect spot.

Addendum added 8-01-13

After the posting of this review of the AWFS Fair, an email was received from Angelo Gangone, Executive Vice President, AWFS with a few comments of my review. While appreciative of my write-up, he wished to point out a few errors as to what I posted about the number of vendors at the show as the information that I received was taken from conversations directly with vendors and their personal opinions of the show as opposed to vendor numbers from AWFS. He also wanted to clarify what AWFS is doing to work with the various tool and small machinery manufacturers that had been at the 2011 show that chose not to attend the 2013 show. I do agree that I should have contacted AWFS about the data prior to posting my write-up on the show, but it was not something that even crossed my mind. In the future I will be sure to contact AWFS or the management overseeing any other show that I am writing about. AWFS is a great organization and I very much appreciate the time and effort that they put out to put together these shows. I look forward to 2015 show.

2 excerpts from the email received from Mr. Gangone:

Hello Allen,

My name is Angelo Gangone, Executive Vice President, AWFS.  I wanted to thank you for your coverage of our show.  There are a couple of points, however, that I did want to address.  First of all, our show was larger in overall floor space, number of exhibitors (and attendance) than 2011.  Exhibitors actually occupied 12% more floor space than our previous show.  In addition, we had 503 exhihibitors versus 474 in 2011. 

 

In addition, you were correct that some of the power tool and small machinery manufacturers, such as Grizzly, Black and Decker, Makita, Delta, etc... were not in our show this year.  In many cases, however, these manufacturers have abandoned shows in general, especially in the woodworking sector.  I assure you, we have already discussed several strategies with our board on ways that we can get these companies back in our Fair in 2015.  They are far too important to our audience to not have a presence at our show.  Ultimately, it is THEIR decision as to whether they will come back or not.  Hopefully, they will do what is best for their customers. I assure you of this, if they do decide to come back, AWFS will be more than accomodative and supportive in helping to make their 2015 experience a successful one.

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Allen Worsham
Corona, CA

allenworsham@earthlink.net

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

“Our greatest fear should not be that we won’t succeed,
but that we will succeed at something that doesn’t matter.â€
D.L. Moody

Very good, Allen. I know I would be drooling over some, if not all of those tools!

It sounds like it was a win, win trip looking at all the "toys" and time away together with Tami.

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Harry Brink
Bulldog Woodworking
Montana

Great write-up Allen.  We're planning to attend the Atlanta event next summer so now I know what to look forward to.

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Ron Dudelston
Site Administrator

Above and Beyond WoodWorks

Great review Allen,

My only problem is that there are too many toys, and too little $$$$.

 

Larry

Old Woodworking Machinery Forum Host

Great reviews of the show and the vendor there. I guess we need to start figuring out how we can all make it to Atlanta next year. I hope Fred has lots of room!

Thanks for taking the time to share the experience with us.

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John Moody
Site Administrator


John Moody Woodworks
http://www.johnmoodywoodworks.com

Allen,

Thanks for the review for those of us that couldn't be there! The pictures are awesome! I am so glad you got to visit with Catherine! Isn't she awesome?

Nate

Nate,

It was a real pleasure to chat with Catherine. Tami and I both enjoyed our time with her. The 2nd day at the show Tami and I were walking around in the common area away from the show floor where they have the food court and a number of benches for people to sit at. As we were walking I saw Catherine waving at us as she was finishing her lunch so we got to chat some. Very nice lady to talk to.

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Allen Worsham
Corona, CA

allenworsham@earthlink.net

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

“Our greatest fear should not be that we won’t succeed,
but that we will succeed at something that doesn’t matter.â€
D.L. Moody

Allen, thank you for the wonderful review, what a write up!!!! Very professional!!! I think you are looking for a job with one of the major woodworking publications!!!

Hey Frank Byers, I may have found some help for your blog!!!!

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John Morris
The Patriot Woodworker

I added an addendum to the end of the original post as I received and email from the Executive Vice President of AWFS regarding some things about the AWFS Fair that I posted that he would like corrected. Please scroll up to see the addendum at the end of the original post.

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Allen Worsham
Corona, CA

allenworsham@earthlink.net

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

“Our greatest fear should not be that we won’t succeed,
but that we will succeed at something that doesn’t matter.â€
D.L. Moody

Good show Allen!!!! And thank you Mr. Gangone for your attention to our site!!!!

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John Morris
The Patriot Woodworker