Lie-Nielsen event: Attend, or just spend the money on tools?

[Don Orr]

I have not been to the big summer event at LN, but I did go there and take the factory tour last Fall. Had a great time-my wife even liked it. I have heard from friends that the summer party is quite fun. There are lots of great things to see in Maine. Not far from LN is the Pemaquid Point State Park with one of the oldest lighthouses in Maine and not far form there in New Harbor is a great lobster restaurant called Shaw's. It's a working lobster wharf. The back roads should be great fun on a bike. (I haven't ridden since I started working in a Level 1 Trauma Center). I would second the suggestion to call LN and ask about the event.

[Malcolm Schweizer]

I have not been to the big summer event at LN, but I did go there and take the factory tour last Fall. Had a great time-my wife even liked it. I have heard from friends that the summer party is quite fun. There are lots of great things to see in Maine. Not far from LN is the Pemaquid Point State Park with one of the oldest lighthouses in Maine and not far form there in New Harbor is a great lobster restaurant called Shaw's. It's a working lobster wharf. The back roads should be great fun on a bike. (I haven't ridden since I started working in a Level 1 Trauma Center). I would second the suggestion to call LN and ask about the event.

We drive in the left, and although I travel a lot to places that drive on the right, I'm a bit nervous about being on a bike without another rider to remind me. Pulling out of parking lots is when you revert sometimes to the wrong side of the road.

I called LN and got kind of a generic answer that there is something for all levels, but their video suggests it's sharpening, dovetails, and spoon making workshops.

Handwerks sounds fun. Going to a land-locked state might not be too bad.

[David Eisenhauer]

South of Iowa, the Ozark and White River areas in Arkansas are beautiful bike riding areas. Missouri has some very nice terrain as well. Going North, one runs into the whole Great Lakes region but I have no experience with that area.

[Dave Anderson NH]

I vote Mystic Malcolm. As a boat person there are few places with as good a selection. Try to make contact with the curatorial staff before going to set up an appointment. Across the street from the seaport is a long low brick factory building with 4 times as many boats stored as are on display and it is not normally open to the public. Also south of that building and back up on a hill is a 2 story Butler building with even more boats. The curators should be sympathetic if you pitch them the distance and expense of your travel. Mystic is absolutely awesome and should take you 1-1 1/2 days to cover in detail.

[Malcolm Schweizer]

South of Iowa, the Ozark and White River areas in Arkansas are beautiful bike riding areas. Missouri has some very nice terrain as well. Going North, one runs into the whole Great Lakes region but I have no experience with that area.

Oh, I know that area well. My brother would ride through there every year until he had a wreck, and decided that was it for his riding career. (He's okay- broke a few ribs, but he's better now.)

I vote Mystic Malcolm. As a boat person there are few places with as good a selection. Try to make contact with the curatorial staff before going to set up an appointment. Across the street from the seaport is a long low brick factory building with 4 times as many boats stored as are on display and it is not normally open to the public. Also south of that building and back up on a hill is a 2 story Butler building with even more boats. The curators should be sympathetic if you pitch them the distance and expense of your travel. Mystic is absolutely awesome and should take you 1-1 1/2 days to cover in detail.

More than once I have been near Mystic, and always there was no time to go there. I won't go to Maine without driving to Mystic, but I am not looking forward to a 9-hour round trip. I'm thinking maybe fly in to EHT, and fly out of PWM. I'd have to nix the Harley, but then I won't be concerned with the weather.

[Edwin Santos]

She can't complain- she's going to Spain for 3 weeks to hike the Camino de Santiago for her third time.

Your wife sounds experienced, but all the same, please tell her to take precautions on that hike. The sister of a friend had a bad incident there while hiking it alone in 2015. I hope your wife will be in a group or with at least one other person. Sorry if this is unwanted advice but I can't help myself.

[Malcolm Schweizer]

Your wife sounds experienced, but all the same, please tell her to take precautions on that hike. The sister of a friend had a bad incident there while hiking it alone in 2015. I hope your wife will be in a group or with at least one other person. Sorry if this is unwanted advice but I can't help myself.

It is one of the safest hikes you can do. We walked the Camino together. Typically you end up in groups even if you are alone. It is sad to hear about your friend. It is a sad thing to hear about my favorite walk.

[Edwin Santos]

It is one of the safest hikes you can do. We walked the Camino together. Typically you end up in groups even if you are alone. It is sad to hear about your friend. It is a sad thing to hear about my favorite walk.

Malcolm, I'm not trying to be argumentative, and you've been there and I haven't, but it was anything but safe for my friend's sister who was murdered there in 2015. The trial of the Spanish man charged with killing her began this week in Madrid. If you choose to google it, you'll find plenty of news articles going back to the period when she was simply missing. It was and is, very sad and tragic.

From your comments, this was probably an outlier circumstance, but because I have an indirect connection to it, it's a big deal to me and so I share the story, advising caution wherever possible. I've never tried to talk anyone out of it, just advise caution. I know I've taken this thread way off topic, sorry about that, couldn't help it when I saw Camino de Santiago come up.

[Jim Koepke]

I voted before reading the text.

My thought was it was a regular Lie-Nielsen Tool Event. It has been my good fortune to be able to attend 3 of those in different cities. The one that seemed the best was in Oakland, California. It was in a foundry and they were giving demonstration on casting.

Even with an understanding of all the LN tools, there are others there that are informative to see.

jtk

[Mike Brady]

I went to the LN open house last summer and stayed for the lobster boil on the last day. Definitely worthwhile and the factory is great to see. You won't see a foundry there; mostly machining (the staff will be working on the event, not at their regular jobs). I think one day is enough, but I did not buy anything, which would have taken some extra time. We spent several days before and after the even touring and spent two nights in a great B&B in Bar Harbor. Warren, ME is a wide spot in the the road (hwy 1).

Handworks is mostly a selling show but some of the outlying vendors do have live demonstrations of their tools in use. I personally enjoy seeing many vendors and lots of familiar faces that I would encounter nowhere else. You will spend money there! Amana is a beautiful nod to a bygone era. It's about a three hour drive (or ride) from Chicago. This will be my third trip there.

[Malcolm Schweizer]

Malcolm, I'm not trying to be argumentative, and you've been there and I haven't, but it was anything but safe for my friend's sister who was murdered there in 2015. The trial of the Spanish man charged with killing her began this week in Madrid. If you choose to google it, you'll find plenty of news articles going back to the period when she was simply missing. It was and is, very sad and tragic.

From your comments, this was probably an outlier circumstance, but because I have an indirect connection to it, it's a big deal to me and so I share the story, advising caution wherever possible. I've never tried to talk anyone out of it, just advise caution. I know I've taken this thread way off topic, sorry about that, couldn't help it when I saw Camino de Santiago come up.

Not at all taken as argumentative. I am very sorry for your friend's loss, and am very sorry to hear this news. Hopefully my reply didn't come across as defensive. I am a little worried about her safety, but having done the walk, I feel better. There are certainly stretches where you can be alone if you choose, but there is always a time when you can go in groups. You meet lots of people and usually end up travelling together a few days, then they leave late and you split up and three days later you see them again. It's a great social and spiritual experience.

I will google the story and give it to my wife.

[Cody Kemble]

The trip from shoreline CT to Lie-Nielsen is about 4.5 hours. It is actually shorter than I thought. You will however be driving by Boston so rush hour can add hours to the travel time.

[allen long]

Whe n is the show in the Amanas? I am only about 30 minutes away

[Mike Henderson]

It is one of the safest hikes you can do. We walked the Camino together. Typically you end up in groups even if you are alone. It is sad to hear about your friend. It is a sad thing to hear about my favorite walk.

I looked up that Camino de Santiago. Seems that there are many routes that one can take to Santiago, although the "French Way" seems to be the most popular. But even then, it seems that you can do a lot of different distances up to about 775km which is perhaps a 25 day walk. I found tour places that set up hotels and transport your baggage between hotels.

What length do you and your wife do?

Mike

[Bruce Haugen]

Whe n is the show in the Amanas? I am only about 30 minutes away

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