My first woodworking show rant...am I getting too old?

[Greg Peterson]

Me? Politics? Here? Never! I know where to get my ya ya's out on that subject.

How was your trip Gary?


Reading James posts was very reminiscent of other places where the water isn't as calm, cool and relaxing. I can understand his reactions if he was indoctrinated in a different realm.

[Gary Keedwell]

Me? Politics? Here? Never! I know where to get my ya ya's out on that subject.

How was your trip Gary?


Reading James posts was very reminiscent of other places where the water isn't as calm, cool and relaxing. I can understand his reactions if he was indoctrinated in a different realm.

My trip was fantastic and thanks for inquiring. We went from 80º to 60º and the Red Sox game got over right after we landed and before we departed the plane. Even the pilot was getting his Sox on. I was freezing my buns off standing around in my shorts. LOL
Yes, I agree about James. He is a newcomer. I guess you could compare it to getting out of prison and acclimating to normal people. (Not that I have any actual experience).
The hardest thing is to drop your shield and let your defenses down a few notches.GO PATS!!!!!!!!!

[Rob Bodenschatz]

Yes, I agree about James. He is a newcomer. I guess you could compare it to getting out of prison and acclimating to normal people. (Not that I have any actual experience).

That had me ROTFLMAO.

[Al Garay]

I just got back from my first woodworking show held in Seattle starting today.
Since it had radio and newspaper advertising, I was expecting a big show like the home show with all the local manufacturers such as Grizzly (corporate headquarters just North of Seattle), Jet (who is just South of Seattle), Powermatic, Sunhill Machinery who also owns Oliver (also just South of Seattle), and the usual vendors such as Rockler, Woodcraft. Woodcraft was there but had a very small area and no demonstrations.

I was already preparing my excuse I would give to my wife for buying new Bandsaw or table saw. No such deal. There were some cool tools such as Powermatic showed their pm2800 drill press for only $650. It was impressive.

Because vendors outnumbered the people attending, it was great to talk to the Bosch rep details about their latest power tools. It was sad seeing so many vendors standing around without anyone to attend to. Of course it did not help that on the other side was the much larger Ski Show which had at least 20 signs posted around compared to one sign for the woodworking show. Who ever did the marketing, should be shot.

Although, I was not blown away or drawn to pull out my card in haste, the Finishing education sessions taught by Jim Heavey of Wood Magazine made my time and effort all worth it. He really knows his stuff enough to draw the attention of people at different skill levels, had clear demonstrations and combined it with a great sense of humor and humility from his lessons learned, meaning learning from mistakes and giving yourself credit. I also was able to spend 10 minutes talking with him one-on-one as I waited until everyone else has gone. Jim Heavey is good reason attend.

In terms of equipment envy, I was far more impressed when I visited Grizzly store in Bellingham. I was ready to go all green. Our Woodcraft store also has enough tool selection to raise my credit card warning.

I will not give up on woodworking shows. There may be others like Jim Heavey. There is a woodworking show during the summer that takes up the Puyallup Fairgrounds, very big venue. That has to be much more like a flea market atmosphere.

Anyways, I also went alone after work. No way would I lasted more than 30 minutes had I brought my wife and daughters. That's plain wrong.

Al

[David Klug]

OK Jim what is cheese steak?

DK

[Jim Dunn]

For me, woodworking is relaxing, enjoyable pastime. It's the sound of a newly sharpened gouge singing on a bowl or a single sneeze in an otherwise silent shop from too much hand sanding. Or standing back with a cup of coffee and admiring joinery you finally got juuuuust right. The different sounds the different table saw blades make when they're spinning up or down. That first dab of oil on a project you've spent hours or weeks on.

I think I just figured out what woodworking is to me just by reading the above. That oil part just about brought a tear to my eye. Seriously!!

I admit that I am old and sentimental when it comes to a lot of things. Enjoying a hobby is supposed to be fun not frustration. I'll end here as I haven't had enough coffee------------yet.

[Chuck Lenz]

We (the United States-wide "we") tend to look to new equipment and technology to make us better at whatever we're doing, and you can see that in almost every hobby and sport (especially at those dominated by men). You can see some of that here, where someone will say that one can't do good work with a contractor's saw, it's junk, so put down the money for a cabinet-grade model. And so forth. Some of it is real, some of it is not quite so, and a lot of it is fantasy. But all of that churning does keep the industry going, and there is no one that forces anyone to buy anything. And it causes a lot of people to buy stuff they don't need that they end up selling at a really good price to someone who *can* use it to good stead down the road a ways.

Greg, you certainly got that right about the Contractors tablesaw. I own one, and I feel like I'm being preasured in here to buy a hybrid or Unisaw in order for anyone to take me seriously as a woodworker. I understand the bennefits of some of the hybrids and the bennefits of the Unisaws, but for me, my Delta Contractors saw has served me well for 12 years with a couple small improvements. In a nut shell, it's all I need for a hobby saw. If I was running a fulltime cabinet shop it would be a different story. There will allways be people that have more money than I do to spend on fancy machinery to brag about, but that doesn't make them any better of a woodworker than I am in some cases. As far as woodworking shows go, we have a ACME Electric, Tool Crib of The North here intown that has a show every year, it's a small show. I've been to one and I couldn't of got out of the store soon enough. I luv looking at new tools and gadgets, but I'd rather do it without being preasured by salesmen.

[Nathan Conner]

You know, I went over that prospective Lie Nielson purchase in my head for awhile. Then I went down to the shop and pulled open all the drawers and cubbies and checked on the wall. I have no less than 8 iron hand planes. Most are 40+ years old. Most are little balls of rust. They've been picked up here or there when I find them, one Buck Bros. jointing plane from the BORG, and a newer Stanley jack. Nothing but Pot metal and paint, in some cases. Oh, and about 5 wooden planes.

So I spent 2 hours this morning cleaning and tuning each one up - flattening all the soles on the belt sander, re-grinding, re-beveling, sharpening each of the blades. Then I spent another hour on a single 8' piece of 6/4 Alder. Was able to get each plane just singing, without exception. Even the Stanley 110 with the broken front knob. Turns out I have an old low-angle 8" Stanley somethingorother with an adjustable throat - that one's my favorite so far. Nice and heavy for its size.

A morning spent figuring out how to clean, tune, sharpen and, most of all, USE the tools I already own. What a joy! Didn't cost me a cent, and now I have a bunch of old, previously-junked planes on a shelf, just begging to be used. I doubt that I'll chuck my jointer in the trash, but this was more challenging and fun by any turn than 20 seconds in front of the jointer.

Maybe that new plane isn't so important after all. Seems likely that I'm too focused on fancy new tools and not on what I want the wood to do or how to do it...maybe I'll make a couple of extra tractor payments and forget about new tools for a bit.

[Gary Keedwell]

Some people like the idea of playing around and fine tuning their equipment. I got into a "building rut" a few years ago after a move and I enjoyed myself. I spent alot of time with the new house and spent alot of time away from my new shop. I didn't have alot of space so I really got into sharpening. I did alot of experimenting with different methods and really got into it.
I look back now and think it was really therapy because I didn't want to really set up a shop in my small designated area. After 3 years we moved and the building bug came right back and hasn't stopped. I had the privilege of getting a whole new basement to do as I wanted. I can tell you with certainty that a different invironment was all I needed to get my juices flowing 100%.
I guess we all take our own detours, but I can tell you for sure that when LOML and I look around and see the PRODUCTION results...it sure is gratifying.

Gary

[Bill Bryant]

Here's another take on this. I'm new to woodworking and I've never been to a show. I'm a fifty-year-old man trying to sort out the gimmicks from the solid and real. I'm neither an old f*** who won't try anything new (if nobody tried anything new we'd still be making stools with flint knives) or a wided-eyed kid who thinks I have to have three sizes of Domino cutters to make a cutting board.

When I go to my first show I'll be all ears and eyes at as many booths as possible, and I'll probably take a truckload of stuff home with me in an excited flurry of enthusiasm (some of the stuff bought in a stupid burst of idiotic insight, some of it bought sensibly--them's the breaks for a newbie: we do the best we can) that might look silly to both the relaxed hobbyists with "heart" and the making-a-living-at-it men who approach the shows with serious efficiency.

Anyway, when you see a man like me at a show, cut me some slack if a seem too amazed by a gimmick that will soon pass from the scene. And give me a break too if I'm too new to have settled down into either the enjoyable pace of the satisfied hobbyist or the clinical expertise of the man with a serious vocation and responsibility to his wife and kids.

I'm not going to go back and edit this. If it makes no sense, so be it. Take it as a snapshot of the musing of one man just getting into this fascinating world.

[Gary Keedwell]

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I'm not going to go back and edit this. If it makes no sense, so be it. Take it as a snapshot of the musing of one man just getting into this fascinating world.

Bill, You made my chuckle. I'm almost 58 and I envy you. The excitement and wonder of a new hobby is indeed a great trip. I have made a few blunders here and there with my purchases, but I have no remorse and would do it all over in a New York heartbeat!!!
Gary