No, I was there, and it was a great pleasure to meet mark, don, and ken.
Im sorry I didnt get to say goodbye to don and ken but my lousy vision problems starting bothering me and after discussing not be charged for the room with the hotel, I decided it was best for me to drive home in the daylight, since this nerve palsey of my eye is torturing me lately.
My eye gets very weak in the evening, and I knew Id be stuck in the room, so I figured might as well get home and get back to the doctor.
I will post some of the work I saw when the batteries charge in the camera, and with ken, marks,and don permission, I have a picture of the four of us at the show, my wife having a sense of humor, and saying, it looked like 5, since she makes fun of my weight.
I did purchase only one item, not like I wasnt prepared to do some serious damage.
The dewalt mitre saw and the router table accessories, just werent priced good enough for me to pull the trigger on. I ran back and forth to the business center in the hotel to use their internet and check prices.(there were 3 senior women chatting online, yes, all of them over 75 and chatting away and exchanging emails and face book stuff, one said, oh, do you need to use this computer for anything important?, I wanted to say something, but out of respect, I held my tongue and smiled and thanked her twice for giving up the business centers computers for her online chatting)
I purchased one small set of bits to remove stripped screws out of wood.
I believe the info commercial guys demonstrating it, were extremely reluctant to hand me over their cordless drill and let me try it for myself.
I told them I must try it to make sure it works.
Eventually, he handed me his drill, and yes, it worked perfectly. I bought it.
Maybe I sold a few sets for him right there, I dont know, I left.
One bad thing, no touching.
You are not allowed to touch anything.
Not allowed to feel finishes on beautiful pieces of work? Come on fellas, you guys probably did more damage hauling the pieces in then me and 10000 people would do by just feeling the finish.(I snuck in a few feels)
Don Orr had some fabulous work, and I voted for his candy dish, it was very pretty indeed, a piece anyone would be proud to own.
there were alot of beautiful pieces,one that really almost cost don my vote, was the reclining adirondack chair made by a legally blind person.
That was just incredible to me, since I have a tiny little eye problem and Im miserable, and this person was legally blind and produced a beautiful chair.
Very impressive indeed.
Some of the detailed work, I dont know where people develop such patience.
Just incredible.
Show was handled by all lovely people, very helpful, friendly. I attended only one class, Mr. MacTiernans class on solid wood case construction, but had missed the first class on saturday.
I was a bit intimidated to ask him a question about using finger joints instead of dovetails, but he was questioned enough, so I let it go.(after he clearly stated finishing is not his forte, he seemed to be asked alot of questions about finishes, something I didnt undertand) He is a true gentleman, and a very talented person, one day I hope to achieve 1/10th of his skill.
I was also a bit intimidated to walk over toMr. Wetzel,, Mr Ralston, and Tom Osborne, feeling they get asked enough sill y questions about their work, and I didnt want to take up their time. (but ya had to see some of their work up close and personal, like Mr. Wetzels rockers, holy moly)I arrived saturday late, but the security guard didnt have a problem with me looking over the pieces on display in the exhibit hall area outside of the show.
There were 3 people, 2 men and a woman cutting sculptures, mainly of bears, out of logs using a variety of chain saws.
Watching them work, is also impressive.
There were guys there using a huge bandsaw on a trailer to cut logs down to one inch boards, demonstating how good their product/saw was, and it looked pretty nice, not something Id be able to use on long island, nor have the room to park, but a nice piece of heavy equipment just the same. I wondered if they were going to offer any of that wood for sale.
There were local dealers at the show, like Lakeshore hardwoods, and a few others. It was nice to see a ton of species Ive never seen before, and they didnt care if I touched them, tasted them, or smelled them.
Nice bunch of people, and I will be sending them my cherry order eventually.
Alot of people playing with lathes, kids making pens, etc........hey, it was my first woodworking show, I didnt know what to expect.
I did have something in common with Mr. MacTiernan, his piece he was building was made out of Mahogany, he knows his fine woods!