March 29 and 30th Saratoga springs NY woodworking show

its the northeastern woodworkers showcase, and along with this show, there is a separate event going on called totally turning.(its the last weekend of every march I believe)
I don't attend totally turning, but I believe its seminars and things and its quite a bit more expensive than the 10 dollar entry fee I paid.
Don orr can talk about that event if he has time in the future.

Im not sure if the show is a must every year, I enjoy meeting different FWW members, and its a night or two out for me and my wife.
She went with me to the show this year, she was blown away by the woodworking, especially the musical instruments.
Oh, you have to make that for this one, and one of those for that one......yeah.........she thinks my furniture work is up to par with what we saw in the show. I tried to explain to her its a night and day difference, but she doesn't listen.I didnt want to shatter her delusions of her husbands work, so I let it go.There was some work that wow, forgetaboutit. Just incredible. My favorite this year was the matchstick guy.
He built things out of matchsticks you had to be standing there to look at them. I took pics, will figure out how to get them here from my cell, and resize them.
I enjoyed the musical instrument section this year. One quitar, with a hand carving on it. wow. what else can I say. WOW.

Its a trip for me, approx. 3.4-4 hours without traffic, and then theres the cost of a hotel, which is not cheap that weekend, but I have fun so I go back each year.

heres what I purchased, more lilke 250 dollars, not the 150, wasn't thinking straight the other day.(paid 105 dollars for 20 ss niles stoppers, not great, but I didn't expect much more off than that)
Lee Valley wasn't there, not sure why, they were supposed to be.
I went over to Easy tools, I wanted a detailer(full sized one, 24.5 inches) for a while, figured Id wait for show to see if I can get anything off as I never see them on sale.
the work Ill post up later from the cell when I have a chance,
Through lee valley, I got 5% off, no shipping and I should get in within a week.

my back bothered me most of the weekend, but I lived on advil and I made it home ok, with little pain.

Leo Voisine said:

Well - that may be worth visiting.

I swear - I will never again go to another vendor based show - not unless I need something. My shop is pretty complete and I show online for most stuff - so vendor based shows to me are a huge waste of time - and I get aggravated at the sales guys.

What is the name of the show? Are there any links to a website. I may put it on the calendar for next year.

I know it's not really woodworking, but I may go to Florida to the Vectric convention in October this year.

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leo, just pull up Saratoga woodworking show on google, you can see past show work and current work.

sunday, they had a guy doing cnc work right in the middle, he had 2 or 3 different sized machines on display and he was cutting something out on both of them. he had a pretty nice sized crowd watching him.

some of the work, not in any order ofcourse.(sorry I didn't have a camera, these are all cell phone pics)

that large wooden plane is a birdhouse.

just a note, pictures cant show the craftsmanship. the inlays on some of the furniture was incredible. The veneer work, just perfect.

some more, my fav, yankee stadium made of toothpicks. Not fine furniture but for me, incredible workmanship, forget about the patience it has to take.

maybe larry can build himself a nice man cave trailer for his next tour de wood.( I didn't take a picture of the inside because there were little children playing in there and well, that's that)

That DOES sound like a GREAT show. YEP - in my mind I can see attending in 2015.

Goggle earth says 3 hours 32 minutes, but it's gotta be a 5.5 to 5 hours drive mostly Mass Pike.
Certainly within what we do.

Diane would DEFINITELY be interested.

Here are some things we are NOT:

New York Yankees fans - Think "Boston" here
Casino people --- NOT
We do not drink any alcohol - at all - no beer - no wine - nothing
I LOVE meeting people - Diane is a little nervous but she likes the adventure

I have a lathe - it is well stocked with more pen banks and pen kits than I will ever use
I have a nice supply of bowl blanks
I have that self centering jig - brand new - never used - got it maybe 8 years ago
I guess I am not what you would call a turner.

Hotels are cool - it beats sleeping in the car.

Great pics Allen. Thanks for sharing.

Leo Voisine said:

That DOES sound like a GREAT show. YEP - in my mind I can see attending in 2015.

Goggle earth says 3 hours 32 minutes, but it's gotta be a 5.5 to 5 hours drive mostly Mass Pike.
Certainly within what we do.

Diane would DEFINITELY be interested.

Here are some things we are NOT:

New York Yankees fans - Think "Boston" here
Casino people --- NOT
We do not drink any alcohol - at all - no beer - no wine - nothing
I LOVE meeting people - Diane is a little nervous but she likes the adventure

I have a lathe - it is well stocked with more pen banks and pen kits than I will ever use
I have a nice supply of bowl blanks
I have that self centering jig - brand new - never used - got it maybe 8 years ago
I guess I am not what you would call a turner.

Hotels are cool - it beats sleeping in the car.

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well, you have to eat Leo, and we found the 8.95 at the buffet was the best deal in town. Decent quality, and enough selection.
First night we ate across the street at an Italian bistro.(A bit more pricey,)
cant help you with the boston fan stuff, nobodys perfect, it could be worse, you could be a cubbie fan
I do not drink alcohol, my wife has maybe 3 or 4 cocktails a year. I expect most people to order drinks when I go out with them, doesn't bother me at all, I don't drink because of certain medications Im on.
There are many things to do in Saratoga springs other than a racetrack or casino.
you can meet as many people as you like, as Ive struck up conversations with so many different people at the woodworking shows.
vendors, eh......they are helpful, but they want to sell.
woodworking show volunteers, most of them are super friendly, think don orr, and when the artists or craftspeople are around, they are a delight to speak too.
Stan, the toothpick guy, he was sitting there and he had a great sense of humor, and answered every question everyone asked.
You can go to many free lectures, or if interested, there are usually a couple of classes that cost money.(this year, 60 dollars each)
or you can just admire everything, no one is forced to purchase anything but a 10 dollar admission fee if you want to go in.
Leo, I don't have many pen kits, I use what I have and purchase as I need things.
The show offers between 5-10 % discount, some don't offer any discounts.
There was one guy selling junk, like flea market quality, and he was packed, I wont comment on that.

Im not promoting anything, but I enjoy being around what I consider incredible woodworking and being able to see it in person, not in a photo.
Cant touch anything, but get close enough to smell the wood.

they are very good to children at this show. It was just as much fun watching the kids turn pens, and in the back, they have a toy room, where the kids make their own tool boxes and other goodies.I saw kids with small cars also. I don't know if there was any charge for that. (I saw parts were precut, but they nail them together, theres plenty of supervision, I thought it was great)

Sounds like a GREAT time.

I am IN for 2015

Diane and I will have a blast - and maybe we will meet some forum people there too.