2013 Woodworking Show Highlights

The travelling Woodworking Show landed by my neck of the woods this past weekend, and so I stopped by to check it out. Going in I knew more or less what to expect, but I really didn’t enjoy myself as much this year as in past years.

There seemed to be more exhibitors there this year than last year, but not many more. Milwaukee was noticeably absent. Perhaps this means they’re losing traction with woodworkers? At last year’s media event I think someone said Milwaukee was going to focus less on routers and other non-tradesmen-specific tools, but I don’t recall specifics and don’t see anything in my notes.

Although it has been a full year since I last talked about Woodpeckers tools, they’re still one of my favorite woodworking tool brands. I stopped by and chatted with Kathy – the president’s wife and travelling advocate – and bought a 12-pack of box clamps, 4x small right angle clamps, and 2 knuckle clamps. It’s always a pleasure to chat with Kathy about Woodpeckers tools, so make it a point to do so if you visit your regional show.

The Woodpeckers booth is always what makes the trip worth it for me. Looking back at older posts, I am reminded that the Woodpeckers booth was a highlight of the 2010 show as well. They also have a coupon on their webpage that you can print out and bring to the Woodworking Show for $10 off your $100+ purchase.

This year’s Woodworking Show seemed to have had more space devoted to surplus tools. There was also a “unique gifts” stand where some guy was peddling a few interesting items and a lot of junk (such as cheap no-name pocket knives).

When I was done walking through the rows, with loudspeakers and microphone headset-wearing salesmen and women on opposite sides, I bought a couple of more things.

I bought a couple of packs of Olson scroll saw blades at one bazaar-like booth, and several acrylic pen blanks from the Craft Supplies USA setup. One of the blanks turned out to be “Tru Stone stabilized stone” for $10, not acrylic, so I’ll save it for something special.

I also spent a couple of dollars at Peachtree, where everything was full price. At least at the Woodpeckers booth they had special show prices and bundles.

I grilled the Dewalt salesmen about what might be coming down the pipeline next. There’s no ETA for the 12V/20V jobsite radio, and when I asked two of the salesmen to speculate, two they said that they expect for Dewalt’s 20V drills and hammer drills to be the next tools to see a brushless upgrade. It’s a logical inevitability.