Ally Pally Report....post your Iwex thoughts here.

[MikeG.]

Well, it was very quiet!!

I think it was mainly the weather, but it was quite empty. There were no queues for anything. Even so, I still managed to miss the UKW get-together at midday.....sorry chaps, I was talking to the chap with the Clifton planes at the time and didn't notice the hour.

As for the show itself..........well, I may be the wrong person to comment, because it is only the second show I have ever been to. My impression was that there was quite a bit there for turners, but very little at all for people who used hand-tools. There were also miles of market-stall type cheapo bits&bobs of varying quality. It really did feel like a third of the place was given over to the guy from Sudbury market who sells clamps next to springs next to dusters.......

I bought a set of 5 forstner bits for £5.00, then saw a set of 16 bits for £10 on another stand......so did a deal with the chap and ended up with just the bigger set. I also got some nice F clamps, but had to sort through to find the ones that were cast properly. It was that sort of show.....lots of cheapo stuff, and lots of not-quite-ready stands, and a number of well known demonstrators with no-one to demonstrate to. Andy King had time for a 10 minute chat........nice guy. No-one came along to watch him do anything, though. I think he may have a dull weekend!!

The whole show only filled half the hall.

My biggest disappointment though was the lack of show-piece work. I would love to have seen some inspirational furniture from various competitions or top-notch makers. Although the kids from Chichester college had some really nice work on show, it was good college work rather than leader-in-their-field work.

Anyway, I had a nice time, and got some bits and bobs......

If you went, what did you think of the show?

Mike

 

[John. B]

In general, I had a very enjoyable day. :lol:
Did not see Mike, but did see Terry Smart, DaveL, and had a chat with mark Hancock, then watched him do his magic to a goblet.
I was told there were about a third less than last year. Whether that indicates shows in the future, only time will tell.
I bought some microplanes, some cutting tips for my hollowing tool, a nice big Sorby gouge and some chunks of wood to turn.
Roads (Weather) no problem, traffic a nightmare. (But it was in the rush hour) :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

John. B

 

[Charlotte]

Met Terry at Chestnut who was lovely and sold me a sample pack of spirit dyes that I look forward to playing with over the weekend! Scored a good deal on some 36" quick clamps and bought a saw guide for less than I could make one for - oh, and a square that is - square! Long may it stay that way!

I also watched a guy with two hearing aids buy ear protection which perhaps I shouldn't find as funny as I did.

Though I've not been before, it seemed really quiet and I'm not sure it's worth the entry. The demos were poorly advertised which was a shame as I wanted to see some, particularly on routing as I'm utterly convinced I don't know how to use these puppies to their best. The show seemed to concentrate on the geeky side of things rather than the arty/functional side - with the exception of the spinny stuff - which I have little interest in with no workshop to set a lathe up in! It seemed a shame that the colleges had no commentary as they have with cooking competitions.

 

[RobertMP]

I was there today and felt it was a waste of time and £7.50. Not too upset at that as I went 2 years ago and it was not much better then so I got what I expected! Don't think I stayed for much over an hour.

I'd agree about the lack of impressive handiwork on display. There was some nice turned items but not as much as I remember from my previous visit. The show generally seemed about 50% turning related so if you are into turning you'd probably get more out of it than I did.

There seemed quite a few places that could be demonstrating things that had no one manning them. The junk stalls seemed to be selling just that - junk. they were there last time too. Seems strange to me that you pay an admission only for someone to be selling junk to you.

I'm not the sort that will talk to sales people if I don't have a purchase in mind so I guess I could have got more out of the visit if I'd wasted a few salesmen time. I went with the idea of looking at the tin can type of dust extractor as I don't have room for (or like) the upright chip collector types. The Camvac people were busy talking to other people that seemed like mates so I ended up leaving there without learning anything having given up on waiting around to see if they would notice me.

I can't see me going to another woodworking show.

 

[Paul Chapman]

I can't see me going to another woodworking show.

Don't judge everything by Ally Pally, Robert :wink: Yandles, West Dean and Westonbirt are in a different league.

Cheers :wink:

Paul

 

[woodbloke]

I can't see me going to another woodworking show.

Don't judge them all by this seemingly very poor one. West Dean and Yandles (two of the ones I went to last year) were very good and I'm sure others will confirm that

Edtit - PC beat me to it...morning Paul :lol: - Rob

 

[Paul Chapman]

Snap :lol:

 

[wizer]

don't forget Cressing Temple in September

 

[Jeremys]

I took half a day off work so it was only a short tube ride, had I gone from Bristol and taken a full day I would have been very disappointed. I thought it was a lot smaller than a couple of years ago. The aisles are all very wide, and the cafe has room for about 2000! Actual exhibitor space is a lot smaller, some quality guys were still there(ashley Iles, Turners Retreat, BriMarc) but there was a lot of dross (market stall tool jumble stuff)

I was also very sorry not to see more furniture displays, there was a focus on wood turning, i suspect as the local groups are more easily available and willing to come on a hobby basis than a professional gallery / makers.

That said...I still managed quite a haul. I walked out with...
Trend Diamond Stone
ProForme pro 2 hollowing tool (tried it in the demo area and was hooked)
Ahley Iles Mk2 Chisels...they really are lovely...tried them as soon as I got home!
Clifton Burnisher
assorted books etc.

The advantage of the low turnout was I got to spend some time talking with the guys there, demoing and selling... the general view was the stall price would make it uneconomic unless things picked up on saturday / sunday

 

[milkman]

I thought it was a bit too turnery really and as only half the hall was taken up the whole thing was a bit gloomy.
Mind you had a great chat with the woodworking mag's editor who gave me some great tips so not a totally wasted trip.
Have never really liked ally pally as a venue and reckon exhibitors wold be better off spending their cash (£4000 for the stand someone said) on some thing more central in the midlands if there is anything going there.

 

[Escudo]

Paul and Rob are right.

I am hoping to make the shows at;

Yandles (coming up soon, )
Westonbirt
West Dean
Cressing Temple

I did not go to Harrogate last year, which was a better show than Ally Pally, which was quite disappointing for the general reasons already mentioned. It must have been poor I didn't spend a penny. Well other than at the bar. Had a pint of "Admans"... :shock:

T

 

[woodbloke]

Had a pint of "Admans"... :shock:

T

Tony - just the one? A man of restraint! :lol: - Rob

 

[jpt]

I agree it wasnt that good, having said that I enjoyed it and found a couple of things that made the trip worthwhile.

I am not sure there were that many fewer stands than previous years I think what made it seem smaller was that the isles were narrower than usual.

Talking to one of the exhibitors he said that in previous years the isles were wide enough to drive a van down so they could unload right in front of the stall. This year they had to leave the vans in the big space at the end and carry everything, he wasnt happy about that.

The other thing that has been missing from the "major" shows for the last couple of years is competitions. They used to run them for all different areas of woodworking which took up several stands of space to display and gave us something to look at and marvel over, or critisise.

Also missing was dedicated masterclass stands, instead of having one for each type, woodturning, finishing, routing, etc they just has 2 big ones. The advantage of the smaller ones was that you could see a selection of work etc in each one and times of demos were displayed. They did announce when different things were starting but the PA system wasnt very good and it was very hard to hear what they were saying.

john

 

[cambournepete]

I've just got back home, and while not the best show ever I enjoyed it.
I spent ages with Les Thorne watching him turn a yellow/gold bowl and picking up usefult tips from him.
I watched Gregory Moreton turning one of his off-centre fence post items and demonstrate ball turning.
I spent time with Mark Hancock who was letting people (including me) try his Munro hollowing tool, which I really liked - thanks Mark.

I ended up with some sand paper (Abranet and discs from T&J Tools), spray lacquer and polish from Terry, cheap mains drill for sanding on the lathe.
I also got a new toolpost from Robert Sorby and new chuck insert from Phil Irons for my Vicmarc so I can use it on my Poolewood.

If you're not into turning the show's not so great, and there weren't many good bargains (nothing I was particularly interested in anyway) but worth going if you want to pick up some turning tips from the pros.

I'm really looking forward to Yandles now

Pete
PS The beer's called "Adnams", not Admans
PPS I got a polypin of 35 pints of Broadside for £20 last time I was in Southwold :lol: ccasion5:
PPPS They need to sort out ticket buying - the queueing was a mess and the credit card machine broken - a great way to annoy people before they go in. :roll:

 

[Escudo]

Pete, I know that you clot. :roll: That's why I was shocked when I saw it on the handpump.

Tony
Camra membership number 261261

PS - Look forward to having a pint at Yandles. (my treat)

 

[DaveL]

I went yesterday, picked Dad and one of my friends up on the way. We got there quicker than expected, only the last 3 miles was slow.

I agree that there was not as much to see as there has been. However as I am now on the spinney slope I had a good time. I spent an hour with Reg Slack, a great chap demonstrated his sharpening tricks, made a pear while holding a conversation with 5 or 6 of us all asking questions and made us answer a few as well. I bought some stuff from his stall.

Waited at the Chestnut stand at noon, only one chap turned up and I am sorry to say he told me his name and I have forgotten it and I did not manage to get the camera out to snap hem either, however I do have a few picture of members:

Terry of course

Martin Brown, who does appear to have a darker side. :shock:

I had a chat with Nick (Jet Man)

This is Doug, my friend and John B

Andy King was filing a saw, but spent much time distracted by the passing woodies. 8)

I did spend time talking to Mark Hancock but he managed not to get his picture taken either. #-o

Here are the spoils of the day

Ebony and African black wood, 3 grades of super glue, 2 pot pourri lids, a long drill for doing all wood pens, a couple of small turning tools and some small ferrules and I walked round wearing this

Mike, I still have most of my sweets. :wink:

 

[MikeG.]

Waited at the Chestnut stand at noon, only one chap turned up.
Mike, I still have most of my sweets. :wink:

Sorry Dave...........I was only just over 5 minutes late, and there was no-one there. I did catch a glimpse of you in the distance once, about 3 rows away.....but you'd vanished by the time I got across there. Ho hum... As for the sweets........well, it is still a bit close to Christmas and my world mince pie record, so I would have had to pass on those anyway!

Mike

 

[jpt]

Hi Dave

It was I at Terrys stand, sorry I couldnt stay and chat but the trip took us longer than expected and I had to see someone on one of the stands who was leaving by 12.30.

Did look for you later but couldnt find you, maybe next time.

john