Ally Pally Reports?

[wizer]

I enjoyed today's show at Ally Pally. It was my second woodworking show and much better than Kempton Park. Ally Pally is big enough to make the show spacious and it being Friday there was not the usual "left step, side step, right step, back step, etc".
Whilst wondering around I noticed a Carving Demonstration, due to start in 15mins. As I looked around the stall, I noticed a carved bowl much like the one I did at xmas. I had followed a magazine article (with Chris's help) and was sure this was the one from that article. I sat down for the demo and was impressed with what I saw. The guy's name is Ben Russel and if you are interested in carving, he has an article in March issue of Practical Woodworking on letter carving basics. I had a chat with him after and he seemed a nice guy.
I had gone there with the firm decision not to buy anything and I was able to refrain from any tool pruchases. However I did falter slightly and treated myself to a slab of rippled ash for another bowl project.
There was a hell of a lot of wood turning demo's. I think someone asked if it was suitible for turners, well it certainly is!
I wondered by Chestnut at 12ish but there didn't seemt to be any UKW'ers. Sadly I had to leave after just a few hours. Good day indeed though

Anyone else go today?

 

[Barry Burgess]

WiZeR I would have joined you but I am sunning myself in Cape Town at the moment and there is no comptition at present as it is 31C here today but their is an interest in what was at the show I was missing

 

[UKTony]

I really enjoyed it took all 3 kids and the wife who watched the demonstrations which kept them occupied, there is a good Toys stall which also gave me some more shopping time. Spent silly money again at the Craft supplies stall and also picked up a set of carving chisels on the Record stand. My best purchase though was the skeleton clock kit to have a go at on the lathe. I turned up at 12 but was starving so made for the steak pasties

 

[wizer]

My Steak pastie started out nice, but was bl**dy stone cold in the middle. I was too hungry to complain.

 

[LyNx]

Do things seem cheaper at the show or not. I'm planning on getting the festool ts55 but with the entry fee, parking and petrol money i don;t think i'm going to save anything. I really want to see the show but got too much on as well

Andy

 

[wizer]

I doubt you will save more than the entry + petrol. Its more about being able to have a play with the tools. There is a big Festool stall there.

 

[Argee]

I had a reasonable visit - better than last year for sure. I took Jean and met three members in all, Terry Smart, Martin Brown (sorry not to see Keith Birkett on the Brimarc stand - he was day off looking after grand-kids) and davec1075 and his lovely lady - with whom we both had a very pleasant natter over coffee.

I came away with some stuff, most of which I'd gone for, including a Bosch GSR 10.8 V-LI, a couple of the new 24" Bessey DuoKlamps (as I was so pleased with the 18" ones), a folding Silky 32tpi pull saw and a DeWalt DW087K cross-hair laser level. As WiZeR said, not much in the way of saving, but good to be able to compare brands, features, etc.

Traffic was a real pain, both up and back, but I expected that, so no big deal. Anyway, I shan't ever have to go again, as I've now got all the tools I need (I can hear the cries of "Yeah, right!" from here!).

Ray.

 

[Vormulac]

Seemed to me that there was less there than last year, but dear old Ron Fox cutting his circles with the router is always good to kill some time. I like being there at the end, as you can pick up all sorts of junk ... *ahem* ... useful kit for a fraction of what it's been marked up at the rest of the show.
Ended up going on foot though, so nothing too shiny could be purchased. Still a good way to spend a Sunday though.

 

[Alf]

(I can hear the cries of "Yeah, right!" from here!).

You bet you can :lol:

 

[SVB]

I was there on the friday - any bargins to be had on close on sunday???

All the best

Simon.

 

[davidc1075]

There were bargains to be had on the last day but you did have to look for them, I got four Bessey K clamps and a Kreg jig, but best of all was a Clifton no 6 which they honed the blade for me and threw in leather strop and paste and was a bargain. It did help that I was the last customer and they remembered me from last year. The only problem is that my wife bought me the plane for my birthday and I'm not allowed to use it yet. I thought torture was outlawed! but she did allow me to play with the Kreg jig which she bought me as my valentines pressie who said romance was dead...
Good to meet up with Ray and his wife Jean, Lis wants to go over to his workshop and watch him turn or do I mean turning.
The guy on the metabo stand was disappointed with the number of stands and this has a knock on effect as to whether its worth them displaying next year. It apparently cost them a fortune to display. The craft show wasn't there either, but it was still the same admission price.
I think it was worth the visit to see the demonstrations and get hands on with some kit that isn't available in my neck of the woods.

 

[engineer one]

not sure about the show as a show, a little to many demos, and not enough tools i think. or maybe i am getting cranky at my old age.

i don't think the price of admission is to high, since you do not have to pay for parking, but how you get there by public transport, i would not walk, but then i'm lazy.

wonder what is happening in the trade in general, the big manufacturers seem to have fingers where the sun does not shine, and we are losing too many dealers. and if the exhibitions get any worse, then where will we be able to buy the tools we lust after???? :?

but thanks to the exhibitors who talk and are interested including the guys from brimarc, nma, and clico.

paul :wink:

 

[ProShop]

I've posted on this issue last year, but I'll mention it again here.

IMHO this show & others similar ones ie: Stoneleigh are in decline, (although this year it didn't help that the show organisers went to the wall very recently), each time I've been there are fewer & fewer trade stands, manufacturers & resellers.

Don't get me wrong here, I've enjoyed these shows in the past, but by the various posts above it's not only me that's noticed the decline.

The organisers of these & other shows have always in the past been very bullish about attendance figures, but you only have to talk to a "good cross selection of traders" to get a different picture. Of course there will always be those that say trade is good etc, and who am I to say different. And high or low attendance figures don't always relate to high or low sales.

One of the main reasons is the cost of floor space by the event organisers & the venue owners, it's gone up alarmingly over the past 3 to 4 years. I happen to know how much firms are paying for their pitch and some of event floorspace prices are literally eyewatering. So not suprisingly some of the trade are voting with their feet and pulling out.

Then there are the costs of all the logistics in getting all the goods to & from the event, plus the costs of manning throughout the show etc. I don't think in general the show going public have much idea of the costs involved.
It also makes it very hard for those that bite the bullet & pay the high event fees to give so called show offers etc.

 

[Paul Chapman]

While the show has got smaller over the years and this year there was, disappointingly, no craft fair which my wife used to really enjoy, it was a good show and I got all I wanted from it.

Mike Hudson on the Clifton stand was was very helpful (as always) when I picked his brain about getting the ultimate edge on plane blades. I bought some of their polishing compound and leather.

It was very nice to meet Martin Brown of BriMarc and have a general chat with him. Bought another Veritas wonder pup.

NMA were very helpful dealing with a query I had about my Scheppach tkg 260i.

I was very impressed with the Mafell tools - particularly the hand-held circular saws and guide systems. Very professional and innovative gear. If I were starting out again I would seriously consider their tools.

Fabulous demonstration of upholstering chairs - can't remember the bloke's name but he had done upholstery all his career was so interesting to talk to.

Some really inspirational exhibits on show - I particularly liked the exquisite boxes by Robert Ingham.

And very nice to chat with some of the other visitors over a cup of coffee.

Overall, my wife and I really enjoyed it

Paul

 

[gidon]

I went on the Sunday and found the show better than I was expecting. It's a good show for comparing tools from lots of manufacturers (that Axminster's show excludes) - and it wasn't crowded at all and very spacious. Shame Woodworker's Workshop weren't there as billed.
Came away with very little but was impressed with this Mafell saw + 2 guides:
http://www.dm-tools.co.uk/product.php?s ... =MAFKSS300
Cuts to the guide rail line on both guides and at any angle. Gave a good finish and I liked that the side of the saw was flush and only 1/2" from the blade so you could use it for trimming skirting etc. The mini guide is really quite nifty for certain cuts and I love the way the whole thing slips into the systainer. Still quite pricey though - £369 at the show but was very tempted - luckily they had no 240v's left and I was under strict instructions not to purchase anything .
OK - I did get a Rotozip tool going very cheap, and a couple of those Technical Drawing pads (when your normal pen is guided to draw only straight and parallel lines >= 1mm apart!) - very nifty - I love it!
Cheers
Gidon

 

[Philly]

Sorry I'm a bit late with this-my website is playing up and I couldn't get the pics up :twisted:
Saturday was a lot of fun-it was pretty busy but still quite comfortable to walk around. I felt it was a fair bit quieter than last year. Still enjoyed myself though. I got there before "doors open" and there was quite a queue...

There was plenty of demos to see and these were well set. Lots of tools to look at as well as the usual bunch of Woodworking superstars.
12-o-clock meant UK Workshop meet up time. A "discreet" get-together consisting of Dave L, Gav, Les Mahon and my good self-many thanks to Terry for the loan of his space
Anyway-here's one for the Rogue's Gallery Chas! Les on the left, Gav on the right.

There were some cracking little boxes by Robert Ingham for sale...

Another eye-opener was this bed-it's featured in this month's The Woodworker if you want to know more..

So a good day out, although the flipping traffic was awful
Cheers
Philly

 

[PokerG]

That bed hurts my eyes 8) ! But the boxes look nice. Great to get to see some of the show for those of us that didn't make it.

Gary

 

[tim]

Thanks Philly.

What were the boxes going for?

Cheers

Tim

 

[Les Mahon]

I thought it was a good day out! I was very good and refrained from spending too much money! AND I managed to stay within the Airline weight limit on the way back!

Ony bought a few bits that I was specifically lookig for - And yse DaveL that Low Angle jack was within the weight limit, and did come home with me, along with a couple of Veritas Spokeshaves and a MkiII Sharpening jig. The plane is a beat (But I knew it would be) I honed it sunday and got a couple of curly shavings.... BUT Given that "Ellen" decided to grace us with her presence 2 and a half weeks ahead of schedule on monday I doubt I'll be getting much more workshop time in the near future! Good job she hung on, Would have been interesting if she had decided to come while Daddy was wondering around Ally Pally!

ice to meet thos of you who were there!

Wizer, I've done a couple of carving courses with Ben, He is an absolute gent as well as being a good craftsman - I can highly recomend his courses, if only to spen 3 days in the litle piece of heaven where he lives!

Les

 

[wizer]

Thanks Les, he told me about his place in Ireland, very tempting.