D&M Tool Show 9th -11th October (UKW MEET on FRIDAY at 2pm)

[Newbie_Neil]

Hi all,

I'm going to be in the area on Friday and hoping to visit the D&M show about lunchtime.

There seem to be plenty of exhibitors. Is it a good show?

Neil

UKW MEET - 2pm on the Friday between the Brimarc and Plano stands.

 

[Random Orbital Bob]

Its a very good show but its primary focus is on the building trade which is the primary business of D&M Tools in Twickenham who run the show (a shop in twickers High Street).

Having said that, you still get a fair showing from the manufacturers like record power who will have lathes, bandsaws and planars on show and demo's too. Also bessey clamps have a great stand upstairs and always have some great bargains. I only ever buy Bessey clamps at that show in fact.

Dewalt, Makita and Festool all have monster "villages" because as I say this is primarily aimed at the trade. But you'll also find Tormek there and Brimarc have a bric a brac stand so there is something for all. Very little in the way of wood turning in fact from memory its only Record Power that have any lathes on show at all.

Bostich always open the show by firing T shirt freebies out of their pneumatic guns and Trend are always busy showing off their jigs for door furniture etc. Its a good day out but try and go on the Friday if you can as it's mobbed at the weekend.

 

[Newbie_Neil]

Bob,

Thanks for the update, it'll definitely be the Friday.

I've just persuaded swmbo that Kew gardens will be great at this time of year, so I'll only be twenty minutes away. :lol: :lol:

Neil

 

[chippy1970]

It's an OK show , you have to dig deep to find any bargains lol. Quite often their so called amazing deals can be found cheaper online.

I go most years as its 10 minutes from me.

A little Festool birdie told me that their stand will be good this year .

I'm after some new work trousers so hopefully they will have a few deals on them.

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[Newbie_Neil]

A little Festool birdie told me that their stand will be good this year .

That'll definitely be one stand to avoid then. :lol: :lol:

 

[Zeddedhed]

I'll be there on Friday. Definitely buying the Record BS400 Bandsaw - now slightly worried that I may walk out having sold the children or my kidneys to pay for some Festool goodies.

 

[Wizard9999]

I have a bit of a worry about this years show (also there on Friday - sounds like scope for a UKW meet up). Apparently my wife is going to a fashion show the same day and she has informed me that her 'budget' will be whatever I spend at the show :shock: , it looks like I'll have to double the sticker price on everything there and they'll have to be some serious bargains for me to prise open my wallet :? .

Terry.

 

[Mike.S]

I usually attend and, if so, will be on the Friday. Note that Saturday may be impacted by road traffic for Rugby at Twickenham.

Only looking for an angle grinder (and bacon butty) this time but may get distracted... :wink:

 

[DiscoStu]

I went last year and spent a large amount of money - best not to go this year I think!

 

[Random Orbital Bob]

Think I spent more on bacon butties last year than tools :shock: But I'm looking forward to spending lots more of Terry's money

 

[chippy1970]

A little Festool birdie told me that their stand will be good this year .

That'll definitely be one stand to avoid then. :lol: :lol:

They've got a few new tools out. I visited the roadshow on Wednesday they had a new rail saw that has a trenching attachment. You can do quite big rebates and grooves with it. Not something I really need but still a clever tool.

I did like the hkc55 though a cordless saw that runs on the rails and also fits new shorter spring loaded rails. Great little saw for roofing and it slices through timber really fast.

I'm skint so won't be buying one lol

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[Newbie_Neil]

(also there on Friday - sounds like scope for a UKW meet up).

Sounds like a good idea Terry.

Ok, 2pm on the Friday between the Brimarc and Plano stands.

Neil

 

[Wizard9999]

Think I spent more on bacon butties last year than tools :shock: But I'm looking forward to spending lots more of Terry's money

Well as I remember it I bought the bacon butties last year :roll:

Terry.

 

[Zeddedhed]

See you all there @ 2pm

 

[paulm]

Did the 2pm meet take place in the end ?

I was there for the doors opening at 10am and had a good look round and then ate my lunch and cuppa on the 2nd floor overlooking the racecourse, amazing views

I was all done by mid day though and the 2pm meet too far away to hang around for

The show was really busy as always, hard to get close to some of the stands and next to impossible to hear the Festool demo guy despite microphone and speakers, due to general noise and other kit being demonstrated, probably just as well !

Managed to swap out a potentially dodgy DMT bench stone under warranty with the guys I bought it from at the show last year, and picked up a proxxon drill press a few quid cheaper than elsewhere to take my proxxon multi tool and help with drilling holes for my leatherwork, knife sheaths and the like.

Was hoping to pick up an extra Bosch 18v battery and one of their L boxxes, possibly their 18v grinder too, but as always their display area was a bit disorganised, under staffed, lots of kit not on show and some that was on show wasn't priced up. Couldn't find what I was after in the scrum and gave up trying to fight for attention to ask. Generally good kit but poorly presented in my humble opinion, same problems there as last year.

A good show though as always, some modest discounts to be had, typically up to 10% on the things I looked at or asked about. Worth a half day out if you're anywhere near and wanting to check out some kit.

Cheers, Paul

 

[Wizard9999]

Did the 2pm meet take place in the end ?

I was there for the doors opening at 10am and had a good look round and then ate my lunch and cuppa on the 2nd floor overlooking the racecourse, amazing views

I was all done by mid day though and the 2pm meet too far away to hang around for

The show was really busy as always, hard to get close to some of the stands and next to impossible to hear the Festool demo guy despite microphone and speakers, due to general noise and other kit being demonstrated, probably just as well !

Managed to swap out a potentially dodgy DMT bench stone under warranty with the guys I bought it from at the show last year, and picked up a proxxon drill press a few quid cheaper than elsewhere to take my proxxon multi tool and help with drilling holes for my leatherwork, knife sheaths and the like.

Was hoping to pick up an extra Bosch 18v battery and one of their L boxxes, possibly their 18v grinder too, but as always their display area was a bit disorganised, under staffed, lots of kit not on show and some that was on show wasn't priced up. Couldn't find what I was after in the scrum and gave up trying to fight for attention to ask. Generally good kit but poorly presented in my humble opinion, same problems there as last year.

A good show though as always, some modest discounts to be had, typically up to 10% on the things I looked at or asked about. Worth a half day out if you're anywhere near and wanting to check out some kit.

Cheers, Paul

Afraid I got tied up buying something and didn't get upstairs until 2.20pm, by which time no sign of anyone .

Terry.

 

[chippy1970]

Popped down there today. Wasn't really impressed ,same old stuff as most years. The Festool stand was bigger than ever but I'd seen all the new stuff already at the roadshow.

Walked away with a new fessy tea mug though so worth the visit.

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[Zeddedhed]

I was 'delayed' by a rather good cheeseburger so got upstairs for 2:10. No one there though.

I did get a personal demonstration of 'psycho-turning'- from the Sales Director of Record Power - I explained that as a newbie to turning I had difficulties with my spindle roughing gouge and he proceeded to turn a square blank to round in about 15 seconds with a skew -- it looked terrifying.

I did get my bandsaw (Record Power BS400) and got them to throw in the wheel kit and guarantee delivery (also free) by Tuesday. So well happy there.

I had no interest in the big three (Bosch, DeWalt and Makita) stands. Festool did me a deal on a beech guide thingy and a pair of work light. Festool mugs, a hoody for the apprentice and about 35 pencils and six or so boxes of Festool sweeties also stuffed into a couple of goodie bags.

A 3mm Marples split proof chisel and a couple of Footprint marking knives all for under £25 and that was my lot.

I'd hoped that the Veritas/Brimarc stand would be more interesting but not that much to see really.

Overall a pleasant day off from the workshop but it would be nice to see a return of the specialist Woodwork show like Ally Pally in the old days.

 

[Random Orbital Bob]

I found the show to be poorly attended compared to previous years. I did attend the meet point at 2pm but was also late and failed to spot anyone. Festool had double the space they occupied the previous year and were demonstrating a hand held track saw with a 30mm dado cutter on it!! It was cutting inch deep rebates 30mm wide in 1 pass!! Talk about an animal.

I had a long chat with the Managing Director of Record Power who are clearly going from strength to strength. They had Camvac appended outside their regular area and the new Startrite bandsaws and a remodelled SD300 planar thicknesser (the SD31) as well as the new chuck range. For a modest sized British company that underwent a management buyout not that long ago they have produced a lot of innovation. The chucks were very interesting as they've wound up the relationship with Teknatool so no more Nova chucks. This was done to reach a broader global market which for reasons I wont bore you with wasn't possible before. However their new range which they've designed from the ground up are in the same niche as the G3 and the SN2 and jaws are compatible. They've improved the carriers and reversed that annoying anticlockwise thread to tighten that the SN2 has. Since they had to replace much of the factory tooling to manufacture, they also remodelled the cole jaws such that they're the maximum size fittable on a lathe with a 12" throw now ie bigger than the old ones. They've also redesigned the entire jaw range removing all the overlap and redundancy and made improvements like the pin jaws closing down to a 9mm radius for gripping really small stock. It was in fact a veritable overhaul with a lot of well thought through improvements right through the range. They're also now better value for money than the Teknatool products as there's no middle tier to have to fund and the quality of the engineering was just fine.

They had a new VS lathe in the small category that would compete well with the little Jets and be useful for club use as it's light enough to be mobile, yet still VS.

The chap spoke eloquently of their tool range, the market and buying trends. He is clearly dedicated to excellent customer service and therefore they stand by the 5 year guarantee which is virtually unique in the industry. In order to underpin the service and parts behind that guarantee takes some investment and again it sets them apart from the Charnwood types who really are nothing but box shifters/dealers with no concern for the customer once the sale is made. I was impressed by their leadership and the product range, there was a real energy to the whole operation with innovation and acquisition clearly in full swing through last year. In point of fact they've accomplished a great deal in that time adding numerous products to the catalogue.

I enquired about the company's attitude to engaging with forums like ours and he was open minded about possible future engagements to solicit feedback about product development. I think RP, like many of the manufacturers and distributors aren't entirely sure how to engage with an online narrative whether that's social media or the fora like this one. He does feel they're missing an opportunity but at the same time I suspect they're all concerned about coming across too bullish. It's a bit of a new thing for companies that don't have an endless marketing budget and I do sympathise with them feeling uncertain how to position themselves in what is lets face it a pretty chaotic medium.

I suspect there may be opportunities in the future where we can develop a dialogue about new product development in order to help them to build the right product first time. In summary though, great feeling of a British company doing well with strong, positive management that still knew all the details of every tool in the range - very impressive indeed. Made me feel all warm and British inside

 

[custard]

as well as the new chuck range. For a modest sized British company that underwent a management buyout not that long ago they have produced a lot of innovation. The chucks were very interesting as they've wound up the relationship with Teknatool so no more Nova chucks. This was done to reach a broader global market which for reasons I wont bore you with wasn't possible before. However their new range which they've designed from the ground up are in the same niche as the G3 and the SN2 and jaws are compatible.

Interesting. Can you confirm, are the new Record chucks and accessories compatible with the Nova chuck?

Thanks.