Tools 2005 Gloaters are Welcome

[StevieB]

Its 99.9% of lawyers that give the rest a bad name!

SWMBO is about to deliver little bundle of joy no. 2 so I was banned from being that far away in case of a short labour. Having said that no sign of even the slightest twinge and its now overdue so looks like I could have gone.....

Steve.

 

[Waka]

Its 99.9% of lawyers that give the rest a bad name!

SWMBO is about to deliver little bundle of joy no. 2 so I was banned from being that far away in case of a short labour. Having said that no sign of even the slightest twinge and its now overdue so looks like I could have gone.....

Steve.

The things they'll do to stop you enjoying yourself. Let us know what you and the wife are gifted with.

 

[Les Mahon]

So why haven't the rest of us gone this morning? Work, no money, too far, got everything already?

For me it is Work / distance / potential new house....

The list goes on - I was intending to drive over, but the amount of time I'd have to take off would be prohibitive (working on day rate is a pest!), and I flew over for Ally pally, but ryanair looked a bit strangly at me on check-in on the way back so that was not an option - Just as well I didn't go really as the DG is poping over here tommorow and expecting to see a demo of the project I'm looking after so looks like a long night for me, boo hoo!

Les

 

[martyn2]

Just spoken to Philly at the show and he assures me that there's not much there and he's not enjoying himself.

What do you call a guy that comes out with that sort of statement?

just got back from the show and there was "lots" of :tool:
it was a good show but im sure that philly was sat in the corner not looking at anything and of course i did,nt buy a thing :^o
"yea right"

martyn

i belive photos will be coming

 

[Philly]

Cor it's quiet in here....... :roll:
Well I'm back. Twas indeed nice to meet up with the good folk from this forum. I felt the show was a little quieter than the last few years with not so much to see. Still worth a trip though (if only to meet up for a natter! :lol: )
I'll post some pics in the morning.....
And for the record-Waka phoned me from Nigeria on my mobile during the 12-o-clock meet up to wish us all "a good time". Quality, my friend, quality! =D>
Cheers
Philly

 

[mr]

Going tomorrow hopefully, though almost certainly with a small boy in tow if I manage to make it.

 

[aldel]

Back from the Axminster show after some retail therapy. I am sitting here with ice packs on the swollen joints and trying to get to grips with my new Veritas Mk11 honing guide. Martin also took advantage of my poor current resistance and made me buy a Veritas HCS apron block plane even though I told him I didn't really need one. (Rob Lee says that HCS is a better buy than A2 steel so I followed his advice)
Philly was spotted sliding off laden down with goodies including something rather nice from T. Lie-Nielson. I also noted Charley and others with rather full bags.
WoodRat had (at long last) on show some new developments of a template system that should be available soon. Rob Lee of Veritas was very approachable and keen to receive feed-back on some of his products.
I met lots of forum members but there just was not enough time to chat to them all. John Bailey who has had lots of magazine articles published and is a keen 'Rat user gave me a Burr puzzle that he made on the WoodRat. It took my Daughter over half an hour to re-assemble it for me after I took it apart.
Alf was also spotted lurking around all the right places.
Axminster had a new planer thickneser on show that I really liked at around £525 I think which was far, far superior to the Record I purchased at Yandles earlier in the year. Really wish I had waited now.
I am sure that there were less stands this year and no DeWalt. Trend as usual were infuriating with nothing priced.
I noted that a few stands were using the large Trend diamond whetstone and bench mount. After three years of resistance, I cracked, and bought both the coarse and fine, single sided ones with the mount and fluid to use with the new MK11 veritas. The price was very good but I still had terrible guilt for at least ten minutes after!
I forgot to take my camera and can't post any piccies I am afraid so its all down to Philly to do the honours.

Regards, Aldel

 

[thomaskennedy]

I havn't been online for a while, but i'm in devon now ready for Tools tomorrow and Sat

Journey took 45mins on the plane! lol

I've got all my hard earned cash with me, watch out :shock:

Ta, Tom

 

[CHJ]

Really enjoyed the show and the 'meet', busy but not so crowded that getting a lookin was a problem, managed to keep the purchases within reason on the day but think I have now convinced myself which Bandsaw is go for next purchase.

Diverted via Yandles on return journey to find they had a 20% off all wood and an interesting selection of oddball pieces of timber at silly prices in the yard, so had to drop the back seats down for the rest of the trip home.

 

[SVB]

Hi all,

Glad to hear you all had a good day. I managed to come home with 'medium' bags and could feel the eyes on my back as I carried them into the house. After explaining the need for each item to the boss, I finally could resist no more and was forced to reveal the grand total spent.

Not a bad reaction, so I asked whether this was more or less than she thought I would.

I had reached target but only just. Mental note to self, an extra bag next year as the huff was not too bad at target!!!!

PS - For those of you still to go, have a look at the new Perform T/S. I can't see the catch, really heavy, cast Iron table, extension tables, sliding carriage etc etc all for £580. Looks an excellent buy and I think will rob customers from the white range. I am in the market for a T/S next year so would welcome anyones comments. (I will post this on the buying advice forum also I think)

HAPPY SHOW TO ALL!

 

[Barry Burgess]

On returning from Tools 2005, which I have never been to before, my conclusions were - its bigger than the D&M show and better but about the same size as Alexandra Palace but without the cheap and cheerful stalls but there is too much Axminster. There was that mad French salesman selling his planes and that Fat guy sitting in the corner counting his money while his son sold his vice.
On the bigger stands it was not always easy to get some help - on the Festool stand the guy dealing with the routers spent about an hour with one customer.
I think Friday might be the best day to go as it could be less busy.
The best for me was meeting all the members and seing Ian's plane - with the quality work he put in it must be worth about £1500 to £2000. He is making 5 more - you should have seen the 'plane boys' faces. His workshop as seen on Tommy's program has had £70000 spent on it. I will need to revise my budget for next year - better not tell SWMBO

 

[mahking51]

Hi all
Got back last evening with aching feet and an empty wallet!
Had a good time and it was great to meet up and put more faces to the names.
Went there with only one thing in mind, a Tormek and jigs but needless to say came home with a LN box, Kreg jig and several other bits and pieces.

Aldel, sorry mate, but you know you needed it!

It was agreat pleasure to meet and chat with Rob Lee, what a nice man, it is easy to see why LV has its well deserved reputation. BTW Rob, nice doodah!

Good to hear from Waka in the swamps of Nigeria, not long 'til you are back mate!

Overall I thought that the show was somehow not as good as previous years, can't really put my finger on why. It was very true that the people on the stands seemed to spend absolute ages with just one person but then I suppose that person thought it was good service, fair enough.

Ian D's plane was beyond superb although I was disgusted that he had not knitted the bag himself! Turned out that his sister did! Talk about a skilled family! I bet he never realised he has so many 'best friends' as he prepares to make the rest of them.

Finally a big thankyou to Chris (Waterhead) for allowing me to nail him into helping me carry the Tormek to the carpark, they are bloody heavy!

Hope the rest of you have a great time over the next two days.

Best Regards
Martin

 

[Waka]

Went there with only one thing in mind

And you really believe that, oh how sad is that. :wink:

Now come on Guys, who's got all the pics? Holding me in suspension is cruel.

Mid morning the day after, I guess Philly is still trying to open all his boxes. :lol:

 

[Alf]

Gloats it said, and then there's a page and a half of whinging stay-at-homes. :roll: :lol: I see a Philly report further up the board, so I fear there are embarrassing pictures awaiting us all, so what have you got to whinge about? 8-[

Having successfully squeezed certain of my fellow forum members dry in return for some dubious rusty things :twisted: , I reckon I only spent about £20 in the end. No pics yet, so the gloating will have to wait.

Cheers, Alf

 

[cambournepete]

No piccys, but I did get a L-N 102 (iron), a smaller Glenn-Drake Tite-Mark with the money I saved buying a Metabo 450 (inc sanding disks, polishers and Metabox - a green systainer) instead of a Festool sander. I could tell no difference in surface quality or amount of dust left behind so it was an easy choice btw.

I got some Bessy UK60s just before I left as well.

There did seem a little less to see, but it was good to see such a large turn out from here. Deneb - who was demonstrating for L-N was good to watch, and I was going to get one of their dovetail saws until I saw the price... Maybe I should have tried haggling with Tom. Having said that it was much (and I mean a lot) better to use than the Flinn-Garlick equivalent that was there. £90 on something that works really well compared to £45 for something that felt pretty awful - Alf can back me up on this I think. I can't really justify spending £90 on a saw but it works so well it's almost cheap...

Pete

 

[Alf]

Having said that it was much (and I mean a lot) better to use than the Flinn-Garlick equivalent that was there. £90 on something that works really well compared to £45 for something that felt pretty awful - Alf can back me up on this I think.

Erm... I didn't even bother to try the "cheap" one. I had a go with the 1776 brass-backed IT-a-like one, which had a show price of £76 iirc. It would have helped a good deal if they'd had a bench that didn't walk as soon as you breathed on it, and something to saw a little thinner than an inch... I very nearly didn't get the L-N because it was so awful on the thick stuff the L-N stand had available, but once there was some thinner stuff to use it on, I was sold. #-o Anyway, the 1776 has a much bigger handle than the L-N, and my hand was getting lost in it and not getting any control. So it was an easy decision to knock it off the list.

And as I'm here, the modest haul:



Cheers, Alf

 

[Rob Lee]

(snip).....please share your gloats with someone whose next available show is Yandles next year.

Hi Waka -

I restrained myself and only bought (well... ordered) one tool...

http://www.sauerandsteiner.com/no2.htm

8) :shock: 8)

Cheers -

Rob
(who had a great time, and was delighted to meet as many people as I did!)

 

[martyn2]

it good to meet up with you and thanks for the "doo da " it will be used at work thanks

martyn

 

[tim]

Here's my haul:

Axminster HD16FC Pillar Drill (which arrived this morning - not heavy at all!!!)
10 Besseys (2x125, 2x100, 4x80, 2x30)
They gave me 2 Duo 45s
Festool Angleguide, 2 QR clamps and some rubber strip for the rail
LV LA Jack (which I LOVE) and 38 blade
MK2 Honing guide
Freud LU11M triple chip blade
Sharpening stones
Leigh D4R Dovetail jig
2 Ryoba saws (one is a present for my Father in law)
Flexible framing square and mitre gauge
A load of Kreg screws

Cheers

Tim

 

[Neil]

Wow, that is some haul Tim! Lots of things that would be on my ultimate wish-list too =P~ Would be interested to hear what you think of the drill press - why did you decide to get the heavy-duty one instead of the ordinary one? The sale price of the one you got is pretty attractive IMO, is this what made the difference, or was it Chris' persuasive powers? :lol:

Cheers,
Neil