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01/06/2009 Connect to the Craft |
We typically don't do shows. They are expensive for us, and being inside a giant hall with dusty dry air isn't fun. This might actually be why the big woodworking shows are getting smaller and smaller.
I've always felt that a good show should be about technique, showing people how to do stuff, and from a sales standpoint getting people a chance to do hands on with a tool. You can always buy something and return it at our expense but for  most people kicking the tires before you buy is a more regular policy.
A few years ago Alan Turner opened a school in philly for teaching woodworking. It's possibly the best outfitted school in the whole country and at the time we spoke about our coming down and setting up shop.
Time passed. Things happened and Alan and I spoke about having an open house to show more and more people what a great school he has. And of course once you decide to have an open house it's natural that vendors like us want to come buy and sell stuff. But really it seemed more important to teach people how easy learning basic woodworking is. I mean for every new person we can get in the door that's that many more woodworkers and customers. So I volunteered to teach what I know about (honing and sharpening) and do a good demo of how to grind and then we asked a few more people if they could help out inspire folks and we got an incredible response from some of the top people on the east coast. These are folks donating their time to do continuous demonstrations of really fine woodworking. Check out the link to the information and schedule and you will see what a great line-up we got. It's all free of course, it's all going to be tons of fun. It will be great to meet some of you in person, and you can play with lots and lots of tools. Most important, hopefully some of the demonstrators can inspire you to reach further, do better, and most importantly spend more time in the shop.
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