My 2023 AWFS wrap-up

 

Well, the 2023 AWFS show has wrapped up, and ... I have thoughts!

BTW - a few people asked - AWFS stands for the Association of Woodworking & Furnishings Suppliers. 

This was the second time that it's been held at the new convention center, and I'll say this - the venue is amazing. From the parking, to the jumbo-tron, to the view of the city - this place doesn't disappoint. Oh - and the Tesla loop that will take you to your hotel... this place offers some pretty cool amenities. 

 Everything about this place is SO much better than the old location in the North and South Hall.

That said - the number of this year's vendors seemed a good bit smaller, with some of the major manufacturers absent. No Festool - REALLY?!? 

I spoke to a lot of disappointed attendees who really wished for more. It seems like the show really hasn't recovered from COVID and/or the economy. 

This year's show featured a Tool Tour - if you visited all of the booths that were featuring new tools, you won something - a shirt, or who knows what?! There were so many vendors giving out freebies that one more shirt was just - meh!

One of my absolutely favorite new products at the show was Powermatic's new surfaces for their tools - and this demo of spilled water on their tabletop stopped me in my track. 

This new surface felt like a combination of teflon and powder coating, and I'll tell you - I WANT THIS on my SawStop saw!

Just last week, I spent an hour or two sanding rust off of my cast iron tops, and that gets old. In this hot weather, just a simple sweaty handprint can rust in a few minutes.  

The Powermatic rep said that this upgrade for their cast iron tops would add about 10% to the cost of a machine... well worth it. 

 But I'm jumping ahead! This year, I was lucky enough to be asked to help judge the Fresh Wood furniture competition, which featured work by high school and post secondary students.  

We started judging these pieces a few months ago, rating 200+ pieces online, and narrowing it down to around 40 pieces that were actually on display at the show. 

One of my favorite parts was getting to know the other judges - including Brian Boggs, an amazing chair maker from North Carolina. Four of the five judges are actual builders, and their resumes and reputations were stellar.

We spent the day rating the pieces, getting into some pretty intense discussions about the BEST OF SHOW. 

In fact, in the end - we actually made a new category - I forget what we called it, but it was something like - "the judges nod" for a piece that didn't technically qualify for the best of show, but didn't deserve to be ignored. 

I guess we judges have some leeway! 

These pieces were simply amazing - from the designs,

 to the amazing bent laminations.  

We all loved this table, and felt like it was meant for production!

The handcut dovetails on this piece blew me away. 

And the inlays on this guitar...well, I can't believe this work was done by a high school student. 

The award ceremony on the last full day featured awards given to the various winners, as well as a catered affair afterward. 

By the way, this table, with a massive 20' bent lamination, won BEST OF SHOW. This fine woodworker actually won several awards for a few of the pieces that he entered, and I suspect we'll be seeing more from him in the future. 

Back to the show - if nothing else, the vendors really go out of their way to make their booths memorable. This CNC cut dinosaur was taller than me. Well, that isn't that hard! 

And this giant robot posed for a lot of photos over the four days. 

Even this giant saw blade, which appeared to be in 3D, was a great backdrop for a lot of bloggers and content creators.  

I gravitated over to the Bridge City booth, and splurged a little bit. Their tools are pretty high end, and often out of my budget.

 But this little mini plane caught my eye and of course, I had to have one. (Hey, it beats jewelry!)

 This is just a guess, but you're looking at a few thousand dollars worth of planes... you can understand why I bought the mini.  

 Speaking of BIG - this dust collector hose was the biggest one I've ever seen. It was attached to a HUGE automated CNC machine, when one sheet of plywood could be loaded in one end, and furniture parts pop out the other end. If you've never seen a machine like this cut parts before, you're missing out.  It's quite amazing. 

This automated lathe/CNC cutter made the most amazing table legs - from turning them, to carving them with great detail. 

Again - amazing. 

There was, of course, tons more to see - from lumber dealers to drawer companies, hardware suppliers, you name it, it was there. I am in awe of the team that pulls this convention together.

Once of the coolest parts of this conference are the classes that are offered, and I attended a lecture by Paul Downs, a friend and mentor. If you're interested in running your own cabinet shop, you won't find a better book that his - Boss Life.

You can find it on Amazon, and thank me later!

I also attended an amazing class in Wood Finishing. Seriously, the woman who gave the lecture was one of the most knowledgeable finishers I've ever spoken to - she had so many tips and tricks about lacquer that just today, I used some of her advice  today, when lacquering a piece I just finished. 

You can bet I kept her contact info! 

The best thing about the show is the opportunity to rub elbows with all the makers and suppliers. It's amazing how much you can learn with just a few classes, or with speaking to the actual people who design things like drawer glides or cup hinges. It's entirely inspiring.  If you've never attended... well, you should consider it.

I'm already looking forward to the 2025 show!