Harrogate the Great Yorkshire Showground.

[TEP]

Just a heads up on my feelings about the said show this year.

No. 1. If any one is travelling to the show via the A1(M) and A661, pick a slightly different route, the old turn off from the A1(M) to the A661 no longer exists. Whether temporally due to the road works that are there or what I don't know, but what should have been a 2 hour drive, ended up as a 3 1/2hr. one.

I wasn't that impressed by the people demonstrating, because as is usual once you got about 6 or 8 people around the stand watching anyone else just can't see a thing. Surely the organisers realise that some people just go for the day out, and would like to watch a demo. Either putting out chairs, or putting the demonstrator up on a stage affair would allow more to see him if wanted.

I didn't go with the idea of buying anything in particular, but came away £70 lighter. I could see any offers on at all, in fact I was quite shocked at the prices of some of the tools and chuck accessories. d less to say I didn't buy any, although I did fancy a set of the Sorby/Record long jaws for the Super Nova chuck. In fact I think that it is possible to buy gouges and so on on-line cheaper than they were selling for at the show.

As is normal Proops Bros. stand was doing a roaring trade, but all the rest seemed to be slow. In the end I bought £35 worth of finishing products from Chestnut, and a couple of skeleton clocks from Meantime, had a plate of the obligatory fish and chips, and headed home calling in at John Boddy's timber yard on route. Which I'm sorry to say was also waste of time for me, usually I pick up small pieces of African Black Wood, or some ebony, they hardly had anything in for turners, Plenty of boards for the 'flat folks' though.

This was the first show I have been to this year and have always enjoyed it in the past, (been going for about 8 years now) but I don't think I will be going next year. In fact other than trying to get to Westonbrit next year I don't think I will be doing any shows for a year or two. Possibly my tastes could be becoming a little jaded with too much of what used to be a good thing, so will have a rest for a bit then if they are still around in a couple of years I may try again.

Sorry I can't be a bit more cheerful about it, but a couple of my friends have been saying similar about other shows they have attended this year, so this doesn't seem to be a unique occurrence. Yet as they say, It is all in the eyes of the beholder. So if anyone is going Sat/Sun. I hope you enjoy it more than I did.

 

[gasmansteve]

Hi Tam
Sorry you did`nt enjoy the show. It was my first and I quite enjoyed it not having any other to measure it by. As you might remember I`ve been looking for a lathe but had to walk away from one of my choice lathes as the guy just wouldn`t budge from the book price, no `special show price` which I was surprised at but his loss I suppose and my other model choice did`nt appear at the show (he`d sold the last one and awaiting another shipment) which was a pain as that one was the main one I wanted to check out. The vendor has promised to put me in touch with some nearish customers to check the model out as I wouldn`t order one just by looking in the brochure. Came away with a grinding jig and a new bench grinder so not a complete waste but on the whole glad I went. The Starbucks coffee from Sainsburys went down well with SWMBO :lol:
Regards
Steve

 

[TEP]

Glad you enjoyed your time there Steve. As I said though, 'jaded' and 'seen that before' comes into it with me. So I can understand how you had a good time there.

PS: I can still remember what it used to be like. Which makes it worse for me. :lol:

PPS: Sorry you couldn't get the price down, but as you say that's his loss. Just out of curiosity what lathe are you looking at? If you don't mind telling that is. :wink:

 

[gasmansteve]

Hi Tam
My main choice of lathe is the Vicmarc 175 which I`ve been itching to try but sadly Phil had sold his last one and his latest shipment was too late for the show which was a bummer . Thought Phillipe the French guy was a lovely bloke and very helpful. I did think for the entry price of £8.50 they could have provided more chairs as there was a lot of very elderly folk there and it can be a long tiring day for them.
Just my bit
Steve

 

[stevebuk]

thanks for the heads up, although i had already decided not to go anyway. I will pop up to turners retreat when i need something.
I cant believe in this so called "crunch" that folks aren't offering more bargains or show offers, they cant be that bad off then eh!

 

[gasmansteve]

Steve
Some dealers were offering a few quid off the RRP off the top of my head Record and Charnwood I think so maybe if they are on your list some bargains can be had, actually my bench grinder was from Record and I got a good price on it so some deals to be had if you look for them.
Cheers
Steve

 

[TobyB]

I went - not sure I was that impressed as a "show" - looked at a lot of toys, bought a few, was disappointed that a couple of things I wanted to find weren't there ... overall not that different to a trip out to a larger shop. Thought the demo's and the like were generally poor - not much to see, not much opportunity to learn or be impressed ... weak. I did get some value though out of watching Barry Isles demonstrate/teach sharpening carving chisels.

Did get what seemed like a reasonable deal on a chuck ... a Patriot ... just the body and chuck key since I've already got a SuperNova and a variety of jaws ... but for £80 I thought "I'll have that!".

Also got the chance to look at some big toys in the flesh and compare bandsaws ... didn't buy ... but that was worthwhile.

From Leeds, Harrogate isn't a big trip. I wouldn't make the effort to travel a few hours south to see the same though in London, etc though ...

Cheers

Toby

 

[wabbitpoo]

I got pretty well slated for saying the last show, near Coventry, was poor, so I'm "glad" you found this one poor too! What I mean is, sorry it wasn't good for you but I was sure I'm not the only one who wants something more than people trying to sell me lots of slightly overpriced gear and several hard-to-hear demos....

 

[Jenx]

I'd given some serious consideration to making the trip down to see it, and having seen the comments, maybe I made the best choice to stay home .

A thought does occur though, -
and its a question really I suppose .....

Would it be perhaps something of a 'good thing' that peoples views, be they good bad or indifferent of an event are 'aired' ... there must be 'people of some influence', and by that I mean, guys in the trade with access to the relevant ears, that could perhaps constructively feed back some of the general feeling to the organisers ?
The thinking being that, "change" in formats of presentations / demonstrations etc would only come about by the feeding back of constructive comments such as have been mentioned above ?

I stopped going to the major motorcycle shows all over the UK for exactly the same reasons as Tam described... 'jaded / seen it all before . etc ....
but where I fell down is that the show programmes often had 'faxback-feedback' forms, and never did I ever take the trouble to do it.
Perhaps I should have.

As techology has progressed a little, and forums such as this exist, and 'trade people' are some of the users... perhaps they have the opportunity to pass on some of the sentiments ?

 

[stevebuk]

nicely put jenx, we can only hope..

 

[gasmansteve]

Hi all
Interesting comments!. As a newun to wood shows I didn`t really know what to expect. "Were there products and tools on show I`ve only read about?" well yes there were. "Were there experts available to answer any queries?" again I suppose yes there were in between demo`ing that is. I did think there might have been more chance for a good barter given the amount of cash I was prepared to spend but maybe that doesn`t happen at these events nowadays?? What do you lot think was missing when comparing with previous events? What actually makes a good wood workingshow?
Regards
Steve

 

[TEP]

I agree with what Jenx has said, and I must plead guilty to not saying much myself. In fact this is the first time I have even put it down on-line. We should make our views known, but I am as hesitant as the next guy.

These shows are set up to take as much cash as possible from the visitors and give as little as possible back. The problem is that generally the organiser is not involved with the wood world and is just in it for the cash, and runs it as a business. His money comes from getting as many stalls as possible rented out, and the resident artists are there as a secondary thing in a effort to give it the show atmosphere.

As I said earlier it is almost impossible to see any demonstration, and almost as hard to have a decent discussion with one of the turners. I don't think I will be going to any of these shows in the near future simply because I think it is a waste of time and money.

As a member of the AWGB I plan on saving the pennies SWMBO lets me have and go back to the bi-annual seminars they put on at Loughborough University. At least there you get to see world class turners, doing real demo's and on big screens, with some of our country's best turners as well. You also have the opportunity to ask as many questions as you like.

I'm sorry to say it, but in my opinion the day of the so called woodworking show is past, unless you wish to have a test/good look at a specific machine or tool you are in the market for. Gone are the days when you could happily spend the whole day at the show, watching, questioning, and buying all sorts of things on special offer.

Sound like a right miserable old git, don't I :roll:

 

[gasmansteve]

Sound like a right miserable old git, don't I :roll:

Not a bit Tam you have a perfectly valid reason to think how you do.
In my other life as an amateur astronomer I attend many `astro` type shows where the companies that attend are owned by astronomers,run by astronomers for astronomers (with the odd exception of course) and I assumed (wrongly it seems) that the same applied to woodworking.
Still quite enjoyed the show for its novelty factor but next year?? maybe maybe not.
Cheers
Steve

 

[boysie39]

Hiya all, I've had a card from Sorby's giving the dates and venues for their Irish Demo's. The nearest one to me entails a 150mls round trip. I went to one about 9/10 months ago in the hope of seeing someone turning. Alas his main purpose was to Demo tool's on a piece of boxwood which was in the lathe all day . The fellow who owned the shop had a supposed 10% off all tools by Sorby.
A week before I had rang the shop and was given a price on a Spirilling tool. As it gave me a chance to visit my Daughters who live in that area I went along and spent almost 5hrs in the shop hoping to see some turning no way Jose. And guess what with the 10% off the tool was the same price as had been quoted to me a week earlier.
Am I going to this one?? What do you think,I can get what I want from the UK and the cost of Petrol will make up the differance. In my case the day of the Stooge has come to an end. REgards Eugene. aka Boysie.

 

[Chris By The River]

I have given up going to these shows now since attending the Land Rover Show at Billing this year.
It was nothing but a badly arranged 'market' and I came away asking myself if I would pay £13 to go to a retail park to see the shops.
It becomes an expensive day out for the family just to go shopping.
Maybe we feel that the value has dropped in recent years because we have the internet to fulfill our shopping and research needs?

 

[Bob Chapman]

Hi all,

I've followed this thread with interest, and can see some of the points being made. While newcomers were impressed and enjoyed it, the general feeling amongst those who have been before is 'same old stuff, nothing new' and to some extent I have to agree.

However, although this might be seen as a weakness, it's also one of the great strengths of the show. You know pretty well who will be there and what will be available. If, like me, you wait for the show before making big purchases there are plenty of bargains to be had. I got £50 off the asking price of a planer/thicknesser, £20 off a dust extractor, £10 off a hollowing tool, £10 off a set of buffing mops and also made savings on various smaller items.

I'm well pleased with the bargains I got and the money the show saved me. I asked some of the traders how the show was going for them, and generally it seems it was OK. I certainly hope it will continue into future years and, yes, I hope the same traders will be there and that maybe they are joined by some new ones as well.

Bob