Hobby machinery shows???

[joebiplane]

Got a question...
I would love to see most of the available machines on the market today.....IN ONE LOCATION !
There must be a trade show for the type of units 9( lathes, mills Metal saws, etc and the tooling we need.)
I've been to car shows, boat shows, aircraft shows, Model aircraft shows, Motorcycles, snowmobiles campers and RVs printing equiptment, ETC. if there is a market for the product there is a trade show

There MUST be machinery shows that attempt to coerce us into buying equiptment that we don't need, can't afford and will buy anyway... to use in our hobby, that takes place in the major metropolitan areas of this great land...
WHERE AND WHEN ARE THEY HELD ????
joe

 

[bfd]

the only machinery show that I know about is westec held in l.a. google westec for current schedule . I have also bought machinery at the cabin fever show they have a good consinement area. bill

 

[cjtoombs]

Since there are no US manufacturers of hobby class machinery and the dealers don't seem to be interested in that kind of marketing, I think the answer is no, there are no hobby machinery trade shows. I've never been to Westech, but I understand that it is geared toward the industrial customer. There is the Cabin Fever show mentioned above, I have not personaly been to that show. There is also another model engineering show held in Detroit in April that I cannot name on this site that I have been to that some retailers show up at. A Grizzly showroom would probably be the closest thing to what you are looking for. Considering that there is very little to diferentiate the Chinese machines of a given size from one vendor to another, other than price, it seems a bit futile to do a trade show.

 

[kingmt01]

I'd suggest YouTube for looking at different machine demonstrations.

 

[randyjaco]

Westec is not a hobbyist show. It is very interesting , but it is a manufacturer's show . One of my best memories of that show was back in the 90's when cnc was just stepping into its own. One of the big companies was showing off its new machining center . A fork lift arrived with a rough steel cylinder about the size of a 55 gallon drum . They loaded it on to a vertical chuck, shut the doors and turned it on. Then with minimal coolant they started cutting . Sparks went everywhere . It was actually kind of scary . That big piece of steel was turning at amazing speed. After about 15 - 20 minutes ,with many tool changes, lots of starting and stopping and multiple off axis operations, they pulled something out of the machine that looked like a 4 foot candle stick! Everyone in the audience was just standing there with their mouths open , dumbfounded.
There is no telling what that stunt cost the company , but I'll bet they sold a dozen of those machines by the end of the day .

Randy

 

[HMF]

There is also another model engineering show held in Detroit in April that I cannot name on this site

You can name NAMES.

One of their organizers in particular dislikes this site and me. Sad.

 

[bfd]

westec is a professional machinist mfg. show but resister early and its free the people salesmen don't know if you are a hobbiest or mfg. great to look at. easy to spend a day there. I bought my mill there but since I ordered it single phase I waited 3 months for it to arrive in Pasadena. I got a good price and a fine machine. the show has shrunk over the years went from 3 buildings at the la comvention center to just one but I have been going there since 1980 have had my apprentices go to see the mfg side of machining (I have always been in the repair/maint side of machining) remember they will talk/sell to anyone and you can gain some good information. I always talk to the darex people and the people from the plastic flex coolant line over the years I have received enough 3 piece keychain samples to make free flex coolant lines for my lathe. and air line for my bandsaw. have recommended items to be used at work and find out about new stuff. bill

 

[Wreck™Wreck]

You can name NAMES.

One of their organizers in particular dislikes this site and me. Sad.

That is sad, you and your website do not seem to compete at any level with the industrial part of the business, he may just dislike you personally.

 

[GT Mills]

WOW! I found this HM forum through John Morgan, a fellow gyrocopter guy, and here I find a thread started by ANOTHER gyrocopter guy!! Small world.