chicago lie-nielson show

so, i am sitting here watching star wars, working on my portfolio and eating dinner and i decided to take a break from two of those (i’m not going to stop watching star wars….c’mon that’s just ludicrous) and do a quick review of the chicago lie-nielson wood show.

the show was held at jeff miller's shop this past friday and saturday, and boy o boy what a show it was! i took friday off of work thinking to avoid the crowd on saturday, but i think others had the same idea as myself and i would say, about 30-50 people were hanging around watching demos from deneb puchalski, chris schwarz, John Economaki and jeff miller. thomas lie-nielson was there as well and although i didn’t talk to him he seemed very nice. 30-50 people may not seem like a lot, but in a small shop that number is pretty large. the demonstrations were top notch. deneb sharpening, chris schwarz on handsaws and planing, jeff miller on chair design and inlay techniques and john economaki was working his bridge-city tools real nice…....those are some NICE tools.

i think the tool highlight of the show was the bridge-city powerless table saw, however, at $1000 a pop i think it is going to be out of my price range. another cool part of the show was that lie-nielson had brought all their tools, (and here’s the good part) which were all available to take back into the shop and try out. i wound up purchasing an auriou 9 grit rasp and my first block plane, a low-angle adjustable neck beauty. i was going to get a large router plane as well (especially after watching some of the demos), but they didn’t have any to buy and i didn’t feel like paying shipping at the time (i can get it anytime anyhow).

i went back on saturday, and i was surprised that there were more people there on friday! the demonstrations were the same, although i hear that chris schwarz did a card scraper sharpening demo which i am VERY sorry to have missed, as videos are a poor substitute to real life.

if the “tour” comes through a city near you, i highly recommend you take your nearest car, buggy, wagon and get there. but be careful…..a lot of money can be “lost” in the aquisition of new tools. :)