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I was thinking of popping into Toolfair at Sandown tomorrow.
Has anyone been and is it worth a look around?
I haven't been to Toolfair but if it is anything like the tool sellers at the Southampton Boat Show then watch out for their show specials. My eye was caught by a great dust extractor that I could use when sanding down my next project car. It was direct from the manufacturer so could not be bought cheaper and they even did me a 'show special' price of just £650.39+vat.
I thought I would have a quick google to just how good a price that was. The very first website I found selling new Mirka machines had the exact same model for £589 + vat
Dodgy sellers at these kind of events are nothing new.
My favourite was always the super special drill through anything drill bit sellers who used brake discs as an example of how easy the drills could go through 'hardened' material. I was asked to leave one after highlighting brake discs were just cast iron, and if a blunt drill couldn't get through a brake disc, then you weren't pushing hard enough.
Can't believe they think people won't actually google things to find out how much they retail for. They must curse mobile phones.
I've got my eye on a Dewalt cordless sander so thought I'd see if they have it there? I'm not really in the market for tools at the moment but who doesn't love a powertool or two? It's free to get in and I have a day off so wondered if it's worth a visit.
I think the benefits of tool fairs really boil down to actually being able to get your hands on the tools. Increasingly a lot of tool and machinery is sold online or theres an Argos-like model of picking from a catalogue and having the box handed to you over the counter. So fairs give a better opportunity to physically hold and even use stuff.
theres often nice bacon rolls too.
its not necessarily the place where you’ll get a bargain, particular if you’re a diy-er just going to buy one thing, bigger purchases and bigger orders maybe. I got really good deal once standing a guy who was buying quite a lot of festool stuff and the sales guy was throwing in a lot of accessories with each item to seal the deal, I was after a domino jointer so when he offered the guy extra gubbins and and guides and a sustainer full of domino’s in every size and shape thrown in for free if he added one to his order I piped up and said ‘can I get one of those packages too’ before the other guy had got his card out so got all extra chutney for nothing.
Now…. if you ever get wind of a festool roadshow…. Watching the saw-stop thing go bang is very exciting and the free burgers are phenomenal!
Our local one is down in Exeter.
As said above , just nip outside and check the prices against online . It’s Powertoolmate down here doing Milwaukee and Dewalt , then a couple of other local companies doing Makita and Hikoki.
Usually a few other companies selling decent gear as well as ones selling show tat ( see drill bits above).
Not seen Festool represented there for a few years now.
Some of them seem to employ “show reps” for these things as the 2 I asked technical questions didn’t have a scooby doo.
Can’t say it’s really made me want to go.
Will see if I can drag myself away from some wallpapering to pop in. Thanks for the replies.