As promised, Ralph Bagnall from  Woodcademy TV was checking in from the AWFS Fair 2021 in Las Vegas. Here are some of the show highlights he shared with the Team at 2Sand.com:

Trade shows are being held live again. In June, the Concrete World show was a big success; the AWFS Fair 2021 was the big show for July. I got to walk the floor at AWFS for a few days and I’m excited to share some show highlights with you.

Not surprisingly, there was a lot of uncertainty in the run up to this show. A number of vendors chose not to exhibit at a show just yet, and many of the folks who attended purchased fewer pieces of equipment than they did at past shows. I think that, overall, traffic was respectable, and I suspect that the missing international visitors were largely offset by a strong domestic attendance. The vendors I spoke with told me that the crowds were largely serious buyers. For my first show coming out of shutdowns, it was a good event.

I stopped by the Indasa booth to see what is new from them. They have a new line of sanding pads that look ideal for a toolbox staple, especially for hand work in the field. The sanding pads are two-sided and have foam centers that are color coded by grit. They can be used wet or dry, and are available in medium, fine, super fine and ultra fine grits.

2Sand has written before about the importance of dust collection for reasons of health and quality of finish, so I was on the lookout for items to improve extraction in the shop. One of the easiest ways to improve air quality is to ensure that filters and bags are clean and in good condition. Companies like American Fabric Filter can replace and even upgrade your OEM components. Restricted airflow can prevent even mesh abrasives like Abranet from working properly.

Keeping the job site clean is often problematic, especially when there are occupants. More and more companies are figuring out that it is better to prevent a mess than to clean one up. The Sirocco line of saws are designed around a unique dust collection system that extracts 98.5 percent of dust without needing a separate vacuum source. There is a traditional job site saw as well as a model specifically for flooring. And a compound miter saw will be available in early 2022. Attached to a dust extractor system , these saws would leave pretty much nothing behind.

Sanding is often seen as a more traditional task, but this show had several robots configured for sanding parts, proving that the future is here. Odd parts can be rapidly scanned to define the shape and then a robot arm fitted with a flap wheel or even a random orbit sander uses a soft interface pad to evenly treat all surfaces.

If I had any doubts about how technology is shaping the way we grind, sand and polish, consider the Alpha Quantix Exoskeleton glove: it uses a lightweight actuation system within a backpack to augment tool holding. Servo actuators in the fingers of the glove augment the operator’s own strength to hold tools longer without muscle fatigue. Tools like  random orbit sanders, buffers and grinders can be used more effectively and longer using this system, reducing the risk of motion injuries and Workers’ Compensation claims. This is cutting edge stuff.

Working, learning and shopping virtually has advantages, but one real benefit of the physical trade show is seeing things you did not even know existed. Without walking a show floor every so often, it can be all too easy to miss things that can change your business forever. Now that shows are popping up again, I highly recommend you get out to one soon – great things have been happening while we were all in shutdown!