Warranty keeps going and going

March 25, 2009

Recently, Hitachi announced that its warranty for HXP Li-ion tools is now 10 years. The coverage includes driver drills, hammer drills, impact drivers, impact wrenches, circular saws, jigsaws, reciprocating saws and blowers going back to the launch of the HXP line in August...

They Have Moxie

March 1, 2009

One booth that’s been generating a lot of buzz this weekend is the one by Moxie Trades. They have all the gear a DIY/woodworking woman needs. They have boots, hard hats and tool belts that come in pink, blue, tan, black and red. I asked Elaine what the most popular colour ...

Exotic Woods and Ethical Shopping

February 28, 2009

I stopped by the Exotic Woods Inc. booth today and chatted with Mel Hordyk. He had some very nice wood, from cocobolo to ziricote. I told him I was especially interested in the environmental and social ethics behind such products. For example, how do I know that the wood is...

More Show Pictures

When You Need Sandpaper, Stat!

The very generous and helpful Roy and Shirley at Royce Sales helped me out of a bind today. I was in need of some sandpaper sleeves for the spindle sanders in Project Workshop. Of course the people behind sandpaper.ca had exactly what I needed. We also chatted a bit about how...

The CHW Media Challenge

February 27, 2009

Each year, we ask members of the media to come to the show to build a project each. But these folks aren’t building in Project Workshop for the fun of it. It’s a judged competition. The prize: money that goes to the winner’s favourite charity. Here’s how things went this...

A Good Sign or a Bad Sign?

The show wasn’t even open for five minutes and I was already making my first purchase this morning: a drill-bit kit with more than 200 pieces. It was a good price and easy to justify: none of my kits at home are complete, so really, I needed it. So, either I’ve got my...

SawStop Demonstration

“You going to use your finger?” asked Jodi, CHW’s managing editor. “No,” said Pat Cassilly from SawStop. “Would you point a Smith and Wesson at your foot to test the safety?” “Uh, no.” Pat, who would be demonstrating the SawStop in a few minutes to a small...

Before and After

Here’s what the show looked like Thursday during set-up:                   And here’s what it looked like today:  

Set-up Day for the CHW Show

February 26, 2009

Long day at the International Centre today, getting everything ready for tomorrow. It was organized chaos: pump trucks, flatbed dollies and fork lifts zipping around; box upon box being opened and; machines getting tuned and ready. (Wow, writing about it kinda tires me out.)...