Fabtech 2018 Atlanta

[strength_and_power]

Was last week. Made a road trip and was able to check it out. Amazing to see the technology that is out there. Admittedly a lot of things were not practical for a home shop ( a twin robot fully automatic CNC pressbrake as an example) but was able to test drive a few welders and get some great ideas. Anyone else make it to the show?


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[Milton Shaw]

I went a couple of years ago to the last one in Atlanta. Great place to look at new tools and sometimes try them out. Lots of stuff to see and will take more than a day to see all the booths much less talk to them. Its as big as the International Woodworking Fair (IWF) that is there every two years. If you are into woodworking of any kind you can find it there.

 

[bsaint]

The company I used to work for is there every year. Prima North America

 

[BD1]

I went to Atlanta this year, Chicago last year, and Vegas. Atlanta is OK, Vegas is better, and Chicago blows them both away. All of them are amazing providing the latest in technology. There are a variety of FREBBIES available too. I only had about five hours this trip. As mentioned you can spend three days if you want to see alot. I hit the vendors that I got the most useful goodies from. 3M and Walters were the most generous.

 

[strength_and_power]

Agreed on the Walters booth being very generous. Looking forward to trying their product out on my smoker build.

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[dr_clyde]

I go when the show is in Chicago. I alternate between Fabtech and IMTS every year. Very good show for those of us in the metal fabrication industry.

I have a list going for next year.

I'm shopping for a press brake, postioners, a passivation system, tooling storage, tungsten sharpening, tilt frame saw, and a new belt grinder.

Not all at once, obviously haha.

I do also like seeing what's new in the industry, abrasives, PPE, machines, etc.

It's truly a work trip for me, but I do like going.

 

[westcoastkevin]

I was there for work all week. It was busy.

 

[thejimmy]

I went to Atlanta this year, Chicago last year, and Vegas. Atlanta is OK, Vegas is better, and Chicago blows them both away. All of them are amazing providing the latest in technology. There are a variety of FREBBIES available too. I only had about five hours this trip. As mentioned you can spend three days if you want to see alot. I hit the vendors that I got the most useful goodies from. 3M and Walters were the most generous.

This was my first FabTech, great show and got to meet some YouTuber's as well. What is better about the Chicago show?

 

[Jawn]

I missed out. A guy I work with went, and was talking it up to me beforehand but I had a really busy week and chose not to go. He was most impressed with the Lincoln welding simulator.

 

[BD1]

This was my first FabTech, great show and got to meet some YouTuber's as well. What is better about the Chicago show?

Chicago is about double in size, the largest from what vendors told me.

Vegas is next for size plus huge amount of outside setups to.

 

[thejimmy]

Chicago is about double in size, the largest from what vendors told me.

Vegas is next for size plus huge amount of outside setups to.

Can't imagine a larger Fabtech, might be a few years before I go back...

 

[BD1]

Can't imagine a larger Fabtech, might be a few years before I go back...

I got a comp deal so I went to vegas. It was nice because the casino/hotel had a shuttle daily. I went all three days and still didn't see everything. It's huge so I made my list of vendors to stop at. The outside activities were amazing ! There is lots going on all over, it was amazing.
Some vendors had tables and chairs, bar maids, and beer ,wine, and hard stuff plus food. It is really something to see.
The hotel shuttle was really nice. I wouldn't pay $20 for parking every day for sure. Chicago is great but again parking is costly.

 

[thejimmy]

I got a comp deal so I went to vegas. It was nice because the casino/hotel had a shuttle daily. I went all three days and still didn't see everything. It's huge so I made my list of vendors to stop at. The outside activities were amazing ! There is lots going on all over, it was amazing.
Some vendors had tables and chairs, bar maids, and beer ,wine, and hard stuff plus food. It is really something to see.
The hotel shuttle was really nice. I wouldn't pay $20 for parking every day for sure. Chicago is great but again parking is costly.

Thanks for the overview, I guess Atlanta was the scaled down version