N.A.M.E.S. expo 2014

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I am thinking of attending this show as I have never been to a show of this kind.
Is there lots to buy? I have a few friends that collect old and homebuilt engines.

What could I expect from a show like this?

Chris
 
At Cabin Fever they have consignment tables plus auction plus vendors. At NAMES 3 years ago there was a separate section of vendor tables. I bought some taps and large micrometers as I recall.

This year I'm picking up a set of castings for a stationary engine I want to build.

But as always the main attraction is seeing others' craftsmanship.
 
NAMES has two kinds of displays- vendors and exhibitors.

Vendors pay (I think a couple hundred dollars) to have a table and are allowed to sell items. There are new items from places like Little Machine Shop.com, PM Research, Sherline, and lots of used tools, books, plans, casting kits etc. I think last year there were 30-40 such vendor tables.

Exhibitors are NOT allowed to sell anything, although some guys cheat and offer their models for sale. Exhibitors are supposed to just show their work. This rule is to prevent the show form becoming a flea market, and I strongly support it.

To allow exhibitors to sell a few items Cabin Fever runs a consignment area- you sign in your item, up to 10 max. They handle the sale, you go by later and collect your money. Its great and I always buy and sell a few items there. NAMES had a consignment area run by a model club for a couple years, but they have not had it for the last couple years- I think the club found it to hard to run.

NAMES may have a vendor list on their web site.

If you are thinking about just one show, Cabin Fever has 120,000 sq feet of 'stuff', NAMES has 30,000
 
Do yo know castings are available
Yes there are a couple of vendors that sell casting at the show. along with some new steam models,and sometimes people have old home made or the old casting kit models for sales.
NAMES is a non profit show. In the state of Michigan it is against the law for non profits to have a consignment sales booth.
The club that ran it had problems with manning the booth for the whole week end so they stopped doing it.
There are a number of vendors that only go to the NAMES show. Since the Cabin Fever is a for profit business and also owns the auction. Some of the vendors have said they don't go due to the people don't spend the money at the vendors only at the auction.
Maurry from Texas will have his hit and miss gas engine castings. PM Research will have some. and one or two others sold PM research kits.
There will be new and used tooling. Sherline will be there with the martin awards.

As to anybody caught selling at the exhibitors spaces, as last year they will be escorted from the show.
 
Glen, why is it so important to you that the Cabin Fever show is not a non profit? You make that point in just about every reply you make about the shows. It is in fact a family business run by one guy and his son, with help from all his family and friends. There is no giant corporation behind it, just a guy that likes model shows and decided to run one. Not really different than the committee that decided to run NAMES, just they formed a non-profit to shelter any income they make from it. If you spend just a few minutes and do some arithmetic you will find there is very little profit behind either of these shows, and we are damn lucky they continue to exist at any level.
 
Because as a non profit in the state of Michigan,NAMES has to operate under different rules. than a for profit company in Penn. People ask the same questions about the sales tables and why there isn't a consignment table.

Why is it you have to always bring up cabin fever in NAMES threads.
 
The castings I'm buying are for the Joy's Valve Gear engine from Historic Models and Reproductions. I already bought the plans from them, and the castings will be brought to the show (they are vendors there) saving me the shipping costs. I also want to take a lot of pics of the finished engine that they display.

Mr. Howe, the supplier, says he no longer goes to CF since the cost for a booth makes it unprofitable for him.

As far as one vs. the other, I've enjoyed both shows in the past. If I didn't have a conflict with the CF dates I'd have gone to both this year.
 
KVOM, PT: Hey guys, let's not start a flame war over CF vs NAMES. THey are both important to the hobby. We need to support the shows we have and the folks putting them on. I hope these two shows continue, as I see a decline in the hobby taking a toll. Look at what happened to GEARS.

I attend NAMES only because CF is just too far from Texas, ignoring whether it makes a profit. If I have really good sales at the show, it barely covers my expenses. I just like to go to the show, and I get the side benefit of visiting family in Indiana.

I wish there were model shows closer, like the one put on by the MoKan group in Lathrop Mo. I wish those guys could get their act together to make that into a national show. As I saw a couple of years ago when I attended, tHere is a lot of talent in the area and potential to have a much larger show.

Let's all pull together ans support the hobby.

maury
 
The director's had the finial meeting before the show. Set up days and times for the show was fixed. All 45 vendor tables and booths have been taken/sold. Hope everyone of the them will be in attendance. Hope every one has a good Easter weekend and then a safe trip if you are coming near or far to the show!
 
Its 6:00 Am on Wednesday and I am ready to hit the road- just over 900 miles to go. See you all at NAMES!
 
A couple of emails and a question on another forum is below, along with the wrap up see you there Chuck!;)
After the usual assortment of fast food joints, Do hickeys Irish pub/bar across the street from the north end next to the fire house has good food. I haven't tried any of the walleye and other fish. The pizza place downtown have pretty good fair. There is a Subway shoppe on two short blocks west on Eureka rd and a short block south of the arena. In the bloc k before there is a new joint, called Jersey Giant subs. There is also the assortment of Mexican places, Outback Olive garden et all between the arena and back to I-75.

The weather should be fair and in the mid 50's for Sat/Sun with part sun. on Friday they are calling for a soaking rain for mid morning towards afternoon. No snow or other stuff. Most of the roads coming in are clear or minimal construction.
I will say watch out as the pot holes are bad this spring and they are in full bloom.

The show was ready and the trucks were bring in the vendor stuff this year Little machine shop got their stuff, Sherline, and the others that have the stuff shipped in.
So if you have been thinking and are with in a couple hours drive come on down 48 vendors, demos and the usual great displays of models.
 

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