The 2011 edition of the Woodworking Machinery & Supply Expo (WMS) started early for the more than 100 participants of CNC Automation’s Tech Tour.
Two busloads of woodworking professionals departed the Royal York Hotel in downtown Toronto early Wednesday morning to begin a daylong tour of area woodworking facilities, shops and showrooms. The tour offered participants a rare opportunity for an in-depth look at five very different operations in Southwestern Ontario.
Organized by CNC Automation, the tour included stops at Olympic Kitchens in Scarborough, White Oak Custom Woodworking Ltd. in Bolton and Bamco Custom Woodworking in Guelph, as well as a stop at Royce/Ayr’s cutting tool facility in Cambridge and Hettich Canada new showroom in Vaughan.
Olympic Kitchens specializes in the design and manufacture of custom kitchens, and kitchen renovations while White Oak Custom Woodworking focuses on the manufacture of custom cabinet doors in just about any finish imaginable.
Bamco Custom Woodworking manufactures custom kitchens, bathroom and closets.
At Royce/Ayr, tour participants saw the entire process from initial drawings of a custom tool head to finished product as well as the production lines that make the saw blades, diamond- and carbide-tipped drill bits and router heads.
Last but not least was a stop at Hettich Canada where participants toured the recently expanded showroom and saw the latest in the company’s wide assortment of hinges, fittings, slides and decorative lighting.
CNC Automation President Andrew Legault called the tour a great success as it provided participants the chance to meet other woodworkers, exchange ideas and see different shops and machines in operation.
The Woodworking Machinery & Supply Expo (WMS), Canada’s largest woodworking event, begins Thursday, Oct. 27 and continues until Oct. 29 at the Direct Energy Centre in Toronto. Located close to downtown Toronto, less than a mile from the Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport and easily accessible by car and public transit, WMS will feature a wide selection of woodworking machinery, technology, suppliers, software and services.
