EASTEC vs IMTS

I have the opertunity to go to one of the two trade shows. I have been to neither. Any opinions on which one I would get more info from. I run a R&D Gunsmith shop with all manual machines. I would mainly be looking for tooling, since we have all our current machinery needs filled. Only big ticket item would be an EDM for burning out taps, drills, and boring small holes(gas ports) in barrels.

IMTS is 1 1/2 years away, but well worth the trip Eastec shows are just OK but no where near the number of vendors at IMTS. Plan on spending at least 3 days minimum at IMTS if you want to investigate everything you are interested in. Plus make your reservations at least 6 months in advance.

Scott

I attend both, and each has it's advantages. IMTS has lots of cute chicks. Eastec has more regional tooling manufacturers. Especially those folks that can make unique form tools. Best attraction is the Springfield Armory Museum close by.

IMTS is BIG ... and expensive to display at. (WAY overly unionized!)

There are some folks that have started displaying at the smaller shows that while a lot less attendance - the bang/buck is much better.

So there is actually an advantage to both. I hit IMTS religeously - and I try to hit the PMPA show the next spring in Columbus. (Should start to see ads fer it soon I'd be thinkin'?)

Think Snow Eh!
Ox

Eastec is probably more suited for what you are looking for, plenty of tooling suppliers as well as other regional suppliers that may be of interest to you. We display at both shows and I prefer walking around Eastec, it feels more relaxed to me.

If I had to pick between Eastec and IMTS, I would go to IMTS. There are a lot more machines on display and a lot more tooling vendors. Although there won't be too many regional vendors from the east coast with their own booths.

If your interested in screw machines, Swiss, and mainly bar turning, PMTS would be a better bet.

Here are the dates:

PMTS April 24-26th Columbus, OH.
http://www.pmts.com/

Eastec May22-24th Springfield, MA.
Eastec web site

IMTS 2008 September 8-13th 2008 Chicago, IL.
http://www.imts.com/

I'll be at PMTS and IMTS. Not sure about Eastec though.

Hey if you've got someone footing the bill, maybe you should check out EMO. It runs from Sept. 17th-22nd in Hannover Germany. http://www.emo-hannover.de/homepage_e
Or wait until 2008 for JIMTOF which is held in Tokyo, Japan. http://www.jimtof.org/Eng/

I've been to them all and IMTS and JIMTOF are my favorites as far as the show itself goes. EMO wins for location. The reason I like JIMTOF is that the builders still show prototype machines there. I've seen some funky/weird stuff at JIMTOF. EMO is just huge and you'll see a lot of builders that you didn't even know existed.