A bustling International Woodworking Fair found booths filling rapidly with avid attendees wanting a look at the saltiest technologies. In the case of some a few extremely popular devices, the experience was not so different from try to get a bartender's attention during happy hour.

"The doors opened at 8:30, and I don't know how they did it but by 8:31 they were filling our booth," said Stiles Machinery president Christian Vollmer. During a press conference, Vollmer said custom and prospect lead activity was running in line with IWF show management predictions, a brisk 30 percent ahead of the 2014 edition of the show.