Last leg of my first day on my way through the International Woodworking Fair, as I continued  through the maze of exhibitors.

I discovered rolls of solid wood edgebanding that comes in 2 or 3 mil thicknesses. For some reason I had no idea this existed. I will be using this stuff every time I need to edgebanding a plywood panels. The other beautiful aspect of this edgeband is that it can be layered to create a super thick edgeband.

Last but not least, and the most serendipitous discovery of the day, was TreeFrog Veneer and their Chemetal line of metallic veneers. On Tuesday, the day I flew out of Boise for the IWF show, I had a commercial client call to see if we could redo the paneling in the six elevators in one of their commercial buildings in downtown Boise, ID.

After calling them back on Wednesday afternoon, I learned that they wanted to replace some of the current Mahogany panels with brushed stainless steel panels. I replied that we could not do that and they should call one of the local metal fabricators. I did not think we could do these panels because cutting and sanding and finishing huge sheets of steel is very difficult in a woodshop.

Well, not two hours later, I wandered past the Chemetal booth and realized that their sheets of metal veneer would make this project as easy as a laminate job. I called my client back, explained the discovery, and we are meeting on Tuesday after I return to discuss the details of the job.

The day was long and tiring, but exciting and educational nonetheless. I explored the entire floor of Exhibit Hall A, so the Exhibit Hall B awaits me for day 2 of IWF 2012.