Here's the honest math on a trade show. Two days on the floor costs weeks of prep before it and 2,200 miles of driving around it. Eleven hundred up, eleven hundred back, for a tent, a table, and two days on your feet talking to people.
Written down like that, it sounds like a bad trade. We do it anyway, and on August 8 and 9 we'll be doing it in Scarborough, Maine, at the Maine Woodworking Event. This is what we're bringing, and why the drive is worth it.
What we've been heads-down on
If FORG3D has been quiet lately, this is where the time went. We rebuilt the site from the ground up, and we built The Foundry.
The short version: the new site is organized around the system instead of the SKU, so you can find what fits your work without doing the compatibility math in your head. And The Foundry, your account, turns the general system into your system. It knows what's on your bench, surfaces the support that's actually about your gear, and holds the build you're planning. Both are the same idea pointed two directions. Built for the maker, and then built for you.
We'll have both up and running at the booth. If you want the walkthrough in person, come get it.
Three things making their debut
Maine is where a few new pieces come out from behind the curtain.
The Manus FORG3D Edition is the one we've been sitting on, and we're keeping most of it back until launch. The shape of it: our FS Rail pod, reproportioned to hold with a full-size pod's force in a body that nests in a Systainer S 76. Preorders open at the show, and the full story lands right behind them.
The Akros FORG3D Edition comes out alongside it, the other of the two FORG3D Edition kits we're bringing. It's the BenchGrip kit built for narrow stock and face frames, the work a versatile pod or a max-hold set fights to grip. Built on the Harpyie Minimus pods, it takes hold of the thin edges and stiles the rest of the bench struggles with, and it starts shipping the week after the show.
The SYS-RLZ S 76 is the third, a new wall bracket built for the Systainer S 76. Paired with the S 76 rack, it's how you show a full range of S 76 organization in a footprint that fits an actual wall, not a showroom.
Seeing a piece in a photo is one thing. Picking it up is another, which is part of why we haul it a thousand miles instead of just posting about it.
The giveaway
There are two ways to walk away with FORG3D gear at the show.
At our booth, four prizes go to people who sign up, drawn on the main stage at the end of the day. The headline is the AnchorPod Magnus FORG3D Edition at the top of the ladder, with three more setups under it.
Then there's the show's central raffle, where every exhibitor contributes to a shared prize table. We've put three more FORG3D setups in that pool, free to enter, no signup required. Grab a ticket, drop it in the jar, and if your work lives on a Systainer stack, come by the booth to see the rest of the lineup in person.
The actual reason we go
None of the above is why the drive pencils out. This is.
You cannot get the same thing from a support ticket, a review, or a survey that you get from watching someone pick up a part, turn it over, and give you real, hands-on feedback face to face. Shows are where we meet the people who actually run this gear, and where the feedback that changes what we build next comes from. A comment at a booth has redirected more of our roadmap than any spreadsheet has. Two days of that, in one place, is worth the miles.
So if you're there, tell us what's working and what isn't. We're building this for your bench, and the fastest way for us to get it right is you telling us where it's wrong.
The road there
Eleven hundred miles each way gives you time to think, and it gives you a reason to make stops worth making. On the way we're planning to visit two shops we've been wanting to see in person, Severn View Custom Woodworks and Steve I Designs, and to spend real time with the Systainer Store crew, who we're sharing the corner of the show with.
That's the part the honest math leaves out. The drive isn't just cost. It's the shops you get to stand in and the people you finally get to meet, and those don't happen from the office.
Come find us
We'll be just outside the workshop, next to the Systainer Store. Look for the tent. Bring your questions about the new site, put your hands on the new pieces, sign up for the booth drawing, and tell us what you'd build if the system had one more part.
Scarborough, Maine. August 8 and 9. We'll have driven 1,100 miles to be there. The least we can do is make it worth your walk over.
Your Workflow. Without Limits.
FAQ
Where and when is FORG3D at the Maine Woodworking Event?
Scarborough, Maine, on August 8 and 9. The FORG3D booth is just outside the workshop, next to the Systainer Store. Look for the tent.
What's new that I can see at the booth?
Three debuts: the Manus and Akros FORG3D Editions (our two new kits) and the new SYS-RLZ S 76 wall bracket (shown with the S 76 rack). You can also get a live walkthrough of the rebuilt FORG3D site and The Foundry account.
How do I enter the giveaway?
Two ways. Sign up at the FORG3D booth for our drawing (four prizes, drawn on the main stage at end of day), and grab a free ticket for the show's central raffle, where we've contributed three more setups.
What is The Foundry?
The Foundry is your FORG3D account. It's built around what you own, surfaces support that's specific to your gear, and holds the products you're planning to add.