March 9th, 2006
They’re All Full of Scrap
So, yesterday I found myself at something called the “Design-2-Part” Tradeshow at the North Carolina State Fairgrounds. Kevin and I were invited-2-attend as guests of Marian, Inc., so we decided-2-go.
Marian is a company out of Indianapolis, which is owned and run by Witchgers (and yet somehow manages not-2-collapse on itself). I’m not exactly sure how these particular Witchgers are related-2-us. They’re my grandpa’s older brother’s kids. What does that make them? Our cousins? Uncles? Cuncles?
Whatever they are, Marian, Inc., and all the rest of the companies at this show, develop ways to make, and then manufacture various odds and ends that are eventually assembled-2-make (ok, I’ll stop now) actual products. So this show was about parts…random metal, plastic, and rubber parts, and how they get made. For a Witchger, it was heaven on earth.
All you had to do was walk around and people would accost you with dramatic descriptions of their company’s casting, stamping, spring-making, chemical-etching, laser-cutting, milling, lathing, punching, drilling, die-making, silkscreening, circuit-board-building, and/or sand-blasting abilities.
As if that weren’t enough, the give-aways were amazing. You got a handsome canvas tote bag and, from booth 1, there was free crap to put in it. Ask the sales rep where he’s from, and boom…! You get a yo-yo. Or a pocket knife. Or a metal box full of the weird-looking parts that his company makes. I was all over it like a powder-coated finish on a steel motor housing (which, as anyone who has been to a part convention knows, reduces wear and corrosion).
The companies all brought their flagship parts with them to display, so there was junk laying everywhere. It was sort of like being at The Scrap Exchange, except there was someone there who knew the real use for that piece of foam that looks like a giant human ear…. Wait, please tell me you’ve been to Durham, NC’s “Scrap Exchange.” It’s one of the few places where you can wander around bins and shelves overflowing with industrial surplus, letting the right side of your brain gorge itself on all the amazing things you could make, then buy grocery bags full of the stuff for pocket change, and then bring them home where…where…well, where they will sit untouched in a closet for months until someone eventually throws them out…. It’s The Scrap Exchange way.
If you’ve never been, you have to go right now. Stop reading this website, get off your butt and go. (The only way you are exempt from my badgering is if you have been to The AxMan in St. Paul, Minnesota. In this case, The Scrap Exchange will actually be a let down for you. The AxMan is The Scrap Exchange on steroids and crack.) You know you need to get out more. There’s a world beyond the internet. Hurry, before it’s too late….
Speaking of which, I need to pack. I’m heading up to see the soon-to-be in-laws in Virginia and, get this, going to the Highland County Maple Syrup FESTIVAL. See you suckers later. I’ve got-2-go.
Tags: Family, Happenings - No Comments »
