Introduction

To Our Valued Customer,

The year has started well here at Carba-Tec® and our new catalogue is out. It's thicker than ever and full of all our great new products. We have had a few layout changes to make it easier for you to locate the things you want more quickly. It's amazing, but there are always new products out there to find as our buying team discovered on their latest trip to the International Hardware Fair in Cologne, Germany. This massive biennial expo features most of the world's top manufacturers displayed in enormous multi-level stalls. On the opposite end of the scale are the hundreds of smaller operators with many niche products in shoe-box sized closets. The tedious task is exploring every aisle, through 11 halls and 2600 suppliers in three days. Only by putting in the effort now, will we have an offering of new products for you in 2011.

So what did we find, you ask? Well you are just going to have to keep a close eye on the website and, of course, Focus magazine for details as they become available. We have a ton of new products to keep you going with the CNC Shark now in store and the Triton Range being rolled out to our Carba-Tec® stores and Triton Premium Dealers as we go to press.

In this Focus we continue featuring the work of some of our customers. We visited a Brisbane drum-maker and a woodworking teacher from Mullumbimby. Both of these people are achieving amazing things in their respective areas and have great stories to tell. Don Powell demystifies the purchase of carving chisels and Andy Lucas puts the Nova DVR lathe through its paces. In the new instalment about setting up a workshop, we give a bit of advice about choosing handplanes you need to get you started. Finally, our project in this edition is a trolley to lend a helping hand around the workshop. And as usual, we have lots of great specials to tempt and inspire you.

Pictured below is our nearly completed head office at Wakerley in Brisbane. We are currently moving our stock to its new home and setting up our showroom. We'll keep you posted for changeover dates on our website. Preparations are now underway for the 2010 show season. The first show is in Brisbane on 21st - 23rd May at the RNA Showgrounds, for the show dates in other cities see our website. As usual there will be a massive Carba-Tec® stand as well as a dedicated Triton stand. Now that the weather is getting a bit cooler it's a good time to plan your winter projects and the woodworking shows are always a great opportunity to get some bargains and a bit of inspiration as well. We hope to see you there.

Don't forget that there are only portions of the articles printed in Focus. To read them in their entirety, go to our home page and look for theFocus magazine section. Keep in mind that we leave all previous issues online for you to revisit in the future. Our website also features upcoming woodworking events and announcements throughout the year. If you have any feedback for the Focus Team we would love to hear from you. To send us any comments, please email us at focus@carbatec.com.au.

Cheers,

the Focus Team