IWF Fast Facts for Attendees No. 2

IWF 2022 gives you more ways to harness the power of new: New technologies to increase production efficiencies, new products to drive sales, new connections to tap emerging markets.

For a quick taste of what’s new at IWF 2022, meet more than 100 of our newest exhibitors here. You’ll soon discover that technology is becoming a transformative force in the IWF 2022 product mix.

Technology in liquid and solid form is advancing dramatically in materials used in woodworking. Three key areas to watch: developments in 1.) hardware, 2.) adhesives, and 3.) coatings, with changes emerging in design as the world moves into a post-pandemic phase. Watch for an emphasis on antimicrobial surfaces and virtually seamless joints.

In coatings, the movement from varnished wood to painted and high-tech surfaces continues, with a shift in color palettes for 2022 to colors derived from natural settings. Increasingly, shops are automating the paint mixing process with digitally controlled color labs set up by paint and coatings suppliers. Advanced coatings deliver surfaces that resist wear and are durable enough for frequent scrubbing, and formulations for robotic spray lines and automated roll coating are better than ever. Digital printing and staining on foils, films, papers, hardwood, and engineered panel is being rapidly adopted by the wood industry.

Adhesives are progressing on several fronts supporting the need for seamless surfaces and joints, from edgeband glues with truly permanent adhesion and heat quickly, reducing the need to keep glue pots on. For hot air and laser-based machines the selection of banding material pre-impregnated is wider with improved performance. New developments in adhesives also support the panel foiling and membrane pressing processes, delivering seamless and durable 3D surfaces favored by designers, on cabinet doors, casegoods, and dimensional workpieces.

Hardware, from fasteners to hinges and slides, is always moving in synch with design shifts, with very thin hinges allowing the narrowest of stiles on doors and tighter fits on full access cabinetry and other case goods. The category of drawer slides has also expanded in recent years, with traditional suppliers offering slides integrated into drawer sides, and even precision-cut drawer “boxes” that straddle the line between components and hardware.

With more than 750 exhibitors booked and hundreds more to come, IWF 2022 is on track to deliver more woodworking technology and design innovations.

The manufacturers you’ll see at IWF 2022 are engineering breakthrough innovations into the products you must have to keep your business moving forward.  For four straight days this August IWF will deliver the industry’s newest business solutions and largest U.S. product mix in North American woodworking’s must-attend show.

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