Just wrapped up exhibiting at the 2010 IWF show at the World Congress Center in Atlanta. (We shared booth space with the Idaho company that makes our JMP and several other tools.)

I have been coming to this show since 1984 (it occurs in even years only) and it has always been the biggest show we have attended. IWF caters to all aspects of the wood industry–everything from kiln fire solutions to the worlds’ first powerless tablesaw…HEY! That is from Bridge City!

This show could never be completely walked in two days, and there was always something to learn.

This years show however is a different story.

First, the square footage of exhibition space was down over 60% from 2008. YIKES!

Second, attendance was dismal. That said, the people I spent time with were fantastic. But the fact remains, it is painfully obvious the woodworking world has changed dramatically.

Certainly the issues surround the housing market are central to this decline but I have never seen anything like this. For example…

In 2008 there was a company (which shall remain unnamed) that did $78.8 million in annual revenues. This year they will not break 8 million.

I spoke with a small business that sold power equipment–in 2008 they did $8.2 million. The first six months of 2010 their sales were $420K.

A REALLY BIG company that I will not name, and I know you know their products, is down 92% from 2008. Ouch. And from what I can triangulate, a significant percentage of the attendees were at the show looking for….jobs.

But this is not a story seeking sympathy. Quite the contrary, I am unbelievably grateful for the support we have received from the Bridge City family, in particular, YOU ALL (couldn’t resist…) from the Drivel Starved Nation. Why?

Because, as of this writing, we are thrilled with our market position in this economy and you are the reason. So, thank you for your continued support during these unsettled times.

Now for the details…

Several members of the DSN stopped by and I just about dismembered fellow member Dmarkowi during a JMP demo. But I didn’t and that is a good thing.

Talked to several members of “Lumberjocks” who were proud to show me cell phone pics of their homemade Kerfmakers.  (When you get a chance, help me understand this please…)

And lastly, Atlanta is, and always has been, a fun city with great restaurants and an upbeat vibe (my discovery this year was “il Localino”, a great Italian eatery on a sleepy street).

And as I fondly remember the incredible basil gnocchi from Saturday night, I am sadly uncertain if I will return in 2012 and this thought is really bugging me.

–John

I hate blems.

That said, we have less than 24 CS12v2 Blems (almost everyone of them have a slight blemish in the black chrome). This solid stainless steel square includes one 12″ blade and one 18″ blade. Read more details here.

Kit includes ONE head, one 18″ blade and one 12″ blade.

Retail: $369,

Blem price: $299

Founder’s Circle Price $289 (you save approx. $50)

Because we have so few of these, it is probably best to call;

1-800-253-3332

or email;

sales@bridgecitytools.com

While supplies last.

–John

PS: For those that ordered metric blades, your squares will ship in the next 10 days, the metric blades have yet to arrive.

As much as I love drivel, and I know you crave it, today’s post is full of holes…

Next week we will introduce the DJ-1 Universal Jaws and the capabilities are amazing, pics below.

I would also like to extend a  big thank you to all who helped perfect this accessory with a special thanks to Roger Savateri and Rutager West.

Pricing and availability will be announced next week.

If you currently do not own a DJ-1, we are taking names for the next batch.

–John

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To drill angled holes at any angle, set one of the orange jaws to your angle of choice with a t-bevel. The second jaw is aligned to the first by clamping them together with a piece of dowel in the “V” grooves and tightening the second jaw–the dowel will automatically align the loose jaw to the fixed jaw. You will want to position your stock as close to the bottom of the DJ-1 body for both maximizing drill depth and accuracy.

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Drilling dowel holes in miters are easy, set your jaw angle and you are ready to go. The DJ-1 Universal Jaws now feature viewing ports so you can see your center-line if it extends down either face.

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Drilling on the “bias” is ridiculously easy and really only doable through a drill bushing. If your stock is square, the hole will enter straight down the corner.

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Center drilling round stock/pipe/tubing has never been easier or faster. The difference between the Universal Jaws and the standard jaws is in this case, the orange jaws can be angled or lowered, either increasing capacity or adding the ability to drill angled holes.

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Center drilling square stock, or round is fast and accurate. No layout required as DJ-1 self-centers. The advantage here over the standard jaws is increase stability.

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Because the drill is bushed, there is no bit drift if your stock is close to the bottom of the bushing. This means drilling mortises is really accurate and they clean-up much faster.  This is not possible on the standard jaws without making custom jaws.

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Center drilling axle holes without layout is fast. If your stock will not support itself during drilling, cut a base slightly narrower than the diameter out of plywood and bridge across the orange jaws. This is not easily replicable on the standard jaw set–actually not possible.

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Simple radial drilling can be done with the small radial drill accessory (included with the Universal Jaw kit).  You can control depth with easy to make drill stops out of dowel–they take a couple of minutes with the DJ-1.

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Many cool projects in wood involve hubs and it is now easy to drill spoke holes. It is even easier with the optional index wheel kit.

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Just about any concave surface can be configured beneath the DJ-1 bushings. Here we are demonstrating how to concave drill spoke holes on a 48″ diameter rim.

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Convex is easy too. There is no limit to the diameter.

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The optional index wheel kit will allow you to make pin gears, and other precisely spaced radial holes. The stock is held to the wheels with double stick tape for positioning during drilling.

To All Members of the Drivel Starved Nation;

Every once in a while an artist appears with a body of work beyond words…

how cool is this?

–John

As the Drivel Starved Nation now knows, Fred West won this years Sh!t Bunny Award–not for making his Entertainment Center, but for living with it.

He has received his award with no shame.  Here are a couple of  pics;

On a personal note Fred, if you don’t clean up your work bench you may end up with the evil Sh!t Bunny Twin–that bench top is too messy for my body.

Now, let it be known that when Chris Schwarz convinced me that I needed a blog (bunch of crap), I swore it would be the antithesis of the mean spirited baloney found everywhere else on the sewer net. (Sweeping generalizations are credible, yes/no?)

The picture below was supplied by Fred West and he is proudly listing Peter Franks as a collaborator.  Between the two of them, they believe Fred’s Entertainment Center can be saved by festooning the face with surplus Bridge City knobs;

Let it further be known that;

FESTOONING NEVER WORKS!   EVER. But if it did, it would only work with Bridge City knobs.

Lastly, here is the CRITERIA for winning the next Sh!t Bunny Award;

1. You have to have the cojones to nominate YOURSELF.

4. Didn’t think so.

Send me a pic if the camera lens doesn’t break. I will do the rest.  I have learned over the years that pointing at a piece and saying “That SUCKS” hurts feelings.

Trust me, this is a great learning tool.

Lastly again, earlier this year I had Salmonella. Lost 18 pounds in 3 days. After seeing the festoon job above, I have lost 6 pounds in the last ten minutes.

Gotta go.

-John

PS: Fred/Peter; speaking on behalf of the Drivel Starved Nation, your festooning sucks.

Last week we took a break from cleaning out the warehouse so we could ship our new CS-12 Combination Squares–they really came out great. This run was a complete sellout (actually we are short a few because of scratches in the black chrome–how do you spell “BLEM’?). We hope to begin another run later this year and if you would like to be notified when,click here and at the bottom of the page click “Notify Me”.

These knobs (we only have a couple of hundred) can be used for lots of pull applications, including things such as bi-fold doors, large drawers or as slingshot ammunition. (Did I really say that?)

Here are the details;

Diameter: 25.3 mm (.996″)

Height: 15.3 mm (.595″)

Internal Threads: #1/4-28

Thread Depth: 12 mm (.475″)

Details: Solid brass with radial knurl

Cost: $14.95 for set of six.

Shipping: FREE

Question: From the picture it looks like they are slightly tarnished-can I get an additional discount?
Answer: No. Chuck the knob in your portable drill and polish with steel wool or Scotch Brite. It doesn’t take but a few seconds.

Question: That incredibly easy to read black ruler in the picture…are those in stock?
Answer: Yes!

Question: Will these bring down a charging bull moose?
Answer: Sure David. Better have some backups too.

How? 1-800-253-3332

Or? sales@bridgecitytools.com (if we have your CC info on file, just tell us how many sets you would like.)

While supplies last.

-John

PS: This Saturday I am speaking at the IDSA Annual Conference which happens to be in Portland. I am thinking about showing slides of Fred’s Entertainment Center if it looks like people are starting to doze off… good idea yes/no?

This is just a quick update to inform those of you have been patiently waiting for your CS12v2, they are all in house, inspected and will be at the warehouse tomorrow. We believe this is our best combination square–solid stainless steel and comes with both an 18″ and 12″ blade. The run is completely sold out so we are taking names for the next batch here–scroll down and click “Add to Favorites”, this gets your name on a list to be notified when we make them again.

I had lunch with Joe Felzman last week (Joe has been shooting my work for over 30 years!) and like always, we had lots of laughs and some terrific food. I thought you might enjoy some of his most recent efforts below.

If you have a few moments, take a peek at his work–stunning is an understatement.

And, if you are looking to add an image or two to your portfolio, you won’t find a better photographer–mention Bridge City and Joe will double his rates. Actually, you will be pleasantly surprised!

Best-

John

One sure way to avoid winning the infamous Sh!t Bunny Award is to use tasty hardware–like the knobs below!

Recently unearthed in our warehouse conversion, these small brass knobs have many practical uses, some of which are obscure. For example;

1. Offer a handful to your neighbor as payment for his land adjacent to your property. ( This has worked in the past.)  Then go buy a bigger lawn mower.

2. Next time you are pulled over for a speeding ticket, offer a handful to the officer explaining that the knobs were made from recycled bullet casings gathered at the Police Academy firing range. (We are guessing the ticket will be waived…)

3. Arrange a dozen or so in a circle on your driveway. Make note of the shadows. Do this each day for 23 years (or any other prime number) and you will soon learn how to tell time and be spot on when asked, “What season is it?” . Best of all: goodbye watch battery!

Or, you can use them for tool chest drawer pulls, or small pulls of any kind… surely you must have some ideas yourself–yes/no?

Here are the details;

Diameter: 11.9mm (.470″)

Height: 8.6 mm (.340″)

Internal Threads: #10-32

Thread Depth: 6.5mm (.256″)

Details: Solid brass, straight knurl

Cost: $12.95 for set of eight.

Shipping: FREE

Question: From the picture it looks like they are slightly tarnished-can I get an additional discount?
Answer: No. Chuck the knob in your portable drill and polish with steel wool or Scotch Brite. It doesn’t take but a few seconds.

Question: That incredibly easy to read black ruler in the picture…are those in stock?
Answer: Yes!

Question: Is there a limit of 10,000 sets per customer?
Answer: For the knobs yes. The rulers, no.

Question: Is this deal on your website?
Answer: No. It is a blog special while supplies last.

How? 1-800-253-3332

Or? sales@bridgecitytools.com (if we have your CC info on file, just tell us how many sets you would like.)

While supplies last.

-John, your knob shill and Tool Potentate all in one!

I knew this day was coming.

After much internal consternation (not really) we are finally able to award the Sh!t Bunny Award to Fred West’s Entertainment Center.

Before anybody fills a diaper here, Fred did not make this entertainment center–he inherited it from his ex-wife. Nice.

Fred, here is your award:

At this point you are probably asking yourself, “What deserves this award, and how do I avoid being a recipient?”  Good question. There is no identifiable criteria for this award, we just know the winners when we seem them.

Let us all take a look at Fred’s Entertainment Center (once you win the Sh!t Bunny award, your project if forever a proper noun-FYI).

Brace yourself;

This piece, by way of this Totally Awesome and Worthless Blog, is now famous, as in Louis XIV famous. Beyond belief isn’t it?

When Fred learned he had won the Sh!t Bunny Award, we talked about the certain possibility that somebody would want to buy this, to which he replied;

“As far as someone buying this, I cannot in a million years conceive of somebody that stupid. However, should someone want it, as long as they picked up the freight it would be theirs.”

Not only is Fred a gracious Sh!t Bunny recipient, he is generous too. The piece obviously will require no crating or packaging of any kind.  How cool is that?

But wait! There is more!

Back from the bathroom yet?

So here we are, and Fred has decided “enough is enough” — he has promised your favorite Tool Potentate that he is going to make a BRAND NEW ENTERTAINMENT CENTER!

Here’s where you can help!

Chime in with entertainment center ideas and pics (if possible) so Fred can start his idea bank. For those of you who don’t know what an idea bank is, well, it is a bunch of ideas that incubate until you decide on your next step–which is not the step that leads out into the shop.

Now if you want to pile on and dissect this piece further in the spirit of having fun, Fred is emotionally unattached to this piece so pile on.

My thoughts?

As far as entertainment centers go, it is rather entertaining.

–John

Today we are continuing the remodel of our warehouse to accommodate  our new video studio. When we moved a bunch of cardboard boxes we found a shelf system stuffed with parts-some of which I think might be of interest to you. Personally, it makes me mad.

These are excellent drawer pulls and can be used for a myriad of purposes.  1/4-28 fasteners can be ordered from McMaster-Carr (this company should run the country…simply amazing.)

Here’s a pic of the the solid brass knobs infilled with cocobolo;

Here are the details;

Diameter: 21.5mm (.848″)

Height: 12.25mm (.483″)

Internal Threads: 1/4 x 28

Thread Length: 10mm (.396″)

Details: Beautiful Radial Knurl

Cost: $12.95  for set of four

Shipping: Free

Will the wood be similar in color tone? Yes, to the best of our ability.

Is there a limit of 10,000 sets per customer? Yes, STRICTLY ENFORCED–don’t bother begging.

Is this deal on your website? No. It is a blog special while supplies last.

How? 1-800-253-3332

Or? sales@bridgecitytools.com (if we have your CC info on file, just tell us how many sets you would like.)

-John