Came into work this morning with the bright idea that somehow my daily agenda would be realized. Since this never happens and I continue to think otherwise, I award myself the “Bozo of the Day” award.

My plan was derailed when I was forwarded this thread on Lumberjocks.

So, we have opened up orders for this group and you too if interested.

And then there is the expensive “home brew” version as mentioned in the thread that may be of interest to you as well.

Looks like my day will start after lunch–this internet thing is starting to creep into my productivity which at the moment is supposed to be focused on Commemorative Tool #16.

John

PS: Speaking of the internet, for those of you who Tweet, you can follow Michael’s Tweets on Twitter (never thought I would string those words together);

http://twitter.com/BridgeCityTools

Why one would do this I do not understand when you can be in the shop making things…

Today Michael sent me a link that is not only disturbing, but needs to be shared.

Here it is;
http://thetattooedwoodworker.com/

Dear Tattoed Woodworker;

I confess that this is the first time I have seen your site. Your “final” post is heartfelt, sincere and it has not fallen on deaf ears. I am going to do my best to change your mind.

I first joked about the “Woodworking Taliban” about a year ago. Now I learn they have found a way to discourage you from sharing your woodworking experiences through their quotidian diatribes, mean spirited intent and stupidity.

As we approach our 26th year, we have been dealing with similar sentiment since year one…

Our first catalog that contained a prepaid business reply envelop arrived on doorsteps in 1984. When the first responses arrived, we received the following notes;

“Who the (insert f-bomb here) do you people think you are? We don’t need yuppie tools.”

And this little gem; “Thanks for the catalog, my friend has a pet shop and the pages from you (sic) catalog fit his bird cages perfectly.”

And then there were BRE’s that contained our entire catalog–this in hopes that we would be buried by insurmountable postage bills.

You are not alone.

Chris Schwarz reviewed a BCTW tool awhile back and had to filter the blog responses; “they were hateful and slanderous”. So what do we do? We don’t send advance review copies of our products to Chris any longer–neither one of us needs the aggravation. The next paragraph is more telling…

First, the Woodworking Taliban is more real than you think. Have you ever noticed threads where somebody has a tool that is so bad he must share it with the masses, instigating a chorus of boos, and as the thread wears on, a better solution (always for less money), a better product, a glowing review from a non-offending tool purveyor is posted by a woodorker? We in the industry call this the “payola posse”. These rabble grousers are PAID to sit around and plug away on forums. They exist here, Australia, England… Nice, tidy, informative and slimy.

Are woodworkers so stupid to believe this crap? Apparently so. But you don’t need to let them deter you.

I am asking that you reconsider your blog, and if I can help, I would be pleased to do so. I am going to begin with this post on my blog and few suggestions to help stem the tide of garbage on woodworking forums.

Don’t let the bastards win.

Regards,

John Economaki
President
Bridge City Tool Works

Here’s my wish list;

1. Regarding forum and blog posts, make your posts worthy of others time. If it doesn’t contribute, don’t hit “send”.

2. If all you have to say is that you can’t afford something, you don’t need to share. Everybody votes with their pocket book.

3. Don’t sit back and be a passive observer. Address moronic posts until they go away. Ignoring them really is not an option. If you are a moderator, don’t approve them at all–every decision has an unintended consequence, and that goes for non-decisions too. Silence them at the source and the copycats will learn to copy something positive.

4. Take the time to write those sites who you feel the most kindred and ask them to add rules to the posting areas. “Contribute, Learn, Share” seems to me to be much more useful than “Bitch, Moan, Too Much Money”.

This is a start.

And then;

Consider lending a voice of encouragement to the Tattooed Woodworker and ask him to change his mind–the world is a better place if you do.

Now I can get back to work designing tools that nobody wants and entertain the thought of going out of business for 26 straight years.

–John

In playing around with material choices that compliment my new found fetish for stainless steel, I stumbled upon black chrome. Black chrome–these two words make no sense together and yet they represent an intriguing combination–kinda like mince meat…

Anyway, as mentioned several weeks back, we are celebrating our 25th anniversary with a limited edition series of essential tools primarily made from stainless steel. The combination square below will be available around Xmas. It shall be known as The Tool Too Sexy for Mass Production.

Although I liked our old CS-12 (it was the most successful new tool in our history) this version CS12 SE, is hot. How hot? So hot that it will have a 9:30 pm curfew–now that is hot! Can’t wait to get mine.

The body will be milled from a solid stainless steel billet and the center section will be black chrome–holy cow is this going to be a beauty.

Actually I am changing the curfew to 8:00 pm–you want a date with this baby there will be only time for dinner–no movie.

The image below is a stereolithography model we made to check out the ergonmic aspect of the tool. The 45 degree leg on this tool is long enough to be a useful reference for checking miter cuts–something we should have dealt with on our first CS-12.

This tool is going to be a beauty in both function and inspiration. We will begin taking pre-orders soon, delivery by the holidays. I love the black chrome aspect because in different lights, the color shifts from black to blue to green–cool stuff.

Oh, almost forgot, The Tool Too Sexy for Mass Production will also be accurate to .002″ over the blade length.

And in case you missed the first Bridge City Essential, here’s a visual reminder–not many left.

–John

Hi All;

We are pleased to open a new forum on project design and to get the ball rolling I posted a couple of pics regarding a table I designed almost 30 years ago. More details here.

Now you have a place where the posts are moderated (no crap) and can share/learn/grow from others. I hope you take advantage!

–John

Here’s a typical (although made up…sorta) thread that occurs like clockwork after we introduce a new tool;

–I just saw the new gadget from Bridge City and at $100 NO THANKS! -Woodboy

–two too many zero’s for me. –Frugal Farms Woodworking

–Yeah, I can buy a whole lot of tools on eBay for that price. -Cellulose guy

–You don’t need to spend any money on any tool. Just get old leaf springs from the dump and pound away! –Herc

–$100 bucks and NO MOTOR? You have got to be kidding me. -Angus

–I saw the BCTW 6″ rule for $14.95 and said, SCREW THAT! I had a six-inch ruler tattooed on my right index finger for 8 bucks! –Darryl

–Hey Darryl, is it still a 6″ ruler? –Dante

–No, it’s now around 3-7/8″ long and still works–the rule from BCTW would have wrecked the blade and trashed the rule.–Darryl

…OK, you get my drift. These samples, and all their inbred cousins have their place in the free speech that nobody wants to read department but worse yet, they completely miss the point. And if this post makes you angry, then we are getting somewhere. (Progress is born from unsettled minds)

You are likely not a tool designer but I am. You likely make furniture or other wooden objects and if one is to believe the values that froth from the keyboards in today’s forums, you should never, EVER, entertain the thought of expressing yourself through your work–it just needs to work. Cinder block and 2 x 12 bookshelves anyone?

Think about it–the only thing that really matters (with function being a given) is your voice, your shapes, your forms, your decisions, and if done well, YOUR WORK has a chance of outliving you. This is an important responsibility and it is a big one if you believe that objects should be worthy of the space they occupy.

You are also likely to be a self-taught woodworker and have found yourself swimming in a sea of uncertainty regarding design, proportion, harmony, negative space and a host of other brain-eating words that prevent you from realizing your full potential.

The decisions required to create work with a meaningful voice involve a subject matter much deeper than woodworking techniques and it is tough to do this well on your own. Design is complex, deep, unbelievably rich and essential to serious woodworkers. So, what to do?

Read. Study the work of others. Attend JURIED gallery shows, and when possible, take classes.

And speaking of classes, there is still time to sign up for the Woodworking in America Conference on Furniture Design/Construction. The dates are August 14-16 and the location is right outside Chicago/O’Hare.

There is no way you can attend a function this intense and not get a major, vector changing bang for your buck. The folks at Popular Woodworking are a dedicated, hardworking bunch of woodworking freaks and they put on a great conference–I attended the first one and saw first hand how much fun everybody was having. If it were not coinciding with my class reunion I would be there. (If you are guessing which reunion I will disclose there is only one trailing zero…)

So, in closing, what do you think of this idea–if one is going to post negative things about the work of others on an internet forum, each poster must also include a picture of their work? And if the work being bantered around is from Bridge City it is compulsory to send a direct email to john@bridgecitytools.com?

If this were law, there would be design seminars weekly in this country.

Oh, one more thing–I never would say such inflammatory things if I did not care.

-John

Today is the last day for pre-orders for the Tool You Will Want Real Bad, except for those who call tomorrow with some lame excuse (you know who you are).

FYI, it is true that we have sold under 500,000 units and can’t count all the money. However, we should have sold millions…

We think this completely awesome tool was not picked up by the search engines correctly. So please ignore the next paragraph, it is for search engine use only;

John Economaki Forbes 500, Bridge City to buy Hawaii?, John Economaki nude, Bridge City Kerfmaker creates Aluminum shortage, Tool Makers and mental instability, Bridge City Bails Out Feds, John Economaki NAKED

For those of you who need a refresher movie, click here

Otherwise, we are moving on–$59.

–John

Remember the pandemonium surrounding Y2K? Well, brace yourself for July 20th because that is the deadline for ordering The Tool You Will Want Real Bad.

If you have not ordered a Kerfmaker (two or more would be preferable) you have to ask yourself this simple question; “What is wrong with me?” For a measly $59 bucks I can have a tool that will not allow me to make mistakes.

And we agree (it’s unanimous too) there is something wrong with people who have yet to order the Tool You Will Want Real Bad.

Maybe this will help the fence sitters; With our marketing effort in hypeoverdrive (I just made that word up) could we afford to lose face by delivering a product that disappoints? Of course! But we won’t.

Oh, for those of you wondering what happens after July 20th when you realize that not ordering the Kerfmaker was a HUGE MISTAKE? Well, you get to put your name on a list and when the list grows to 500,000 names, we will make the second batch.

What don’t you get about KERFECTION?

Don’t be a bozo–July 20th is it. No exceptions. $59.

–John