Attention All Members of the Drivel Starved Nation ! (this includes YOU and anybody else who reads this totally worthless blog);

Have a Great 4th of July!

Lot’s of stuff going on here–from none other than John, your tool Potentate;

Finally assembly of our new stainless steel 18″ (and 12″) combination squares is happening as I peck away feeding this insatiable blog–which when you think about it is about as enjoyable as your neighbors muffler-less car…

Oh, back to combination squares–they are gorgeous. Yes, accurate too. We don’t know our final tally yet but we should have a few extra for those of you who procrastinate. Shipping will commence within the next 10 days or so.

Parts are coming in for the Jointmaker Pro v2 (and the upgrade kits), no promises (on delivery dates) but it is moving along. And there is a major cool surprise too!

CT-17 underway too!

The special limited edition HP-7 solid stainless steel shoulder plane is in “chips flying” stage. Should be done by the beginning of football season. There are six out of the fifty remaining–FYI.

In addition, we are working on LOTS of new stuff–not as fast as anyone would like, but hey, money is tight and we have accordingly retooled our  R & D department. Here’ s a pic of our newest staff member hard at work–

Sometime in the next two weeks we are going to begin the pre-order process for the “The Tool You Have to Have Now!” And if you don’t know you have to have it, you soon will. Why? Well it’s under $100 for starters. But wait, there is more…here’s the completely unnecessary back story;

The KM-1 Kerfmaker (The Tool You Want Real Bad!), has to be the hottest selling tool in the woodworking sector right now. How do I know? Well, I don’t.

Now as most of you know, we almost sold enough KM-1′s for me to buy Hawaii as my private residence. Ended up being about $400 short. (I offered a couple of billion and they countered with a couple of billion plus $400. No thanks.) I have Iceland in my sights now…

The Kerfmaker allows you to make grooves and bridles by gauging the stock width. No measuring. No mistakes. No brainer–and yes, although we are in the anti-inventory business, we have KM-1′s in stock. But…

…in the real world of woodworking, it is easier to size a tenon to a mortise than a mortise to a tenon and of course we know this and now you do too. And what good is knowledge if it doesn’t change history?

So consider this YOUR last call to make history. The pic below shows the “almost final” form of the TM-1 (it’s on the right). It will gauge mortise widths from 1/8″ up to two inches and it will measure mortise lengths up to 2″ IF the mortise is wider than 1/2″.

Since you will be forking over your hard earned cash for this amazing little device (which by the way, will completely eliminate the sloppy joinery you have come know) is the capacity of this tool satisfactory for your needs?  Speak up or else.

–Muffler Out

“A Potpourri of Diospyros Insularis”… has to be one of the most interesting assembly of consonants and vowels I have ever strung together. I just love this job…

Last week we unleashed our three decade old accumulation of cocobolo shorts (I know, not the best syntax…) upon you, the DSN. (drivel starved nation). I am pleased to announce this material will all be gone tomorrow! How cool is that?

This is cooler…

Today, underneath a 300 pound flat of cocobolo trims, I unearthed a sealed box of Diospyros Insularis, aka; Macassar Ebony. These are child pieces from vacuum dried parent stock and honestly, I don’t remember what we made out of this material. The pic below is what five pounds looks like and is representative of what you will receive. Maybe we have 100 pounds of the stuff.

Details:

Five pounds.
$35
Freight included (USA ground only)
First come, first served.
sales@bridgecitytools.com
800-253-3332

This material is likely best suited for turned knobs or other small turnings. Then again, maybe you have a better idea. (No, this is not a bunch of end-checked worthless (s)crap. FYI.)

So, are you wondering what we are going to do with our new found warehouse space? The new BCTW video studio will call this space home.

There are too many windows to make the kind of videos I would like to make but it should work well for tool shoots.

–John

FROM MY 4TH GRADE REPORT CARD:
“John doesn’t seem to apply himself and when he does, he is almost always inappropriately amused by his misguided sense of humor.”

For 27 years we have used dalbergia retusa (aka Cocobolo) as the primary wood in our tools.

Interestingly, during most of the ’90′s we (Bridge City) were participants in a sustainable yield test program only to learn that Cocobolo is not a sustainable yield timber.  This was one of the reasons that led to the new sculptural aesthetic now found in our products. And although we still own some lumber, we have accumulated three decades of shorts and trims–this material, in my eyes was always going to be used someday by somebody.  Hey, that day is here! And you could be that somebody! Admit it–you always wanted to be a somebody…

Prior to announcing our exclusive special to those of you who should be doing something more important than following the worthless drivel on this blog, a word about boiling water in a vacuum…

As you SHOULD KNOW, water boils at 212 degrees F. at sea level. As you lower atmospheric pressure, the water boils at lower temperatures and it is possible to boil water at room temperature (no, it is not 212 degrees while boiling, it is the temperature of your room…almost) in a partial vacuum.

The reason I bring this up is that you need to learn something here. What might that be you say? Thanks for asking!

All of our cocobolo has been vacuum kiln dried. This means that the water was boiled out of the stock (at around 90 degrees F.) which dramatically reduces end checking (if you have ever had chapped lips you understand end checking….). This means our three decades of trims are good for something…in your shop.

Tool handles. Furniture pulls. Knives. Pens. Plugs. Chop sticks… I am sure you can think of a few too.

We have pre-boxed all this material into ten pound units and we think you need to act fast before we post this on our website.  The picture below is representative of what you will receive when you steal this material from us. Nothing is over 16″ long. Some of it is thin. Some fat. Some smooth. Some not. Some can be turned. Some can’t. None of it is junk.

As a loyal follower of the drivel in this worthless blog, you will get first crack at a really nice ten pound box that you have no control over the contents. No whining or complaining. And if we thought you would whine or complain, we wouldn’t be doing this.

Ten pounds. $35. Free Shipping (no, not overnight, ground USA only)

How?

sales@bridgecitytools.com

If we have your credit card on file, just tell us how many boxes you desire and we will do the rest.

Limit 10,000 boxes per customer. (Sorry).

Or, you can call 1-800-253-3332 to find out how hard it is raining here.

–John

Sure seems like I find myself in Cincinnati at least once or twice a year…

The fine folks of Popular Woodworking are graciously hosting a Lie-Nielson Hand Tool Event this coming Friday and Saturday. Personally, I am hoping to see some sunshine… what a wet spring in PDX. (Horrible model helicopter weather, which has saved me some repair money for sure…)

The hours are 4-9 on Friday with some kind of after show event where attendees get to hurl insults and food at the tool makers. (I am going to try and hit Chris Schwarz in the forehead with a ripe avocado for suggesting that I needed a blog). Should be fun. Saturday is noon to five (FYI, I will be gone around 3PM on Saturday–I have a ride to Knoxville that I can’t pass up).

I will be demonstrating the new Jointmaker Pro v2 (upgrade kit), and it is fantastic if I do say so myself. Oh, I will also have a prototype CT-17 Dual Angle Block Plane to show too.

Will there be discounts available for those that show up and buy stuff? I am afraid so.

I would love to chat with you if you can find the time!

Best-

John