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“Creativity is inventing, experimenting, growing, taking risks, breaking rules, making mistakes, and having fun.” — Mary Lou Cook
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For the past two years we have produced a limited edition tool unlike all our other offerings. Each edition is limited to 50. They are not for everybody but they are fun for us to do.

Here is this years edition, a Special Edition Fox Tail Crowning Plane (2″ Dia). If you purchased one, or both of the previous Fox Tail Special editions, an email will be arriving soon.

This is a bevel-up profile plane which flies smack in the face of conventional profile plane design. We also happen to know it works fantastic. This tool will never be made again, but it will allow us to proceed with some really interesting ideas down the road.

The body is solid 303 stainless and the fence is anodized aluminum for weight considerations.

–John

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“We don’t like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out.” — Decca Recording Co. rejecting the Beatles, 1962.
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Roger Savatteri, is christening his new shop by hosting a Meet and Greet for Jointmaker Pro owners, (present, future and prospective) on Saturday, June 25th.

Roger is a professional designer/craftsman/artist who uses two Jointmaker Pro’s and one Jointmaker Single Wing for aspects of his work. It is an honor to be able to spend time in his new shop to talk shop. I am also looking forward to meeting fellow owner/makers. Besides, what part about beer and pizza is not to like?

I will be discussing the new fence/clamp/index system I have been working on (Prototypes will not be done unfortunately) and will be bringing samples of the JMP mega-project I am working on for Woodworking in America. Be forewarned: all who peek must be sworn to silence!

Here is a pic of Roger cutting dovetails on the Jointmaker Pro;

Please RSVP directly to Roger:

savatteridesigns@earthlink.net

AND…put “JMP Get Together” in the subject bar. Roger assures me he will check his email and send time and driving directions.

This should be really fun and a great opportunity to meet fellow woodworkers and see this tool work in a real shop.

Maybe we will play some Beatles songs too.

–John

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“To live a creative life, we must lose our fear of being wrong.”— Joseph Chilton Pierce
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JOHN GOES TO THE WOODSHED…AGAIN.

A couple of days prior to departing for my annual teaching gig, I received a rather scathing email from a customer who was incredibly frustrated with his inability to track his tools in progress. Our nightmare run of the CT-17 the exception, every word of his complaint was not only brutally direct, but dead-on accurate as well. We responded, the air has been cleared, but this has been bugging me for a couple of weeks now.

Time to make some lemonade from lemons…

After an internal brainstorming session (lots of cranial hail too) we are going to create something that could be not only informative, but fun as well. The following updates (and more) are going to be made to our website as soon as humanly possible;

• The wording is going to be changed on items we no longer stock from “Out of Stock” to “Non-Stock Item”. This may seem trivial, but it is a big deal in helping those who are new to the site understand our “Make To Order” process, the production frequency,  and the manufacturing schedule.

• Items currently in production will be tagged “Currently in Production, Pre-Order Window Closed–Call for Availability”.  We do a small percentage overrun in excess of orders to accommodate potential rejects. We keep a wait-list for those who missed the pre-order window.

• We are going to do a much better job of indicating when an item may go into production. FYI, we need to make runs of approx. 500 units to keep to the posted price on our site. As an example, we would need a list of approximately 700 makers who have selected the ‘Notify Me” option for a particular tool to be produced again.

• We are going to create a space on our site where you can ascertain where your tool is on a manufacturing timeline. We will update this once a week every Thursday.  For example, when the Jointmaker Pro components are sent to be anodized,  this is 2-3 week process. Right now, the CT-17′s have had the soles ground, and currently the sides are being ground square to the soles–next stop is final assembly and fit and finish work.  We think it would be really cool to keep everybody updated on all these steps, both from an anticipatory perspective and an educational view.  We are even tossing around the idea of included pics or video of work in progress.  Regardless, you will be able to track your tools on a weekly basis.

It is not fun to get screamed at, but in the end everybody benefits and I can sleep at night. OK, that is not happening.  If you would like to see further changes PLEASE let us know–the way our website is constructed, all of these changes involve de-compiling and re-compiling so it is not an inexpensive, nor fast process.

TOOL MAKING 101

Both of my classes were a blast from my perspective. The Tool Making class was really cool as most students had no prior experience working with dissimilar materials. (hint: it is primarily an abrasive process).  The class size was ideal (12) and the work was astonishing. Each student was able to make a try square, miter square and a marking gage. For most, it was their first time on a milling machine. And what a piece of junk that was!  Please, if you are going to add a milling machine to your shop, find an old machinist, find out what kind of wine he likes, and ask him to tag along while you review old Bridgeports.  The cheap, imported garbage of a milling machine that Marc bought new barely worked for us. There. I feel better.

The tools and class are going to be the cover article of an upcoming Popular Woodworking issue. Megan Fitzpatrick and Ajax Alexandre came down and shot stills and video and then we munched on some pasta and talked tool making.

Everybody did B+ work or better, and a couple of nascent tool makers got to see an old tool maker pull out some tricks on how to turn a disaster into a flawless fix. That was fun!

There is a method to my madness. I hope by teaching this class a couple of new tool makers are born–there has never been an easier time to start a business than today. I would love to teach this class again, and a next level class with more advance projects.

Here is a pic of the tools made by student Mark Sterner;

They came out fantastic yes/no?

–John

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“And the trouble is, if you don’t risk anything, you risk even more.” — Erica Jong.
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Before I share the video of our 3 new Japanese Folding Saws, I want to give you a glimpse of the type of students who took my tool making class last week…

OK, this was from the advanced class.

Let it be known that “Calder the Tool Eater” is now one year old. (He belongs to Michael…thankfully.) Here is another shot of Calder after all the tools were eaten;

I don’t know about Michael’s parenting skills–where are the safety glasses?

Available for Pre-Order Later Today…

Remember, you read it here first several weeks ago–we now are going into production on the three most popular Japanese saws, the Dozuki, Kataba and Ryoba and best yet, they fold. If you ever wanted to carry a saw with razor sharp teeth in your pants, now is your time.

Offer coming to your inbox later today-here’s a sneak at the video and how the mechanism works. The buns of steel in the video belong to…

–John

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“Never forget that only dead fish swim with the stream.” — Malcolm Muggeridge
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Having spent two weeks in Indianapolis doing my penance at the Marc Adams School of Woodworking, I am anxious to dispense a dose of drivel…

I felt both of the classes I taught went well. I will post more on the Tool Making class later. The “Thinking Creative” workshop was really fun. I won’t share all that we did, but each day we spent 20 minutes warming-up by creating “Frankenstein” headlines from the daily newspaper. Here are a couple of my favorites;

Never taught a class with such weird names… Bessie Ballstinker. Kendall Outhouse-Injector. Ernie Noodlehoser. Tobias Dogdoer. Bartholomew Stoolswiper. It was a wild week. And I for one am glad to get home to inform all that the CT-17 soles are all ground, and today, they started on squaring the sides to the soles…oh so close!

–John

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“When we engage in what we are naturally suited to do, our work takes on the quality of play and it is play that stimulates creativity.” — Linda Naiman
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The next two weeks I will be in Indianapolis teaching two classes; Creative Thinking/Design and Toolmaking 101. I am really excited about both of these classes and always enjoy my time at the Marc Adams School of Woodworking. I am also bringing a couple of my helicopters because there are plenty of places to crash on the school property.

I really like the quote above–most days I can’t believe I have earned my living for almost 30 years by playing here at Bridge City. Speaking of which, I have three major R&D projects going, all of which I am really excited about. One however is keeping me up at night: an accessory fence system for the Jointmaker Pro family of saws.

I want to do so many things with this tool that set-ups need to be easy, fast and off the charts accurate. The new fence system will allow you to move a stop in 0.001″ increments and get the heck out of the way in a hurry if need be. More important, I want to be able to cut gears, and this system will be the foundation for that attachment next year. We have also found away to add the clamping system to the fence (way cool) and I should be able to share images when I get back at the end of the month. We are also anticipating doing something really rare–and that is for those who purchase this system, we want to buy back your original fence (The metal components, knobs and lock bolts). We will strip and re-anodize the aluminum for the base fence system of future JMPs. I hope to have a working prototype to demonstrate at Woodworking in America at the end of September.

My personal shop is now in a back bedroom of my house. Space is limited, and these three new saws are going to be very welcomed in my cramped working space. (I would have more room if I did not have to share this space with a female shoe collection that would make Imelda Marcos proud…fortunately, Louie dog has, and will continue to whittle the collection–he just needs more help with his stealth techniques). Here’s the skinny…

The most popular of all the Japanese saws are the Dozuki, Kataba and Ryoba. Because of their traditional length, they have always been tough to store. No longer, as these fold and the handle becomes a blade guard.

The locking mechanism is fast, rigid and intuitive. Why even a caveman…

The 28 TPI Dozuki blade is .012″ thick, (.33mm) and leaves a kerf of approx. .020″. It is faster than our JS-1 and I really like that I can fold it and put it in my back pocket. OAL is approximately 24″.

The 20 TPI Kataba (below) is a deep cheek cutting saw–and is perfectly suited for tenons and furniture making. The added mass of the handles makes controlling these saws a breeze–they fall under their own weight during cutting. (It is easy to spot the induction hardened teeth.)

Below is an image of the Ryoba–the utility saw for crosscutting and ripping. The fast cutting crosscut (16 TPI) is the saw of choice when you need to cut a large board in half across its width. The 12 TPI rip is used for…you know…ripping! (There is an included guard for the exposed teeth of this saw when folded.)

Here they are together;

The handle is common, and the blades are replaceable so one option is to purchase the kit version of the saws…

We are still working on pricing (and the value of the dollar is not helping) but check this out; Handle plus three blades will be around $140. Add one set of spare blades and the total will be under $200.00.

It will take three months to make them, and we will stock spare blades but not complete saws or handles. Offer coming to your inbox next week!

–John

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“The key question isn’t “What fosters creativity?” But it is why in God’s name isn’t everyone creative? Where was the human potential lost? How was it crippled? I think therefore a good question might be not why do people create? But why do people not create or innovate? We have got to abandon that sense of amazement in the face of creativity, as if it were a miracle if anybody created anything.” — Abraham Maslow
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With the help of Drivel Starved Nation members (who might get FIRED if they don’t get back to work and off the web…) I am pleased to pass on the following works in wood;

This from DSN member Peter Franks who would like to share the work of Robert van Embricqs (video link) ;

I will admit, I am addicted to art. In my home I have a couple of spaces that are patiently waiting for their ability to serve their master by hosting an art piece. One such space is my covered front porch. I think this piece by Jeroen van Laarhoven would be great!

The metaphors, and whimsy of this piece make my day–what looks haphazard is really an inspired bit of thinking. If you look at this piece for a minute or so you will feel it. It is fun. It is joyous–and in its simplicity there lurks a rare, emotional gratification. And the one thing it isn’t: plain vanilla. Works for me.

Now…who would want to sit next to me? The most obvious and easy choice is …

OK! I had a major relapse–could be worse!

–John

PS: What is the biggest perk of working at Bridge City? May through October each year our office is open Mon-Thurs. The customer service staff is here 8-5 and the rest of us 7-6. Oregon is paradise (most of the time) during these months and rainy Nov-April. You know what I do on Fridays for the next six months? Yup, come in to the office. For the past 5 years I have been trying to change with the exact same results I had when I dumped Megan Fox…

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“The creative person wants to be a know-it-all. He wants to know about all kinds of things-ancient history, nineteenth century mathematics, current manufacturing techniques, hog futures. Because he never knows
when these ideas might come together to form a new idea. It may happen six minutes later,
or six months, or six years. But he has faith that it will happen.” — Carl Ally
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Last night, in the middle of a nightmare (I was being chased around my house in my underwear by a naked ventriloquist’s dummy wearing a bandolier), I thought, what the hell does this dream mean?

Can only mean one thing: Time To Feed This Blog… Don’t you find it comforting that in my subconscious, the DSN is represented by a naked ventriloquist’s dummy wearing a bandolier?

Last week Michael and I hopped over to Idaho to supervise the assembly of the CT-17. Here is a short pictorial of our experience;

This giant multi-axis lathe is making the lead screw. This part is one of three that we made over because, well…let’s just say your tool potentate overlooked a dimension that should never have been overlooked…

For those of you familiar with machining, the CT-17 depth adjustor is off the charts difficult. Stainless steel, 72 threads per inch, and a hollow, five finger integral knob. From start to finish, this part takes about an hour to make and finish. (FYI: the going rate for CNC lathe work is anywhere from $50-$70 per hour.)

The lathe collet leaves a slight mar, so this must be removed with Scotch-Brite wheels.

After the depth adjustor is cleaned, the end is dipped in grease, and the pin nut is sandwiched between two brass thrust bearings and retained with the smallest snap ring I have ever seen. Actually, I can’t see it, but thankfully others can…

Down the line the linkages are assembled…

The body of the CT-17 is milled from solid 303 stainless steel billet. This job was under the spindle for over four months.


This image is of the area where the assembly steps were documented. It takes about half an hour to assemble, adjust and wipe off the orange Cheeto fingerprints left by Michael.

Here the assembled planes are being packed to be sent off to a facility in Washington to have the soles lapped.

We were only in Idaho for a couple of days, but the last processes are now documented and later this week the first batch of planes get their soles lapped, back to Idaho for cleaning, boxing and then shipped to our warehouse–so we are getting closer.

Since this job is so late, maybe my dream means I am the real dummy…

–John

Tomorrow I am heading out to the factory that is producing the CT-17 to supervise the final assembly of this long overdue job. Finally, all of the components are built. It will feel great for all involved to get this tool shipped because the CT-18 is…. oops, I am not saying another word.

If my inbox is any indication of pent up demand, we are long overdue to make the HP-3 and HP-4–we haven’t made them in a decade. So I pulled out my old files, and decided to completely re-engineer these two little planes. (They are both bevel up planes, one low angle and the other standard.)

Clearly these are small planes and their function is primarily for accurate detail work. That said, the new fences and skids bring added functionality that I cannot wait to use for some of my own projects. We will make a limited run of these in stainless and will also make them in either brass or aluminum, maybe both. No news on pricing as of this writing.

The HP-8 and HP-9 in stainless steel side by side…

I always enjoyed a stand alone chamfer plane. Now you can adjust both miter fences simultaneously without changing the width of your chamfer (when you need to move to a sharp section of the iron). In addition, the low angle of this this plane makes it an ideal choice for flushing small protruding tenons or dovetails.

The 90 degree fence is really handy for putting a square edge along thin stock–not easy to do with a larger plane.

What is new is the ability to attach depth skids. Now you can use either of these planes as thickness planes for small cross-sectional stock. You know I have a fetish for coffee stirrers…(you will eventually see what I am doing with them). I have an inexpensive set of gage pins I use to set the skid heights. For example, I can put a .050″ pin under the front of the plane, and a .051″ under the rear and lock the skids against a flat surface.

Don’t know when, and don’t know how much. But I do know we are going to build them.

Remember-you saw it here first.

–John

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“… lend your ears to music, open your eyes to painting, and … stop thinking! Just ask yourself whether the work has enabled you to “walk about” into a hitherto unknown world. If the answer is yes, what more do you want?” — Wassily Kandinsky
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In just a few short weeks, I head off to the Marc Adams School of Woodworking for my annual teaching fix. The “Creative Thinking” class has two openings left and my Tool Making class a couple more. It would be great if these spots were filled out by DSN members.

Now here is the cool part–if you know of a young, deserving and under-capitalized talent that is worthy and full of promise, there are a couple of tuition grants available for the Tool Making class. Contact marc@marcadams.com for your nominee.

One of the advantages of living in the world’s largest temperate rain forest is that I have plenty of time to read. Five months of continual rain, a fireplace, a glass of wine and the right music gives me the perfect excuse to avoid chores. (I like leaving work…at work–which likely explains why I have mice living in my walls–until tomorrow.) Living vicariously through the work of others not only motivates me to do better everyday, but some pieces are so flat-out exciting, they need to be shared. If you haven’t seen the work Wouter Scheublin, you have now.

I am hopelessly attracted to kinetic sculptures. Below is a functional, limited edition (20) spring car by Wouter.  What a fun piece.  Don’t you want to pick it up an play with it?

This next piece I have to see in person. This table literally has legs–push it to relocate and it walks with you. How cool is that? In the right environment, this would be an incredibly functional kinetic sculpture…I also really like the metal stretchers, wood would have been a poor choice from a monotony standpoint. (Don’t forget to check out his site to see the walking bookcase.)
Thanks to Robert’s comment below, entry updated with video–I love the ending where he sits and pulls the table to him–makes one wonder about moving a chair without wheels while sitting in it doesn’t it? I wish we had one of these at my house growing up–particularly at Thanksgiving…imagine the rough seas in the gravy boat with kids on each side of the table…

Knowing when to quit is one of the many secrets of great design. I really like the simple, geometric lines of this chair…(also note that the best view of a chair is most often the rear, three-quarter view–my experience is that if a chair looks good from this view, it is going to look good from all views)

I hope you enjoy these internet forays as much as I do sharing them!

–John

PS: TRIAL BALLOON HERE: I am thinking about putting a trip together next spring to visit the Milan Furniture Fair–the greatest annual display of furniture design on the planet. Anybody interested?