Drivel Starved Nation,
Before I share the itinerary of the 2020 China Field Trip, here are some updates;
Pencil Precision: This project is now in the pre-production phase. What this means is that vendors are being finalized, and prototypes are being built. My work is done. I can’t give you firm dates yet, and will not be able to until after the Chinese New Year. BTW, 2020 is the Year of the Rat.
New Projects: This week I am finishing up a new hand saw design. It is joint cutting back saw that has a maximum depth of cut of 78mm. More on the why of this later.
My Work Retreat: The first two weeks of February I will be redesigning the HP-6v2 body because I no longer like the old design. This is a big deal because the new design will be in metric. Rest assured, ALL existing HP-6 profiles will be backwards compatible. I also have an idea for new product that the industry has never seen, so we will see if the muse takes me there….
Rejected Idea: You will be pleased to note that I rejected my idea to put a dust collector attachment on our scratch awls….
SAVE THE DATES!
Bridge City Tool Works, in cooperation with Harvey Industries, LTD is pleased to announce the second Epic Field Trip to China Jun 4th-11th. Here is the itinerary;
Thursday Evening June 4th: We will all meet in Shanghai for a Meet and Greet dinner, hosted by your favorite Tool Potentate. After dinner we will walk around the Bund and see the amazing lights of this amazing city.
Friday, June 5th: We will spend all day together touring Shanghai. Jack Xu, president of Harvey Industries, is an incredibly knowledgeable host and this is a great way to see this enormous metropolis.
Saturday, June 6th: We will tour Shanghai in the morning, and after lunch, we will hop on the bullet train to Beijing (a really peaceful 4.5 hour ride). We will have dinner together in Beijing that evening.
Sunday, June 7th: Tour Beijing all day.
Monday, June 8th: Morning tour of Beijing and that afternoon we will catch the bullet train south to Nanjing and have dinner together that evening.
Tuesday, June 9th: This is going to be a fun day. We begin with a tour of the new Bridge City Tool Works Center where you can see tools being made through a big glass window — think of this as a metal working version of a dumpling shop. That afternoon, we will tour the Hung Mu Museum. There is not much knowledge of Chinese woodworking being shared in America, but by the end of this experience you will literally be blown away. You will meet China’s most famous furniture maker and he is just an incredible human being –I can’t wait to go back. That evening for dinner, we will go to a restaurant where they make noodles by hand. This is so fun to watch.
Wednesday, June 10th: We will tour the wall in Nanjing and this will conclude the hosted part of the trip. That afternoon, we will catch the bullet train to Shanghai and that evening is open.
Thursday, June 11th: Fly home if your choose. My flight leaves at 11:00 am.
This trip is on your nickle, you make your own travel arrangements, Harvey Industries will make all of our hotel and train reservations, you will need to pay for those as well. Whether you come early, stay late or both, that is up to you.
The trip we took together in 2017 was the highlight of the year, and everybody had an incredible experience. You will too!
I realize there are lots of missing details, and they will come as soon as we know the attendee count. With that said, you need to commit by February 29th and not a leap day later.
Feel free to ask me questions on this Totally Awesome and Worthless Blog. I’ll do my best to share what I know. I have been to China 5-6 times in the last 5 years or so, so I know a little. The biggest question involves food choices so I will get this out of the way real quick, it is the Year of the Rat. Do the math… I am kidding of course.
For those who missed out on 2017, here is your second chance. And for everybody else who would like to see China worry free (that is why it is a field trip, we do all the thinking), indicate your intent by emailing Karen in the Monclair, CA office:
Karen@bridgecitytools.com.
And yes, couples are encouraged! In summary, all you need to do is tell Karen your travel dates and we will do the rest. All hotels are 4 or 5 stars, and breakfast is included. How simple is that?
More later!
-Still Your Favorite Tool Potentate
PS: One caveat I forgot to mention; You need to be in Shanghai on June 4th. You cannot leave the states on the 4th because you lose a day getting there. I like to arrive one day early, and have some time to adjust to the time difference. Plan on arriving on the 2nd or third.
Im assuming pre-orders for the pencil precision has taken place already? Is this tool intended to be a stock item in the future? I wish i would have got back into woodworking sooner to see this one! You may not remember me, i use to be active here 10 years or so ago until life happened, had 3 kids, and got out of the hobby. Now im back in it! The last thing i bought from you was in 2010 or so and it was a box of rosewood cutoffs, i got that box out the other day with a hand plane and took a few shavings off one of the sticks and noticed that it has such a pleasant smell to it. Prior to that i had never worked with that type of wood. Its good to be back.
Yes, pre-orders are all in. Don’t fret, this will be a stock item.
John
I understand that details are still being worked. However, do you have a sense of roughly the cost for single occupancy?
Mike
Are the details still being worked on here? Or this is really it? Nonetheless thank you for being thoughtful about sharing these very valuable and helpful pieces of information!