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
Hey John – glad to see that new employee is working out. Does he smoke? I’m curious what his hair cut looks like now.
I like your idea of buying Iceland, since Hawaii fell through. I mean, they both have volcanoes, small populations, weird languages, and cell-phone coverage. Plus, with the economy the way it is, you should be able to get it for a pretty good price. And since there’s no trees, your wood allergies should be fine.
I’m concerned about “The Tool I Have To Have NOW”. I’m on an enforced woodworking moratorium until I get our landscaping re-done. I know you keep pretty close track of your customers, but I’m curious how you know I need that tool NOW. It’s not exactly clear to me what I need it for. Could you explain?
– Peter (Member: DSN, Reader: TWB)
John,
At the risk of making the Tool Potentate angry; you may want to reconsider the latest policy you implemented: The one about not hiring anyone who is smarter than you! I jest, the youhg “genuis” is just trying to find a more economical method to electroplate tools with black chrome!
All kidding aside, I can see that there might be a need to make a bigger tenon, but of course at some point the tool will become clumsy to use on normal sized projects due to it’s size. Here’s a thought; could the Tenonmaker be made so that it could accomodate an extension or have the measuring part be removable and a longer piece added?
-Rutager(Flag waving citizen of the DSN)
P.S. To try and make up for my unruly behavior of late, I’ll be ordering 2 TM-1’s!
Rutager;
How often do you make a tenon wider than 2″ (not length but width)? Do you use much 12/4 stock?
We are struggling to see the need for a larger version of this tool, so a little clarity would be helpful.
–John
For what it’s worth, my rule of thumb for maximum mortise tenon “extent” (to avoid confusion with “width” and “length”) is 2-1/2″. Any more than that and it gets split into two or more segments. However, whereas the tenon gets split, the mortise may or may not.
To be honest, I make most of my mortises and tenons these days with a Leigh FMT, and for a double tenon application I’ll make one mortise/tenon pair tight, and the other one loose along the length of the mortise, to provide some “give.”
-Steve
Steve-Good comments.
We just don’t think there is a need (market) for tenons that would be cut out of 12/4 or 16/4 stock–this is timber framing and not our market.
My past life as a professional furniture maker, and this was back a ways, but I can’t recall making a tenon wider than 1″ ever in the furniture I designed and made.
This is not the first time Rutager has hinted at a bigger version–we would like to know for what before we start cutting metal. Maybe we are missing something?
-John
I just finished something using 16/4 stock and the tenons weren’t thicker than 1-1/8″. I don’t think the very few times a tenon is thicker than 2″ warrants building a tool to accommodate those instances.
Hi All,
I think that I’m not explaining myself well! I’ll try again. There are 3 dimensions on a tenon, right? 1 would be how deep it goes into the mortise; 2 would be how thick the tenon is; and 3 is the dimension I’m refering to, I’ll call it height. So even in 1/2 stock you could have a tenon the same height as your stock is wide, ie; an 8″ wide board could have a 7″ high tenon(bad idea, but could be done!) So, my thinking is that if I was making a through tenon, I could use the TM-1 to cut BOTH the width and the height and get a sweet fitting joint! I don’t cut a lot of tenons, so I don’t know the tallest height that is considered structurally sound construction on 3/4 stock, but would suggest that number should be the capacity of the tool.
-Rutager
Rutager;
Let’s forget the tenons for a bit and talk about mortises. They have width, length and depth. The TM-1 is designed primarily for the width. Because the TM-1 has to be practical, it will not measure the length of the mortise unless the mortise is at least 1/2″ wide (it has to fit inside the mortise to measure it). Whereas the the little fingers will allow measuring mortise widths of 1/8″-2″ as long as the mortise length is 1/2″. Make sense?
You want to consider using the TM-1 for gauging mortise lengths to cut the two long sides of the tenon. It will, as currently designed, gauge up to 2″ IF the mortise width is at least 1/2″.
So…. to add more capacity, the tool gets longer. More metal. More milling. More anodizing. More storage space….etc.
Is it worth it?
Thanks for all for the feedback. AND, so far, I am unconvinced…but still listening.
-John
John,
I probably have never cut a mortise that was more then the 2″ capacity. It’s just that I have this problem of trying to make sure my tools will do the maximum I might use, which is why I have a 4 foot fence sticking out(and sticking me!)from my sliding tablesaw top because, you know I might need to make a huge picture frame some day, of course every other day I run into it! I’m getting better though, I replaced the 4 ft one with a 3ft one, maybe there is hope for me after all. So, to answer your question, no it probably isn’t worth it, it’s just this sickness I have! I will be thrilled with any version of the tool and still pledge to order two. Okay then, less talking, more milling! this tool is going to be wicked cool! Can’t wait.
Thanks for listening, Rutager
P.S. I just came upstairs from cutting some of the Cocobolo for a pen turning friend.
Workbench design necessitates mortices of greater length. Blame Schwarz for his 5×5 or 6×6 Roubo legs with huge tenons. Then again, maybe all the people who buy Chris’s Workbench book don’t build anything…
Second please consider the application of your tool for wide grooves or dadoes. Lapped joints, anyone?
Each of these situations are exceptions, not the norm. Maybe someday you could offer a limited run of XL versions for subset of the audience who enjoy building patio furniture, fences, and gazebos.
You make a good point about workbenches, however they tend to be a once in a lifetime project (just like Chris Schwarz!). That said, we certainly can make-to-order a run (later) for the supersize needs.
Now, in this industry, readers tend to read and the makers make…when we were mailing millions of catalogs we excluded book buyers from tool offers because it was a waste of money, resources and energy. I still find this interesting.
-John
Since you asked. How much effort would it take to make a combo tool? KM1 + TM1.
I don’t know if I like the idea that you slighted the readers of the world. I’ve found that the exchange of ideas and knowledge generates innovation.
No slight to the readers of the world meant at all- I am a voracious reader myself-but it was an irrefutable marketing fact that we lost money sending tool offers to those with a purchase history that consisted primarily of books.
Regarding the combo tool-it is possible but it is one confusing looking tool. The Kerfmaker works by subtracting one kerf and The TM adds one kerf. Imagine them joined at the hip so to speak. The cost savings is about 2 dollars so we opted for the clarity of purpose versions. Good comments.
-John