Behind the Scenes

Behind the scenes at Bridge City Tool Works!

Clue #3 for New Bridge City Gizmo….

September, 25th, 2017

“Man is not what he thinks he is, he is what he hides.”— André Malraux

Drivel Starved Nation!

Before I share the next clue, I am informing all that we have a winner! NO! You say. Me too! So, why clue 3?

Well, it’s my contest, my rules, and our fun. It’s just too early to stop my ability to insult our customers. I do promise however to share this story and why we are going to have TWO winners for this contest. That’s fair, don’t you think?

Oh, one more thing… both winners will receive this thing whether they want it or not. How cool is that?

OK, now back to the mystery–What you see below is 350mm in overall length. And yes, those are acme threads.

-John

Clue # 2 for New Bridge City Thingamajig….

September, 22nd, 2017

"The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science." — Albert Einstein

Drivel Starved Nation-

Here’s your second clue to the thing that will make Bridge City the laughing stock of the internet…

If you guessed bent stainless steel wire you are correct! The longer version is about 90mm in length.

-John

New Tool Coming from Bridge City! Here’s Clue #1…

September, 21st, 2017

"I wanna make a jigsaw puzzle that's 40,000 pieces. And when you finish it, it says 'go outside.'" — Demetri Martin

Driveled Starved Nation!

Over the past several months I have alluded to a project I began on my work retreat last February. Today is September 21st and it is finished! I’ve been playing with the last physical prototype for about 3 weeks and I am pleased to share that we are going into our pre-production routine next week which includes sourcing and pricing. The pre-order window is still several weeks away.

Before I share our first clue, I am admitting that this project very well may make us the laughing stock of the internet–maybe you too. And if so, I could care less, this thing is so MUCH FUN! Actually, it is so much fun I will give you TWO clues today (isn’t that nice?), one a word and the other an image:

1) “Gesture”

2) Here is a little sub-assembly to keep your brain occupied until the next clue;

See the little red aluminum part? It is 47mm long. And the threaded shaft that is driving it is M6x1.0, Left-hand threads too. From those clues, you can size the rest of the assembly. (We have converted completely to metric here, so don’t read anything into this other than the Imperial measuring system is SO inefficient.)

The subassembly pictured also contains the following (not all are visible);
2 steel washers
1 retaining ring
1 spring washer
1 nylon washer
1 set screw

My only response to your comments will come from this short list;

warm
cold
really warm
moronic
What meds you on?
bingo!
nice try.
Who gave you insider information?
Yes
No

I haven’t decided what the prize is going to be for guessing this invention… maybe a copy of the letter from my patent lawyer questioning my sensibilities…

-John

Bridge City Tool Works Introduces New KM-2 Kerfmaker…

September, 7th, 2017

Drivel Starved Nation!

You talked and we listened. Over the past couple of years we have received numerous requests for a larger KM-1 Kerfmaker. I am pleased to announce that I finally got around to designing one. And in the process, we have made it better!

If you are new to our Kerfmaker tool, we conceived and patented this device several years ago and over this time it is our number one selling tool. Here’s a video of how the original KM-1 works–the KM-2 Kerfmaker is no different;

Continue reading →

Critiquing the UG-1 Universal Gauge…

August, 17th, 2017

"I am very self-critical, but that's a good thing because it keeps me growing as a human being and as a musician." — Ray LaMontagne

Drivel Starved Nation!

In my previous post I mentioned that I would “grade” the functionality of our new UG-1 Universal Gauge pictured below.
UG_R.8 700

The reason for this self-critique is twofold: I am typically not fond of multi-purpose tools. Too often the compromises are just to hard to deal with. Hopefully we have not fallen into that trap and I want to share why by grading all the functions. Secondly, as painful as they can be, critiques are crucial to understanding both the design and functional aspects of the things we make.
Continue reading →

The Back Story on Our Latest “Different” Tool…

August, 14th, 2017

"You will never influence the world by trying to be like it." — Sean McCabe

Drivel Starved Nation;

It seems that whenever we introduce a tool that is not “traditional” factions of the woodworking community, using their internet bullhorn, feel compelled to condemn the effort as heresy, an egregious assault on our “woodworking heritage”. These anachronistic views to me, and to us as a company, are about as much fun as pre-chewed food. Ideas evolve and so do tools — at least I like to think so.

New ideas are almost always the result of a changing perspective. And this is what I believe we do best, we rattle the cage of conventional woodworking wisdom with tool ideas that either attack or improve functionality deficiencies, inconvenience and work-flow efficiency, all with an underlying passion for aesthetics. Ironically, nobody needs any of these tool ideas… except me. Continue reading →

New Tool from Bridge City Tool Works… It’s a Wild One!

August, 10th, 2017

"The creation of something new is not accomplished by the intellect, but by the play instinct arising from inner necessity. The creative mind plays with the object it loves."— Carl Jung

Drivel Starved Nation:

Haven’t posted lately, I have buried myself in work… oh how the time flies.

FYI, blogging is not work, it is just a hassle… unless of course I come up with some meaningful drivel to feed the DSN!

Last February I started work on a project that has occupied all my time up until two weeks ago when the prototype parts arrived. This is when I learned that I had a ways to go to prove out this concept so I dropped it temporarily and finished up a tool that I started a year ago and did not finish. I am thrilled with what this tool can do, particularly for those with small shops. I think you will see, at least I hope so, that this device can make your life a whole lot easier when in the shop. Here’s a peek… Continue reading →

HP-14 Scraper Plane Details from Bridge City Tool Works…

June, 20th, 2017

"What we do today, right now, will have an accumulated effect on all our tomorrows."— Alexandra Stoddard

Drivel Starved Nation!

I received lots of great questions regarding our Hp-14 Scraper Plane and will attempt to answer them here in this Totally Awesome and Worthless Blog!

Before I answer them, here are a couple of pics of the final design. The pre-order window will open this week and we will make this in two versions, the HP-14 Scraper Plane, and the HP-14 SS Scraper Plane. The later features stainless steel sides as opposed to champagne anodized aluminum and we will only make the SS version once… Continue reading →

New Scraper Plane from Bridge City Tool Works…

June, 16th, 2017

"My father gave me the greatest gift anyone could give another person, he believed in me."— Jim Valvano

Drivel Starved Nation;

We are pleased to add the HP-14 Scraper Plane to our plane family. Full details will be announced next week, but I wanted to share this image – this is a cool tool!  Pictured below is the version with champagne anodized aluminum sides. We will also release for pre-order an all stainless steel version. Both have stainless steel soles. Continue reading →

Weekend Projects Using the New V Groove Kit for the HP-10 Plane…

May, 24th, 2017

"The Self-Educated are marked by stubborn peculiarities."— Issac D'Israeli

Dear Drivel Starved Nation;

If there is one thing that drives me crazy about being in the woodworking business are customers who are reluctant to acknowledge the potential of new ideas. I will never understand this, and frankly, it frustrates me when I have to spend time with people who never appreciate that the world is full of new ideas yet to be revealed.

We recently introduced a set of four “V” groove texturing kits for our HP-10 Convertible Plane and all they do is make perfect “V” Grooves. Yup, that is all they do. Continue reading →