Drivel Starved Nation-
I created this blog as a space where I can act like an idiot, insult our customers, shamelessly plug new product ideas, embarrass my grown children, create mayhem for the staff here, and occasionally share information that is actually interesting. That said, I sadly announce that we have some good news to share. Continue reading
"One sees great things from the valley, only small things from the peak." — -G.K. Chesterton
Drivel Starved Nation!
I am pleased to share with you the proof that I have been sitting on my rear doing nothing something else this year other than making chopsticks! Continue reading
"Creativity isn’t about wild talent as much as it’s about productivity. To find new ideas that work, you need to try a lot that don’t. It’s a pure numbers game." — Robert Sutton
Drivel Starved Nation;
Sunday I leave for China, my third visit in the last six months. I must say, the experiences and friendships I have accumulated are lasting and incredibly rewarding. This may be the most fun six months of my BCTW business life. To think it took 32 years to have this much fun doesn’t say much for me does it? Oh well. Continue reading
Something about this tool awakens prurient interests…at least mine anyway–I feel just like I did approximately 50 years ago when a band of misguided 10 year olds found their first Playboy magazine at the local illegal dumping site…
We have been playing with the prototypes here for a couple of months and this tool is way cool. Study the pic below because we have made a beneficial change to the 18″ blade we think you will really like.
Here’s what is different; the 18″ blade is unique and has some new functionality that will save you time. The bottom scale is in inches (32nd’s) and regardless of what hand you hold the square in, you can set the long leg to whatever distance you desire from the end of the blade.
The top scale features centering rules on each face, one metric and the other imperial. I would not use the imperial centering rule for finding centers, I would use this scale with straight leg aligned on 9″ (zero on the center scale) and as such, converts the square to a killer hook rule–reads from the leg out as opposed to the end of the blade in.
Opposite of the imperial centering scale is the metric (.5mm) centering scale which reads either left or right from the center. This is what I would use to find centers, i.e., 42.5 on the left and 42.5 on the right and you know center. This is way easier than reading 2-23/32″ on the right and 2-23/32″ on the left.
In addition, for those of you who are trying your best to wean yourself from the lunacy of imperial measurements, with the long leg set to 9″ on the lower scale, you can use the top scales to quickly convert between imperial and metric. This is cooler than you think.
We are also including in the kit a standard 12″ blade, all imperial because, hey this is America damit! (Not my view, but we need to pay rent here…)
Milled from solid stainless steel and graced with a black chrome web, this is the next tool in our Bridge City Essentials series. We will begin accepting pre-production orders as soon as we quantify our costs in a couple of days.
Now, I don’t have a tree-house anymore, but IF I DID, this tool would join Ms. June, 1963 as one of my most cherished belongings.
Your thoughts?
–John
As we continue to celebrate our 25th anniversary I am pleased to give you a peek into what is coming next.
Sometime in the next day or so, we will be announcing the pre-production run of the next Bridge City Essential–an updated version of our MG-4 Marking Gage and calling it the MG-5. Stainless steel, black chrome…OK, I will fess up–this black chrome is the coolest stuff–I am hooked.
Frankly, the world does not need another marking gage but this one is notable because it has two “business ends” one, a beveled cutter for straight work and a scribe pin for following curves. It is small, fits the hand great and the black chrome just feels oh so sexy.
We are working on pricing but the MG-5 will be well under $150 so it won’t break the bank…hell, what I am thinking, all the banks are broken! Don’t know how many we are going to make yet and don’t know if we will make it again (We are in the anti-inventory business) so give it a ponder.
Here’s a Sneak Peek of the prototype;
–John