Bridge City Tools

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“Always remember, your focus determines your reality.” — George Lucas

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DSN: I am thrilled to be able to share this video with you. Here’s the back story…

The film below was part of the Portland Public School’s Film Depository in 1973. I ordered a copy to review for my woodworking students. I have seen this film over 50 times and watched two times today! Caveat, it is not about woodworking.

For a 22 year old teacher, this was a life changing experience. I freely admit that deep down, I wanted to be just like Dominick Calicchio, which of course is impossible – as you will soon see, he is one of a kind.

Today, I received permission to post this on this Totally Awesome and Worthless Blog for you, and all members of the Drivel Starved Nation. That said, I do hope you take the time to view it, it is approx 20 minutes long. Works well on an iPad if you have a wmv viewer like Azul.

As always, your comments are welcome.

-John

Click below to view. This is a .wmv file and you may need to add extensions to your browser to view it. I do not have permission to post this movie to more standard viewers like Vimeo or YouTube. FYI

Triad

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“Outside of a dog, a book is man’s best friend. Inside of a dog it’s too dark to read.” — Grouch Marx

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Finally, the book we have all been so busy working on is now done and off to the printers. I think it is really beautiful, and is a very nice and fitting tribute to Bridge City followers across the globe.

This is a coffee table sized book; the cover is 12″ square (get it?). There are 287 stunning images distributed over the 204 pages and it weighs just under five pounds. It is being published by Museum of Contemporary Craft. Jay Maisel wrote the introduction and the editor was Christopher Schwarz. The book will be printed in Korea at a plant that specializes in art books.

We will offer two versions, the one you see below will be available for $95. There is a limited collectors edition, in a cloth bound box that will available for $140, and these are all signed by your favorite tool potentate. Unfortunately, there are no discounts for either version. I am traveling to Korea at the end of May as part of the press check team and the limited edition versions will be signed while I am there. All other versions will be shrink wrapped, boxed in self-mailers and sent directly to the Museum and our allotment to our fulfillment facility outside of Portland.

One of the difficulties of a project of this magnitude is the print quantity. Too few and too many are both problems. Some time today we will open pre-orders and a print run decision will be made on May 7th – you will receive an email when our website is updated and ready to receive orders. The pre-order deposit is $1.00 and all books will be shipped the second week of August coinciding with the opening of the exhibition of the same name. Here are a couple of images for you to ponder;


























I hope you like it! By the way, it is a little early to be thinking about holiday gifts, but this book should appeal to both woodworkers, photographers and anybody who believes in the value of quality.


-John

“For those who have never experienced the joys of fishing, there are two reasons to fish: One, a free fall mind drift that takes over during all the lapses in action. Two, catching fish. Drawn on each fish is the daydream that preceded the catching of that fish, the most common of which (in my case) is boobs. Public restrooms, 9-11, childhood memories and the pattern plaid, along with various pieces of litter complete the contents of the plastic donut bucket. The bucket, being emptied on the countertop at home, is a chronicle of the morning’s events, both external and internal.” — David Regan
 
NOTE: This was the “Artist’s Statement” from an exhibition I saw in NYC a year ago. I love irreverent artist statements.
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Yo! Drivel Starved Nation…PAY ATTENTION!
 
I have three benchmarks I evaluate that determine if classes I teach are a success or, a complete bust – there is no middle ground.
 
The big one is whether I was required to administer the Heimlich maneuver. I just hate having to do that – too much theater for a wood shop. Students that don’t know the difference between a potato chip and a wood chip should not be admitted. Add cow chip into that mix too.
 
The second benchmark is to have a student list void of Elvis impersonators.
 
As you might guess, giving the Heimlich maneuver to an Elvis impersonator is my worst nightmare. It has happened to me more than I care to admit.
 
You decide if my classes were a success or not.
 
Below are a few pics of what Elvis worked on over the last two weeks. Don’t ask me any “How” questions please. They are the exclusive providence of the tuition payers. I am sure they will chime in if asked. Besides, I have to create a video of how I made the “Fog of War” for the upcoming exhibition. Lots of how stuff in that.
 
The little jig we made for all JMP’s to make micro adjustments using a digital caliper.

 
A little army of pawns. These guys are under 2″ tall and each took about 45 minutes to make. Elvis needed 16 to move on.

 
It is not easy at this scale to make perfect cuts without over-cutting. All the little Elvii did great!

 
Small scale work often involves abrasives. Think diamonds.

 
Lots of options for creative expression with this project.

 
Gap free joinery takes time. The lattice components are .058″ thick.No glue at this point, just pressed together for a quick pic before I had to leave to catch a plane.

 
The rooks were fun to make. And close to impossible without the JMP I do believe.

 
Work in process by one Elvis. Parts are held together here with double-stick tape.

 
If you ask any of the Elvii, they will tell you that small work is HARD! And fun.
 
My favorite part of the class was converting everybody to decimal inches. I prefer metric but did not want to get lynched. Anyway, most of the students had $30 or under digital calipers. WE WARNED YOU a year or so ago to stay away… BUT NO! So here is what happened…
 
We had one student who was going through one battery a day. WE WARNED YOU! Others could not get their caliper to repeat…. Anyway, the class had enough and we ordered good calipers, they cost about $125 each. For those that don’t listen, they actually cost $155+ when you add in the cost of the crappy tool.
 
I then overheard the student with the battery sucking caliper say to his partner, “I can’t wait to sell this piece of shit to some idiot on the internet when I get home.”
 
It is amazing what you learn in school.
 
-John

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“All war is deception.”
– Sun Tzu

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In an earlier post I shared the King and Queen of a chess set I have been working on for over a year now. Next week, my students at Marc Adams will make their version. And the new students the week after that.
 
I wanted a project that really emphasizes the capabilities of the Jointmaker Pro.
 
The smaller your work, the more accurate you have to be. This is going to be challenging, but we will do it.
 
This chess set will be on display in the upcoming “Quality is Contagious” exhibition in August. It is the first piece of woodworking I will have made in almost 30 years. Lots of precision sawing and block plane work. FYI, the king is 4-1/2″ tall, the chessboard squares are 1-3/4 square in the cavities. I wish my eyes were younger.
 
The piece is called. “Fog of War“.
 

 

 

 

 

-John

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“I think animal testing is a terrible idea; they get all nervous and give the wrong answers.”
– A Bit of Fry and Laurie

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Yikes, have we been busy around here. The Drivel Starved Nation must be…starving!
 
This is a friendly reminder that for those of you who are making pieces for possible inclusion in the “Quality is Contagious” exhibition, you have until July 1 to get your piece to the Museum. For those who submitted work for the book, I have been told that one piece was accepted. Nicole is sending out notifications this week and making arrangments for the safe return of the submissions.
 
We are 30 years old this year and are busy making presents that you can buy for yourself (we are always thinking of you). What better place to start than with a new version of the TS-2? Please meet the TS-2v2;
 

 
We are making two versions, all aluminum and all stainless steel. The later will be a limited edition.
 
We invented a whole new way to make a precision square (which as you can see, doubles as a dovetail square) and you can get the idea by looking at the non-stainless version in the image above. The two aluminum squares in the image above are actually the same tool, it has a split personality.
 
After making well over 100,000 try squares we have learned a few things. One of those “things” is when a square hits the floor, the corners of the blade frequently flare. We solved that little annoyance by rounding the corners, and it makes all the sense in the world, there is no function for a square corner on a square blade. Oh, and the blade is field adjustable.
 
That said, the grip on this tool is off the charts, maybe it will never hit the floor…
 

 
We will open up pre-orders next week, but here’s a pleasant surprise: The aluminum version will be under $100. Want to know how cool this is? The original TS-2 sold for $45 in 1983. This inflation calculator tells us that the TS-2 would sell for $104.89 today. How cool is that?
 
-John