Bridge City Toolworks

[William Adams]

Thanks. Yeah, the Jointmaker would support my mania of making small boxes and models &c.

FWIW, I absolutely agree that there's a real honesty and integrity to the Bridge City Tool line in terms of material selection (bounded by John Economaki developing an allergy to the exotic woods which he had previously used) and their design. I absolutely love some of their designs and look forward to being able to buy (and use!) them after I'm doing putting the kids through college. Some of them go a bit too far for me, but that's fine, they're still neat to look at, and I always enjoy looking through their site and seeing the pretty things.

Very sad that people buy / receive them and they don't get used.

William

[george wilson]

Jim,my friend Jon and I have a joke where we ask each other "Got your Kincaid yet?"

[Brian Holcombe]

It can't hurt. Tom's also really gracious about it.
Having the original box seems to matter.

What few LN tools I still own are pretty ugly by collector's standards.
(Fingerprints, sharpened blades that no longer have milling marks, evidence that someone has looked at them, etc.)




Just make sure you use the same rule when fitting things together, throughout the project.
I like a dressmaker's rule, myself - they're clearly marked, flexible and inexpensive.

I also like large wooden yardsticks, the kind that were given as advertising promos.
They make transferring marks easy, can be clamped together to use as 'pinch sticks' to measure large openings and are difficult to lose.

My shop is a wreck - losing things under shavings is a common problem.

Hard to use a yardstick, and I've tried.

Patina!

I have some Kikohiromaru's that I'm putting into action, late 80's stock, rosewood handles. Some collector is wincing as I put the initial grind on, remove the stickers from the handles, fit the hoops and peen the wood.

[Jim Koepke]

(edited for brevity)

I also like large wooden yardsticks, the kind that were given as advertising promos.
They make transferring marks easy, can be clamped together to use as 'pinch sticks' to measure large openings and are difficult to lose.

My most used ruler is an old Stanley four fold yardstick. A story stick is used often for repeat measurements.

For inside measurements on a project two yardsticks were made into a tool for measuring:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthre...ng-Yard-Sticks

Now they are used for measuring between corners to check for square when gluing up large frames.

jtk

[Rick Whitehead]

My wife and I have a running joke about Bridge City tools. Back in the late 80's I asked for their dovetail square for Christmas, among other things. She ordered one, telling Bridge City that it was a gift, and to send it to another address. They complied with her request, but then they sent a copy of their catalog to our home address, in her name! That was a dead giveaway, even to me, and she was very unhappy about it! So from then on, I would occasionally ask her if she needed any thing from Bridge City!
They sent us catalogs frequently for several years, and sold our name to several other woodworking catalog companies. I haven't done business with them for years.
The square is very well made and well-designed. It was expensive at the time she got it, but I think it was worth it.
I can't say the same thing for all their tools.Most of their recent offerings seem to have been designed for collecting, not for use. There's nothing wrong with that, since the tools are actually made so that they can be used, but their expense keeps me from buying any more.
Someone asked if Bridge City tools worked any better that other high-end tools. My answer to that is "No". To illustrate, I'll relate a story about how I almost bought a Lie-Nielsen plane.
I had some birthday money, and I was considering buying one of Lie-Nielsen's number 103 small block planes. This was back when Woodcraft still sold them, so I went there to see one in person.After handling it, I thought to myself "What will this plane do that my beat-up Stanley 103, which I paid $5.00 for, won't do"? The Lie-Nielsen was of course MUCH better made, and more easily adjusted, but my Stanley 103 would make a cut that was indistinguishable from it. So, I put it back, and spent the money on something else.
I admire the craftsmanship, and some of the designs, of Bridge City tools, but they are simply too expensive for me.
Rick