BCTW CS-2 Centerscribe - How useful do you think one of these might be?

[Doug Shepard]

I'm a bit of a BCTW junkie and their CS-2 Centerscribe (latest incarnation) is going back into production but as with all BCTW it's a bit pricey. Anybody got one of the previous geared versions and if so, how much do you find yourself using it? And for what kinds of things?
http://www.bridgecitytools.com/Products/Layout+Tools/CS-2+Centerscribe

TIA

[David Gendron]

i'm sure it is nice... but unless you don,t have all the tools you realy need;), I'm sure there is more usefull tools out there to buy:eek:!

[Rob Fisher]

Yeah, I'm with David, especially considering all of the other tools that I want. :D

[mark r johnson]

Take a piece of wood, drill three equally spaced holes in it. Put a pencil in the center hole, put shelf pins in the two outside holes. Place this jig over the edge of your working stock, twist the jig so that the two shelf pins rub the outside of the working stock. Slide the jug down, pressing on the pencil, and you'll have a line in the center. Take the $195 you saved, buy a good combination square to find the center of square and round stock, and spend the rest of the next project.

Far too expensive...

[harry strasil]

+1, seems to me to be the most expensive way to make a simple line or point!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v81/irnsrgn/wood/centerscribe.jpg

[Jim Tobias]

Doug,
Like you, I do think they make very high quality(yes, also high priced) specialty tools. I have one of the older versions of the center scribe and although I don't use it regularly, when I do use it, it works very nicely. There are certainly less expensive ways to get a center line marked on a board, but if you enjoy using their tools, then I say why not use them and enjoy the process. There is something about using a very well made tool that performs well that justifies itself(and cost) no matter what.
I have one of their small block plane (HP-3) and it is one of my most enjoyable tools to use. It is so well made and is my go to small plane when cleaning up.

Jim

[harry strasil]

Sorry, don't mind me, I am just an old phart who doesn't like some changes, and besides now that I am on a very limited income, mad money or disposable income goes to buy essentials.

[Doug Shepard]

I guess I've decided to pass on this one. I'm having a hard time counting the number of times i've needed a line marked down the center of something (at least in the tools working range).

[Matt Rogers]

Harry,
I agree with you. Sometimes the right way is the inexpensive way.....There's something about wringing a hundred dollars worth of work out of a tool you laid down a single for at a garage sale or estate sale.
--Matt

[Paul Incognito]

For the idea.

[Harlan Barnhart]

While there are tools I need more than that particular machine, I am glad people are buying top notch stuff. Keep Bridge City in business, I may need something from them some day...

[brian c miller]

But it does come with it's own pencil ;)

[James Taglienti]

I would consider buying something from bridge city toolworks but i'd rather have a month's worth of groceries and a dozen vintage stanley tools instead. also i don't remember the owners name but he wrote an article recently on the death of sam maloof and the last 3 paragraphs turned into an ad for his own company... pretty tasteless if you ask me.

[Chuck Tringo]

I would consider buying something from bridge city toolworks but i'd rather have a month's worth of groceries and a dozen vintage stanley tools instead. also i don't remember the owners name but he wrote an article recently on the death of sam maloof and the last 3 paragraphs turned into an ad for his own company... pretty tasteless if you ask me.

Wow, if that's true, I definitely can find better places to spend my money like LN or LV. I don't suppose you have a link or know where that article could be found ?

[Jim Tobias]

Link is below. You be the judge of his intent. I don't see it.

http://www.popularwoodworking.com/article/sam_maloof

[James Taglienti]

Come on how can you not see it? At the end of one paragraph he is talking about how Maloof called the tools "beautiful" and he uses them all the time, and the first line in the next paragraph starts off with how much craftsmanship meant to sam. obviously referring to the tools, "if they're good enough for sam they're good enough for me" mentality. Then he goes as far as recounting an actual purchase by maloof. this is shameless and obvious!

[Chuck Tringo]

Come on how can you not see it? At the end of one paragraph he is talking about how Maloof called the tools "beautiful" and he uses them all the time, and the first line in the next paragraph starts off with how much craftsmanship meant to sam. obviously referring to the tools, "if they're good enough for sam they're good enough for me" mentality. Then he goes as far as recounting an actual purchase by maloof. this is shameless and obvious!

Yeah, then he mentions his poke at Sam's $35k chairs...maybe he is going to miss him because he is one of the few people that can afford BCTW....it may have been unintentional, but it does smell a bit fishy. The only thing of theirs that I thought might be worth investing in was the mini-multi anyhoo, and thats still a bit out of my price range.

[Chuck Saunders]

I don't think that he (John Economaki) was making a big pitch for his tools. His business is making high end woodworking tools. He is recounting his personal experiences with Sam Maloof, a high end woodworker. Their relationship is based on their respective vocations and their shared visions of craftsmanship. I think the reference to BCTW is merely a personal reference anchor to the story.

At least that is my read on it.

[Rod Sheridan]

Wonderful article, a touching heartfelt eulogy.

Thanks for posting that...........Regards, Rod.

[David Peterson]

This is a little off the thread but I rather liked the article. It wasn't meant to be a biography of Sam Maloof. Rather it was about the personal experience of John Economaki and how his encounter with the great man influenced his life and work. The description of his last meeting with Maloof seems sincere. The fact that it involved showing off one of his BC tools was nothing more than showing him his fledgling carpentry skills many years earlier which he describes. Maloof was still the master to please.

I appreciate the quality of the Bridge City tools very much. We all pride ourselves on excellence in ways that are as varied as is our community of characters. Working with a wonderful tool, whether in aesthetics or function - or both - inspires me to do my own best work. Bridge City is beyond my price range for the most part so I have to look for inspiration in other ways. That still leaves me to understand and appreciate the creativity and craftsmanship of the tools.

All that being said...I know I have a pencil and some dowel around here
someplace.