Don't buy the Bridge City kit without sending the pencils out to this guy. He used to offer a service where he would sharpen pencils for $20 each.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spMaP-_Cq_8
http://www.artisanalpencilsharpening.com/
Contributor
Don't buy the Bridge City kit without sending the pencils out to this guy. He used to offer a service where he would sharpen pencils for $20 each.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spMaP-_Cq_8
http://www.artisanalpencilsharpening.com/
Member
Wonder what all those people who makes pens would think?
Member
Although some of his stuff is top notch, this would be a major pass for me. I think I will stick with the 10 pack from the dollar store.
Contributor
Good stuff,Tom! And it's quite possible the same magazine had an ad with a doctor advising on which cigarettes were good for your health!
Member
In order from rational to irrational my life looks something like this:
Daily life - Buying a house, buying a car, paying bills, shopping for clothes, etc. These are the things that I diligently pay for with all rationality. Practical house, practical car, practical clothes, efficient utilities, groceries, etc.
My hobbies - Archery, astronomy, woodworking, cello, shooting sports, photography. These are the things that I slowly justify spending more than I really need to in order to pursue the hobby. Why get a Rikon when I can get a Hammer or Felder?
My addictions - Pens, pencils, watches. “Give me two of those!”
Just looking at this I want it redicuously badly, and my rational mind is valiantly trying to talk me out of it.
That’s who this thing is for.
Member
Every time John trots out a new, expensive niche product like this, someone starts a thread like this one about how silly it is. There'll surely be similar threads on other woodworking forums, too. John's been doing this for a long time now so he must know something about his business. If things like his chop stick and pencil makers didn't sell, he wouldn't be making them. The same sort of thing happens with Woodpeckers and their One Time Tool offers. Enough people buy them to make it worth manufacturing them and then investing in development of new one time tools. Threads like these are great for them. Free advertising. It might be that no one from Sawmill Creek will buy a pencil maker from John but maybe they'll poke around the website and find something else to buy. Even if he never sells a single pencil maker, he's already gotten more in free advertising than he has in making the first one and taking a few pictures of it. Clearly he didn't just fall off the turnip truck.
Contributor
What interests me is whether anyone buys his "tools" to use as tools? I'm guessing the answer is yes for the Kerfmaker. Much of the rest, though, I have my doubts. Any takers? Anyone out there using a Bridge City Toolworks plane on a regular basis at their bench?Originally Posted by Dave Richards
Contributor
I don't have any of John's crazy expensive tools but I do have several of his signature squares, nearly all purchased from John when he was in a small leased space in Portland. I think when I bought the first one he only made one tool, that square. I used to travel to Portland every other week and the Bridge City factory, (a small space in an old factory in east Portland). Back then there were few choices of nice squares and I rules for Woodworking and I liked meeting the maker. Also I think all the tools I have have rosewood handles. John always encouraged use of the tools and at least back then you could have them reconditioned for like $5. Doubt that's the case today but it was a good reason to just use them. I still smile all the time when I use them.
Interesting, I just logged onto their site, after a many year absence. Wow, all the tools I own are discontinued and most now there seem pretty silly.
Last edited by Joe Jensen; 02-12-2018 at 10:41 AM.
Member
I use the HP-8 mini block plane which came w/ my Chopstick Master set quite regularly (replacing a current production Stanley 101). I'll grant that mostly I use it for small tasks where the depth skids won't get in the way, but I have removed those a couple of times when the project warranted it.
Member
I have one of his measuring tools given to me as a gift that I use it now and then. Most of his products are collectibles in my opinion and his followers -- like the followers of Woodpeckers or Festool -- have money to feed their interests.
His chopstick and pencil jigs' target audiences are not ordinary woodworkers but general consumers who have the money to spend on novelty items. I suppose most of his chopstick jigs are sold to buyers in China where the product was launched. They are toys rather than woodworking tools to the interested buyers. The pencil making jig should not be much different.
No one needs to justify how he spends his money as long as it is his own money. I think it is silly to spend several hundred dollars on a square for woodworking purposes, just as someone will think I, as a hobbyist, am dumb to have spent well over $4,000 on a tablesaw.
Simon
Contributor
I agree - whether it's a he or she - and I wasn't trying to suggest otherwise. I was merely asking whether woodworkers see Bridge City offerings as tools, or whether they are primarily objets d'art intended to live behind the glass in the drawing room, rather on the bench in the woodshop.
Last edited by Steve Demuth; 02-12-2018 at 1:32 PM.
Member
John has found a great partner in China, who is now making some of his tools for the non-US markets. He has proved what most of us already know that China is capable of producing craps as well as first class tools, depending on whether the importers are willing to set a high standard and pay for the manufacturing costs. He is a creative fellow and perhaps the new foreign revenue stream (the Chinese consumers have lots of money to spend judging from how willing they are to spend on new iphones) would allow him to put more resources into designing and producing new, real and even more affordable woodworking tools. It would be a win win for everyone.
Simon
Contributor
After reading several reviews I've sorta' wanted the Chopstick Master for a while. This thread got me to go look and watch some of the demo videos and it's really not that expensive for the tools & jigs it includes. It's just really expensive for something you'd use a couple times and put away. I think what I really want is someone I know to buy it, so I can borrow it a couple times. Best of both worlds!
Member
I think a couple of guys have posted their different versions of shop-made jigs to make chopsticks, using a bench plane or wooden plane(?). Not sure if their videos came out before or after John's jig was launched.After reading several reviews I've sorta' wanted the Chopstick Master for a while. This thread got me to go look and watch some of the demo videos and it's really not that expensive for the tools & jigs it includes. It's just really expensive for something you'd use a couple times and put away. I think what I really want is someone I know to buy it, so I can borrow it a couple times. Best of both worlds!
Contributor
Several show up in the suggestions if you follow John's link to his demo on Youtube. None of them are as precise & well made. If you just want to make chopsticks, they're well worth a watch. If you want a party activity where anyone, with very little supervision, could make their own chopsticks, the Chopstick Master is the only real option I've seen. If you think of it as $200 for something you'll use 2, maybe 3, times, it's too much. If you look at it as a tool... e.g. at LV a plane costs from $50 to $350. Then you add a track, a very clever depth stop, several jigs to cut different precise angles, a sharpening guide ($125 at Lie-Nielsen), and a $30 supply kit (yeah, you could make your own blanks, but....) ... maybe it's not so bad. But I haven't convinced myself to pay for it.
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote