Thread: All change at Bridge City Toolworks.....

Well there you go,

Cheers Matt


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I'm sure it'll continue in some shape or form, but the range of tools will no doubt contract and become a bit more commercial.

I always wondered how they survived with their business model, but reading his blog it sounds as though Bridge City was almost constantly living on the edge financially.

Originally Posted by Mr Brush

reading his blog it sounds as though Bridge City was almost constantly living on the edge financially.

...at least he would like us to think that....so we don't moan about prices....

what caught my eye was this bit in John's prose

we received a call from an interior designer in the Midwest who was designing a new woodshop in a converted barn for one of her best clients.
This designer had given her customer “Quality is Contagious” for a Christmas gift, and his infatuation with our work here was… intense. She had marching orders to acquire “one of everything” in our history and was asking for our help.


Apart from the US Midwest where does one find an interior designer competent in designing home workshops?

I think it might end up being one of those US "home workshops" we see lots of on YouTube; beautifully presented, equipped with the best and very latest shiny things.......yet strangely devoid of any actual woodwork. Not a shaving to be seen. Just another area for the home help to dust and polish once a week?

"one of everything" from BCTW is a big (and expensive) ask. Reminds me of a guy I know here who has a complete (and I mean COMPLETE) matching set of Terry Gordon's planes, specially commissioned in an exotic timber, and yet doesn't do any woodwork at all.

I was thinking about the knowledge base required to be competent at designing a woodworking shop.

How many of us adopt the suck it and see approach to design?

That was my point. It doesn't need to function as a woodworking shop, it just needs to look like one. Interior designers tend to be good at appearance over function IMHO (at least in Australia).

I'm seeing a row of beautiful glass-fronted cabinets, with subtle lighting, displaying the entire range of BCTW items. Surely one of the homewares outlets in the US sells woodshavings for that "used workshop" look?

Originally Posted by Mr Brush

I think it might end up being one of those US "home workshops" we see lots of on YouTube; beautifully presented, equipped with the best and very latest shiny things.......yet strangely devoid of any actual woodwork. Not a shaving to be seen. Just another area for the home help to dust and polish once a week?

Originally Posted by Mr Brush

That was my point. It doesn't need to function as a woodworking shop, it just needs to look like one. Interior designers tend to be good at appearance over function IMHO (at least in Australia).

Obviously I get out and about too much -- I don't spend near enough time on you tube

Originally Posted by Mr Brush

but reading his blog it sounds as though Bridge City was almost constantly living on the edge financially.

That's what happens when you price yourself above even the above-average DIYer's budget

Originally Posted by Mr Brush

Interior designers tend to be good at appearance over function IMHO

And then they take their non-functional designs to people like us to hear "No, you can't make that because there's nothing actually holding it together"

Originally Posted by Mr Brush

I'm sure it'll continue in some shape or form, but the range of tools will no doubt contract and become a bit more commercial.

I always wondered how they survived with their business model, but reading his blog it sounds as though Bridge City was almost constantly living on the edge financially.

In the blog it states that many of the past best sellers will now be kept in stock.
John seems to indicate that some of the previous products might actually be more available and cheaper.

Originally Posted by hiroller

and cheaper.

You get that with Chinese production....

Originally Posted by ian

How many of us adopt the suck it and see approach to design?

I just suck, AND everyone sees it.

My workshop is a.... Mess



Edit: I love my KerfMaker, it is excellent.

I only have a couple of Bridge City tools and although they are well made, I do not really feel they are worth the money. I bought a little HP-5 mini block plane because,I had to have it after admiring them for years. It does function, but is the most uncomfortable hand plane to hold that I own and is just too small. It is a novelty nothing more. The other tool is a small JH-1H hammer with a stainless steel head. it was a $10 garage sale purchase and had a loose head and a marked face. the hammer face was not hardened and was very soft may be intended for driving in wooden pins not any metal. The handle is attached to a head with a blind hole so not an easy to fix. I had to use minimax wood restorer (basically liquid perspex) in a plastic bag so I could apply a vacuum and suck it into the cavity. It did work but I believe it is not a real hammer it is a toy.

Perhaps the bigger tools that are well outside my price range may be better but they just seem to be too fancy for what they are intended to do. I think it is a bit of the grass is greener. You want to spend money on a special tool think Lie Nielsen or lee Valley they are expensive but still worth the money. I do not think the changes at Bridge City Tools will make one bit of difference to 99% of woodworkers because they like me just do not care.

When it comes to chop sticks I buy them from a local Asian supermarket, They make great tapered Japanese style nails and are cheap as chips. I do not feel the need to craft each chop stick. if I need a dark wood I look on eBay.

All the best

Originally Posted by Mr Brush

Surely one of the homewares outlets in the US sells woodshavings for that "used workshop" look?

My workshop doesn’t get used nearly enough but even so there’s usually some shavings in the corner, which they’re welcome to come collect, as long as they promise not to sweep up the cat sleeping there.


I’ve come across people who like the idea of being a woodworker, and who have enough money, so they go out and buy whatever the salesman tells them they’ll need. They might give it a try, and realise that you need some skill too and not just the tools, and their interests move on to another hobby. I’ve also met a few people who move from one hobby to the next, acquiring a certain amount of skill in each before becoming bored and moving on (they seem stimulated by learning a skill, and not buy using and honing it). I’ve never met someone who just wanted to look like a woodworker though, with a designer workshop that doesn’t function. Maybe I’m just moving in the wrong circles