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Bridge city tools

Hobbyman2

While in search of quality marking gages, squares and layout tools I ran across this brand , I had heard of them years ago but just never seen them around , I understand they were bought out and under new management , while watching a video on youtube about hand planes their plane was being previewed , went searching for a price and turns out some of the tools are what looks to be compatible with wood pecker , I doubt I wil be buying one of their planes they were previewing , at over 1000 dollars it may be a little out of the budget , went to their website and I was rather impressed with the price functionality and as well as the appearance of their layout tools , when comparing them to the big names they appear to have functions that some do not offer . https://bridgecitytools.com/collections/layout-tools-2

Hobbyman2

for clarification I am not involved in any way associated with the Bridge city, and do not receive any promotional funds for or from them .

RFGuy

I always saw Bridge City Toolworks as an aspirational brand, like Blue Spruce, Woodpeckers, etc., etc. In other words, they try to make beautiful tools that are also functional and serve a certain niche. So, it seems kind of ironic now that they are now Chinese owned (Harvey Industries). Other than their high price, what is supposed to differentiate them from all the other Chinese made tools on https://usa.banggood.com/?

https://www.woodworkingnetwork.com/news/woodworking-industry-news/bridge-city-tool-works-sold-chinese-manufacturer#:~:text=Jack%20Xu%2C%20CEO%20of%20Harvey,of%20heirloom%2Dquality%20hand%20tools.

Hobbyman2

+1 They may not be for every one . multiple dovetail gages in some of the layout tools would be a advantage for some .

RFGuy

Checking the link you posted, they seem to have lots of tools on sale right now, but the prices don't look as good as what they had back in December. I am on their mail-list and they had different tool deals probably every day leading up to Christmas. The one and only tool that I own from them is the MMS-1 Mini Miter Square which I got for like $9, but now it is $15 on sale?!? Guess they were desperate for revenue to close out their financial year in December. It is an okay square, but maybe not as nice as my Woodpeckers or Blue Spruce ones.

I actually really like their Jointmaker Pro v2 from them, but couldn't see spending $1k for a handsaw based tablesaw...

Hobbyman2

Thanks That is good to know I was tempted to send off for one of the tri squares .

RFGuy

Apparently Stumpy Nubs is a fan of Harvey (Bridge City Toolworks) handplanes as he just showed off his PVD gold one:

Sale ends today for them for anyone who is interested:

https://bridgecitytools.com/collections/hope-in-2021

Ed in Tampa

Thanks for the notification. I want to order the gold one before it goes off sale! If you want planning perfection you must use gold tools. It insures cuts to .00003” tolerances plus it reduces effort by nearly 50% and the extra weight reduces skipping. Plus it gives you real reason to sob when you knock a $300 plane off you work bench.

P.S. I am having my Shopsmith and all SPT gold plated! 🤪

Signed

The Gold Goof!🤓

RFGuy

:)

Yeah, I think we have gone too far if we are gold plating woodworking tools. I couldn't confirm it from their website, but apparently it is PVD (physical vapor deposition) applied gold, so a very thin layer of gold. Well, if you see humor in the excess of a gold handplane, you might find this video fun to watch. Jason Hibbs (Bourbon Moth Woodworking) is my new favorite YouTube woodworker. His video about making a pallet out of an epoxy river table is one of the funniest woodworking related content videos that I have seen. Clearly a parody of the pallet wood furniture and epoxy river table trends mashup. Enjoy!

dusty

:( I actually watched it all the way to the end. :(

Ed in Tampa

Loved the pallet video.

Signed the Gold Goof

Hobbyman2

Neat looking pallet !!

BuckeyeDennis

My wife likes pallet-wood stuff. But personally, I thought the video was hilarious! Who knew that a professional redneck woodworker could do a pitch-perfect sendup of “hipsters”?

RFGuy

For anyone that is a fan of Bridge City Toolworks, they have the Jointmaker Pro v2 on sale for $675 for a limited time now. I think that is half off the regular price. Still expensive, but more attainable now if anyone is interested.

https://bridgecitytools.com/products/jmpv2-jointmaker-pro

nuhobby

Ahhh... the non-electric Shopsmith! These are awfully cool, especially for those who would have the right span of project dimensions to find one useful.

RFGuy

nuhobby wrote Ahhh... the non-electric Shopsmith! These are awfully cool, especially for those who would have the right span of project dimensions to find one useful.

Yeah, I have always been fascinated by the capabilities of this tool from Bridge City Toolworks...it allows you to make some very thin kerf lines to create curved pieces or kinetic sculptures with ease. Just wish they hadn't sold out to Harvey (Chinese company). Used to be a Portland, OR based company.

RFGuy

Came across an interesting YouTube video this morning. There's a channel for a Japanese guy that does a lot of build it yourself tools that are often quite interesting. He just posted his attempt to replicate the Bridge City Toolworks Jointmaker Pro. I always found this manual saw interesting for some applications, but could never see spending $750 for one. Also not a fan of Bridge City Toolworks ever since they sold out to a Chinese company. Might have to buy the plans for this one and put on my list of upcoming projects.

nuhobby

Thanks! I'll have to read up on that. I did some kerfing for my guitar project this year... a better jig would have helped. :)

RFGuy

nuhobby wrote Thanks! I'll have to read up on that. I did some kerfing for my guitar project this year... a better jig would have helped. :)

Thanks. Yeah, I still like my power tools, but there are some operations where I can see the Jointmaker Pro exceling at. If it was maybe $200 I'd consider it, but at over $1k typically, but often $750 on sale it is just too dang expensive. Besides it could be a fun project for me to build, even if it doesn't work out...

Tyer

I came across this thread while researching a tool I just bought on eBay: a Shopsmith-branded try-square, made by Bridge City Tool Works! It's a small try-square, in the classic Bridge City brass-and-hardwood style, and with the Shopsmith name and logo engraved into the blade. It came in the original box, and included the instruction manual with bot the Shopsmith and Bridge City names, and the hand-written final inspection results. I've never seen anything like this, and I've been aggressively collecting Shopsmith parts for quite a while now. Who knew?

Shopsmith-Bridge City Square Large.jpg