Bridge City tools

You know, I’ve heard of them, but I don’t remember where, Sorry.

-- Gary, East TX -- The longest journey begins with a single step.

I’ve looked at the website and seen them on E-Bay. I’m sure they are great tools but beyond my means.

-- Thos. Angle, Owyhee Design, Oregon

Hello Betsy, The Bridge City planes are absolutely beautiful and machined perfectly, and the price reflects this. They really are incredible instruments, unfortunately for me it is difficult to justify the price. I do think they are worth every penny, it’s just that is a whole lot of pennies. I have a 3 Lee Valley’s, a couple Stanleys and an old fluted Bailey, but most of my planes are just simple shop creations that work well regardless of how rough they look around the edges. But I still “windows” shop, and I always end up on the bridge city site.
If you decide to go with the BC planes you will have to give us a review. Keep in mind the Multi plane you are looking at is very small(almost luthier type small).

-- If knowledge is not shared, it is forgotten.

Hi Betsy,
I have seen and had the chance to use them once and as you can expect, they work very well. IMHO I found them a little too clunky and did not fit my hands well. Not to forget, the price (even for used) is not justified. I use Lie-Nielsen tools and most will consider them pricey, but you truly get what you pay for. A superbly crafted plane from the finest materials that is based closely to historicaly proven designs. (Oh, and made in the good ol’ USA) Not to forget, they look great on the wall when the shop is clean… (not very often).

Tom

-- Anybody can become a woodworker, but only a Craftsman can hide his mistakes.

Bridge City lay out tools are in my opinion the finest you could hope for, a joy to use and to look at I love each and everyone of mine.I bet those handplanes are just as good but until I win the lottery the lay out tools are all I can afford.I use the Lie Nielsen hand planes and back saw and they are wonderful but they are not cheap either.They just seem so next to Bridge City.
Bridge City was started by John Economaki a very fine woodworker who made wonderful all wooden parts clocks,incredible pieces and it is not a surprise that his tool company is so wonderful.

Cowboy

Oh my gosh – Before I cut up my credit cards, I purchased the multiplane and two soles – the corner bead profile and the rabbet. NEVER in my life have I seen such a beautiful tool. Yes, I shudder at the price, but once you have that thing in your hand and it starts singing through the wood – well, it just doesn’t get much better. Comparing Bridge City Tools to Lie-NielsenTools is like comparing apples and oranges (except for shoulder planes and other standards). The best way to describe the multi-plane that I can come up with is that it’s a moter-less router. It is designed strictly for profile work, and it excels in every way. I don’t think I would buy a shoulder plane, chisel or hammer made by Bridge City – for those I’d head right to Lie-Nielsen or Lee Valley. But as far as I know, there is no other company who is making something as interesting and versatile as the multi-plane. It is clearly very well thought out, and definitly NOT trying to be too many things. I’ll go back to the router comparison – really, buying the plane body is like buying a router motor, and buying the soles and irons is like buying router bits. The joy of it all is that it’s a gorgeous hand tool that responds entirely to the hand of the maker. The only thing I find lacking in the tool has nothing to do with the tool itself – Bridge City just doesn’t seem to have it together when it comes to documentation/user’s manuals. On a scale of 1 – 10 for the multiplane, without hesitation, I give it a boldface 10.

-- "No Board Left Behind"

I received a small square, a T square, and a depth gauge as a anniversary gift from work many years ago. The quality of these layout tools are impeccable. I only use these tools to check the accuracy of my other layout tools! <grin>

-- Jim