At noon EST on Friday, Oct. 14, we will put the first batch of dividers up for sale on the Crucible Tool website: crucibletool.com. We are now in continuous production and Raney Nelson has the mill humming at a fast clip.
If the first batch sells out quickly, don’t fret. We plan on keeping production moving as quickly as possible to meet demand and will offer another batch the following week.
The dividers are $120, which includes domestic shipping. I’m afraid we don’t have the ability to ship internationally. We are working on first opening up sales to Canada in the coming weeks, then we’ll take a look at the rest of the world. Shipping these holdfasts overseas might not make sense.
This week I’ll post some video that shows how we make the dividers, from roughing out the stock to final assembly.
— Christopher Schwarz
This might be a stupid question but: if you can ship domestically (would that include Alaska and Hawaii?), what difference does it make shipping internationally?
You do not need to fill out customs forms for Alaska and Hawaii. The tracking is reliable. The shipping rates are reasonable. The shipper is more accountable and responsive with a domestic order. We actually can get returns returned (we still have many books that have been “lost” by international shippers from our early attempts). And more!
After nine years of working with this issue, I can say that shipping goods for sale internationally is not merely putting a label on the box and sending it out….
That reminds me I bough some used books with **** from the US and they have not yet made their way to the UK…
Shipping internationally (which is something that I do) is a real P.I.A….Customs paperwork, etc, plus you cannot use a “one size fits all” shipping charge. Costs that cannot be passed on to the customer are personal losses. At least 3 times more time to create the shipment.
Really easy to understand why Chris does not off it.
Lee (the saw guy)
That’s awesome.
SO i guess i must wait for Canada…! hopefully you will do more!
Chris… I have your 2 Anarchist’s books, but could you show how to use your dividers to lay out tenons without any measurements ?
Cheers
The ‘By Hand and Eye’ book has all sorts of information on using dividers, and is a good read. I’ve not read the ‘Hound and Eye’ book but it may be an easier starting point if geometry isn’t a strong subject for you.
Cool! Ok so that’s on the list . Thx mate
Sorry to notice, but in your third paragraph you start talking about the dividers, but then finish by talking about how shipping holdfasts overseas wouldn’t make sense. Owning a Crucible holdfast, I certainly understand the shipping issue, to say the least, they are beefy. I assume you meant the dividers would also be problematic to ship overseas, even though they’re a smaller and lighter item.
I do indeed mean shipping the holdfasts would be very difficult. Sorry if that’s a rough transition.
No problem. Thanks for the clarification.
I’ve had my eye on these since you announced them but I’ve never used a pair of friction type dividers. When used for laying out dovetails, are they easy to micro-adjust to get dovetail spacing just right, and if so, will they hold that setting whilst being handled and moved about the bench? I understand that the friction is adjustable so I imagine it is about finding that sweet spot of loose enough for fine adjustments, yet tight enough to hold the setting. I would love to see a short video of these in use.
very good question and comment.
I’m sure we will post video on how they work in the future. It’s best to keep them tight, though you can keep ours at any setting you like.
The learning curve is very short…..
“I understand that the friction is adjustable so I imagine it is about finding that sweet spot”
Depends how strong your fingers are. Not being snarky at all.
You are dead on about the sweet spot. It might take all of 7 seconds to find the right tension for yourself; I may be exaggerating a touch, but not by much. One evening worth of use in my design book was all it took for me to be comfortable with them.
International shipping example…. Sent a H.D. tee shirt to a friend in England. Laid in Post Office a month and returned to me. They never told him he had a package nor offered to deliver it. Last week his wife was here and took it home with her. With shipping etc. that was 4 months to get a tee shirt to England!, at a cost of $ 25.00.
How about somewhat larger batches for chosen retailers? Like for instance rubank verktygs, Dieter Schmied fine tools or the like. How large/small quantities would it take for it to make sense? They’re already in the EU, and don’t have to fuss with all of that stuff, and they also know their carriers. Of course some sort of pre-order or other could be necessary to uncover potential market. Maybe it is too much effort for too little return – just an idea.
Sirs, Go to you tube type in layout dovetails and there is a popular woodworking video that may be helpful. It is by Megan Fitzpatrick
Well, you have finally jumped ship. I don’t blame you. Out with the woodwork, in with the tools.
Ps. I have a great book idea. Ever heard that one before?
Finding a book on the business side of woodwork and crafts would be of great use to a lot of people like me. ya know, one thats not theory. A book thats based on accounts of people in the biz. Something in depth.
I haven’t jumped ship. I’m still a furniture maker, writer and editor. I gave up teaching for toolmaking.
My woodwork blogging has been slowed a bit by my woodwork writing for magazines. Apologies.
And we have a couple business books in the works. Can’t say too much about them yet.
I ship tools all over the world through eBay. The international buyers pay dearly. I sometimes wonder why they even buy from me. haha
They buy from you because local sources charge two or three times as much as it costs to buy from you including postage – then they want P&P on top of that. Then there are the so-called ‘distributors’ who keep no stock, charge your card immediately you order & then expect you to wait several months until they condescend to order from their ‘supplier’ – the US seems to be one of very few countries to protect the buyer from this particular rort. I’d better stop now before I get too nasty.
We are currently on Daylight Saving Time. So unless your part of the world does not observe DST, then I would suspect the dividers go on sale at noon EDT or noon eastern. I am ashamed of mysel for even typing this.