Texas Based Straight Edges and South Bend Tools Maker

Richard King · Nov 5, 2018

If your considering buying a Russian Straight Edge think Made in USA.

All know I make Straight-edges, Dennis Foster does too and we need to support Gary Cude too who makes them too. Gary bought the patterns from I forget his name but in Ohio I think, a few years back. I consider Gary as a good friend so if your thinking about a 18" or 36" Straight-edge give him a look too.
Products - Tools 4 Machines

Glenn Brooks · Nov 5, 2018

Thanks Richard,

I just ordered an 18” featherweight from Denis Foster,based in part on your recommendation in this thread. Still looking for a larger one, but only after I gain a higher level of experience.

BTW, I turned to eBay and inquired about the Russian castings as I couldn’t find any contact info for US suppliers relating to castings. Couple of old threads mentioned several names, but no current contact info popped up when I look looking. So I figured maybe they were no longer supplying the industry,

Might be worthwhile to ask the moderator to update or post new sticky relating to current casting availability- more importantly, the contact info.

Thanks again,
Glenn

Richard King · Nov 5, 2018

I just got an order tonight for 4 Straight edges too... I have longer ones Glen. I have a HK-72" and a HKA-72 in stock plus HKA-48 and HK-48 I have mine on Ebay under Kingscraping that's my ebay name.

Shipped the HKA-36 today from the order I got yesterday :-) Hopefully he will do a thread like Ballen or You Tube like Keith Rucker. :-)

gcude · Nov 5, 2018

Richard King said:
If your considering buying a Russian Straight Edge think Made in USA.

All know I make Straight-edges, Dennis Foster does too and we need to support Gary Cude too who makes them too. Gary bought the patterns from I forget his name but in Ohio I think, a few years back. I consider Gary as a good friend so if your thinking about a 18" or 36" Straight-edge give him a look too.
Products - Tools 4 Machines

Thanks for the mention, Rich. Still looking forward to getting my planer running. Rumor has it that all the cool kids are running planers these days.

Cheers :cheers:

, Gary

thermite · Nov 6, 2018

Glenn Brooks said:
BTW, I turned to eBay and inquired about the Russian castings as I couldn’t find any contact info for US suppliers relating to castings. Couple of old threads mentioned several names, but no current contact info popped up when I look looking. So I figured maybe they were no longer supplying the industry,

Russian Federation "doings" have long been on my beat. Ukraine as well.

What you had been seeing in the market was generally salvage, "NOS" maybe, but very seldom new-new pour. They've "hollowed out" most of their own industry, and long-since in favour of living-off petro and mineral rents. And then came sanctions, still growing about every calendar quarter, if not month.

Russian craftsmen are pretty flexible folks. They had to be. But all those I have employed were expats - US or UK, mostly.
A "brain drain" on the well-educated is the visible one long, long in the news. But good craft folks found work elsewhere, too. The were never ALL Vodka-drunks, nor short of ability. Some damned good guys among them.

You seek a Russian casting, odds are it will NOW be made by an expat Russian operating out of the EU, Canada, LATAM, India, China, or even the US. Or not at all.

M.B. Naegle · Nov 6, 2018

Busch and Challenge still make finished, ready-to-use straight edges, but they're specs show them to be a bit on the heavy side, and you are paying full price for them to do what us "students" get to do scraping our own SE's.

Haven't had a chance to play with a Foster SE yet, but the Kings are an excellent balance of weight and rigidity.

lucky7 · Nov 6, 2018

As of a few months ago, Busche only makes straight edges to individual custom order. The new owner said he only has the patterns of the old company, no stock, and no plans to carry any inventory.

L7

thermite · Nov 6, 2018

lucky7 said:
As of a few months ago, Busche only makes straight edges to individual custom order. The new owner said he only has the patterns of the old company, no stock, and no plans to carry any inventory.

L7

These days, hardly anything is built for inventory, least of all an instrument that can easily last more than a human lifetime - or more than one - and be sold-on to many owners during its own useful life.

So that is not unusual.

I did just go and scan it - "so far" the published catalog off the website still lists an amazingly broad span of SE's, parallel beam and camelback, as well as even more angle plates and such.

Rich? Unless you have another website besides handscraping.com, or my Bionic eyes have run out their warranty, there is nothing listed for sale but a blurb for Rulon. No Biax, no blades, no SE's.

Even though we know through PM you DO have those items and more for sale, a website should be at work too - rather than reading a thread, moving on to other matters, then not remembering where it was to go back into.

If I've missed the "other one", perhaps it needs a link off the one we can find?

ballen · Nov 6, 2018

Richard, at some point I was also looking for "items for sale" on handscraping.com and pretty much came up empty-handed. So it might be good to add a visible link to those things.

CBlair · Nov 6, 2018

Richard if you have some address or contact number for yourself and the other guys I would be happy to list them here.

Charles

thermite · Nov 6, 2018

CBlair said:
Richard if you have some address or contact number for yourself and the other guys I would be happy to list them here.

Charles

To be fair, ISTR Rich had "started" to plan his retirement before it came about that Alex might carry-on the entity. May have been winding-down inventories of heavy objects?

Perhaps Alex is already working up a revised website as we natter-on?

His younger generation are fair hands at stuff like that.

Richard King · Nov 6, 2018

CBlair said:
Richard if you have some address or contact number for yourself and the other guys I would be happy to list them here.

Charles

Charles longtime no see :-) Glad your back :-) I was just out to my rack next to the barn. I have about 20 Straight-edges out there. I had plans to retire and let my son take over selling things. But he is deer hunting, or at his cabin, or making his Giant Jenga he makes, doing this and that....etc. I just sold 4 castings, I have a bunch of used ones I need to get on a list.

My kid has been working on a new website for a couple of years, lol. Maybe this winter I will do something. I do have a list I email to folks. You can email me at [email protected] My accountant told me if I am busy stay working. Ever since I started working with the You Tube'ers I have been swamped. Plus now that BIAX Germany is having me go over there to teach too....leaving on Friday for 2 classes in Austria.

I love to teach and as long as folks keep asking me to teach I will go. I sell a few of the SE's on Ebay. I know I need a better website and to put more on Ebay….yawnnnnnnnn….

lucky7 · Nov 6, 2018

A small comment about inventory prompted by Thermite's comment. Busch (the new company) wanted full upfront funds for a casting that they were quoting six month delivery on. Richard, Denis, and others have SE castings available for immediate sale. Guess who gets my business?

Lucky7

Richard King · Nov 6, 2018

It generally takes about 30 days for me to get mine cast and stress relieved. I try to keep 4 to 5 of all mine in stock. When I get 2 to 3, I re-order. There is another guy out in Portland too that makes them and Keith Rucker has some 4, 6, 12" er's cast too more for his You Tube followers. Warren the host in VT gave me a cute scraped 4" bronze camel back last class. I used it in the John Saunders OH class. 2 weeks ago I mailed a HKA-24 to Romania and one of the Austrian Students wants me to bring a few. I think I'll take along a HKA-12S and a HKA-18 and if I can squeeze it in a small tool box a HKA-24. I just came in from packing the earlier order....fingers are frozen. Damm winter is coming.

thermite · Nov 6, 2018

Richard King said:
I sell a few of the SE's on Ebay. I know I need a better website and to put more on Ebay….yawnnnnnnnn….

ISTR you had mentioned that on PM a time or two, and that I had even ordered through it.

So long as YOU can deal with eBay (as it has become) as a vendor, I don't have a problem with it as a buyer.

To the good, it is already a "storefront" with payment system, etc., and fits a less than perfectly predictable stock of "whatever is on-hand" rather well.

Perhaps all your website needs in the short term is a mention and a link to your eBay "store"?

20CW.. inflation. etc.

Richard King · Nov 6, 2018

If anyone wants to meet me or Warren in Person sign up for the May 2019 class he is having in Springfield VT at the Gear Works that was a shop of the Fellows Gear Company years ago. Warren has a thread on this forum. Check down the list. Also have one planned for February in Texas.

RC99 · Nov 7, 2018

Richard King said:
Gary bought the patterns from I forget his name but in Ohio I think, a few years back.

Looks like the Craig Donges design. He made a 36" one as well. We imported around ten or so into Australia here back around 2010 or 2011.

calvin b · Nov 7, 2018

RC99 and Mr. King, Sirs,
Those are indeed Mr. Donges patterns. I know as I machined a couple for him and he made me some other castings. Mr Cude should also have patterns for a small (7 inch or so ) shaper vise. I also machined a couple of those. I still have some of the shaper vise castings here along with a couple of finished vises.. The face plates and dog drivers don't have enough iron to make them useful for the southbend 2.25-8tpi spindle, sigh. I think that would make them really useful. (hint hint Gary )
Stay safe
Calvin B

Glenn Brooks · Nov 9, 2018

Received one of Denis Foster’s “Featherweight” 18” straightedges yesterday. The quality of the casting is supberb. Almost no imperfections visible from the sand in the mold. The flat ridge along the top is designed to be scrapped in as a parallel surface. Fascinating idea. The backside is hollowed out to save weight I suppose, and fitted with two gussets that allow for drilling and taping screw holes to mount a handle. Although my initial impression is that the hollowed out back and top parrellel ridge make a perfect natural handhold.

Should have taken photos of the packing material - cardboard mounting fixture was a work of art in itself!

All in all a high quality and well thought out design - reminiscent of old school, steam era castings one finds in museums. Thanks Denis!

Glenn

dgfoster · Nov 9, 2018

Thanks to Lucky 7, Richard, and Glenn for their positive comments. I am just now in the process of building some inventory and have not yet officially offered SE's for sale as I do not want there to be delays from time of order to shipment. As I have mentioned previously going from proof of concept to small-scale production has had not unexpected challenges ranging from simple metallurgical questions to political questions all of which required some attention. I think those are all ironed out and, as time allows, I am pouring two or three times per week. EXCEPT, the next ten days when my wife and I are going to go from the now dark and rainy PNW to sunny Scottsdale for R+R and natural vitamin D replacement. ;-) Will be back at it on return though. Come to think of it, that melting furnace puts out a fair bit of UV (you have to have a welding shield on when it is open) so maybe it is a pretty good source of vitamin D as well. Hmmm, have to think about that.

Denis

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