Author Topic: The Complete "Jointmaker Pro" Review..... A Paradigm Shift in Woodworking  (Read 172268 times)

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Offline SteveD

  • Posts: 75
I would like to say that I REALLY like the way this is being shown. There is nothing like putting the thing together from a kit of pieces to learn how it works and to be able to align/realign it later. You can also see the quality of each piece.
Looks like this probably doesn't need a UL label- just another wallet health warning!
SteveD

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Offline tallgrass

  • Posts: 1018
i am waiting ;D ;D ;D ;D i have not seen you for coffee in a while roger..... ???

Offline Michael Kellough

  • Posts: 6379
You're off to a nice start Roger  :)

Offline Frank Pellow

  • Posts: 2743
  • Toronto, Ontario and Lake Pivabiska, Ontario
...
Comments; although this process was not overly difficult, I think you should plan on four hours for assembly and calibration.  I asked about providing an "assembly service" and apparently the girth of the machine (packaged) combined with the weight makes for an expensive delivery.  The idea was not ruled out but it will obviously add to the cost and may be appreciated by some.[/size]
Having seen what you went through, I would strongly advise them to consider this option.  At over $1,000 this thing is quite pricey and many folks who willing and able to shell out that much on a tool that is so unorthodox will not want to undertake so much assembly.

I myself would probably enjoy assembling the tool but I have fond memories of my Heathkit stereo building days.
Cheers,   
               Frank (Festool connoisseur)

Offline Roger Savatteri

  • Posts: 507
    • www.savatteridesigns.com
...
Comments; although this process was not overly difficult, I think you should plan on four hours for assembly and calibration.  I asked about providing an "assembly service" and apparently the girth of the machine (packaged) combined with the weight makes for an expensive delivery.  The idea was not ruled out but it will obviously add to the cost and may be appreciated by some.[/size]
Having seen what you went through, I would strongly advise them to consider this option.  At over $1,000 this thing is quite pricey and many folks who willing and able to shell out that much on a tool that is so unorthodox will not want to undertake so much assembly.

I myself would probably enjoy assembling the tool but I have fond memories of my Heathkit stereo building days.


Frank,

For the person that doesn't have the mindset to sit down with the instruction sheet to prevent the flashing time display on the VCR, I could well see an alternative for setting up the Jointmaster Pro. The assembly process is also a couple of steps forward from putting together something from Ikea, but not out of reach. I'm sure if there was an on-line tutorial when you were building your Heathkit stereo it would have been a lot easier; and I look forward to viewing the detailed video file of the assembly process from Bridge City. This would probably help in the decision making process of someone unsure if they have the dexterity or patience of putting this together, beyond this review.

By the way, I know for a fact that John has made a lot of effort to keep the costs down. Latter on in my review, when I will discuss the Value Thoughts on Engineering and Craftsmanship I will give some space as to what I was told goes into fabricating such a tool. I will also go down memory lane and talk about the earlier prototype of the Jointmaker Pro that would have cost a quite a bit more had he pursued it.

......and thank you for your earlier encouragement..


Michael,

Thanx, and for the record as I have been putting together this review it has taken a life of it's own from what I had imagined I would have put together a couple of weeks ago. My hope is to have it complete by the end of next week.

Roger



« Last Edit: June 13, 2008, 01:13 PM by Roger Savatteri »
Los Angeles, California

Offline john stevens

  • Posts: 815
  • Ardmore, PA
and for the record as I have been putting together this review it has taken a life of it's own from what I had imagined I would have put together a couple of weeks ago. My hope is to have it complete by the end of next week.

Roger, I realize that the hours spent on this are hours you could be working on projects for paying clients.  John E is getting a good deal...I hope it will have been worth it for you, too.  Many thanks for your time and effort.

Regards,

John
What this world needs is a good retreat.
--Captain Beefheart

Offline jonny round boy

  • Posts: 3227
Roger,

Nice work so far, but I do have one complaint comment - why the huge text size? I'm finding it VERY hard to read....

I look forward to reading more (hopefully smaller!) soon.

JRB
Festoolian since February 2006

TS55R EBQ saw - CTL26 - CTL Mini - OF1400EBQ router - KS120 Kapex SCMS - ETS150/3 sander - RO90 sander - DF500 Domino - PDC18/4 drill - PSC420 jigsaw - OFK500 trimmer

Wish list (in no particular order!): Anything not listed above....

Offline Jim Kirkpatrick

  • Posts: 1232
    • My Instagram
I second John Stevens AND Jonny Round Boy's comments.  Great work but probably under appreciated work and a lot of scrolliing required due to the large text size.

Offline Frank Pellow

  • Posts: 2743
  • Toronto, Ontario and Lake Pivabiska, Ontario
That's better Roger -but you could make it even one size smaller and then your material would be the same size as most posts here (such as this one).
Cheers,   
               Frank (Festool connoisseur)

Offline Roger Savatteri

  • Posts: 507
    • www.savatteridesigns.com
Frank

I took your suggestion and took it down one more notch from
this to this one, and I also reduced some of the lateral negative white space. Any more than that and the aesthetics of the print to photo ratio will be too crunched up.

Roger
« Last Edit: June 17, 2008, 12:54 AM by Roger Savatteri »
Los Angeles, California

Offline TheTassieBFG

  • Posts: 86
Hi Roger I appreciate your in depth review and look forward to future instalments even if getting one of these isn't possible for me at least i can dream and drool.
Andrew

Offline Ron Dunn

  • Posts: 43
Appreciated, but too slow.

The valuable momentum which built up around the initial thread has evaporated.

Offline Roger Savatteri

  • Posts: 507
    • www.savatteridesigns.com
Appreciated, but too slow.
The valuable momentum which built up around the initial thread has evaporated.

Ron.....

Excuse me. Too slow? Your welcome to come over and work my job for me, then I could work on it full time and get it done lickysplit. Being 110% comprehensive with an indepth review, outlining on why I consider this to be a paradigm shift in woodworking takes a little time......... And nothing's evaporating, those who consider this a worthwhile tool will stick around.

Roger
« Last Edit: June 16, 2008, 09:24 PM by Roger Savatteri »
Los Angeles, California

Offline Justin F.

  • Posts: 311
  • Louisiana, USA
Appreciated, but too slow.
The valuable momentum which built up around the initial thread has evaporated.

Ron.....

Excuse me. Too slow? Your welcome to come over and work my job for me, then I could work on it full time and get it done lickysplit. Being 110% comprehensive with an indepth review, outlining on why I consider this to be a paradigm shift in woodworking takes a little time......... And nothings evaporating, those who consider this a worthwhile tool will stick around.

Roger


Yes we (I) will ----- and thank you for your time.  Interesting machine. Beautiful to look at as well.

Justin

" The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in the insidious encroachment by men of zeal, well meaning but without understanding. "

Offline john stevens

  • Posts: 815
  • Ardmore, PA
And nothing's evaporating, those who consider this a worthwhile tool will stick around.

Well put.  Impulse buyers may be disappointed with the speed, but complaining about it would be just the way to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs:  Roger's time on this thread is time he could be completing a project for a paying customer.

Regards,

John
What this world needs is a good retreat.
--Captain Beefheart

Offline Eiji Fuller

  • Retailer
  • *
  • Posts: 1087
Roger,

The very large font and pictures makes this article very hard, almost frustrating to try and read. I only have a 19" monitor and the text is cut off on the right side.

I appreciate the hard work you are doing but actually cannot fully appreciate it until I can read it.

Eiji Fuller

Offline Ron Dunn

  • Posts: 43
I wish I could think of a nicer way to say this ... but ... if you didn't have the time, perhaps you shouldn't have taken the job.

Alternatively, a progressive discussion rather than a "magazine feature" might have been a better way to deal with the subject.

I do like the writing and the pictures, and appreciate the effort to which you are going, but perhaps you're over-doing it.
« Last Edit: June 16, 2008, 10:01 PM by Ron Dunn »

Offline Roger Savatteri

  • Posts: 507
    • www.savatteridesigns.com
I wish I could think of a nicer way to say this ... but ... if you didn't have the time, perhaps you shouldn't have taken the job.
Alternatively, a progressive discussion rather than a "magazine feature" might have been a better way to deal with the subject.
I do like the writing and the pictures, and appreciate the effort to which you are going, but perhaps you're over-doing it.

Ron,

a. I didn't say I didn't have the time, I'm taking the time I have, to do it in the manner I am.

b. I'm doing it, in this format because this is the way I "choose" to do it, and in the end...... will do the subject justice.
    I "Choose" to get all the information out first in the "magazine style" in order to give the discussion more substance and visual clarity.

c. If you think I'm going into too much detail, you could "choose" not to read it, and I say that politely.

d. Now having said the above, I "choose" not to respond this any more and just focus on the writing at hand.

thank you,
Roger

......and in postscript, this is a forum and everybody is not going to be happy all the time. All I could do is follow my gut.
« Last Edit: June 17, 2008, 03:23 PM by Roger Savatteri »
Los Angeles, California

Offline Michael Kellough

  • Posts: 6379
Roger,

The very large font and pictures makes this article very hard, almost frustrating to try and read. I only have a 19" monitor and the text is cut off on the right side.

I appreciate the hard work you are doing but actually cannot fully appreciate it until I can read it.

Eiji Fuller

My screen is only 17" (1280 pixels) and I don't have a problem. I think all up to date browsers allow you to change the size of the text and it flows (wraps around) to fill the size of the window so it's only the width of the photos that require a wide screen and I wouldn't want smaller pictures.

Offline Michael Kellough

  • Posts: 6379
I want to see the most comprehensive review possible in this format.
I like what we've got so far.

Sure I'd like to have it all up now but we have to be patient.
I'm sure Roger wishes it was done too but I hope he continues
to develop the remaining chapters to the same level of depth.

Offline Roger Savatteri

  • Posts: 507
    • www.savatteridesigns.com
Michael,

thank you for responding, It's my turn to cook dinner tonight.
I wanted to respond to Eiji's post and I was thinking about the reply.
My Mac laptop is only 15", so I was a little confused.
I think you answered the question about why.

all the best,
Roger

p.s. thanx for the other thought, and I will ..........most definitely.
« Last Edit: June 16, 2008, 11:27 PM by Roger Savatteri »
Los Angeles, California

Offline Scott W.

  • Posts: 333
Roger,

Your doing an outstanding job!
This should be saved in pdf format for download / archive.

Thanks for all your work and your time on this.

Scott W.
PA, USA

Offline neilc

  • Posts: 3152
Roger -

Great job - I'm even more convinced the one I have on order is going to be a great addition.  I'd like the review sooner, but also realize the product is not even shipping yet.  From your writeup, I wonder if you got an updated shipment date from John? 

Appreciate your going to great detail in this review.  it's a new way of thinking about joint making, and not something that I believe is fully grasped and understood without the details.  I have watched the videos and read the write-up on Popular Woodworking blog, and played with the product in person before placing an order with John.  And I'm still learning from the time you are taking to document what you learned and reflect on what it means.

There is a lot to grasp.  It's a lot of money.  For many, they'll compare it to a backsaw.  You're doing great explaining why it is a lot more than that.

Thanks -

neil

Offline tallgrass

  • Posts: 1018
good job keep it up ;D

Offline Eli

  • Posts: 2503
  • A Yankee in Kangaroo Court
Roger
Excellent work so far. Two thumbs up. Thank you for having the sense of responsibility to do this right. It's worth waiting for, and I am happy waiting, it'll give me something decent to read finally. Please don't waste valuable time trying to explain yourself to everyone, just stick to your goal of completing this obviously comprehensive review. In other words, finish it, then read the comments here.  ;D
Do nothing, stay ahead.

Offline Matthew Schenker

  • Posts: 2619
Roger,
I encourage you to go at your own pace.  What you are putting together will be a terrific resource for a long time, so it's worth spending time creating it.
Let me know if you need any help.
Matthew
FOG Designer and Creator

Offline Jesse Cloud

  • Posts: 1746
  • Festooling at the end of a dirt road in New Mexico
Great review so far Roger!  Please take your time.

I used to have a coffee cup that said "God grant me patience - and I want it right now!!"  :D

We can wait.

Offline wooden

  • Posts: 319
Will you add comments on what you think are some of the reasonable limitations to the Jointmaker Pro?  Size of stock is one obvious aspect to consider.  Smallness doesn't seem to be too much of a problem but how about larger stuff?  Could you throw a 4x4x30 inch stick on their and cut a tenon off one end?

To me, a good review should go into the good things as well as the limits of a tool/jig.

Offline Roger Savatteri

  • Posts: 507
    • www.savatteridesigns.com


UPDATE


The Complete "Jointmaker Pro" Review is now up. ...........go to page one of this thread.


Also,  this just in.......

This review would NOT be complete without a list of the changes I just received from John Economaki at Bridge City Tools outlining the changes from the Jointmaker Pro prototype to the production model coming out within 90 days. (Included within the section on  "Value Thoughts on Engineering, Materials & Craftsmanship".)


regards,
Roger Savatteri




« Last Edit: July 10, 2008, 01:18 PM by Roger Savatteri »
Los Angeles, California

Offline Ben West

  • Posts: 23
  • Starkville, Mississippi
    • The Day Job -- To Pay For The Toys
Roger,

You're doing a great job, and I for one look forward to a comprehensive review, not a shallow analysis.  We can get that from their website already.

The only man who makes no mistakes is the man who never does anything.

                                                                        Teddy Roosevelt
« Last Edit: June 17, 2008, 11:19 PM by Ben West »