A Big Welbeck Welcome

For over 100 years Welbeck Sawmill has been a hub in the Durham community.  For the past 10 years they have been hosting their very own, in house "Wood Expo".   The Welbeck Wood Expo is known as an exclusive event that the sawmill puts on for it's customers and the greater wood working community.  Our local customers have told us how enjoyable it is, and they have no issues at all with driving 4 hours to attend.  After hearing the stories, we were honoured to have been invited for the first time this year.  Suffice it to say, Welbeck exceeded it's expectations.  We were welcomed with open arms and were able to catch up with customers we haven't seen in years, since the last Durham Wood Show in 2001.

One of the biggest surprises for us was how many new faces we met, and how many of them had never seen our Flatmaster or Little Ripper before.  The store itself is very nice & very well stocked with a wide selection of woodworking tools  - Canadian lumber being their specialty.  Great staff too!  The store is literally in the middle of nowhere, so if you decide to visit be prepared for some good old fashioned country road driving.

In true Paul form, when I asked him what the highlight of the show was, he told me "The sausages were amazing and the tarts were to die for!"  I think he also very much appreciated catching up with fellow vendors from shows gone by.  Was great to catch up with our long lost friends like  Kreg's "Bald Eagle" Mark Eaton, Ralph Swan the Minwax Man, and many others.

Interestingly enough, Durham is the home of the very first Canadian Wood Show which had it's debut 30 years ago. It was great to be back in this area which has such deep roots in the Woodworking Industry.  We are looking forward to attending again in 2014 - bring on the sausages & tarts!

Next stop - Waco, TX for SWAT.  August 23, 24, 25 2013.

Round Ripper - Cutting Bowl Blanks

Truth: The Round Ripper was born out of fear - a fear Paul had that someone was going to cut off their fingers in the middle of his booth!

While attending wood shows with The Little Ripper, turners would regularly stop by our booth to have their logs sliced in half.  Once cut in half they would inevitably want to knock the corners off using a bandsaw to prepare them for turning.  Paul & Ethan proceeded to watch turner after turner feed wood through their bandsaw, putting their hands in very dangerous situations.  After witnessing one too many turners almost
severely injure themselves, Paul had to stop allowing others to use his bandsaw.  He couldn't bear to watch the dangerous fashion in which they were knocking the corners off their turning stock.  In that moment Paul said to Ethan - "When we get home, we're going to come up with something safer for these guys!" Shortly thereafter the Round Ripper was born.

The Round Ripper was introduced at the AAW in St. Paul, MN, 2011.  The first reaction was a little unexpected.  Thursday, during set-up wood turners would stop by to check out this bright yellow new tool.  Once finding out it's purpose, they would say to Paul  "Turners don't need this. We turn our stock round".  Not being one who worries too much about what others think, Paul continued to set-up as wood turners cast off his latest idea.  On Friday morning something very interesting took place - The professional demo guys, the one's who would be giving seminars throughout the weekend, lined up to have their stock cut round by Paul and his new circle cutter.  Finally Paul asked one of them "Yesterday none of the turners were interested in this.  How come today you guys are lined up to have your bowl blanks cut?"  The demonstrator's response...."What idiot would turn a square piece round when he could just cut it?"  It didn't take long for others to follow suit.  Today the biggest application of The Round Ripper is (safely) cutting bowl blanks.

John Long, a loyal customer and avid user of our Round Ripper cut these blanks shortly after getting his Round Ripper .
 "Setting up the circle cutter took about an hour and I cut some very nice bowl blanks. They were near maximum size and thickness from lemon eucalyptus which is a very hard wood but turning nicely. I could hardly believe how easy it was. Turning the knob with one hand, I found that I had to be careful not to turn the knob too fast. Thanks again for all you help." -John Long

John was also in charge of cutting bowl blanks for all of the international demonstrators at this years AAW in Tampa.  Pictured here is Glenn Lucas, using one of John's blanks to turn a bowl.




Come check out the Round Ripper and our other innovative wood working tools at a local wood show! 

A Sawmill for EVERY Bandsaw

Have you ever wished you could own a sawmill?  If you're a bandsaw owner, now you can!   Any bandsaw, with the addition of our Little Ripper Sawmill package can be milling logs up to 8'.  The best part?  When working with a friend, cutting 8" diameter logs, 6' long it would only take 2-3 hours to pay for the unit!  This tool will practically be paying you to use it.

The original Little Ripper was introduced over 10 years ago and it was revolutionary for allowing the average woodworker to re-saw their own lumber but it was limited to cut a log 8" x 24".  Over the years we continually heard how great The Little Ripper was, but we were always getting questions like "Can it cut anything bigger?"   Those questions ate away at Paul, so off fishing he went. ( that's where he goes to solves the woodworking world's problems)  Through trial and error, Paul re-designed The Little Ripper and introduced the Sliding Track system.  The Sliding Track system is made up of a main 28" track and  clamping mechanism.  The Track and clamps attach together to create a "table" which slides back and forth on top of the existing bandsaw table.

The bottom of The Little Ripper is lined with 3 plastic guides which allow the Ripper to sit into the track.   The Ripper is then able to slide back and forth in the track, slicing the wood.  The biggest advantage of the Sliding Track System (besides being so easy to use) is that multiple tracks can easily be attached together for cutting larger pieces.   As long as you have enough track with enough support you can cut any length up to 8'.  The Little Ripper has always been a great tool, but  when we reconfigured it to be able to handle longer pieces, that's when it REALLY took off.  The current standard kit includes a Little Ripper & Sliding track, allowing you to cut logs 14" around by 30" long.  By adding a second Little Ripper & more track you can cut 14" around up to 8' long.

With the Little Ripper you literally have the opportunity to make a product from the log to the finished product - how amazing is that?

The Little Ripper can be purchased alone or in conjunction with it's sister product, The Round Ripper.

Woodturning Design magazine featured The Little Ripper & it's sister product, The Round Ripper in it's June 2013 issue.  For plans on this unit please click HERE.

This piece was sliced using a Little Ripper and then the middle was cut using a scroll saw.  Made by recent "Customer of the Week" Bobby Roy.

Getting ready SWAT Woodturners Convention in Texas

Since attending the AWA in St. Paul this year, I'm really looking forward to SWAT. This is going to be quite the adventure.  First driving to Tennessee to pick up the Wooline folks, and then the drive on to Texas.  SWAT is a huge woodturning event, put on by one of the AWA chapters.  I'm really looking forward to it because of the response we had at St. Paul to our new circle cutter called The Round Ripper.  Turners love this new device, because of its precision, and safety. The turners in Texas are going to want to see this unique demo.  SWAT is being held in Waco at the Waco Convention Center the weekend of Aug. 26 '11.  Just a side note, when we were in Vegas at the AWFS, 5 different magazines stopped by our booth to check out the ROUND RIPPER, and needless to say sales were brisk.  Ethan and I will be doing one of the educational areas at The Woodworking Shows this year, so stop by and see The Round Ripper there.  I think there are over 20 Shows on the tour this year.  Check out http://www.thewoodworkingshows.com/.  For any of our faithful Canadian woodshow followers, we will be attending The Woodstock Woodshow, The Ottawa Woodshow, and The Toronto Woodshow this Fall.