Two weeks ago, while visiting the
General Tools & Instruments booth at the International
Woodworking Fair (IWF), I had the pleasure of meeting Burt Weinstein.
Burt is an ongoing consultant with the company and a key product
developer for General's line of woodworking jigs.
He's also 84 years young.
"I was fairly retired some 20-odd
years ago, but it seems I've been flunking 'Retirement 101' ever
since," Burt admits.
You may not know Mr. Weinstein, but
you've probably seen his products in the pages of our magazine from
time to time. Prior to May 2006, he ran a company called Simp'l
Products that manufactured a line of inexpensive woodworking jigs
intended to solve common joinery challenges. You might recall his
Jointer Clamps, which attach to the edge of a waney or
irregular-edged board and to a straightedge in order to facilitate
safe, easy ripping. Or, maybe you've purchased one of his Laminatrol
fence accessories for your table saw. It closes the gap between the
fence and the saw table to keep thin plastic laminate from slipping
underneath. Burt designed a doweling jig and a pocket hole jig, too.
All of them were made of aluminum extrusions and other quality parts
but sold (at that time) for around $40 or less.
"I co-founded the company back in
1989 after spending time in my friend Dick Deaton's cabinet shop.
Although I'm not a woodworker, I watched how Dick worked and wanted
to design things to help him work better. The Jointer Clamp performed
so well for Dick that he wondered if the product could be taken
further, and so he and I partnered to start Simp'l Products."
Burt and Dick's philosophy was as
simple as their company name suggested: they intended to take the
mystery of out making solid woodworking joinery. Burt wanted to
accomplish that goal with a variety of jigs that could be accessible
to novices but still useful to the pros. And he set out to do it
without costing woodworkers an arm and a leg.
"We had some ups and downs, mostly
because our products were inexpensively priced. But, just because
something doesn't cost a lot doesn't mean it's poorly made. I've
always considered cost control to be an engineering requirement of my
products."
In this day and age, where quality
generally goes hand-in-hand with cost, Burt's approach is a business
objective worth getting behind.
Prior to the 1980s, product design was
familiar country for Weinstein. In fact, it's been his life's
ambition. Following his discharge from the armed forces in 1945, Burt
enrolled as an engineering student at the University of Vermont and
then at Johns Hopkins University. He was lured into starting his
engineering career early by the Sta-Dri Company, which manufactured
powered cementitious materials. Following WWII, the company was at a
loss for equipment and brought Burt on board to help them get back on
their feet.
"They hired me to build the
building, then design the machinery to put in it," Burt recalls.
Among other things, he developed an air
entraining system for Sta-Dri that could blow powered materials and
air through a much smaller pipe than was used at the time. That
product's success led to consulting work on air entraining systems in
the flour manufacturing industry. There have been a variety of other
jobs he's taken through the years creating industrial solutions of
one sort or another.
Burt's accomplishments (some patented,
others not) have been many and varied. An avid downhill skier, he
invented two or three types of retractable ski bindings that were
quite successful. In the boating field, Weinstein developed a Dolly
Dingy, which allowed a boat to be carried on its side from storage to
water. He also created a winch for sailboats. There have been product
developments for the medical industry, too, including an endotracheal
tube holder to keep patients from biting the tubing, plus a modified
disposable syringe.
"I've been awarded maybe a dozen
or so patents through the years...it's hard to recall clearly these
days."
Burt's first patent does come back into
sharp focus for him. In 1956, he invented a combination woodworking
machine with a tilting arbor that could be converted into a table
saw, drill press or lathe. At the time, ShopSmith was also making
them, but the table on their machines tilted rather than the arbor.
(His original patent drawing is included here.) He sold that patent
to the Tool Products Corporation.
Four years ago, while at the National
Hardware Show, Burt met with Joe Ennis, CEO at General Tools &
Instruments. Weinstein, then 80, was ready to sell Simp'l Products
and retire (again); Joe wanted to expand General's Product line into
woodworking accessories. Synchronicity was at work: General bought
the company, and Burt stayed on as a consultant. Dick retired and
continues to do woodworking as an avocation — an actual graduate of
"Retirement 101," I can only presume.
Burt says his relationship with General
Tools & Instruments has been a good one in the years since. In
fact, aside from former Simp'l Products offerings updated to
General's E•Z Pro line, the company has brought a low-cost and
unique dovetailing jig to market. It is Burt's design. He's now
working out the details of an all-in-one E•Z Pro Mortise & Tenon Jig. (You can learn more about that new product and see Burt
explain it in our IWF video blog coverage.)
The product design process hasn't
changed much for Burt through the years. He still creates all of his
mechanical drawings by hand on a drawing board, then passes them
along to engineering staff at General to convert them into CAD
renderings. "At this point in time, I have a CAD program, but I
don't think I'll get around to learning it," he quips.
At the conclusion of our interview,
Burt left me with several reflections on the current state of
woodworking product development.
"I'm not certain that the tool
company consolidations of late are a good thing. I've always felt
that more competition is better for the industry as a whole ... It
also seems that sometimes new products are directing woodworkers
instead of the other way around. Some products are just 'toes in the
water' to get something to market. They're only half developed.
Others are overly complicated; in my mind, more adjustments in order
to use something are actually small failures. I try to make jigs for
General Tools with minimal additional adjustments required so even a new woodworker can figure them out easily."
"I'm very happy with General's
approach — making products available to more woodworkers at
affordable prices. General is located here in New York City, where I
live, so I can have a continuing and active relationship with them."
So when does Burt anticipate easing
fully into retirement? It's hard to say. He says the ideas keep
"finding him," and he enjoys satisfying the need.
"Every time I complete a new
product or get another patent, I tell my wife it will be my swan
song. She says she's heard it all before."
He's quite proud of the new mortising
jig and feels it just might be his capstone invention. But then, in
his next breath, he hints about a new jig that hasn't even seen the
light of day yet. "Chris, I have a lot of problems with the way
biscuit joints are made ..."
But, that will be a conversation for
another day. And, considering Burt's ambitions and tendencies,
he's probably already got drawings on the board for a sturdy,
low-cost jig to install them better.
So it goes for a man with
product development running through his veins.