Chris Bagby

Chris Bagby, Owner & CEO A 1973 graduate of Georgia Tech, Chris co-founded Highland Woodworking in 1978 with Sharon Bagby. He originally provided custom millwork services before focusing mainly on marketing. His other interests include photography, tennis, snowboarding and thru-hiking backcountry trails, including the Appalachian Trail, Pacific Crest Trail and Continental Divide Trail. He's also a registered yoga teacher, and his oldest yoga student is 93 years old!

New Rikon 10″ Bandsaw is a precision cutting machine, only $199.99

Dec 062009
 

We just got in a large supply of Rikon’s brand new upgraded 10″ bandsaw.
We wondered if it could handle some heavy duty cutting like resawing, so we installed one of our 1/2″ Wood Slicers on the new demo Rikon 10″ bandsaw that we set up in our showroom the day after our shipment was delivered.

Rikon 10       Rikon 10

After squaring up a piece of 4×4 poplar, we were able to resaw full-length slices from it that were uniformly 1/64″ thick along the entire length! Can your bandsaw do that? That convinced us this little machine can perform precision work despite its low price tag.
While it’s obvious the Rikon 10″ benchtop bandsaw will make an excellent starter saw for someone just getting into woodworking on a limited budget, it can also be a valuable time-saver even to woodworkers who already own a larger bandsaw but don’t want the inconvenience of having to constantly change different width blades back and forth for different operations. For instance, put a 1/8″ blade on this little beast and you’ll always have an excellent, powerful scroll cutting machine that’s ready to go. Ditto if you wanted a dedicated small resawing and ripping machine on material up to 4-5/8″ thick.
191042rh.jpgThe Rikon 10″ bandsaw’s cutting capacity is 9-5/8″ wide by 4-5/8″ high. Its table is solidly built out of cast iron. Motor is an ample 1/3 HP, 110 volts. Blade speed is 2780 feet/minute. A nice rip fence with integral inch scale is included. The entire unit weighs 66 lbs. The Rikon 10″ band saw uses 70-1/2″ long blades that can range in width from 1/8″ – 1/2″. (One 1/4″ wide blade comes with the saw.) The Rikon 10″ bandsaw includes a two-year factory limited warranty.
We’re pleased to offer this exceptional Rikon benchtop band saw at a very affordable price.

Festool Drill Now $400, THE LAST DRILL You’ll Ever Need to Buy

Oct 072009
 

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Festool has repackaged their new 12+3 and 15+3 lithium-ion powered cordless drills making them a bit easier to afford. Previously each model came with 4 different drill chucks. Now each drill comes with 2 standard Fastfix chucks: the 1/2″ drill chuck and the Festool Centrotec chuck. The right-angle chuck and the eccentric chuck are available as optional accessories.
Both Festool drill models still include two high-efficiency lithium-ion batteries, smart charger, advanced electronic clutch, 3-year warranty and stackable Festool Systainer. The Festool T12+3 sells for $400. The Festool T15+3 sells for $450.
• The Festool drill’s extreme light weight (thanks to the lithium battery) means less operator fatigue.
• The exclusive Fastfix chucking system allows each drill to perform the function of several different drills.
• The Festool drill’s second generation brushless motor is electronically protected against burnout and maintains constant power regardless of load or speed.
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• Tests have shown the Festool T+3 drills outperform the competitions’ 15 and 18 volt drills. You can literally drive more than 1,000,000 screws with one of these drills. Built to last a lifetime, it is literally the last drill you will ever need to buy.
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Why Woodworkers Love our Wood Slicer Resaw Bandsaw Blade & our Woodturners Blade

Aug 132009
 

085272.jpgHere are a couple of unsolicited testimonials praising our legendary Wood Slicer Resawing Bandsaw Blade and our Woodturners Blade:
Hello,
I have a 12″ Jet bandsaw that I absolutely hated. It couldn’t cut a straight line on a piece of 1/8″ ply. A friend told me to check out your Wood Slicer resawing bandsaw blade. I went to your site to check it out. At first I kind of choked when I saw the price of the blade. I then read your testimonials and decided to give one a try (you do guarantee that I will like it). The first piece of wood I cut was a chunk of mango. It went well, but then again, it is a softer wood. So I decided to try a piece of Koa as it is a bit harder…..cut like butter. Being the skeptic I am, I decided to put it to what I considered an extreme test. I have a large chunk of desert ironwood that has been sitting around for a while (because I just can’t cut it). In previous attempts, I could barely slice a 2″ section. The results were not pretty, it took forever and a day to cut, and the dust was incredible. I figured what the heck, I am going to make this blade cry, so I put a four inch thick slab on the bandsaw, turned it on and it cut through it without a problem.. There was no smoking, no dust clouds, and the finish on the cut side of the wood was unbelievable. Bottom line….I will NEVER buy another band saw blade other than this one. It is everything you said it was. Please feel free to use me as a reference. I would love to be able to help other woodworkers discover this blade. On a side note…I no longer hate my bandsaw. — Thank You, Rick G.

183482.jpgHello Highland Woodworking,

Recently I purchased some of your Woodturners Bandsaw Blades, plus a few new items to help rebuild my 15 year old Delta 14″ bandsaw. As a professional woodturner-studio artist I just wanted to pass along my observations : namely, these are the absolute BEST bandsaw blades for woodturners. Over my 25+ years of woodturning I have tried them all, every brand, every configuration including carbide tipped (very expensive but nice) … but these are incredible. I just mounted one and began trimming a fresh chunk of green ambrosia maple, very wet and heavy. The blade never stalled, never even whimpered … and I am sometimes a bit aggressive.
Add to this the rapid response time from your store and the fast delivery, and you can mark me a VERY Satisfied customer.
Please feel free to use this as an endorsement or recommendation or whatever. I have already passed along the info to several other woodturners I know and I expect some of them to also switch to your blades. Keep up the good work! — Dick G.

SawStop Table Saw Comes to Highland Woodworking

Jul 202009
 


Every now and then a tool comes along that features an innovation so unique that it distinguishes that machine from anything else ever used anywhere. The SawStop Tablesaw is one of those rare tools that has totally revolutionized tablesaw safety in the woodworking shop, and we are proud to add SawStop tablesaws to our offering of fine woodworking machines.
The inventor of the SawStop Table Saw is passionate about preventing table saw accidents. His greatest contribution to state-of-the-art tablesaw technology is the SawStop table saw’s unique safety system which stops the sawblade in less than 5 milliseconds after coming in contact with a woodworker’s hand or finger.
The SawStop table saw safety system works like this. The blade carries a small electrical charge that is constantly monitored. When skin comes in contact with the blade, the natural capacitance of the human body changes the charge on the sawblade and is immediately detected by the safety system, which triggers the release of a heavy spring, jamming an aluminum brake into the teeth of the spinning sawblade. Within milliseconds the blade stops its 100 mph rotation and comes to a complete stop. After the aluminum brake stops the sawblade, the blade’s centrifugal force causes it to instantly retract below the surface of the table just as the tablesaw’s electrical motor shuts off.
In the 4 years since the SawStop tablesaw came on the market, the manufacturer has documented almost 600 cases in which a tablesaw operator’s hand or fingers were saved when the safety system triggered.
The total cost of a tablesaw accident in which fingers are amputated has been calculated between $250,000 and $400,000, including hospitalization, medical bills, lost worktime, rehabilitation and loss of hand function, not to mention repeated painful surgeries and protracted healing time.


SawStop table saws are available today for less than $2000.
(Why wait for an accident?)

Couple Gets Engaged at Highland Woodworking’s Store

Jul 192009
 

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Just another typical day at the Highland Woodworking store in Atlanta. Except for this: Rita Lemons proposed marriage to her woodworker boyfriend, Chester Gibbs, over in our Festool department. (Or was it in the Finishing Supplies? Okay, maybe it was closer to the Fastener department, how fitting!) For the record, Chester said “Yes!”
Friends since their college days back in the early 1980s, they first began dating this past April. Unbeknownst to Chester, Rita picked Highland Woodworking as the venue for the proposal (apparently because she knew it is a place forever dear to his heart). She enticed him into coming to the store after church today by giving him a Highland Gift Certificate for his birthday. The rest is now history. Best wishes to the happy couple!