Well I don't own one but I've owned quite a few of the BCTW tools over the years and I'll put in my opinion as it might relate to the JMP. How's that for an "authority"...
I don't tend to be blindly attached to any particular brand but like most of you, I try to look at the pros and cons of a particular tool. Even at the other end of the spectrum where I avoid something like HF altogether now, it's not really a blind dislike of them--it's just that after being frustrated so many times with their stuff, it's simply not worth my time to even consider them. I made up my mind from direct experience.
But back to BCTW now. These are only my personal notes, not trying to start a war.
Cons:
Of all the tools of theirs that I've owned I've now only kept three: the kerfmaker and two of their japanese saws. I've sold all the other ones for a large variety of reasons: Couldn't get spare irons for the VP60, the mallet did not fit my hand well, same thing with the hand vise, in addition to it not holding a exacto blade securely as advertised. found i had no use for the tenonmaker. drilling jig for dowels got replaced with the domino. i found i preferred the woodpecker squares due to their size so got rid of all other ones. I also missed the order window on some other stuff i wanted. Plus, i've had a fundamental attitude change regarding tools in general. I went from buying "just in case I might need it and get around to doing something with it" to "I can't stand to see a tool in my shop go unused--I only buy when hard pressed for a specific need now". How this relates to the JMP is that because I have not seen one in person much less used one, I have been looking like you to what others are doing with it. And finding very little to go on--just one or two cases. So it's not a big secret that a lot of the brand buyers are collectors and not regular users. And that's ok in my book. I say, thank goodness for them--they are keeping a lot of great quality niche makers like John alive in business. But since I no longer collect and can't see a lot of stuff made with the thing, I'm biding my time making a decision and just writing all my little ideas that could benefit from the JMP in a little notebook. I'm also watching to see if the spare blades and other parts will be available on an ongoing basis since that has been an issue with some of the other tools from them.
Enough of the negatives. Let's look at the
Pros:
It seems to me that they're reaching for a broader audience including overseas markets with this JMP tool and that gives me hope regarding the spare parts question. Another great positive is that John Economaki is a class act. You have a technical question regarding his stuff and he's quick to respond, has a wealth of knowledge, a great sense of humor and there is a lot of great stuff to learn about all kinds of things if you follow his blog for example. Tremendous creativity and design skills, inspired use of materials, as well as the way he goes about his niche business. I've never met him in person, but this is what i gather from his online presence and anecdotes from other woodworkers who know him. Another big positive for me is that after all this time, I still think that the JMP is an insanely cool tool and I still hope to get one someday and put it to good use.
I don't know if I have helped you much with your central question but hey, when has that ever stopped anyone from posting, ever, on any forum?
Speaking of which, looks like I killed my entire lunch break on just one post. Added to the fact that I've spent a whole month's worth of self-alloted online time just on the FOG in the last couple of days. All righty then, see you chaps next month... Over and out
