Description
First of all, let’s deal with the “specially selected” part! Each of you receiving this email has purchased Veritas products multiple times this year – thank you! This email is only going to a small number of those that qualify, as I’m worried about the response rate. We only have 125 sets of this product to offer. So, if they haven’t all sold within a day or so, we’ll specially select some additional good customers and email them. My bet is we won’t have to.
Now the story:
Anyone who’s worked in our machine shop knows I’m an inveterate dumpster diver – hauling out bits and pieces of things just too good to throw away. A year or so ago, I took home a dozen marking gauge rods that had been scrapped due to a threading flaw. Our marking gauge rods are made from centerless ground 5/16" diameter stainless steel, which is very expensive to purchase and worth a fraction of that as scrap.
Like many people, I hang a lot of things on my shop walls. When I framed my shop, I sheeted two of the walls with 3/4" plywood, so hanging things is easy: just drive a nail or a screw wherever needed. A few months ago, I wanted to hang something bulky and didn’t have a screw or nail that was long enough, so I drilled a 5/16" hole and slid in a defective marking gauge rod. It was the perfect nail for the shop.
- It doesn’t rust.
- There are no heads or threads to catch or scratch.
- I can insert and remove it without tools (once the hole’s drilled).
- It is much stiffer than a nail or screw and will bear a lot of weight.
- It just looks purposeful – and classy.
Fast forward a few weeks, and while giving a machine shop tour, I spotted a bin full of butt ends of centerless ground stock left from a large production run. Our CNC lathes can’t use the full length of 12' bar, and there can be as much as 18" left over out of each bar. It’s painful to throw that out.
Having more than enough scrap rod already myself, I had the rods sorted out and cut to various lengths (perversely, the cost to make each cut was even more than the scrap value of the rod). The result is a set of 10 shop pins, which we are now offering to you. The set has two 8" pins (great for ladders), four 6" pins and four 4" pins (total weight of 535g/about 1.3 lb). They can be used indoors and out and only need a 5/16" drilled hole in a stud, a joist or even a tree. I think they’re great and hope you do too. If not, I hope at least the story was entertaining.
Cheers,
Rob Lee
(Limit of one set per customer, please!)
