en years ago, a just-retired Army Colonel home from Afghanistan and a program manager for IBM decided to fill a void in the hand market by making the best hand and back available anywhere on the planet. Somehow—even as a married couple—Mark Harrell and Yvonne L’Abbé made it work, and over the course of theT next decade built a thriving business that began in the basement of their home and now distributes saws throughout North America, England, Continental Europe and Australia.

Bad Tool Works makes saws based on proven 19th century designs and enhanced with 21st-century production , alloys and finishes. We have robust domestic and international distribution in place, and enjoy an international market standing consistently recognized for and quality. What follows is a breakdown of company business practices and assets.

Innovation leader: • Traditional-folded carbon steel sawbacks promoting longevity of tool. No one else in the makes this type of sawback. • Hammer-set toothline on all saws, sharpened to joint. • Successfully marketed hybrid-filing, now common lexicon. The clear majority of our saws employ hybrid-filing, and it’s a practice now widely copied by other sawmakers. • Variety of species, handle sizes, and alloy platings invite customer-driven customization and high satisfaction for fit and finish. • We waterjet our entire family of sawplates, expediting time and efficiency, compared to traditional & die toothing with associated equipment failures and waste. • All components are outsourced to reliable trading partners; our lean force reserves for itself what we do better than anyone else: hammer-set and sharpen the best toothline in the market today, and assembling.

Business Distribution throughout North America, Europe, and Australia: Bad Axe began selling saws wholesale to distributors since 2013, beginning with our oldest trading partner, Lee Valley/Veritas. Following is a complete list of our distributors: • Highland Woodworking (US) • Unplugged Woodshop (Canada) • Lee Valley/Veritas (Canada) • Classic Hand Tools (England) • Workshop Heaven (England) • Rubank Verktygs AB (Sweden) • Baptist Tools (Netherlands) • Dictum Tools () • Henry Eckert Tools (Australia)

Bringing 19th Century Design into the 21st Century: Bad Axe has encoded all components into CAD files, introduced hand-sizing to the market, and blends state-of-the-art metal fabrication machinery into the production gestalt. Bad Axe has also developed proprietary tools in-house that triples output for what can be a painstaking hammer-setting process by hand, while at the same time enhancing quality. This alone edges Bad Axe closer to becoming a production house and market leader for hand saws that other production houses and bespoke sawmakers alike cannot beat in terms of quality. Bad Axe’s goal in 2021 is to automate the sharpening process using co-bot technology—the remaining end-game solution where production converges with quality at the highest level.

Intellectual Property Library: All Bad Axe components are based on CAD drawings with a library of extensions for CNC-driven production. • 5 handle types in five sizes per type (open and closed) based on elegant Wheeler, Madden Clemson and Henry Disston designs from the 1870’s. • 2 fastener types (slotted and split-nut configurations) turned in brass and 4140 carbon steel • 7 carbon steel sawback types for our entire family of . • 20 sawplate types in 1095 and UHB20C alloys span a complete family of backsaws, panel & handsaws, and frame saws with kerfing . • Bad Axe Sets are captured in CAD and produced locally. The detailed drawings can be outsourced to any reliable woodworking shop with CNC production capability.

Handles: CNC-repeatable sized handles available in five sizes: x-small, small, regular, large & x-large. • All handles based on Disston and Wheeler, Madden, Clemson designs from the 1870’s. • Two open handle designs in all sizes (Stiletto DT & Bayonet Carcase). • Three closed handle designs in all sizes (14” Sash, 16” & 18” Tenon). • All handles have drawings and library of CNC output formats for sizing in x-small, small, regular, large, & x-large. • Dependable out-sourcing trading partner has been and delivering handles ready to mount on Bad Axe saws for the past eight years.

Sawplates: Our two waterjet trading partners cut our entire family of sawplates in accordance with and outside dimensions, followed up with laser- our logo onto the plate. • Our entire 18-count family of handsaw and sawplates is captured on CAD and range from 8” up to 28” in toothline length for a variety of pitches based on saw type. • Two waterjet trading partners cut our entire family of sawplates and laser-etch our logo onto the plates. • Bad Axe produces the stiffest, most robust panel and full-sized handsaws on the market today, capitalizing on Henry Disston’s D8 design from the 1880’s. • Two grinding trading partners grind our D8-series of sawplates to specifications. Grinding tolerances are captured on CAD. • We have a significant inventory of .05-thick American-produced 1095 steel Bad Axe had custom tempered/hardened and stacked flat (no coil set) for D8 hand and production. • All other sawplate steel is sourced from Swedish, German, Austrian and US sources.

Sawbacks: Bad Axe carbon steel traditional folded sawbacks are based on the Henry Disston designs from the late 19th century. We are the only sawmaker successfully marketing carbon steel sawbacks in the hand tool industry today. • Our entire family of sawbacks are encoded in CAD drawings and available in a variety of formats for CNC-driven production. • Two metal forming trading partners manufacture our sawbacks and drop-ship to our plating partners as directed. • Two plating partners finish our sawbacks in a firearms-grade black oxide, and titanium-nitride.

Accessories and Maintenance Supplies: Bad Axe offers a number of accessories that often prove to be the entry- point for first-time buyers of our saws. These include: • Friedrich Dick Saw Files: sourced directly from the German manufacturer, we offer a complete line of saw files in three needle formats for 14-17 ppi range, and eight taper saw file dimensions for pitches ranging 5-13 ppi. • Bad Axe Bench Hook Sets: Bad Axe is the only company offering bench hook sets to the market, who buys them for convenience, even though woodworkers can make their own. Despite the DIY factor, sales are consistently brisk. • Wizards Maintenance Supplies: Wizard’s is a St. Paul-based company whose product line is heavily patronized by the motorcycle market, and whose line of rust inhibitors and polishes find a welcome home in sawplate maintenance. • Spraybees: an aerosol-delivered beeswax is a popular offering that’s good for both wood and metal.

Equipment and Assets: • 6 ea Acme Sawfiling Machines (floor model) • 2 ea Acme Sawfiling Machines (bench model) • 8 ea Acme Sawfiling • 3 ea Production-Level Hammer Saw Sets (proprietary design) • 10 Foley Vintage Trip-Hammer Saw Sets • 4 Disston Star Vintage Hammer Sets • 6 Seymour Smith Vintage Hammer Sets • 4 Foley Retoothers (powered) • 2 Foley Retoothers (manual) • 2 North Bros. Bench (hand-cranked)

Our Market: Our market consists primarily of middle-aged men and women with disposable income, with Millennials following closely behind as our most rapidly-growing sector of the market. People have discovered that traditional woodworking promotes safety, saves one’s hearing, and offers a healthier, more therapeutic way to work wood/make . Look to these articles for insight regarding an exploding hand tool market: • New York Times: Woodworking Unplugged, by William Hamilton, July 23, 1998 • Fine Woodworking: High-End Hand-Tool Sales Surge, #197-Mar/April 2008 Issue • The Future of Woodworking: Found at the Crossroad of Artisanship and Technology • Buyer’s Guide Intro: “Which Woodworking Hand Tools Do You Need for Traditional Woodworking?” • Woodworking Begins with Hand Tools • Industrial Hand Tools Market to bring in US$ 14,000 Million Revenues by 2026 - Transparency Market Research Global • $677M Woodworking Tool Market Analysis

Ownership: Bad Axe Tool Works is co-owned by Mark Harrell and Yvonne L’Abbé, who may be contacted at [email protected] (715) 586-0233, and [email protected], (608) 738-3912.