Back in my grandfather’s day, there wasn’t a name for Every Day Carry. “Every day carry” were simply items a man just had on him at all times: A pen, a proper small flashlight, a lighter, and for my grandfather an extra clean handkerchief just in case someone else needed it. My grandfather’s jacket was like a magic box made of tweed, with pockets that always had a useful tool when you needed it. He was always ready for any emergency, great or small.
Back then each man’s kit was slightly different: Some had magnifying glasses, or favourite fishing lures, some had larger tools for whittling wood, or cutting through thick underbrush, some had a single needle and a measure of thread. Anything you could fit into a small tool belt, or your numerous pockets, was and still is “every day carry”. Learn more about EDC.
Focus Machining & Design was founded in August 2015 by Jordy Wallace. Jordy was originally a machinist working in a factory and before Jordy got into CNC work, he was against it. He saw it as mindless button pushing, but quickly found out he was wrong.
Besides Jordy, the work of FocusWorks EDC is supported by Jordy’s wife, Lisa, who does all of the books and shipping, and also does the more precise welding. Jordy’s father-in-law, Glen, also helps with the design work, as he is also a journeyman machinist.
FocusWorks EDC sells Every Day Carry products online globally, and Jordy and Lisa also often attend Shows in the United States.
EDC is becoming increasingly popular, with more and more people carrying EDC kits with them on a daily basis. According to a 2017 survey, the average EDC kit contains 10 items. My EDC kit is always with me, no matter where I go; it gives me peace of mind knowing that I'm prepared for anything, and it has come in handy on more than one occasion.
Every year, Focus Machining and Design used to have a group of students from the local high schools into the shop for a tour and would try to have something to demonstrate the equipment and have something to give to them, so after some brainstorming they thought a Spinning Top would be perfect.
Back when I was in high school in Sechelt, BC there was an after-school program run completely by volunteer teachers called “Cool School”. It was a program were kids could go use the school machine shop to learn more shop skills and use the shop equipment for fun and interesting projects. It was designed to get kids interested and excited about a trade. This is where I developed my love for machining.
Years later, I moved back to my hometown and had become a machinist. Then, in 2011, I and my wife Lisa started Focus Machining & Design.
I also started volunteering as a teacher at Cool School, where we were trying to encourage the next generation of kids to become interested in a trade. We had just got a CNC lathe and were excited about it, so we decided to invite the kids from Cool School out to the shop for a demonstration.
We wanted to machine something that they could watch from start to finish and came up with the idea of a small spinning top. The Focus Top was a hit and since then we have made improvements. After we made those initial tops we decided to put them up for sale online and see where things would go.
From Spinning Tops, we then branched out into Fidget Spinners, Flashlights, Pens, and more.
Our products are, for the most part, CNC machined and as such we are not really able to do custom work.
Before doing business with you I researched a ton of custom flashlight makers for a long while and I must say you are the only one that responds back the quickest and from my experience has the best customer service and had just about everything I was looking for in a flashlight. Also In !y opinion your designs stand out and are way better compared to other custom makers. Even though your price is a little high, I gladly pay it for the beyond exceptional work of quality and attention to detail and I understand why you charge what you charge Thank you for what you do and I am a long time customer of yours
Having previously ordered three pens and also having gotten in on the Cylon pre-sale a little while ago and daily carrying his products, I have a lot of respect for Mr Wallace. In my opinion he is not out to flood the market with mass produced cookie cutter basic bs. He has a passion for the work he does and it shows through the high quality of craftsmanship displayed through his products. Check out his sitefocusworksedc.com, follow him on Facebook and or Instagram, hell... send the man a message with any questions you have and he'll respond. I mean... is it not cool to actually talk to the person who makes the product you're either looking at or have bought? Thank you Jordy!
I am blown away with your work. I look forward to getting in the items I ordered from you as well. Hopefully I'll get the chance to take some pics in the next few days and post them. Thank you for bringing this torch into existence, I'm proud to have such quality in my collection. Unfortunately, I'll never be able to afford a $400 torch, so this is probably one of the best I will have.
Didn't even think I needed a box cutter! Use it all the time. No action compares to the action of the bolt on bob. Got in on the presale before they were released. Lanyard and bead make the grip so much better and pocket retrieval better.
Jordy is a pleasure to deal with. His workmanship is outstanding and speaks for itself. He is more than willing to work with you if you want a specific configuration that is not shown in his online store. Depending on how "radical" your request is, you may have to wait till the next batch comes through the shop cycle, but he will get to it. And he stands behind his work in the very rare event that you may have an issue. I've bought many different pieces from him and every one was just as good as the last - or better! Buy with confidence
Focus Works is a great example as to the quality of product and great customer service you can get from a small, focused operation with a passionate owner. If you are the type of person who needs functional EDC kit, but also appreciates workmanship and attention to detail, you have to try them out. Pair all that with an extremely approachable owner and great customer service and you have nothing to lose.
I bought an Eryx F1 Titanium with copper with a Nichia 219c 4000k I love this light it looks amazing and feels great in hand and in the pocket the tint is great and has a nice beam with generous spill as well. I'm looking forward to his release of the titanium penlight pretty excited about that
Jordy is awesome and has great customer service skills and is willing to message you anytime with questions etc.