FOCUSWORKS HISTORY

Where it all started.

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.

Why did we focus on the Spinning Top?

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.

Fast forward to present day...

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.