I installed these Rigid Rock Lights onto my Tacoma side steps and the work fantastic. They flood the area perfectly. Tied them into the SwitchPro and used the rear cab light as a trigger wire.
Today is April 1st, It is my brothers 1st birthday; No Joke 🙂 His “second” birthday is the day he received his new marrow stem cells. There are many people all around us fighting all kinds of real battles, it should put better perspective on the things that so many people in todays day in age get hung up on.
Check out my “Docuseries”
Just some random notes and thoughts about the process:
First and foremost, there is nothing better you can do for a person than saving and extending the life of a brother, family, friend and even a perfect stranger! As I said in the video, “Short term pain for long term gain!”
For those of you that actually read this because you are preparing to be a donor yourself, I will add a few things that were not mentioned in the video. First, don’t be afraid of all those major possible “side affects”, I think they are just covering themselves legally. What they don’t tell you (and I think they should) is that the likelihood is a bit higher that you will go through some extreme spinal pain and headaches. Everyone’s body reacts differently. I have spoke over a dozen people that have gone through this process that have had sever bone pain, and it more/less goes away within a week or so of the donation.
For me personally, I had longer term bone pain, lasted for a solid 6 months. It was mainly in my larger bones, mornings, especially on stairs were quite difficult. The joints in my hands were also regularly in pain. I called and spoke with the doctor at City of Hope and he said it is likely just arthritis, and I should go visit my PCP. He claimed he has never heard of a side affect like that from those injections. I did see my PCP, and it wasn’t arthritis… The short of that story is, it all eventually went away. However it’s issues such as these that do not seem to be recorded about the donors themselves.
During the 5 days on injections, i experienced what I would call “temporary paralysis”. During this “episode” I thought I was having a heart attack. It was short lived, and I was not having a heart attack. Needless to say, it was the scariest moment in my life. The night of the final injections, I did experience some minor hallucinations as well. I told the nurses and doctors about all of this, and they looked at me like I had 2 heads. They said they never heard of such a thing. BUT, you know what??? THE NEVER RECORDED IT EITHER! Donors need to be treated as patients, not as a separate entity. I am sure I am of the minority, but the fact remains, no one took a note of what I said. I often wondered how many others experienced this. I would have rather been made aware of what was to come. Surprises are stressful.
Feel free to comment on this blog, or email me directly at brian@bpway.com
Brian way started his entrepreneurial journey in the trades at just 15 years old. His early ventures focused on carpentry, but soon he found himself specializing in foam…specifically the templates used to organize tools, cut from CNC machines. From creating a lane for himself in carpentry to going bankrupt and the rebound that brought him to where he is today, don’t miss this exciting dive into how Brian found immense success in a very niche category.
ABOUT BRIAN
Brian Way never intended to build a career out of foam inserts. A lifelong entrepreneur, Brian first started his career in the trades at 14 building a carpentry business. By 16, he was managing his first book, a client filtered through his dad’s painting business.
By 18, he had found a niche for himself in custom woodworking, and carpentry and within a few years he was running a 10,000 square foot facility, with over a dozen staffed employees.
Things took a turn in 2006. With an impending economic crash, and clients holding out on payments, Brian soon found himself bankrupt and back at square one.
Within the next year, Brian sold every asset, collected a small crew, and built out two box trucks geared for residential and commercial millwork installation. For Brian, this was a huge turning point. Going from a huge facility to running a workshop from his truck, was no small feat. Over the next 10 years, he dialed in the art of maximizing his work space.
One of the key products Brian utilized to create systems of efficiency? Foam. Buying sheets of foam, and cutting out space for his tools became a huge factor in his day-day work management. Not only that, but others started to notice as well. “…everyone that saw the stuff always had something to say…they were enamored with what we were doing….”
This was yet another major turning point for Brian as he not only found a system for himself, but realized what he was doing might be a need for others. A short while later, he purchased a CNC cutting machine (a programmed saw) and began cutting foam templates of his tools to sell online. “…they’d sell. they were doing really well on e-bay for a while, and it got to the point where I couldn’t really keep up…”
Still working his day-job installing millwork, Brian would come home to work more just to keep this side hustle alive. Soon, the workload was extending past that and Brian was hiring a full-time worker just to manage the orders coming in. “…he said to me, you know Brian, I think you’re standing in front of a freight train and you need to get out of it’s way.”
6 months had passed since Brian first put the products online and he began to realize that things were getting out of control. It was at this time that Brian made the leap and brought what is today known as Kaizen Inserts into existence. The business has grown immensely since it’s humble beginnings as a side-hustle from Brian’s garage. With over 92k followers on Instagram, there is still room to grow, but Brian has big plans for what’s next.
Tune into to hear Brian’s full story. Where he is going, and all the insights he’s offering along the way.
A clever tool with a clever name! This is a simple tool I invented for punching holes in foam, however, quite often I need to collaborate with other creative folks to come up with a product name. So, I took this tool, posted it up on Instagram, and within hours, we had a name! I am thankful to have met a great semi-local guy, from MA by the name of Lucas D’Angelo who cleverly came up with the name. We have been friends ever since. Be sure to check him out on Instagram at @mannmadeinma or on YouTube, click here for the link!
The Original Kaizen Holester tool, thankfully Kaizen is all about continuous improvement, as our latest Holester tool is far superior than the original!
Before the Kaizen Holester tool, this is how we made finger pull holes.
I purchased this lift for 2 reasons; I need to store 2 vehicles, and I wanted the ability to work on my vehicles. This lift is an extended height version to allow for taller vehicles below the ramps. A cool feature of 4 post lifts is that you do not need to bolt it down to the floor. Also, I can use the roller options to move the lift around, or outside if needed. Keep in mind, if you need to remove your tires, you actually still need to use an additional jack. You can rig one up, or spend another $1000 on a center lift. See what that looks like here: https://amzn.to/3JsK042
One thing that keeps the cost of this lift on the lower side is the locking mechanism. In order to lower the lift, you need to manually pull a lever to release the safety latches on all 4 posts. For a shop that is moving the lift up and down regularly, this can be a nuisance, so the lifts they typically use are pneumatic release, rather than manual. A BENDPACK brand lift is typical of what you would see in a PRO shop. Check it out here: https://amzn.to/3N4gG6c
I added some LED lighting to the lower side of the lift. The LED’s are impressively bright and they did stick very well to the painted surface. I can now work on the car without shadows. Here are the lights I used: https://amzn.to/3KYdVRZ
The lift was purchased from ASE Deals in Connecticut. https://www.asedeals.com/workhorse-wh8k-dx-xlt-extended-4-post-auto-lift/ They offer all kids of lifts and were very helpful in helping me choose the right one for my needs. I chose to have the lift professionally installed, seeing as how the was going to be a fair amount of money in cars stored on it and over it. After watching the install, I am glad I paid for it. This is all they do, and are very proficient at it. THE LIFT GUYS are out of Meriden CT and can be found on facebook here.
This lift is the ASEplatinum WH8K-DX-XLT Four Post Lift. It cost me $4000 in august of 2021. The PRO install was an additional $600. It may sound expensive for vehicle storage in a garage, but the monthly fee of auto storage will quickly surpass that cost.
In this video I quickly talk about the steps taken to build a vacuum hold down table for my Avid CNC Router Parts table.
Table Layers: 1” HDF glued and screwed to the 80/20 frame 3/4” MDF used for the milled plenum layer 3/4” ultralight used for the “sacrificial layer” Manifold and piping: The manifold was made using 3” PVC All other pipe and fittings is made with 2” PVC Black Box Hurricane Vac System & blast gates
This process has always been time consuming to perfect. We have always used photos to generate vectors. However, the method of tracing the object has varied. This method of using reference points allows the vector to import into the software at the actual size. This is a huge time saver over the previous methods. Check out the video for a basic overview of the process!
This is NOT a HOW-TO or installation video. It is simply to show how easy it is to do the actual cutting of the OEM bumper with just a jigsaw and Multitool, although I would just do the entire thing with a Fein Multi tool if I was to do it again. ALSO, the entire install can be done by yourself quite easily with just a floor jack.
In a small pickup truck, sometimes it is hard to keep things secure an from sliding around. This product was developed out of my personal need to secure my Milwaukee packout boxes in my Toyota Tacoma truck. I now have the ability to secure Packouts to the tailgate, factory bed rail, and on top of the back seat.
BP's WAY 