We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Logan Thompson a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Logan, appreciate you joining us today. Alright, so you had your idea and then what happened? Can you walk us through the story of how you went from just an idea to executing on the idea

I have two older brothers, and one was a small engine mechanic while I was in high school. He always carried a multitool and knife for his work, and he sparked my interest in pocket tools. Since then, I have carried some sort of knife or multi-tool on me daily. Fast forward to college, and I became interested in computer aided design (CAD). I got my bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from VCU, and my first professional job out of college was designing robotic systems and tooling. I did a lot of hands-on work on the production floor, of course carrying my knife and multi-tool. I had several other design positions ranging from small packaging systems to large 150 Ton railroad recovery cranes. In 2015, I moved back to my hometown of Virginia Beach, VA and took a job as a manufacturing engineer.

I learned a lot from these various jobs, but I always knew that I wanted to work for myself. My first venture was woodworking. At the time, my wife and I were living in a two-bedroom apartment next to the beach, and there was no room for a shop or garage. I built an 8 x 10 shed in my mom’s backyard, ran some power cords from the house, and that was my first shop. I did the woodworking business for about a year, but found it was not the best fit for me. I came across the EDC (Every Day Carry) community on Instagram and discovered pocket pry bars. I noticed how other makers were successfully selling them and they seemed straightforward to manufacture. Around 2018, I switched gears, and started Teale Designs Tools and began manufacturing pocket tools from my CAD designs.

I cut my first pry bar blanks on the laser I had at my office job with some scrap material that I had purchased from the company. It took a while to figure out the most efficient way to cut the taper on the pry bars, but once I figured out a good process, I started to make more and sell them on EBAY. As luck worked out, I also discovered my current material supplier Sendcutsend around this time. Sendcutsend provides me with all the laser cut titanium, stainless steel, copper and brass parts with quick turnaround time and amazing customer service. I would not have been able to keep up with the product demand without them. I then got my social media going, teale_designs, and eventually started to sell on Etsy. This is where things really started to take off and people were interested in the products. From there it evolved into other EDC tools leading to the development of the fixed blade utility knives and utility folders.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I have a background in engineering with a heavy emphasis in design. I love to see creations take form from the 3D computer aided design world, to prototype to actual product. I enjoy being hands on with the creations I make, building them, testing them and seeing what works and what does not. The tools I make now started with much simpler designs. Through the first year or two years of business, I was able to improve these designs and create products that customers not only enjoy using but also, as I consider them myself, to be a form of artwork.

What sets me apart from others in my industry is I manufacture everything myself and source my components from all USA sources. I create the designs: I machine the components and I do all the finishing. This allows me complete control over the process. I have many direct relationships with customers who have requested custom orders or who have made repeat orders. This allows me to get feedback and continually improve my products and make tools that are not only innovative, but will last a lifetime.

Okay – so how did you figure out the manufacturing part? Did you have prior experience?

All of the tools I make come out of my home garage workshop. I started building up the shop during Covid, while I had a lot of free time while working from with not much else going on. Prior to buying a house, I was working out a shed in my mother’s back yard down the street from my old apartment. I learned the essential tools that I needed to be productive and was able to build my shop around those. In my garage, I bult a secondary enclosed area for dust control and soundproofing for the louder machinery. I built a long work bench on one side of the garage for hardware storage and an assembly area. With the shop complete I was able to focus on product development.

At first it was essentially trial and error. For the pry bars, I had to figure out an efficient way to actually cut the pry end consistently and quickly. I could not spend a lot of labor of time on this or I would not be able to sell the tools at a reasonable price. I was able to develop a process to where I spend no more than a couple minutes on each tool, while still getting consistent results. This was one of the first of many trials I had to overcome. One of the largest demands in my industry is for titanium tools, that are strong and lightweight. My first attempt at manufacturing these had me almost ready to throw in the towel. The machine blade I was using could not handle the tough materiel and I was a bit of a loss on how to proceed. After much research I was able to find a blade specifically designed for titanium and was able to add this to my lineup of materials I could offer.

What else should we know about how you took your side hustle and scaled it up into what it is today?

I recently left my career as senior manufacturing engineer to pursue Teale Designs Tools full time. I have been running it along with working a full time job the last 5 years. As I got to the end of 2024, I realized I could not do both and the strain on me physically and mentally was too much. As the peak of the holidays approached, my busy season, I chose Teale Designs Tools and I couldn’t be happier. I felt had grown the business enough, mainly selling on Esty and my website, tealedeisgnstools.com to make the jump. I also have several magazine articles coming out this year on my business which solidified the decision and am excited to see what come out the shop in the future.

Contact Info:

• Website: tealedesignstools.com and https://www.etsy.com/shop/TealeDesigns
• Instagram: teale_designs
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tealedesigns/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/logan-thompson-52904332/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@tealedesignstools2239