I am not sure if I ever shared this but this was an invention I came up with in 2007. It did well but just took too much time with my day job so I stopped makig it in 2010
1/17/18
Sue Stadler Trying to figure out an idea for another BilletSPIN get-together. Sooooo…sell me on your area and give me some good ideas.
1/18/18
Just a reminder for those that struggle keeping up with the pertinent BilletSPIN information, we have a business page for just that reason.
Sue Stadler Thanks for driving all the way to Oshkosh, Tim Kowalik! Was a fun time at dinner and really awesome seeing the drone work! Safe trip home. Tell Char it was great to meet her and we will definitely come visit some time soon.
Lots to discuss! BilletSPIN Live video with Sue and I at 10am central this morning! You got questions? We got answers. We have the schedule for the remaining waves, new products and other exciting news. Join us!
We will be giving away a free Pandora!
LIVE VIDEO QUESTION POST! You got questions, submit them here and I will make sure we cover them!
10 minutes to live vid! Post your questions!
Live vid! Special guests, GAW, new products, Pandora schedule, Q&A and more! (click to watch on FB)
I would love some feedback on if you would like to see more of these. 1 hour long, planned in advance with a specific itinerary. Special guests, GAW’s, Q&A’s and any BilletSPIN updates. This would give you time to come up with questions. If you don’t like the idea you won’t hurt our feelings so please speak your mind.
If you do like the idea of more of these style live vids, let us know what day and time works best for you and be sure to include your time zone.
Wow, sounds like everything sold out!! You all rock!! Thanks for the support! We made it to Orlando in one piece and survived the 50 kids on the plane going to Disney. Hope you all have a great weekend!!
Tell me again why we live in Wisconsin?
Dang what a fun night. Thank you all for taking time to hang out with us. It meant a lot to Sue and I. So nice to put faces to names. I doubt I will have a voice tomorrow but so worth it. What an amazing community. I wish you all save travels back home and a wonderful weekend!
12/5/17
Hello from Jamaica!
12/22/17
Ok all, post a pic of your favorite BilletSPIN design/combo of 2017! You don’t have to own it.
12/24/17
Merry Christmas all you wonderful people. It’s been a great year getting to know you more and getting to meet some new people as BilletSPIN continues to grow. As most of you know, Sue and I are people of Faith and Christmas to us is about the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I know not everyone shares our beliefs and that’s ok. I just want you to know we care about each and every one of you and if you ever want to talk about faith, or are just going through a hard time, we are there for you.
This community is about so much more than just selling tops and Sue and I talk all the time about you all. Thank you for making this group what it is and thank you for your friendships.
From the bottom of Sue’s and my heart, have a Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays.
Rich and Sue Stadler
Welcome Jon Sauer! For those that don’t know, Jon is a legend and it’s an honor to have him in the group!
12/31/17
Going to bed, we’re rockstars…See ya next year! Love you all
I got a favor to ask! Can anyone that has won a top from BilletSPIN please respond. Could be an gaw, SUS, scavenger hunt etc. Please only respond if you have been one of those people. Normally I love joking around but this is not one of those times. If you don’t want to reply, I understand. If you have and are ok with responding, reply “yes”. I just want to see how many people total have won tops from BilletSPIN. I know, weird but I really appreciate it!
Thank you all, I really appreciate you sharing!!
11/6/17
Well I have not had to do one of these in a very long time. Unfortunately it is needed since there are some people in the top community that feel the need to create drama and negativity. This is not present in this group and for that, I thank you all soooooo much. Folks we have enough garbage in our lives so I try my hardest to keep that stuff out as I know none of you want that. We come here to share this wonderful passion for this hobby we all love. We also hear of people going through hard times or struggles and we try to encourage and uplift them. That is what “community” is all about.
My advice to all: if you are part of a group that seems to have a lot of drama and negativity and it gets to you, leave. Sooner or later you will be affected. Focus on the things and places that bring you joy, after all that is what a hobby should do. I have left many of groups due to this reason and out of sight, out of mind is a very wonderful thing.
Just know that the extreme majority of people in this community are wonderful caring people.
With this said, if there is anything we at BilletSPIN do that upsets you or you don’t understand, message me. I will do my best to explain it. If at that point you are still upset, feel free to post it to get others opinions. I am no perfect and make my share of mistakes. Constructive feedback has molded BilletSPIN into what it is today. My request is that you come to me first to understand my reasons.
I know that this post in of itself is drama but with some of the things going on lately and the overwhelming number of messages I have had this weekend I thought I better say something. If you are reading this and have no idea what I am talking about, you are doing it right 🙂
SO, today is a new day! Lets make it awesome. Lets finish this year focusing on what got you into tops and the love you have for them. Lets remember all the good this community has and the amazing things we have accomplished together as a family.
Have a great week,
Rich
We are very close on Billetspin first carrying cases and those crystal Top stands I posted a few weeks ago! Got the dammy Thrusts tomorrow and the wheels are working on future stuff 🙂 tomorrow I start on Brian’s sight unseen auction top and then the special GTG combo. After a long weekend, things are rollin!! Yooze all have a wonderful night and just know things are gettin crazy up in here!
11/8/17
BilletSPIN Tops Update:
Couple of my main goals for 2017 was to offer more exotic materials and to offer different finishing. It seemed like a great plan and it sure was a great learning experience. There were unforeseen consequences though which have made me reconsider these goals for 2018.
BilletSPIN’s mantra back in 2015 was to make the coolest tops we could out of standard materials. That allowed us to focus more on design complexity rather than materials. We are going to focus more on this as we move into 2018. I LOVE exotics and we will always offer some but not nearly to the extent we currently do. I feel like my hands are tied because I try hard to keep certain price points. Exotics just cost a ton of money so the machining has to be reduced in order to keep the prices reasonable.
So what does this mean? Well I want to be totally honest here. It means that we will be upping the complexity overall to our designs to focus on machining rather than materials. Prices will be effected on those designs but will still be under the prices we have been selling the majority of the exotics for. Using standard materials will not handcuff us on quantities. This means everyone should have a great opportunity to buy these. This also means fewer designs overall with more quantities of each design.
In addition to the standard Stainless Steel, Bronze, Copper and brass, we will be using a lot of zirc and titanium. The reason is the material is easier to get in large quantities and it offer’s a ton of variety in colors we can generate. We will still be offering different finishes on all these materials.
The Thrust will finish as planned using all the materials I have posted. This change will go into effect AFTER the Thrust is retired.
Due to Sue and I going on a vacation in December, it is not looking good for a Christmas top this year. I apologize for that 🙁
THANK YOU all for your continued support of BilletSPIN. I am GREATLY looking forward to taking designing to another level. Have a wonderful day,
Rich Stadler
11/10/17
I wonder how many tops Billetspin has made. I really have no idea anymore but if I spent some time on it I could get pretty close. What’s your guess? Post your guesses and I will let you know who I believe is closest!
Well after some math, we are right around 23,000 tops sold. That’s a lot of tops!! I doubt there is a place in the world we have not shipped to which just shows this hobby is worldwide. It’s so cool to be a part of it. I still remember the day I found that set of dice on eBay which started me down the road to create Billetspin.
I see we had a misprint on the website, that will be addressed shortly. It should have been 10,000 at the time of that posting. Good catch!!
11/15/17
Everyone that attends the meet and greet will be getting a free top that will only be available by attending. I like to be upfront with everyone about stuff like this and it just our way of saying thanks for taking the time to hang out with us. If you have not signed up yet, contact Sue Stadler!
11/21/17
And this is where it all began. This was the first top I ever made, not design, literally the first top.
23,000 tops later…
Welcome Evyn Stadler to Billetspin. Evyn is my oldest daughter whom I am very proud of 🙂
11/23/17
Happy Thanksgiving all you amazing people. We all have much to be thankful for. My life is better because all of yooze are in it. Hope you have a fantastic day my friends,
Billetspin gtg Florida contact Sue Stadler for more details!
10/7/17
Florida get-together: here’s the plan so far.
We will be staying at the Orlando Airport Marriott Lakeside. The get together would be in the evening on Dec 1st at the bar/restaurant unless we have a lot of people let me know they are going (not expecting that) where I would need to find more room. As of now I have two people who have messaged me they would be there.
I would love to meet many of you and we may have something special there too, no guarantees yet though. So I need to know whom might be there so I have a head count. I know it’s still several weeks off but I like to get things planned. If you don’t want to message me just reply “In” and I’ll know you are interested.
Thanks and happy spinning, Sue
10/13/17
Insomnia live vid. This is how I take pics and vids. If you are interested in the camera and lighting I use, check this out. Sorry for the quiet voice, family was sleeping.
So these guys are taking some BilletSPIN stuff to SEMA along with their insane truck to show off. If anyone is going to the show, look them up and say hi! What an awesome gesture on their parts and a great exposure opportunity for BilletSPIN!
https://www.facebook.com/Wisco-Customs-494487587559924/
Folks I got a gift today that is just amazing. I can’t wait to post pics of it tomorrow!! I think yooze are going to want to get one (or a hundred) of these. Absolutely stunning
Brace yourselves, you are about to see him post a pic of it (them)
This is insane
Just wait 🙂 I am so pumped! I have no ties with this product but it’s a must have
Ok all check this out! See the replies for more pics! These are just amazing!!! I have no ties with the guy that makes these but I would love to sell them on the billetspin site but it would probably be easiest to buy direct from him. I will give you more details as I get them!
10/28/17
So Ella (my youngest daughter) and I wanted to go make something today and decided to make some whistles. Once we got a functional design, she tweaked them to look cooler. They are loud lol. They are not for sale, they are hers and I hope they remind her of the time we spent together today!
Proud daddy
10/30/17
GAW, Ella’s Prototype whistle. It will come with a COA with her signature from BilletSPIN. It is plain SS and plain as we needed to prove out the whistle before using high end materials. Anyone that contributed to one or both of Lindsey’s waffles gets two entries and everyone else gets one.
To enter just reply with a feel good picture, meme or gif. I will draw the winner tomorrow.
10/31/17
Ella and I will be doing a live video together tonight where she picks the winner of the whistle GAW. Lets plan on 4pm central unless Sue Stadlersays otherwise… 😛
iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiittttttttttttsssssssssssssss Ella! GAW winner will be announced here!
Not going to lie, this was a rough one. Some days I really don’t enjoy Facebook. One thing Billetspin has taught me is that there are a lot of people in the world with the best of intentions that have differing opinions. Sometimes we forget the first part of that.
I just want to thank you all for continuing to make this group drama free. Focusing on what this group is all about and getting to know each other through this hobby. I hope you all can focus on the positives and have yourself a absolutely wonderful night.
I appreciate the messages, nothing top related, my news feed was just depressing is all. I don’t to bring that discussion here so I will just leave it at that but I am sure 99% of you had the same stuff on yours 🙁
9/27/17
PLEASE READ! Just a reminder (as much as I love you all) Lindsey Wissing handles all shipping and shipping related questions/issues. Rich N Sue Stadler handles all other Customer service. I (Rich Stadler) handle none of that so if you message me I wont be able to be much help. Thanks!
If you are like me, you have way to many groups already but the beauty of this is that you can see all the info without having to sift through community posts.
We will still be hanging out here to as you all make my days enjoyable!
You can also go to www.billetspin.com and subscribe to our newsletter. You will get emails about upcoming releases so you don’t miss out! Our Instagram account is BilletSPIN_Tops and be sure to check out our YouTube channel!
Anyways, if you have any questions let me know! Thanks as always for your support, your positive attitudes and for making this group drama free and just a fun place to hang out.
8/7/17
So sick of USPS. IN the last week we have found out they lost two wedding rings, a super conductor matrix and several other regular tops. We have no extra’s and my heart goes out to those that will not get their stuff. Refunds are the only option at this point. Makes me sick.
I am DONE with them. Shipping changes WILL be coming. I will do all that I can to keep the prices very reasonable.
BilletSPIN Suggestion post. I am not the kind of guy that likes to give unsolicited advice or opinions. If I don’t care for something, I keep it to myself unless I am asked. Well if you are like me (I know not all are 😛) this thread is for you! I will be totally honest, I have the next 3 months all planned and I don’t see that changing. Past that, I am wide open. I am not sure this will effect and future plans but trust me when I tell you that I do care about all of your opinions! So here is your shot. No offense will be taken. If you have a suggestion, I am listening. What would you like to see me do differently. What do you like/dislike.
Now here is the difficult part. If you are sensitive and easily offended, this post might not be for you. I really appreciate people sticking up for me when I or my designs get heavily/unfairly critiqued but in this case I am asking for it. This will only work if we can respect each others opinions even if you think the opinion expressed suck. Mods, any negative responses to opinions given need to be deleted. I got a crazy busy day tomorrow designing the K2 so please please please keep this thread clean and going in the right direction. If not, I will just delete the whole thing.
Big news! We just got more spin bases in so those will be going up on the website next week. Not sure of quantities yet.
The Spark will be going live next Wednesday on Indiegogo! The video will be done soon and I will share it here with you. More details to come!
Thanks for the amazing support on the Triskelion launch today! It was a quick sell out! We will be shipping those next week! If you got any questions just let us know!
Have an awesome weekend!
Rich
8/29/17
We have discovered an issue with our website that has now been resolved. If you have subscribed to the website but have not been receiving any emails, please subscribe again. So sorry for the trouble and appreciate your patience!
Tell you what, I will schedule another live video for 10am central. We can talk about machining so get your questions ready. That is 1 hour and 20 minutes from now. Sound good?
Machining 101, let’s try this again(click to watch in FB)
Check this out!! It was a gift from an amazing person. Now to figure out where to hang it!
7/24/17
Latest video!
7/26/17
As of today, BilletSPIN is officially out of the ring business. That could change but I doubt it. We loved making them but just don’t have the machines available. Just wanted to give you all a heads up. We will be removing the rings tab from the website
7/27/17
INTERNATIONAL FRIENDS!! PLEASE READ!!!
We have had a lot of issues with USPS lately on international shipping. We are looking into ways to make this better. Not sure it can be done but we are dedicating a lot of time to it. We are checking with all the different carriers. We will NOT undervalue items as it is illegal for us to do so. There are certain rules we had to follow shipping via USPS but we are looking into any alternatives we can find.
If you are an international buyer and have had great success with certain carriers from the US please let me know here. Your input is greatly appreciated. Thank you for your continued support and know we care deeply about you!
Rich
Next BilletSpin design will be called “the dark overlord”. It just came to me 😛 rolls right off the tongue. This is just a joke, been quite the interesting day!
I got a wonderful gift yesterday. For some reason I cannot find the name here but if you are reading this, THANK YOU. Totally unnecessary but very very cool. Thanks again,
Rich
6/19/17
Time to sell some stuff and give stuff away(click to watch in fb)
Lindsey Wissing – Rich is not here, so I’ll do my best to make an announcement like he would do: Hey yooooze, there will be a smallish amount of spin bases available for tomorrow’s launch. Don’t be blue, but their no blue. Thanks for the support, I loves yooze all, and manatees, and golf and onesies, and fast cars, and Gavin Sexton and anything Cody Mayfield makes. Howd i do????
Lindsey WissingIt was exceedingly difficult to intentionally make that many grammatical errors. Please forgive me Andrea Whitlock.
6/27/17
Just got back to work and found something very special waiting for me from Alpha Knife Supply. Using it to make a one of a kind. This should be amazing
its all timascus. Very busy but I like busy 😛
but the center Timascus is mosaic timascus
17-questions, concerns, personal triumphs, whining, excitement, bored, hammertoe. Let’s chat
For those of you that don’t know, my buddy Jim Skelton has started making his own knives and is putting out some amazing stuff already! I normally don’t do much promoting but this is a special case. Jim has been an enormous help to me and BilletSPIN. Plus I know how hard it is to start a business from nothing and the risk that comes along with it. Jim is doing it right and putting out a very high quality product. In speaking with Jim, he is an amazing designer and thinks outside the box. I am so excited to watch his business grow and see the amazing creations he comes up with.
Anyways, if you are into knives or want to see what all the fuss is about, check out his new FB group.
Hey all, my inbox is full. I will not have a chance to answer anything until probably Monday. Things are a bit crazy up in here. Hope you all understand and have a wonderful weekend!
6/30/17
I know we are behind on some things and have a few things that need shipping and a ton of messages and emails. I apologize for the delays and promise we will work very hard on Monday to get all caught up. Have a great weekend!!
Lets try a live vid to sell some leftover stuff. I will start the vid at 11am central (20 minutes)
All live video top buyers have been contacted. Heading out to lunch then will contact the sphere buyers. Thanks again!
SOLD OUT!!!!
Last of the Spheres. These are what I have left in very small quantities:
2Color Mokume-sold out
SS-sold out
Brass-sold out
Basketweave-sold out
Titanium-sold out
copper-sold out
bronze-sold out
spiro-sold out
tungsten-sold out
3 color Mokume-sold out
All prices include shipping and stands! This is the last of them. To buy, reply with the one/ones you want. I will message you if they are still available and get you a total. Payment will be through Paypal. DO NOT send payment until I message you. Thanks all!
All sphere buyers have been contacted. Check your unread box as well as filtered. If you did not receive a message from me, that means the one you want is sold out. Thanks again all!
5/10/17
Just a heads up/reminder. Lindsey Wissing is still handling all customer service. I have been getting slammed with messages about tracking, shipping, addresses etc. Lindsey is the one that can help you there. Thank you for your cooperation!
New Group banner
5/11/17
Nabeel Sattar started a YT channel called Spinning Serenity. Check it out! Here is a link to his first vid!
If you have not joined yet, dont miss out on this. Battle Tops! Single elimination tournament scheduled for the end of June. It will be live streamed. Join the group to see the makers builds and to catch any updates. Share with your friends!
Fine people of BilletSPIN, the video you requested!
5/24/17
Sup you amazing people. I want you to stand up. Yes, I am talking to YOU!! Stand up and go find a mirror (take your phone so you can read the rest of this). Take a good long look at yourself. Maybe things are going good, maybe life just sucks right now. Maybe you are going through a struggle that you think is never going to end. Well know this, you are awesome. You are loved and everything is going to be alright. If you ever need someone to talk to, pm me. Have an awesome day
Rich
5/31/17
Just a FYI, unless you are Gavin Sexton, any propositioning or dirty talk to me will get you removed from BilletSPIN 🙂
