Bruce Charles Designs

We specialize in spinning tops, fidget sliders, and unique items made in creative ways from a variety of premium materials. We believe that brass goes with almost anything, that titanium has a place in everyday use, and that a clever idea isn’t worth anything until it’s married to superior craftsmanship. We know we’ve accomplished our mission when our customers experience joy and delight…not just with our products, but in each and every interaction with us.

So how does someone named Bill Strahan form a company named Bruce Charles?

Bruce Charles Designs is an homage to the three most influential men in my life, my father and both of my grandfathers. I have been molded and shaped by them and can trace my story from everything I am and all I have achieved, back to the influences of those three men. When it came time to name my latest company, I chose to name it after them. Bruce Charles Designs is named in tribute and thanks to the men who set me on a good path.

You might be asking how I can name it after three men with just the names Bruce and Charles. Simply put, two of them were both named Bruce. My grandfather Charles, my grandfather Bruce, and my father Bruce Jr. shaped me in significant ways, not just during my childhood years but all throughout my life.

Charles (Charlie) Lutz, my grandfather, who I called “Dad-dad.”
Dad-dad was an engineer, inventor, and ham radio operator, and he freely and joyfully shared his knowledge with me as a kid. I still own the five-book set on basic electricity that he gave me more than 40 years ago. I was that kid in 3rd grade who could not only explain ohm’s law, but do so from a position of understanding, and it was all due to Dad-dad. He would discuss any idea I had, no matter how harebrained, and he would patiently talk about what would work and what wouldn’t.

I still clearly recall him patiently taking my excited 2 am phone call when I thought I had discovered a source of free energy. I was 11. He told me what I needed to complete the circuit I thought would work, and later (after he slept) he didn’t shoot me down. He just walked through the math with me and taught me to understand what was going on. It turns out that a motor driving a generator that then powers the motor isn’t free energy now and it wasn’t then either. Don’t judge, I was 11.

He taught me more than nuts and bolts. He would sometimes take me into the oil field with him for his work, and I remember him refusing what I only understood many years later to be a kickback from a vendor. Dad-dad invited him to leave, and as he was leaving he exclaimed “Charlie, your problem is you’re too honest.” Without a moment’s hesitation, Dad-dad responded “It doesn’t come in shades.” I didn’t understand what I had just witnessed for many years, but it stuck with me, as did all of his teaching and guidance.

Dad-dad died when I was 12 but influences me to this day. I have and still use tools he gave me before he passed, and those help me remember to think of him often.

Bruce Strahan, Sr., my grandfather who I called “Granddaddy”
Grandaddy was a dentist by profession, but also had a large ranch in Texas that we spent time on almost every summer. It is the time on the ranch that I remember the most.

We did fairly normal things like a bit of fishing from the old bridge or setting trotlines for catfish in the river that ran through his property. We also did a bit of hunting, but my favorite part was riding the mini-bikes he had at his ranch. Of course, they were ridden hard, and that meant they broke, which finally meant they had to be repaired. And for a young boy trying to figure out how everything in the world works, he did a great job of educating me on machinery.

We had to replace a suspension spring on one of the bikes, and he found an old spring, cut it with a torch, then heated up the tip and flattened it into the rest of the coil. At that moment, seeing metal actually formed by hand after being heated, I knew I had to learn about this stuff. I am fortunate that Granddaddy was happy to share this knowledge.

He taught me to use a torch, and how to weld with a stick welder, and years later when I was older and married he gave me my first oxy-acetylene torch as well as an old Lincoln AC/DC welder. One of the last things he gave me before he died was a giant angle grinder that I still use regularly, and every time I get it out I’m reminded of my Granddaddy and his influence.

Bruce Strahan, Jr., my dad.
For some reason I’ve never understood, I call him “dad” when talking to someone else, and “Daddy” when I’m talking to him.

My dad was a serial entrepreneur. I was lucky enough to witness (and at times be a part of) the building of businesses ranging from oil & gas drilling and development to exploration for gold in South America. I learned there is almost nothing you can’t do if you set your mind to it. And I saw that modeled time after time.

I grew up in a home that didn’t assume things were impossible. Under my dad’s leadership, we had a home in which everyone was encouraged to achieve their dreams. And furthermore, we were encouraged to be audacious in our dreams!

Somehow, in 1979, 2 years before the IBM PC was released, my parents decided to give me exactly what I asked for as a Christmas present: A computer. A computer for a 12-year-old was basically unheard of back then. It was $399 or about $1200 in 2017 dollars.

My parents fondly describe at this point in my story how I essentially disappeared into my bedroom, only to emerge a few years later when girls began to compete with computers for my time. I think it was a slight exaggeration, but I do recall a similar event to the perpetual energy call with my granddad.

I had taught myself machine language for the Motorola 6809 processor and had just moved a byte from one place to another in memory. I excitedly woke my dad up in the wee hours of the morning and showed him the numbers on the screen. He told me he didn’t totally understand, but that I sure seemed excited about it so it must be great. And then he asked if we could get some sleep. How many dads do that?

My dad’s patience, love, and generous spirit continue to inspire me today, and I continue to learn and benefit from him every time I’m with him.

These three men are the foundation upon which I was built. For all of my adult life, I’ve thought it was just normal to know how to weld, solder, program computers, build and fabricate anything I want (from electric vehicles to airplanes now), and to start any business that struck my fancy. I certainly don’t know everything, but I was taught how to learn, so I’ve learned everything I ever needed to know to do what I wanted to do.

I never could get myself to finish a single college course because they just didn’t move at a pace that was engaging for me, but the education I received from these awesome and influential men has provided me with everything I needed to be successful in doing whatever I set out to do.

I don’t know how I could have been so blessed, but I find myself thankful on a daily basis that they were my start, and that they were willing to contribute to who I am today. To all three, I say “Thank you.”