Can you please provide some guidance on using bdlib in the development of another mod? I understand the project structure of a minecraft mod, but not how to utilize and API such as this, where I want to link to classes but not distribute the binary.

Do I need a deobf version of the jar file?

You will need to add something like this to your build.gradle:

repositories {
    maven {
        name = "bdew"
        url = "http://jenkins.bdew.net/maven"
    }
}
dependencies {
    compile "net.bdew:bdlib:1.6.2.41"
}

Then refresh the project in your IDE and that's pretty much it.

Thanks. I understand that part now, but I don't understand how I configure my project to know the classes available in the library. I'm using eclipse. Do I need to add a reference to an external jar? And if so, where is the jar actually located? Is it cached someplace?

Not sure about eclipse as i use Intellij IDEA, but i think the classes should be available for use automatically after you add the library to gradle and refresh the project.