Saw for Inlay Artists only

Hey folks...thanks for letting me in here. I am always thrilled to see what users make with my saws. The level of creativity here is gratifying to peruse.

I have a section of my website that has a collection of short pieces that I did for our local NPR affiliate called Musings. One of them is titled: Jewelery for Jewelers. In spite of its title, it has a lot of application here as well. Please take a look at:
http://knewconcepts.com/musings.php

Lee (the saw guy)

These saws have been on my "long" list of value added upgrades since I first saw them in the Rio Grande catalog last year. Thank you Aaron and Chuck for posting your experience with them. Less broken blades?? I’m in! I just moved it to the short list.
Lee, great to see you here. I’ll be in touch after the holidays.

~Steve

Aaron, I'd love to do inlay, however I am a journeyman ukulele maker and not not an artist and despite attempting it, am always disapointed with my efforts. Besides there is not sifficient appetitie for this sort of stuff here in the UK and Europe for me to spend time learning the craft. it's a bit like Jake - most players in the UK don't 'get' him or James Hill. Just think how confused they'd be if Brittni Paiva or Tamaine Gardner came over along with Riaatea Helm? I know Chuck has done inlay work for European clients but I'd guess it's less than 5% of his output - correct me, as I know you will Chuck, if I am wrong

Pete Howlett said:

Aaron, I'd love to do inlay, however I am a journeyman ukulele maker and not not an artist and despite attempting it, am always disapointed with my efforts.

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I'll have to note that I'm not an artist either - my inlay work is what I call a mechanical representation of something else (pictures, mostly). Not to say that artistic talent isn't necessary, it is if you start getting into crazy stuff like Robinson and Laskin (and Moore of course), but simple stuff like logos and signatures (which aren't always so simple) are good places to start, and sometimes stay.

I'll say this - if I had forked over the $$$ for Lee's saw earlier, my learning curve would've been much shortened. In fact, I'm almost in a mood to send you my "leftover" jewelers saws just for the heck of it!

Aaron

Do that, Pete is always complaining about his lack of tools and the vast empty surfaces in his shop...

Moore Bettah Ukuleles said:

Here's the inlaid headstock Aaron is referring to that I just finished using the Knew Concepts saw. Aaron's been a valuable resource of info to me for inlay tools including the best bits and blades to use. As with everything, using the right tools makes everything so much easier.

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Very nice Chuck!!

I'm so going to get one of these saws. For over forty years I have used the standard jewelers saw and I can't tell you how many blades I've broken. It seems on every project I snap a few not to mention the screw clamps at the ends seem to fail. I just purchased a 5" standard Jewelers saw. But this will be my next saw. Thanks for posting it.

I don't even do inlay and I want one. Have a certain respect for tools of that caliber.

The saws are not just for inlay, although this is how the thread began.

They were originally developed for the jewelry/metalsmithing folks, where the blades are typically 8/0 because the precious metals are so darn expensive that you don't want to waste any.

With a typical adjustable frame, that has to flex to set the tension, it changes tension with each change of direction, so the constant flexing of the blade introduces metal fatigue...leading to premature breakage. I designed the frame to be like a bridge truss (Chuck referred to the Golden Gate Bridge).

After working with the metal folks, I moved on to the woodworking crowd. They wanted a saw that would enable them to cut the baseline of dovetails. That required that I make the swiveling blade clamps that moves the back of the frame off to one side (45 degrees).

The saws refuse to be pigeon holed as to their usage. I am working with the folks doing Marquetry and almost have a 12" deep throat saw ready for trials.

Sorry, this is not doing a sales number, I just wanted to describe some of the other capabilities.

Lee (the saw guy)

Lee, as far as I'm concerned, anyone who makes a great tool with the obvious care that you put it is welcome here to explain what they do.

We are tool makers ourselves...we make musical instruments for musicians.

For most of us here, your 3" saw is perfect...though the lust may be there for the power saw!

I'll come over in a couple of days...

The power saw was designed for cutting metal (not wood), and the speed is slowed way down to about what you would comfortable saw if you are sawing for hours at a time.
I have never understood the desire for scroll saw makers to provide the ability to saw through a 2x4...the only reason to make such a short stroke. Because of the short stroke, they sped up the speed, which burns up the blade, as wood is a very poor conductor of heat, and the blade can dissipate only so much while you are sawing. Ever burned your self touching the blade of a jig saw?
The power saw uses the full stroke of the blade, saws slow enough that the heat is removed by air movement, and as a result, the blades last a lot longer. At maximum speed, it strokes at about 250 strokes per minute (which is hard to maintain by hand).
I have never chosen to be another "me too" kind of guy, and have always designed stuff that doesn't copy any one else. Some of it was a bit too far out and is gathering dust in the "archives". Someday, they may emerge when the world is ready.
Since I was starting with a clean sheet of paper, I wanted to make the blade track in a true vertical position, not describe some arc as the scroll saws do. That is why the blade guides are Delrin and provide support for the blade. Also, I designed carbide guides for the blade that support it from the rear and the sides, the support is exactly where you need it (right at the cutting edge). Imagine a band saw that uses 5 inch long blades.
Rather than tilt the table for angular cuts, the frame itself tilts 45 degrees to the Right or the Left, and the table stays stable.
Tensioning is micro-adjustable for repetitive blade changes.
Enough of this.
As mentioned in an earlier post, each of you here are also tool makers, and it feels good to sit down with you and be accepted.

Lee (the saw guy)

I had Christmas lunch with other craftsmen in the Building I rent and my sivermith friend is also lusting after a knew concept saw - she had just done a seminar with Eid... Brilliant concept Lee (the saw guy). I too had a real rethink when it came to sawing - fret slots are usually done in production shops on a table saw. Can't stand that machine so i invented this:

Now...that's nice! I love the sound of the cut (and no I am not perverted). Thinking outside the box is what gives us our pleasures in life. If there are a bunch of pigeon holes in the side of a box, I'll instead sit on the roof.

On another note, are the dates for the November exhibition coming into any sort of firmness? I am trying to coordinate several members of the family coming over as a group (the daughter teaches at our community college).

Lee (the saw guy)

knew concepts said:

On another note, are the dates for the November exhibition coming into any sort of firmness? I am trying to coordinate several members of the family coming over as a group (the daughter teaches at our community college).

Lee (the saw guy)

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I just emailed the UGH board, and what I got is the Annual Exhibition & Conference is being planned for November 17,18 at the Princess Kaiulani, where it was in 2010. I'm not sure how well vendors do there (I think its more of a cost than a benefit, if that), but I'll get more info as it becomes available. Of course, there's always Roy Sakuma's `Ukulele Festival in the Summertime. LOTS of kids playing, and the UGH usually sets up an informational tent, along with the local factories.

Aaron

I met with a few guys from our Big Island Guild (not to be confused with the UHG that Aaron is referring to) last night and the saw got rave reviews. Expect more orders from the Big Island Lee.

I stopped in at Lee's shop yesterday afternoon; he's got the same passion for what he makes as we do. Great setup, innovative tooling to say the least, and wonderful products. It also turns out that he and I share a lot of the same musical background in the folk scene of the 1960's. It was like reconnecting with an old friend whom I hadn't seen in forty years.

Interesting how single focused you can become when you are designing a product.
When Rick and I were talking yesterday, it came out that we were in the same building before I moved about two years ago. We were in diagonal corners, and I never went that way to the shop. The entire building is about 1/2 a block square, and you would have thought...

On another note, I sent the kalapana.jpg that Chuck Moore did earlier on this blog to Spencer Baum (main buyer for Rio Grande Tools) and he is now waiting for images from Chuck of the finished piece to show on the Rio Grande blog.

Intertwining spheres of connections make this a very small world.

Lee (the saw guy)

knew concepts said:

On another note, I sent the kalapana.jpg that Chuck Moore did earlier on this blog to Spencer Baum (main buyer for Rio Grande Tools) and he is now waiting for images from Chuck of the finished piece to show on the Rio Grande blog.

Intertwining spheres of connections make this a very small world.

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Rio Grande is the place to get blades - I thought they were all the same, but they're not.
Intertwining spheres for sure - I should've thought you had a connection there (especially since they have your saw).

-Aaron

Kekani said:

Rio Grande is the place to get blades - I thought they were all the same, but they're not.
Intertwining spheres for sure - I should've thought you had a connection there (especially since they have your saw).

-Aaron

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You are correct Aaron (naturally) and I told the same to Spencer at Rio Grande. I used to buy cheaper German and Swiss blades but rio's Lazer Golds are indeed the best.

Rio Grande and I go back a very long ways.
Then I got into the metalsmithing field (back in 1990), I had developed a metal forming 20 ton press that was a bench mount. Since I lived in an area of the county named Bonny Doon, I named my company Bonny Doon Engineering. It is possible that Bonnie (the jewelry side of Chuck) is familiar with it.
Several years ago, I sold off the business to a very good friend (Phil Poirier) in Albuquerque NM as I was having a harder time lifting the frames into the boxes, and also I was wanting to concentrate more energy into the saws.
Anyway, back to Rio Grande...they have been a major distributor of mine for a very long time, and have always given excellent support and service.
A few days ago, I got an email from a customer complaining that his saw had suddenly to start pulling to one side. After a bit of detective work, he confessed that he was using cheap blades (don't ask me why). Cheap blades do not haave the teeth ground in, but instead are stamped out using large punch presses that stamp the entire blade at one shot. As the punch starts to wear, a burr starts to develop on one side. That burr acts like a rudder, pulling the blade off line.
Jewelers blades do not have a "set" unlike wood cutting blades. If you have run out of good blades, and you need to finish that project, you can give your bad blades a lobotomy by using a pair of small diamond stones used for sharpening knives. Lay the blade in between the two stones and pull the blade through them a few times and you will remove the burr.

Lee (the saw guy)