My New Invention - Please let me know what you think

[simonjoy35]

Hello All
Like many of us i came up with an idea, and i decided to give it a go. I have had the technical drawings done, the worldwide patent is being applied for, and the prototypes have been made in China and i have tested these to ensure they work. You do not want to know how much this has cost already!!! But before i spend the last of my money, I NEED YOUR HELP.
I need to know what you think of this idea, please have a look at the link

http://www.testing.flashpimp.co.uk/imag ... tion-3.png

and this will explain a little. Nothing has been made yet, so you cannot buy but i need to know your thoughts, to see if you think it is a good idea.
The item is called SAWSAFE and it is to offer your fingers protection as you align the blade when you start to saw a new cut as well as being able to use this to mark the line and any angle you wish to cut, with a hand saw or a jigsaw etc.
Please let me know what you think, email [email protected] and if you want to see more pictures please let me know
THANK YOU for your help

 

[AndyT]

One obvious flaw is that when you have the saw at anything other than horizontal, (ie all the time) the left hand side teeth will rub against the device, scarring it, and blunting the teeth.

I expect others will point out more problems. Sorry to rain on your parade, but you did ask!

 

[matt]

I'm sure Wolf(?) used to make something similar, except the saw back ran in a vertical channel clear of the teeth.

 

[cambournepete]

Aren't there already gadgets out there that do the same, or at least a very similar thing?

If I'm using a handsaw I want to feel the blade to help me start the cut.
If I don't want that feedback I'll use a mitre saw - hand or power.

Personally I find gadgets like this get in the way more than they help and end up not being used and chucked in a corner somewhere to gather dust.

Sorry if that's not encouraging, but you asked...

 

[pedder]

Hi,

I would not buy one. It's my goal to saw along the drawn line and not with a jig. And I don't use dull saws, wich jump out of the cerve and hurt you.

That being said, I'm very sure there is a bi market for jigs like that. Sell it together with panel saw for 17.99 and it will make it's way.

Cheers Pedder

 

[wizer]

yep, sorry, it's a gadget. As an owner (and seller) of many gadgets, I can tell you this will probably do moderately well, but won't be a treasured tool. More like a use once, put it in the bottom of the drawer and forget about it.

Have you approached Rutlands? It might do well in their Dakota range?

 

[Doctor]

I'm out!!!

 

[woodbloke]

I'm out!!!

Me too...yet another gadget, in a saturated market of gadgets - Rob

 

[Ring]

I use the side of my thumb as a guide..
Jim

 

[Benchwayze]

Hi Simon,

welocme to the Forum..

If I was worried about cutting myself when startig a handsaw cut, then it's a bit late. I dare say most workers on this forum will have had this happen, especially with those 'stay-sharp' saws that can 'jump-start' easily. My solution, if I was going to bother at all, would be a chain-mail glove.

Sorry but you did ask. Maybe it will find a home with the occasional users.
All the same... Best of Luck

John

 

[barkwindjammer]

Go for it Simon, and pay no attention to the 'professionals', this is exactly the kind of product that makes a good buck, remember the 'dragons-den she-wee', still selling to this day, the world is full of cynics and not visionaries, hence guys like you make it, and the amateur 'smart-buttocks' buy the guff that you guys invent
:wink:

 

[jasonB]

Nobex already make something similar but with a magnetic fence and as I said to you on the other forum Topman do them for the japanese pull saws that will give compound mitres

http://www.dick.biz/dick/category/dickc ... detail.jsf

Oh and Veritas have one for dovetails

Jason

 

[OPJ]

I think it has an appeal to beginners and I bet it's more effective than the saw what the laser line :roll: that came out a couple of years ago! :wink:

 

[Thomas Hayman]

I'm left handed.

 

[ByronBlack]

Isnt it going to get massively scarred and scraped very quickly and damage the saws teeth? Or am I misunderstanding?

Go for it Simon, and pay no attention to the 'professionals', this is exactly the kind of product that makes a good buck, remember the 'dragons-den she-wee', still selling to this day, the world is full of cynics and not visionaries, hence guys like you make it, and the amateur 'smart-buttocks' buy the guff that you guys invent

What a load of 'guff' that paragraph is. He has asked for opinions, he has received them. No one is saying they are professionals, they are just giving their opinion of it, which I'd dare say represents a good section of the likely market that this gadget would be marketed to.

 

[Martin Cash]

Well, I think that it would likely be successful with a couple of modifications.
The problem of scoring by the teeth of the handsaw can be solved to some extent by offsetting the edge guide with a rebate at the bottom to accommodate the teeth.
Of course this will only work when the saw is completely horizontal.
Alternatively you could offer a simple snap-in sacrificial pad that is made of soft polypropylene or similar. Include four or five with the guide and market them also as after sales consumables. (probably sold as packs of 5). They should be as cheap as chips to have made.
Secondly it could also be offered in a left hand version if there was a big enough market for it.
I believe that this gadget will appeal to the dozens of weekend DIY-ers who don't use handtools much, and who will see it as an accurate aid to getting them started in a cut - particularly any angled cut.
Once started, the guide can be withdrawn and the cut continued without it, if desired, or simply left in place if the sacrificial pad is used. This would protect the guide edge when the saw is raised at an angle above the horizontal.
I don't see it being attractive to people familiar with handsaws and who use them all the time. That includes myself.
However I think that we are far outnumbered by those other folk who might well see this as an aid, and love the kinds of aids that they think will make them better woodworkers.
Good luck with it.
I think it is going to be a success.
MC

 

[matthewwh]

In all honesty your 'invention' isn't an invention, as previous posters have said it has been done before and been done better (the topman version is probably the best on the market).

What you do have a talent for is promotional writing, the blurb on the website is well researched and presented, if slightly over enthusiastic and optimistic. I would strongly recommend that you investigate this path before saddling yourself with a container full of saw guides.

 

[wizer]

http://www.dick.biz/medias/sys_master/7 ... E_D_en.pdf

 

[Martin Cash]

In all honesty your 'invention' isn't an invention, as previous posters have said it has been done before and been done better (the topman version is probably the best on the market).

Correct.
However this "new" one is going to be cheap to make and will be bought by people who would not consider a Topman.
A different market altogether.
MC

 

[matthewwh]

Technically its the cr&p end of the same market (tight people who don't yet know how to look into the side of the sawblade and read what's going on in the cut)

You have clearly invested a great deal of time, money and effort in this but it is a workaround for learning to do the job properly.

You are aiming at the thin end of a market that only exists because people lack some very basic information on how to use a saw correctly. I have taken complete sawing amatuers, put a decent saw in their hands and spent three minutes telling them how to use it properly and bingo, picture frame mitres to within a degree or so with no measuring. If you need a tighter fit than that then a shooting board will give you more accuracy than a saw guide ever will.

Trust me, it's a brilliant solution to a problem that doesn't exist, bin it but recognise that it was the vehicle that led you to the fact that you have a natural gift for marketing.