Today I took His Lordship and my Diamond fretsaw to Hinkley to meet Doug Woodward, the designer and manufacturer of the Diamond fretsaw. It was an absolute treat.
Doug is now an elderly but sprightly gentleman who works from a newly built timber workshop at the back of his semi-detached house. If the shop is 20' square, that's all it is. It's crammed with metal machining equipment including a Myford lathe. His wife started kidding him about how untidy the place was, but like all dedicated engineers, he knew where everything was in that shop.
We discussed fretsaws for quite a while and he had a quick look at mine before suggesting that I should leave it with him for a complete refurbishment. He couldn't say what was wrong with it at that moment, but he'd have a look and phone me later. I asked him if he could let me have a circle cutting jig and a Type 7 blade holder while he was about it. The Type 7 blade holder is particularly interesting because it was designed to meet the needs of blind scrollers!
Doug is now effectively retired and only produces a couple of saws a month. The days when he had a three storey factory producing the machines are now gone. He did try to take on a couple of apprentices so that he could pass on his skills to them, but they weren't successful. In fact, he described them as light fingered. Neither of Doug's sons are interested in taking over the business from him, both having careers outside engineering, so it looks as if Diamond saws will pass into history when Doug eventually shuffles off this mortal coil.
One tip Doug gave me for use with his plywood tables was to dust them with French Chalk, such as you get in bicycle tyre puncture repair kits. He says it helps the wood to glide more easily over the table whilst you're cutting it. I doubt this tip would work with most other scrollsaws which have metal tables, but I thought I'd pass it on in case anyone is working with a home-made wooden sub-table.
Doug also asked me to point out that details of his saws are online here.
It was a delight to meet an engineer who is so knowledgable and enthusiastic about his saws even after 30 years of making them. I learnt a lot about scrolling from him and I'm sure readers of a woodworking magazine would be fascinated if he was to be interviewed by a proper journalist (hint, Nick Gibbs
).
Gill
Doug is now an elderly but sprightly gentleman who works from a newly built timber workshop at the back of his semi-detached house. If the shop is 20' square, that's all it is. It's crammed with metal machining equipment including a Myford lathe. His wife started kidding him about how untidy the place was, but like all dedicated engineers, he knew where everything was in that shop.
We discussed fretsaws for quite a while and he had a quick look at mine before suggesting that I should leave it with him for a complete refurbishment. He couldn't say what was wrong with it at that moment, but he'd have a look and phone me later. I asked him if he could let me have a circle cutting jig and a Type 7 blade holder while he was about it. The Type 7 blade holder is particularly interesting because it was designed to meet the needs of blind scrollers!
Doug is now effectively retired and only produces a couple of saws a month. The days when he had a three storey factory producing the machines are now gone. He did try to take on a couple of apprentices so that he could pass on his skills to them, but they weren't successful. In fact, he described them as light fingered. Neither of Doug's sons are interested in taking over the business from him, both having careers outside engineering, so it looks as if Diamond saws will pass into history when Doug eventually shuffles off this mortal coil.
One tip Doug gave me for use with his plywood tables was to dust them with French Chalk, such as you get in bicycle tyre puncture repair kits. He says it helps the wood to glide more easily over the table whilst you're cutting it. I doubt this tip would work with most other scrollsaws which have metal tables, but I thought I'd pass it on in case anyone is working with a home-made wooden sub-table.
Doug also asked me to point out that details of his saws are online here.
It was a delight to meet an engineer who is so knowledgable and enthusiastic about his saws even after 30 years of making them. I learnt a lot about scrolling from him and I'm sure readers of a woodworking magazine would be fascinated if he was to be interviewed by a proper journalist (hint, Nick Gibbs
).Gill
