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Andrew Lunn of Eccentric Toolworks has removed some of the flourishes on his handsaws to speed up production. And he has reduced the prices of each of his saws by about $100 to reflect this.
Lunn says he will no longer hand-engrave the brass backs, nor will he hand-etch the sawplates or use a more time-consuming tinted shellac finish.
“A hundred bucks might seem like a big reduction, but these things were all very expensive to do, so now that I am not going to do them I want to pass the savings on to my customers,” Lunn writes. “The saws will still be easily recognizable as mine. The hand etching has been replaced by another more efficient method that doesn’t involve drawing the design in resist every single time. The scrolls on the handles stay. And the functionality, the soul of each saw, remains unchanged.”
The changes were not made to drum up business. Lunn has a year’s worth of orders right now. Instead, these details were the most time-consuming aspect of the production process and they did not enhance the performance of the saw.
I’ve been using a dovetail saw and carcase saw I purchased (at full price) from Lunn for several months now. After building a completely dovetailed five-drawer chest (with more than 140 dovetails), a couple schoolboxes (20 dovetails each) and an Aborted Chinese Stool (hmm that would make a good name for a rock band) I’m extremely pleased with all aspects of his saws.
There have been a lot of pixels spilled about the price of his saws. But I have yet to hear from anyone who has bought one, used it and disliked it. Almost everyone who has used my Eccentric saws has lusted after a pair.
You can read more about his saws and order one on his web site here.
– Christopher Schwarz
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Derek Lyons – perhaps these are questions for Andrew to address with current and potential customers?
Not sure why we need interweb consumer advocates taking him to task for problems they haven’t seen, based on facts they don’t have, regarding tools they aren’t buying.
I for one don’t see the real problem. I don’t seem to recall Andrew’s saws being lauded for their decorative qualities… not that they aren’t beautiful tools. From what I remember hearing, they were marketed for being very well made, and very efficient in use.
If some of the frills have to come off of the end product as a result of a hobbyist making the transition to full time professional production, well… worse things have happened.
Andrew, that sounds as if the customer has no choice – he ordered a more decorative saw, but will be billed for and shipped one less so.
Sean, I suspect that’s because doing so doesn’t save much money and can actually increase costs due to the need to track which saw is which and for who.
Aborted Chinese Stool…LOL
Thats my belly laugh for the day.
Thanks
Andrew,
Just a thought, but why not have a menu, where customers can pay x for the base model and more for each extra that they might want and you are willing to offer – different wood for the handle, more etching, etc.? Maybe that is what you are intending and I just missed it.
Good luck. Your saws are beautiful.
Hi there Derek Lyons. I don’t collect any money from customers until I begin work on their saws, so no one has paid in advance for these features. People who placed orders at the higher price will simply have the price adjusted.
Will customers get the saws they paid for? (That is, with the details he is trimming?)
If I were one of those backorders, I’d be very annoyed if I didn’t.
And I thought I’d be the only one to catch the Dave Barry reference!
Hi Christopher
I have Andrew’s carcase saw. It is simply the best backsaw I have used .. and I have a couple of excellent others to compare it with.
With regard prices of custom handsaws, I predict that the prices will double over the next year or so. That will not be inflation – that will be the sawmakers coming in line with custom planemakers with regard to dollar-for-time-expended. At this time I think that most sawmakers undercharge for their products. While part-timers can get away with this, it must be tough for full timers who rely on handwork to create their custom works.
I am, nevertheless, relieved that Andrew has reduced his price … since I have a dovetail saw on order (hopefully in time as a birthday present at the end of the year!).
Regards from Perth
Derek
Standing ovation for Andrew Lunn that has revoved a
hundred of dollars of things that did not enhance the performance of the saw.
Did you have to make that Dave Barry rock band comment? I inhaled half a twinkie and most of the coffee. The boss (next office) is getting suspicious – apparently ACCPAC isn’t supposed to be humourous.