I was really surprised to discover that the well-known quote that says “Necessity is the mother of invention” was made by Plato more than 2000 years ago. What surprised me was not who made the appointment, but the fact that the sentiment is still very true today.
It seems to me that almost every day we hear about some new product or “APP” that will make the world a better place. Among all these ideas, we will find some that are difficult to understand, some that have little personal usefulness or relevance, and some that seem to be just what we were looking for.
Like most inventions, there is always a story behind an idea, and this one is no exception. Lee Jesberger, a carpenter from Sewell, NJ, who runs a custom cabinet shop, accepted a contract to build some cabinets for a client. The contract required that the cabinets be constructed of cabinet-grade plywood. To build all the cabinets in this project, a total of 94 full-size plywood sheets would be required. Somehow, the day the cabinets were to be built, Lee ended up alone in the store.
Like most woodworking stores, Lee’s store has the normal variety of tools, including a table saw located in the center of the store. There was plenty of room around the saw to maneuver these 4 ‘x 8’ full size plywood blades. But, faced with cutting these sheets himself, Lee had no way to hold these sheets of plywood while they were cut to size. If you’ve ever tried to cut a single sheet of plywood yourself, you may appreciate the problem. You can use roller stands, but they must be positioned “like this”, or they will not catch the wood as it moves over the saw. And roller stands have a terrible problem of falling off if hit by plywood. This usually happens at the worst time, leaving you trying to support the full weight of the plywood blade so that it doesn’t fall or get caught in the saw blade and thrown at you, while at the same time being aware of the spin. . saw blade. Now consider having to cut 94 sheets this way. A better method was needed to hold the plywood on both the input and output feed side of the sheet. This could definitely be interpreted as a “Need”.
So this clever inventor-turned-carpenter set to work to build a better plywood support method on both the input and output feed sides of the sheet. He found that simply adding a fixed roller system to the input and output feed of the saw was not a good answer. The simple reason is that there are many times when you do not want or need the roller attached, so an easy installation and removal system was needed.
A little more tinkering with the idea produced another problem, the roller stands only work in one direction, forward or backward. What if you wanted or needed to move the plywood in a different direction? All of this led to the invention of the Ezee-Feed input and output feed system.
If I understand the story correctly, the first prototype of the product was not very attractive. It was made of wood that was available in the store. A few locally purchased parts were added to make it functional, but the bottom line is that it worked. Over time the wooden frame was replaced by a metal frame and some minor refinements were added, but the basic idea that started when you were faced with having to cut 94 sheets of plywood makes sense. Take a look at Ezee-Feed. I think you will be impressed with the need it produced!
I don’t think Plato could ever have conceived of modern woodworking technology, but I’m sure he would appreciate the concept. Necessity is the mother of invention.