There is a profession called a saw doctor. The job of the saw doctor is to adjust saw blades. Iwasaki Metate Kakousho is a place that is turning that field on its head. Let’s take a look at the man who shook up an old industry with some new ideas.
Interviewed by Takafumi Suzuki
Translated by Claire Tanaka
Most people aren’t that conscious of the fine points of lumber, are they?
Most wood used in Japan is processed in a sawmill before it is used as a material. The round trunks have to be shaped into a square to match people’s needs, so it’s obviously very necessary to process it. In the old days, carpenters used an adze to square off the logs. You could say that sawmills mechanized that process. Most wood used these days to build buildings and furniture is processed in a sawmill.
Mr. Iwasaki, tell me about the bandsaw. What is it exactly?
At this sawmill, we use what is called a bandsaw, and it’s a tool with a very odd shape. Like the name suggests, it’s shaped like a band, or belt, and it functions as a saw. People aren’t used to seeing this kind of tool, but it plays a great role in supporting their lives as a lumber processing tool.
I heard that there are craftsmen who specialize in using the bandsaw, now what kind of work do they do?
The band saw is attached to a bandsaw machine. This is a huge, very dangerous machine. The operator has to have a very high level of skill. In addition to the operator, there is one more person involved in turning raw logs into usable lumber. That’s the saw doctor, the one responsible for making sure of the accuracy and quality of the cuts. The saw doctor adjusts the blades on a six or seven meter bandsaw. He adjusts the heat tension and the strain, does maintenance, cleans the blades, shapes and sharpens the blade tips, tempers the blades and all that. It’s very delicate work. Not only is it very delicate, but the craftsman must be very skilled, and maintenance on one bandsaw can take up to four hours.
The job of a saw doctor is surprisingly deep.
Yes, I find it to be very interesting. The saw doctor has to know the special characteristics of each machine, and of each operator too when he’s adjusting the blade. Not only that, but he has to know what the bandsaw is going to be used for as well. You know, there is no bandsaw package system on the market now. Most items in the blade industry have become mass produced, but the sawmills have maintained this old-fashioned style.
What parts of the current system are problematic?
The most basic parts, the machine and the blades themselves have not evolved at all. So there are a lot of highly skilled craftsmen in this field. My father was one of them. You could say he was a celebrity in the field of saw doctors. But the work of a saw doctor, to use a rather harsh example, is that once a blade breaks, you’ve got to physically weld it back on. The field has been totally left behind when it comes to technical innovation.
So, relating to that, tell me about the tip-inserted Bandsaw that you’ve been developing.
My concept is for a replaceable saw blade tip. Up until now, we’ve used cobalt alloy tips that were welded on, then sharpened and adjusted. With this tip system, you don’t need to do that anymore. You don’t have to remove the belt from the sawmill, and the amount of effort required is greatly reduced. We use YSS steel which has two times better cutting ability than what we have been using up to now.
The tip insert invented by Mr. Iwasaki
Attaching a tip to a saw blade
Mr. Iwasaki, you’re not only a developer, you’re also the president of the company. How does your bandsaw development look from the profitability angle?
Currently, Japanese saw mills require 600,000 saw blades every day. That’s a huge potential market. However, the problem is how to make a business plan so that the costs can fit into budget. Right now, that’s what we’re putting most of our effort into. It’s a big market, but that also means that it won’t be easy to change it. Now, our biggest challenge is how to make a tip that cuts well for a minimal cost. It’s all very difficult, both the skill-level required and the accessibility of the steel we need. At first, I wanted to make something that no one had ever made before, and I got advice from a university professor who said “If you want to make an innovative product, look at the present.” I realized that the current technology we have is a result of natural selection and improvement, which has brought us to the ideal situation. It’s gathering attention form people all over the world. It’s my biggest wish now that we can further improve the technology.
Now I’m backing up a bit, but what was the reason you entered the saw doctor field?
My father was a saw doctor. But there were thirty years between the time I decided to become one and my father. He was a master, and I could never beat him in skill. But he took on this unprofitable job and he never tried to develop it into something profitable. So I decided I would have to do it differently. I asked my father to resign. I knew he was a master saw doctor, but time marches on. I felt that I had to outdo my father somehow. But he really was a master. He knows the saw and the sawmill very well. Even now, I go to him for advice all the time. I think that we still have to makek use of the experience the older generation has, even if the times have changed.
Iwasaki Metate Kakousho
Ro204-12, Ohda, Ohda-cho, Ohda-city, Shimane prefecture
Yoshihiro Iwasaki
Born in 1961 President of Iwasaki Medate Kakousho
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great article! what a clever idea to make removable saw blades.
Posted by: Lucymarie on July 27th, 2008 at 1:42 pm
Well I must say, as one who manufactures the saws, that removable tips is leaps and bounds ahead of anything else I have seen. Oh that, and the machine you have pictured is not where the logs are turned into lumber. That is a fitting machine, where the saw doctor(mills call them filers) shape, sharpen and adjust the kerf of the saw.
Posted by: Phil S. on June 18th, 2009 at 9:01 am
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Posted by: saifulloh on November 7th, 2009 at 10:56 pm
i OPERATE A MOBILE SAWMILL AND VERY BUSY THESE DAYS, WHERE CAN i GET THES ESAWBLADES WITH INTERCHAGABLE TIPS, PERHAPS THEIR IS AN ECONOMY OF SCALE FORR MW i USE UP TO 100 BANDS A YEAR AND RESHARP THEM APPROX 10 TIMES SO THIS IS 900 REHSARP @ 12$
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