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Don’t Forget! You Saw it in the
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June 2022 #14275 Page #142
The Last Word on Sixty Years of Machines Joe Kannapell, P.E.
F
rom the quirky advance of truss machinery described in my Sixty Years of Machines series, one might conclude that we’re a quirky industry. We may be, but innovation in truss manufacturing is no different than advancement in U.S. industry in general. And, in fact, we are the epitome of innovation as described by economist Niall Ferguson: “(Innovation is) characterized by seemingly random mutation, occasional speciation, and differential survival… creative destruction.” To name only a few examples, that definition applies to us in these ways: Random Mutation (unpredictable changes that produce significant advantages) – •
Art DePauw’s saw with motor-driven angulation was a (superior) “mutation” of the hand-cranked saws of Clary and Idaco, stimulating Clary to develop the Master Saw and Idaco to create the International Saw.
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Jerry Koskovich’s Auto-Omni was a “mutation” of those saws and advanced the technology even farther.
Speciation (formation of a new “species”) – •
Linear Saw: Jim Urmson’s TCT saw inspired an entirely new series of cutters, and his method of feeding the saw with carts was adopted for the next big step:
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Lumber Retrieval: Steve Aylsworth created Wood Runner (now RangerRS) and changed the way that all saws are fed.
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