Andrew,

In addition to the other advice and links you've received, here's another
tip for you as an "amateur inventor": next time you have an idea, don't
broadcast it all over usenet (or anywhere else) - if it's a good idea,
someone will grab it and run with it so fast it'll make your head spin. Take
it in person to a few knowledgeable people and have them sign a
non-disclosure agreement beforehand.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-disclosure_agreement

B.

"Nobody" wrote in message
news
A few questions, as I'm trying to develop a new machine, and maybe a
little informal market research. (NOTE - I am NOT trying to sell anything.
I'm trying to develop this little machine in my own basement, and am a
LONG way off. I'm just trying to get a sense of what "serious amateurs" to
"smaller professionals" think of the idea.)

A) How much are y'all frustrated by the current situation -- that is, that
you need a jointer to flatten one face, and a planer to make the other
face flat-and-parallel to the first?

(And - you need two machines that do *just* about the same thing, but take
up 2x as much space, and one's heavy as heck, and both need their knives
sharpened and then adjusted.... Oh, and a jointer's usually 6" whereas a
planer's 12.5" or 13" -- unless you take the safety guard off the jointer
and do 2 passes....

(And, the planer snipes, and both of 'em scallop your wood...?)

B) What do you think about a single machine that'd look a lot like a
Performax-type drum sander, only about 1/2 to 3/4 size, that'd perfectly
flatten even a cupped/warped board on one side, then flip it and it'd
plane the other side perfectly parallel? No snipe, no scalloping. (And,
unlike a drum sander, a smoothly PLANED, not sanded (fuzzed,
micro-scratched) surface.)?

C) And, suppose it cost somewhere in the $250-450 range, and would do
boards up to about 13"?

Is that something people'd be interested in? Please help this amateur
inventor!

Thanks,
Andrew