John Manura Biography.
I am a self-taught, lifetime woodworker. I began woodworking in high school and through college back in the 1960’s making furniture for myself, family, and neighbors. After making a number of projects, I determined that I was earning about 50 cents an hour. That's not very profitable. So I pursued my first career as a research chemist with the NJ State Police Forensic Science Bureau and then as the founder of Scientific Instrument Services -- which I ran for 38 years. I have continued to pursue woodworking as a hobby for more than 50 years.
I have used a variety of techniques in my woodworking hobby. For many years, I produced furniture. As a result, my shop is pretty well equipped with a wide selection of woodworking power tools. Over the years I have produced a dozen or more jigs for special applications on my table saw, band saw, table router, and disc sander. About eight years ago I started doing some Intarsia. Then in the past three years I have been doing a lot more wood-turning and a lot of segmented wood-turning.
I am a self-taught, lifetime woodworker. I began woodworking in high school and through college back in the 1960’s making furniture for myself, family, and neighbors. After making a number of projects, I determined that I was earning about 50 cents an hour. That's not very profitable. So I pursued my first career as a research chemist with the NJ State Police Forensic Science Bureau and then as the founder of Scientific Instrument Services -- which I ran for 38 years. I have continued to pursue woodworking as a hobby for more than 50 years.
I have used a variety of techniques in my woodworking hobby. For many years, I produced furniture. As a result, my shop is pretty well equipped with a wide selection of woodworking power tools. Over the years I have produced a dozen or more jigs for special applications on my table saw, band saw, table router, and disc sander. About eight years ago I started doing some Intarsia. Then in the past three years I have been doing a lot more wood-turning and a lot of segmented wood-turning.
Development of the Veneer Slicing Concept
In producing some of my projects, I had the need for some thin veneers that are thicker than the veneers commercially available. In cutting these veneers on the band saw, I encountered two problems: first my fingers were very close to the band saw blade, which made me quite nervous. Second, I always had to slice the wood 1/8” to 1/4" thicker than I needed so that I could run it through the planer or drum sander to get it perfectly flat with no saw marks.
In 2013, I designed my first prototype of a band saw jig for slicing veneers. I made an angle fence that used a miter bar channel that rode in the miter bar slot. This jig worked fairly well but the wood I was cutting was screwed to the fence, which meant that I wasted about 3/8” of the wood that I was cutting.
Over the next two years, I redesigned this veneer cutting jig three more times. Each new version built on ideas learned from the previous version. My final version used some linear guides and a rail and was adjustable and it worked quite well. About this time, I was doing a lot more segmented wood-turning and I found this jig to be largely useful. I did think that the design could be further improved if the components of the system were machined on some higher end equipment.
In producing some of my projects, I had the need for some thin veneers that are thicker than the veneers commercially available. In cutting these veneers on the band saw, I encountered two problems: first my fingers were very close to the band saw blade, which made me quite nervous. Second, I always had to slice the wood 1/8” to 1/4" thicker than I needed so that I could run it through the planer or drum sander to get it perfectly flat with no saw marks.
In 2013, I designed my first prototype of a band saw jig for slicing veneers. I made an angle fence that used a miter bar channel that rode in the miter bar slot. This jig worked fairly well but the wood I was cutting was screwed to the fence, which meant that I wasted about 3/8” of the wood that I was cutting.
Over the next two years, I redesigned this veneer cutting jig three more times. Each new version built on ideas learned from the previous version. My final version used some linear guides and a rail and was adjustable and it worked quite well. About this time, I was doing a lot more segmented wood-turning and I found this jig to be largely useful. I did think that the design could be further improved if the components of the system were machined on some higher end equipment.
Development of the Accu-Slice
In 2015 I took my veneer slicing concept to the engineers and machinists at Scientific Instrument Services. I worked with this team for several months making three additional prototypes of what has come to now be called the
“Accu-Slice” system. The machinists came up with the concept of the dial-in rotary system to determine the thickness of the wood being cut which vastly improved the use of the system. We also redesigned the carriage and rail system.
In the fall of 2016, we felt that we had a commercial product. We filed for a patent in October 2016 and I first presented this product at the Buck’s Woodturners meeting. I received a lot of positive feedback from the woodturners at this meeting and as a result, decided to make the “Accu-Slice” a commercial product. We first introduced it at the Somerset, NJ Wood show in February 2017. We demonstrated the Accu-Slice at several additional wood shows including the AAW meeting in Kansas City. Sales of the “Accu-Slice” exceeded my expectations.
In 2015 I took my veneer slicing concept to the engineers and machinists at Scientific Instrument Services. I worked with this team for several months making three additional prototypes of what has come to now be called the
“Accu-Slice” system. The machinists came up with the concept of the dial-in rotary system to determine the thickness of the wood being cut which vastly improved the use of the system. We also redesigned the carriage and rail system.
In the fall of 2016, we felt that we had a commercial product. We filed for a patent in October 2016 and I first presented this product at the Buck’s Woodturners meeting. I received a lot of positive feedback from the woodturners at this meeting and as a result, decided to make the “Accu-Slice” a commercial product. We first introduced it at the Somerset, NJ Wood show in February 2017. We demonstrated the Accu-Slice at several additional wood shows including the AAW meeting in Kansas City. Sales of the “Accu-Slice” exceeded my expectations.
Development of the Accu-Wedge, Accu-Slot, Accu-Sled, and Accu-Path
In the past ten months, I designed and developed a number of accessories for the ”Accu-Slice”. I wanted to use the Accu-Slice rail and carriage concept to enable other techniques to be used on the band saw. The band saw is safer than cutting on the table saw and it also wastes a lot less wood due to the narrow kerf of the band saw blade. The Accu-Slice rail and carriage system also permits very smooth cuts.
The first accessory carriage that I developed was the Accu-Wedge. It enables the cutting of the wedges used for making segmented wood projects. My first prototype used the Wedgies which were designed for cutting the segments on the table saw. This first prototype worked pretty well. It was much safer and wasted a lot less wood than cutting the wedges on the table saw. When I took this concept to the machinists in our machine shop, they came up with the concept of the auto-indexing system, which eliminated the need for the wedgies. We made some additional changes to finalize the design and introduced the “Accu-Wedge” at the Kansas City AAW meeting.
The machinists came up with the concept of the “Accu-Sled” flat plate carriage. The design included a number of channel slots and tapped holes in the flat plate carriage for the attachment of clamps or jigs for special applications. This flat plate carriage was used to develop the prototype of the Accu-Slot. I will be working on some additional applications of this jig in the near future.
The Accu-Sled was used to design a jig for cutting the angled slots to produce Celtic ring patterns in my finished wood turning projects. I had made Celtic ring patterns in the past, but I found it to be quite dangerous when cutting the slots on the table saw or the radial arm saw. Again, I made a prototype in my home shop and then took it to our machine shop to finalize the design. We introduced the final version of the “Accu-Slot” at the Kansas City AAW meeting.
I had made a laser-line beam to project the path of the band saw blade on my band saw. I made this to help me in cutting the wedges with the “Accu-Wedge”. I took this crude version of the laser beam line to the Kansas City AAW meeting. Numerous woodworkers saw this laser beam and asked about getting one. As a result of their inquiries, I added the “Accu-Path” band saw laser to the Accu-Slice product line.
In the past ten months, I designed and developed a number of accessories for the ”Accu-Slice”. I wanted to use the Accu-Slice rail and carriage concept to enable other techniques to be used on the band saw. The band saw is safer than cutting on the table saw and it also wastes a lot less wood due to the narrow kerf of the band saw blade. The Accu-Slice rail and carriage system also permits very smooth cuts.
The first accessory carriage that I developed was the Accu-Wedge. It enables the cutting of the wedges used for making segmented wood projects. My first prototype used the Wedgies which were designed for cutting the segments on the table saw. This first prototype worked pretty well. It was much safer and wasted a lot less wood than cutting the wedges on the table saw. When I took this concept to the machinists in our machine shop, they came up with the concept of the auto-indexing system, which eliminated the need for the wedgies. We made some additional changes to finalize the design and introduced the “Accu-Wedge” at the Kansas City AAW meeting.
The machinists came up with the concept of the “Accu-Sled” flat plate carriage. The design included a number of channel slots and tapped holes in the flat plate carriage for the attachment of clamps or jigs for special applications. This flat plate carriage was used to develop the prototype of the Accu-Slot. I will be working on some additional applications of this jig in the near future.
The Accu-Sled was used to design a jig for cutting the angled slots to produce Celtic ring patterns in my finished wood turning projects. I had made Celtic ring patterns in the past, but I found it to be quite dangerous when cutting the slots on the table saw or the radial arm saw. Again, I made a prototype in my home shop and then took it to our machine shop to finalize the design. We introduced the final version of the “Accu-Slot” at the Kansas City AAW meeting.
I had made a laser-line beam to project the path of the band saw blade on my band saw. I made this to help me in cutting the wedges with the “Accu-Wedge”. I took this crude version of the laser beam line to the Kansas City AAW meeting. Numerous woodworkers saw this laser beam and asked about getting one. As a result of their inquiries, I added the “Accu-Path” band saw laser to the Accu-Slice product line.
Formation of the Accu-Slice Company
In August 2017 we split the Accu-Slice product line and formed a new company which is called “Accu-Slice, LLC." In forming this new company, we have included the engineers and machinists who were all instrumental in developing the “Accu-Slice” product line as partners of this new company. Each of these individuals contributed invaluably to the design of the product line and the product would not have been a success without the input of each one of them.
The Accu-Sice Development Team and Partners of Accu-Slice, LLC
In August 2017 we split the Accu-Slice product line and formed a new company which is called “Accu-Slice, LLC." In forming this new company, we have included the engineers and machinists who were all instrumental in developing the “Accu-Slice” product line as partners of this new company. Each of these individuals contributed invaluably to the design of the product line and the product would not have been a success without the input of each one of them.
The Accu-Sice Development Team and Partners of Accu-Slice, LLC
John Manura
Christopher Baker
Tom Coughlan
Daniel Niedziocha
Daniel Lieske
David Manura
Christopher Baker
Tom Coughlan
Daniel Niedziocha
Daniel Lieske
David Manura