OT Lee Marshall 1935-2017

I believe his user name was oldster.Meet the Maker, Lee Marshall and the Knew Concepts Saw, Metalsmith BenchTalk Radio Interview on BlogTalkRadio.com

Bummer. I was going to visit his shop...

I bought one of the titanium birdcage saws and there was a problem with the bends cracking.
Mine slipped through quality control before they fixed the problem and Lee sent me a new one no questions asked promptly. Very nice gentleman. I'm sure he will be missed by all who knew him.

I never met him but I've seen high praise for the saws.

I'm not good at things like this, but good for him. He was still active on the forum until about 4 months ago and seemed completely cogent at age 82. That's an enviable outcome IMHO.

Was he Lee The Saw Guy before he changed to Oldster ?

3t3d said:

Was he Lee The Saw Guy before he changed to Oldster ?

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Yes he was. An admirable gentleman, and his products were first class!

3t3d said:

Was he Lee The Saw Guy before he changed to Oldster ?

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He always signed off as Lee the Saw Guy ,seemed like a nice fella. RIP

I was going to wait until Brian posted here officially before saying anything as there were business details that needed to be sorted but yeah, he unfortunately passed away Sunday before last.

He was one of the old guys who always had time to talk to me and help me out. Had a standing invite to his shop to ask questions and talk about the business and how to do things. Always supportive, and would also let me know when I was doing something the hard way.

Can't say enough about how great a guy he was toward me when he certainly had no reason at all to be. He will be sorely missed.

I will wait for Brian to fill in the details and business stuff.

Gonna miss him.

Paul B.

Dammit. This is really turning out to be a day of shite. Sorry to hear of this.

Zahnrad Kopf said:

Dammit. This is really turning out to be a day of shite. Sorry to hear of this.

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Me too...this is not been a great day, and Lee's passing makes it that much worse.

I was wanting to visit his shop and had exchanged a fair amount of email with him. I knew of his saws before meeting him here on PM, they were taking storm of the woodworking community that did hand tool work, for cutting out the waste between dovetails and other joinery.

Very nice guy, was very helpful here, and sure loved his Monarch 10EE.

A man with good taste!

R.I.P. Lee, you'll long be missed.

Lee was a fantastic guy, always interested in helping and improving wherever he could. His saws are great and I will think of him each time I pick one up. I understand Brian will continue the company.

He will be missed.

Bill

Hi guys,

This is Brian Meek, the other guy at Knew Concepts. Lee and I worked together for years to build Knew Concepts into what you see today.

To verify, Lee did pass away Sunday morning, June 25th, 2017, at the age of 81. It was cancer, and relatively quick, as such things go.
He passed surrounded by family.

He was the mad scientist, I was the CNC whisperer and production guy who had to figure out how to actually *make* what he cooked up.
It worked pretty well most days. The pleasure of blue-skying with someone you don't have to slow down for, or explain to can not be overstated, and will be deeply missed.
I had a production problem last week of the sort I would once have kicked around with him, and I think that's when it first hit me for real.
I think the denizens of PM are probably unique in their ability to understand just how much fun it can be to work together as a team with someone who's on the same wavelength, where your various differences in experience and background compliment each other. We filled in each other's blank spots, and were capable of some truly staggering synergies when it all worked right. He was a true friend, and will be missed.

The plan at this moment is for me to purchase the company, finish some of his last projects, then introduce some new toys of my own. We're still in contract negotiations, so nothing is set in stone, but that's the plan he had in mind.

His gear will be well cared for by people who know what it is, and value it. One of the last things I did at the end was put together a little Gerstner full of his manual measuring gear and other 'personal' tools for his grandson. He saw that, and had a chance to go through it with him to explain some of what was in there. His legacy will continue.

Actually, thinking of that, he was very well known in the jewelry/metalsmithing world as the originator of the Bonny-Doon line of hydraulic presses, and had a large number of close friends among the nationally known big names in the art jewelry world. Several of whom are coming together to make an urn for him, built largely with tooling he either made, or with his favorite personal gear from around the shop. Details on that as it firms up, but my bit of it will be to make the locking ring for the halves of the urn with his treasured 10EE.

Sic Transit Gloria Mundi
Brian Meek
Knew Concepts

Alberic said:

This is Brian Meek, the other guy at Knew Concepts. Lee and I worked together for years to build Knew Concepts into what you see today.

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Brian,

That's awesome. I never knew you worked with Lee. Seriously great product you folks came up with.

I make saws myself, but mostly joinery saws, and many people use your coping saws for joinery as well.

Glad that you will be carrying on the business!

Alberic said:

Details on that as it firms up, but my bit of it will be to make the locking ring for the halves of the urn with his treasured 10EE.

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Indeed he loved that machine. A man with good taste!