Thanks Spence. I never got to use his Hegner and as a novice have never tried intarsia yet but will at some point. His machine is probably about 15 years old and pretty sure it came with the skate key originally...which is what he wanted. All I had to work from was an old picture I found of the original so the dimensions are likely off. The thing that I noticed is how little torque was required to hold the blade securely. I think the combination of the weight of mine and the design of the clamp helped with that and would not cause sore thumbs imho. T/palm-type handles are nice but think they would be harder to align without looking every time and on complex multi-hole projects would drive me crazier.

I do prefer the plain end blades but on thick cuts or metal the pin type flex less I feel. However the plain end blades are much harder to remove and secure on my inexpensive machine because of the design and access to the holders. I've modified my holders with some TLC and new swivel pins to reduce the slop which helps but it's definitely Not a Hegner Quality of machine for 1/10 the price. I can live with that for what I do. Here is one of my early pieces I made for my Mrs.

Click image for larger version.  Name: 1474334723600.jpg  Views: 278  Size: 52.2 KB  ID: 21126

Till Then, ~PJ