Travis

We got 5! We're half way there! Who else can help? @Travis @Kris Martinson - Received @meflick @worbler - Received @Montserrat - Received

We have our first 4 in. Who else will join us in breaking the 10 designer mark? Here's who we have so far: @Travis @Kris Martinson @meflick @worbler

Those are cool ornaments. I've always liked those. Unfortunately, you can only share patterns you specifically designed yourself. Plus we'll need 5 original designs, otherwise it won't make it to the e-book. We've done it that way for the last 8 years. If you're able to scrape together 5 original designs, that would be awesome. If not, no worries. I know how busy it gets this time of year. That's a great idea. You'll have to sell the cuttings on your own and donate the money to your favorite cause. My folks do something similar. The stuff they make benefit's the Women and Children's shelter and an organization for At Risk Teens. This specific call is for designers creating 5 original ornament designs for an ebook. The idea is scrollers can download the ebook in exchange for a donation to their favorite charity. Scrollers that aren't designers prefer to help out in that way. You can check out last year's ebook and read a bit more about it here: http://www.scrollsawvillage.com/ornaments-for-charity/ I'll make an announcement when the new ebook is available (spoiler alert: usually Thanksgiving Day).

Thanksgiving was a big event in our family. All the grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and family friends would all come together and enjoy a carefully prepared meal together. But as a kid, I never enjoyed the holiday. We always went to my aunt’s house for Thanksgiving Dinner. She had no kids of her own, which means it was boring! But as I get older, I’ve learned to appreciate those days and now have many fond memories. It was an opportunity to take time out of our busy schedule, slow down, and enjoy our friends and family. So when I think of Thanksgiving, I think of family. This month’s scroll saw challenge is around the theme of “Family.” What does it mean to you? Post a pic of a scroll saw project that illustrates your love of family, friends and thanksgiving. When you do, write a little something about it. I really enjoy hearing the backstory behind these projects. Have fun!

Every year, we set a goal of getting 10 designers to contribute. We haven't made it to that goal yet. Last year we were sooooooo close and had 9 designers! Is this the year we break the 10 designer mark? I think we can do it. If we reach our goal, that means we'll have 50 new ornaments to add to our eBook this year. How awesome would that be? It's a fun way to do what you love and give back at the same time. You don't need to be an expert. We welcome everyone of all designer levels. I'm in, who else will join me?

Halloween is over and Christmas is right around the corner. Scrollers are starting to think about gifts and patterns to cut for loved ones. But since the Holiday season is also about helping others in need, we're continuing our tradition here at Scroll Saw Village as a way to give back. This will be our 9th year of publishing an e-Book full of Christmas ornaments. This popular e-Book was featured in the Holiday 2014 issue of Scroll Saw Woodworking & Crafts magazine. Our ornament designs are exclusive to this eBook and designed by SSV members. Anyone are can download the ebook in exchange for a donation to their favorite charity. Our hope is that we'd be able to raise some money for very worthy causes, and provide some cool patterns at the same time. *** But we need your help! *** I'll need some volunteers to design some ornaments. Each designer will provide 5 patterns (no more, no less) I ask that the designs are not made available anywhere else (this gives value to the e-book) They have to be designed specifically by you (no posting other people's patterns) Designs must be emailed (or PM) to Travis by Wednesday, November 21st (info below) A few things to keep in mind: Religious and secular designs are accepted. Other religions/traditions also celebrate this time of year, so lets not forget them. Keep detail and size appropriate for an ornament. Don't submit copyrighted or licensed patterns. The due date will sneak up on you quicker than you think. Get them to me ASAP. What do you get in exchange? Credit for your design. The warm fuzzy feeling that you're helping others in need. Submitting your ornaments: Email the ornaments directly to Travis (travis [at] scrollsawvillage.com) or PM me. Formats accepted are JPG, PNG. Please keep the pattern in black & White only (no gray) . That way I can convert them easier when putting together the ebook. I'll also accept Inkscape files (SVG). This is ideal if you know how to use Inkscape. That way I don't have to manually convert them.

I heard some sad news from a forum member that Homer Bishop has passed away. My heart goes out to his wife Carol and the rest of his friends and family. @Bishop has been a member of SSV since Oct. 2011. He was a very kind guy who loved sharing his expertise. His work is amazing and has been featured in SSW&C. He'll be missed.

Nothing has changed. It's just Google's new policy to put up a flag on regular HTTP websites. It switched about a month ago. Websites without an SSL certificate get that warning in Google Chrome. I'm going to switch it over soon. But work has been beating up on me for the last 8 weeks or so (hence why I haven't been as visible lately). If you're concerned about it, just put the S after HTTP and you can use the certificate I currently have. So our website would be https://www.scrollsawvillage.com. Unfortunately, as soon as you click a link, the S goes away and back to the plain HTTP. Once I get some breathing room, I'll switch it over sitewide. I just want to make sure that I have plenty of time to focus on it in case something goes wrong, I have time to fix it.

I love Halloween. It takes all my self control not to go crazy and buy all kinds of Halloween stuff. I'm not much into the gory, but I like the fun, spooky stuff. It's no surprise, this month's challenge is "Halloween." Post your Halloween themed finished project, or a pattern you designed here. The theme is open to interpretation. You can post something spooky, harvest, or fall related project. When you post it, say a little something about it. Maybe a little story related to the project, what inspiration you took, materials or techniques used. It doesn't have to be elaborate. But it's nice to read a little about a project and seeing the picture or pattern. For a little inspiration, here's the opening song "This is Halloween" from Nightmare Before Christmas.

This challenge spread over 2 months. I had a lot going on for September. And before I realize I didn't do a September challenge, I was almost 3 weeks in to September. Woops.

No problem with crossposting between sites. We don't require fidelity when joining SSV.

Howdy all. I'm going to bump this thread as a reminder about SSV's policy on political and religious discussions See first post in this thread for more details. We are heading into the mid-term elections in the US, and as always, things are getting more divisive by the day. Politics and religion is the quickest way to ruin friendships we tried so hard to nurture. So instead, we rally together around a common interest...scroll sawing. If you want to ruin friendships, Facebook is the place you want. If you want to talk about making sawdust, SSV is the place to be. Thanks everybody, for making this a Political Free Zone. Keep on scrolling!

@TerryC I experienced something similar. I bought mine from HD too. It came in and a lot of the bolts and nuts where strewn about the box. I found them all, so it wasn't a big deal. The finish on the table was similar to yours, but mine was on the side a little further up. I'll scratch it up eventually, so I didn't mind as much. My blade also wasn't centered in the hole. I'll try adjusting it this weekend. I do notice, that the motor slows once it hits wood, even if it's only 1/4" BB ply. Maybe this is normal, I just have to compensate my speed for the slow down. My craftsman didn't do that, so I thought it was a bit strange. I haven't had much time to play with it. I did notice that the blade was really aggressive. The rocking motion from front to back was quite a bit. So I loosened the bolts on the motor and rotated it as far forward (I think) and tested it. It was still too aggressive for my taste, so I moved the bolts to the next hole, then rotated the motor again. Now I like where it's at. Much easier to control. Here's a link to explain it a bit better: http://www.sheilalandrydesigns.com/articles/excalibur-tuning So far, I think I'm happy with it. It's going to take some getting used to, as it is different from my old saw. I need to catch my rhythm on changing blades. LOL. I might buy the Pegas blade holders, though.

I'd be sure to save them to your computer for sure. Outside of that, you can bookmark the thread in your web browser. That way you have a link back to your thread. If you're a SSV Patron, there's a bookmark feature built in so you can bookmark your favorite threads. It also allows you to organize your bookmarks however you want them. You can find the details here:

I ran into this very dilemma..Excalibur vs Jet. Spoiler alert; I went with Excalibur. Here's what went into my thinking: Jet is made by the same manufacturer the OLD Excalibur was. So I think it's safe to say build quality is good and uses many of the same design components as the old Excalibur. Jet makes great tools and I'd be happy with them, for sure. I think there is a bit of bad blood (for those in the know) for how Excalibur disappeared without word, then appears without much of a mention at a new manufacturing facility, acting as if nothing has changed (bad PR in my opinion). So I think people are a little unwary and suspicious about the build quality. The bad reviews I've read, it sounds like their customer service is pretty bad...mostly at getting tech support. I'm not sure if that's because of the company, or because Ray at Seyco has been so good at support and that has reflected back to Excalibur. Anyway, I hope Excalibur steps up their game. But as @Scrappile mentioned, it's still the same design, just a different factory. They've switched factories before without issue (Canada to Taiwan), so I'm guessing (& hoping) that it will be a superb saw still. Unfortunately, the new saw hasn't been on the market long enough for any track record. So time will tell. Here were my deciding factors: The blade on the Jet sits forward further than the Excalibur. Which means there is less surface area in front of the blade to control your work piece. This could be good on your neck/shoulders, but maybe not so good for controlling larger pieces. I don't like the clamping system on the Jet. The top clamp is pretty slick, but I don't like the bottom clamping system. You need to use a removable chuck for the bottom. It can be tricky to slide into place. It can be difficult to set the blade properly since there is no back stop to position the blade. And it's not good for top feeders. With that said, it probably won't take long to get used to it. If I decided to go with Jet, I'd buy the Pegas replacement jaws for the bottom, and maybe top holders. The Jet is a bit more expensive, especially if I'd replace the clamping mechanism to get the saw where I want it. Excalibur supposedly has poor tech support, now. I'm hoping I won't need it. I've been around the saws long enough, I don't think I'll need it. But if I get stuck, the fine folks at SSV know a lot more than me and always willing to help. Excalibur is sold by Home Depot. So if it's terrible, they have a good return policy. Just return it and buy a Jet (which they also sell). LOL I did buy the Excalibur from Home Depot. It's currently on the truck now, and I'll get it in a week or two (sooo slow...I've been spoiled by Amazon). So I can't say anything about build quality. But I'm hopeful. And it'll be a great upgrade from my Craftsman 16".

Well, I waffled back and forth, but I finally took the plunge. I ordered the Excalibur from Home Depot. HD has a pretty good return policy, so if it's really bad, I can return it. Plus, it's on Sale for $799, which is helpful to my wallet. No matter what, it'll be an upgrade from my 16" Craftsman scroll saw I bought nearly 10 years ago...LOL.

Huh...strange. Sometimes I use Acetone to do the same thing. I think Acetone is much more dangerous than mineral spirits, though. Paint thinner is the same as mineral spirits. I think pretty much anything used to clean brushes used in oil-based paints would work. Goo-Off also does a good job. All of these, I'd test on some scrap first to make sure it doesn't stain or leave a residue.

Awesome. I'll take another look at the Seyco. I think I'm about a month out from buying a saw, so I have time to read reviews and decide. Thanks all!

Staining would make it blotchy, I would think. I'd try it on some scrap first. You can clear coat it, add wax or even an oil finish (BLO). All of which darkens the MDF. I did that for my workbench and it looks nice. I can't remember the exact details, but I think I did 50% BLO and 50% Mineral Spirits. Then I added a couple layers, then added the wax to the top. For this piece, I'd skip the wax and maybe go with 50/50 BLO with an acrylic rattle can spray topcoat. MDF also takes paint nicely. The edges can be a bit challenging, though. Bu the smooth top surface works well.

I'm looking to buy new. I'm looking for the 21". I'd prefer to buy King, but they don't sell the 21" in the US. It sounds like they'll have one out shortly, though. I have an email out to Peter at King Industrial to find the timeline. Home Depot sells Excalibur 21", which is why I'm leaning that way. I can have it shipped to the store to pick up with free shipping. Plus, it's a pretty good price at $799 that includes foot pedal and stand. But since they disappeared for while without word and re-negotiated manufacturing facilities, I'm a bit hesitant. That's why I decided to ask if anybody has heard anything good or bad about the new set of Excalibur saws. I had another brainstorm on my way in to work today. I like Jet tools, but I'm not too fond of the blade changing system on their scroll saw. But, what if I buy the Jet and replace the head with the Pegas clamp? What are your thoughts on that?

Howdy All. I'm dangerously close to retiring my 16" Craftsman scroll saw and buying a new scroll saw. Fairly recently, Excalibur re-emerged on the market. Other than it being made in a different factory, has anybody had any experience or heard of anything worth noting on the new saw?

School starts in 3 or 4 weeks! Can you believe it!? What happened? Did your summer seem to go quicker than normal? Mine sure did. With school right around the corner, I thought a Back To School challenge would be fun. Make something for your kids or grand kids for school. Perhaps something for their teacher. Or maybe some learning toys for a school or preschool? Have fun with it and get creative. I can't wait to see what y'all come up with.

I think a lot of them buy their comic books from the comic shop. There's usually a bin of super cheap comics. There's nothing valuable in them (otherwise they'd pull the comic). Depending on the store, they're usually only a buck each. You can find some notable characters in there, they're just not notable comic books.