Vector01

Hi All: The timing on the GIMP tutorial worked out great. I recently received my grandson's baseball card from his little leauge team. This would be a great opportunity to try my hand at creating a pattern using GIMP. After many hours...This is what I have so far. After some final touchup and a few printouts...Off to the saw! [attachment=1]card web.jpg[/attachment] [attachment=0]bb card3 web.jpg[/attachment]

Hi All: I thought I would see if there was anything I could do about the vibration in my Hitachi CW40 scroll saw at full speed. I had posted my initial thoughts on this saw a while back. http://www.scrollsawvillage.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=355 All in all the performance was good and I've had no major problems with it. Since I like to tinker with anything mechanical, I pulled out the parts diagram and took a look see. I checked the motor mounting screws and they were all tight. The uppper and lower arm pivoting pins seemed to be tight and lubricated. The upper and lower arms did not show any unusual lateral movement. The tensioning mechanism at the rear of the saw is pretty much unaccessible unless you want to tear down the saw case, so I left that alone. The last area that I thought could cause this problem was the lower arm assembly. I noticed that the connecting cam/eccentric was 3/8" of and inch forward of it's most rearward position (not sure if this is the correct name for this part) on the drive shaft. [attachment=0]100_1084.JPG[/attachment] I ran the saw from zero to full speed and noted when the vibrations started. Loosening the set screw, I set the cam to the rear (closest to the motor) retightend and ran the saw again. The vibrations were reduced. I continued this process until I found the sweet spot. For this particular saw I found the vibrations at full speed had been reduced by half when I set the cam approximately 1/8" of an inch from it's most rearward position. I would suggest using caution when making any "non factory" authorized adjustments to your saw. You could void your warranty and possibly cause damage to your saw. For me this adjustment helped for this saw.

Looks great!! That wood really makes it stand out. I can see some serious clear coating on that piece. With that intricate wood pattern I think a frame wood take away from the natural beauty of the wood.

That turned out great!! The case adds to the work nicely.

That's cool!

Nice!!!

This is my first pyro/scrollsaw combo. I used 1/4" poplar laminated with 1/8" walnut for the frame. The dragon was burnt on 1/4" poplar and fit to the frame. I used a simple "line shading" technique for the detail on the dragon. [attachment=0]dragweb.jpg[/attachment]

Those are Kool!

Great work!

On my last piece the pattern had been on the wood for three days. Needless to say I had problems removing the pattern. I had read about using thinners and Goo-Gone to loosen the paper. Unfortunately all I had was some alcohol wipes. I wet the pieces of paper with the wipes and let them sit about 30 seconds or so. The pieces came off with no problems and left no glue residue. I let the alcohol evaporate and gave the wood a final sanding/clean up. There was no bleed thru of the ink from the pattern to the wood with the alcohol.

Had some scrap pieces and made a pen holder. [attachment=0]pen setweb.JPG[/attachment]

Thanks...Yes the burn pattern was one I designed.

Those bikes are great! Watch out...The boys at Orange County Choppers will be copying your design.

Great job!

I made this one based on a woodburning I did last year. Cut from 1/4" birch plywood. Used a 2R blade for the facial details and a 5MS for the remainder. Finished size is 8.5 X 11 inches. I want to give a Big THANKS to Christina for taking the time to look over and offer corrections to my initial pattern The transition from creating a burning pattern to a scrollen pattern can be a bit frustrating I'm getting it slowly but surely I've included an original pic of the woodburning for comparison. I'm still working on the "less is more" mindset when creating scroll patterns...I'm working on that too [attachment=1]buck country web.jpg[/attachment] [attachment=0]buck frame1.jpg[/attachment]

This one was on the fly I just received my wood from Sloane's the other day so I'll have more variety for my next project. I also picked up a plunge router for my dremel tool. I can already see some panel inserts and routed bases for future projects. I really need to stop reading these posts...They're great ideas but It's costing me a fortune

Hi All: Well...Taking the suggestion about making a lamp from the goldfish piece, here it is. Since I didn't have a plan for it it was an on the go construction. I thought that I would continue the goldfish theme for the sides. I picked up a sheet of red acrylic and used that for the inside. Added a low wattage bulb and candelabra fixture and hoped for the best. Pulled out the palm sander cleaned it up and then added a couple of coats of paste wax for protection. The picture is not the greatest. Photography is not one of my strongpoints. [attachment=0]lmp5web.JPG[/attachment]

The saw came with a light, blower and stand. I removed the hold down (too big). I removed the bracket for the light and blower which allowed me to reposition both. I replaced the cheapo bulb that came with the light with a better one. They both work great now. I had a foot switch from my old saw. I had to cut the stand legs down 3 inches to allow for the height of the casters which I added. Unfortunately I don't have a spare room so I do all my cutting in the kitchen. The casters are great when the saw has to be moved around when company comes or for cleaning. I removed the plastic side cover on the saw. Makes it much easier to get at the lower blade holder. My vacuum connection is on the opposite side so there's no problem connecting the vacuum. I use a mini shop vac which takes care of dust collecting. I made a quickie blade holder which also holds a few tools I use the most with the saw. [attachment=0]SAW2WEB.JPG[/attachment]

Yep...Olson blades from Sloane's. For the remainder of the pieces I switched Olson to double-skip tooth blades that lasted much longer.

Yep...The desire to do the piece is half the battle. Trying new designs is fun and great practice. I've done a few commissioned pieces (pyrography) and found it goes from fun to a chore real quick. As far as patterns...I've found Inkscape and GIMP to be great for creating your own patterns (free software). Travis has some great tutorials to get you started. Have Fun!

Hi All: Nice design on the arm lift mechanism. Got the casters today (with the locks). It will be interesting to see if it changes the vibration dampening. All I need now is a steering wheel and I can drive it around town

Oh hell ya!!!! Oops...Heck ya!!!

Great work! You have a lot more patience than I do! I did 80+ and thought "never again."

That's cool. I need some casters for sure!

Looks great! Colors work well.