greasemonkeyredneck

It definately sounds like the table is not square to the blade. It also sounds like a problem we've all had at one time or the other. So, I don't think it's you. There are already some good suggestions here for squareing the blade. The only thing I can add is that to be sure to get that blade square before doing any kind of stack cutting. If you don't, you'll get a big nasty surprise, like I did. Also, once you get the blade square, never assume it will always stay that way. You have to check it from time to time. The vibration of the saw will get it out of wack from time to time. One thing you can do is this. Most saws have an arrow on the bevel guage that is adjustable. Once you make SURE it is square. I put some epoxy on the back side of the arrow and screwed it back down. That way I know for a fact that from now on the arrow on zero truly means zero.

My Last Supper portrait takes around twelve straight hours at the saw. Thats only stopping to make a cup of coffe or going to the restroom and getting right back to the saw. I done a showpiece rocker called the Armored Horse that took an estimated time of around 200 hours. My chandelier took about 125 hours, and that's only because I was able to stack cut most of it. Stack cutting really has cut down on my time on some projects. Before I got good at that, you wouldn't believe some of the time I've taken on some things. I'm also impatient, and I love the bigger projects. That's why though that some of the bigger one's translate to me spending very long hours in the shop at one time. One of my favorite projects is my rocking motorcycle. With my various health problems, I don't dare start one unless I'm felling extra good. It takes well into forty hours to complete and I usually do it in around three days.

I'm so glad I can laugh at this. No, I have eight kids, but all of this are well past the need for cradles now. My youngest will be going into the second grade this coming school year. I do build everything though so that whoever BUYS it can pass it down. I have put some thought though into what to build one of these out of when my first grandchild comes along. I have a few slabs of mahogany hidden that would be extra nice. The mother rocking the cradle is the exact reason for the dowel that runs parallel to the side. That is on there to put your foot on and push up and down to rock the cradle. The pendulum idea sound good, but this is a sort of classic, or basic design. I would have to make a secret compartment to put something like that on it. It's already a fairly heavy piece of furniture, so I don't want to add more weight to it. I usually use a Delta scroll saw. My old Craftsman you here so much about though is one I picked up at a yard sale for $25. It only uses pinned end blades. The blade holder though has slots to turn the blade sideways though. That makes it great for large projects like this. You can use it sort of like a mini band saw, but with a much smoother cut. I also love doing projects like this and letting some people wonder how in the world I done it on the scroll saw. Its amazing what can be done with a scroll saw simply by thinking outside the box. A fellow scroller one time told me the biggest project I could do was 16". It blew his mind when I said NO, I can do projects up to 32" and bigger than that if the center cuts don't go to the middle. He understood after some demonstrations and quite a bit of head scratching. With a spiral that will reach half way into a 32" project, which of course allows you to do it with a 16" throat, and my antique Craftsman with the sideways blade trick, I can do all kinds of amazing things. Here's a trick for those that don't have an old Craftsman Direct Drive like mine. With a flat blade chucked into your saw grab the blade just above the bottom clamp and just below the top clamp with two pair of pliars and twist your blade sideways. Then you can cut like I do on my old Craftsman. Although I don't have to do this, I did cut a project a while back like this just to see how it worked. While it isn't as good on straight lines as my old CM, it does do amazingly well. Now I can't take credit for the idea though. I read about it over on Rick Hutcheson's site at http://www.scrollsaws.com/ . It's a great site. I learned a lot from that site when I first started scrolling. If I couldn't figure something out, I went and watched his how-to videos. As for your question about the cottonwood. It is a great scrollers wood. It's light, strong, planes easy, takes stain and paint well, cuts easily, and for me, it's free. The only thing about this wood is for me that you I get it 3/4" thick. If I want to plane any much thinner than that I can't do it until I'm absolutely ready to use it. Then after cutting it, make sure you have it glued down to something, like in a frame or something. You can't use it for anything that is flat and unsupported in any way. Like on this cradle for example, the squareness of it supports each side. Unsupported, it warps worse than any wood I've ever worked with. I keep it in large stacks, with spacer in between each few sheets and the very top pieces weighted down with some large pieces of oak.

The debate between entry level and top of the line saws is like the old Ford versus Chevy debate. You'll get a million different veiws. Let me tell you this. Do what makes you happy. A lot of people make beautiful projects for years on entry level saws. Some people would die by their faith in a saw that cost a grand. Some of us stick with the entry level because that's all we can afford. Scrolling is a hobby. If you're happy, then the saw is doing its job. As for me, the Delta that is my saw of choice (I have five different saws) is what is considered an entry level saw that was bought on sale for $59, and you are welcome to go to my blog and see some of the projects I build. I'm not familiar with either saw you mentioned. I learned to scroll on a Ryobi. That saw was a piece of crap. Of course, I didn't know that until I got my hands on a better saw. The odd thing is, the better saw cost less than the Ryobi. Anyway, I'm glad I learned on the piece of crap though. After spending that time sawing while trying to chase the saw because it vibrated so bad, then I felt I could cut anything after I got a saw that actually stayed in one spot. By the way, I didn't give up the Ryobi because I felt I could do better on a different saw. I gave it up because everything was loose on it. I'd just about wore it out. After I gave it too my sons, in less than three months, it gave up the ghost completely.

I always tape my wood and then apply pattern. I've never gotten the knack for sprayin the right amount to where I wouldn't ruin my project trying to get the glue residue off. The tape barrier solves all this. However, I make sure I don't buy the cheap tape at the dollar tree anymore. It left worse residue than the glue. The duck brand painters tape at wal-mart runs me about three bucks and even when I'm able to cut every day, the most I've ever used was two rolls in a month. As for the glue, I have probably thirty dollars worht of different adhesives over at the shop right now that I've bought at different times trying to find a cheaper alternative to 3M Super 77. There's always something one way or the other I don't like about them though and I wind up going back to the supper 77. So, I've given up and just use what I like. I few extra bucks here and there to me is well worth having the confidence while cutting that my pattern will stay when I want it to stay and come off when I want it to come off. I don't know about over there, but here in the U.S., I'd suggest trying Harbour Freight. Every time I go to Jackson I buy all the Gorilla Wood Glue and 3M Super 77 I can afford from there. They both run about 3/4 the price of what I can buy it for locally. I pick up all I can because it's 45 miles between me and the harbor fraight. I don't get ther as often as I'd like.

Now before anyone yells at me for this not being a scrollsaw project, all cuts except the slats for the canopy onlay were made with a circular saw and my trusty old craftsman scroll saw. As a matter of fact, all the curves you see on this cradle were made with a scroll saw. The very center of the rocker curve had to be fudged using a spiral blade, but a scroll saw it was. The slats for the canopy had to be done on my table saw to get the correct bevels as straight a possible so there would be no cracl after the lengthy sanding to get the smooth round contour. It is made of cottonwood and stained dark walnut. The bottom, where the baby lies, measures 16x32". The last photo shows detail of the inlaid top for the canopy.

They're in Wal-Mart near the irons, sewing machines, and such. The foot switch you have is actually made for a sewing machine. Nowadays, most sewing machines come with a foot switch. Years ago though, when it was a new idea, the sewing machine foot switch was an optional accessory you could buy. I checked. The Wal-Mart here doesn't carry them, but they can order it if I wanted. The sewing machine foot switch will work great, with only one problem. Most of them are not sealed like the scrollers foot switches. The reason this is a consideration is that as a scroller, we deal with sawdust. Sewing machines aren't used much around such flameable things such as sawdust, so they weren't sealed. This isn't a problem. Just from time to time, either blow the dust out of the switch with an air hose. If you don't have access to an airhose, then unoplug it, turn it every wich away while shaking it and get the sawdust out. No big deal. I can't guarantee this is the case with your foot switch. You'll just have to check it out. There's two sewing machine foot switches here that I just went and checked. My grandmother's from years ago, it's not sealed. My wife's sewing machine switch, which is much newer, is sealed.

Thanks for the kind words. I'd never heard of the Wal-Mart classifieds untill now. However, I went to the site and found a few of my listings anyway. They are somehow connected with Craiglist where I normally list my woodwork at. Advertisement isn't the only problem here though. As some already know, Mississippi is a very poor state anyway. I've talked with a lot of people around here and I'm not the only one lacking customers, from all kinds of businesses. Actually, I'm lucky that my work is hobby based and not my means of paying bills. Business will eventually pick up, I think the Lord is going to provide for the folks that actually need it first though. While income from my hobby is thrilling, it's not actually a need exactly but more of a real bad want. Besides that, with no more work than I've been able to do in the recent months, it's probably better that business is bad anyway. I know that sounds crazy saying that a lack of income is a good thing, but here's an example to put it in perspective. I build a rocking train that I call a Rocking Iron Horse. I normally complete one in three to four days. Right now, I almost have all the pieces cut out for one and the train assembly is about half compete. I started it three weeks ago. I've only been able to manage ten to thirty minutes of work at one time and only here and there at that. Every step feels like the tendons in my back are being ripped from the spine. Please, no pity. I'm not complaining. I'm saying that I'm blessed to have the shop that allows me to work whenever I can without pressure. I also want to remind everyone out there that enjoys this hobby of an often forgotten little gift that a lot of you have, the ability to work at your hobby. Even in my condition, the Lord has blessed me with all these days that I can't work with all this time to sit, with nothing to do, and watch my little ones. For the rest of you that are able, you are blessed too and some of you probably never think about it. I'm sorry for my rambling. I hope it inspires someone though to get in the shop today and build something. I also hope it makes someone in the near future to pass this gift we've been given to someone younger by getting them interested in what it is that we do.

I'm afraid it was one of those things I done because I wanted to do it. I haven't sold the first piece of work in a while now. Things are bad here in Mississippi. Things aren't selling and the few interested people I've had are offering prices that are way lower than I'm willing to take for my work. I'm always ready to negotiate in hard times, but I'll be #$@% if I'm going to practically give my work away. On top of that, I've kind of went downhill on my health lately, hence the reason there hasn't been much work posted by me. I've been down before though. I'll push through. I'll eventually get more shop time in. The economy will either get better or handmade woodwork will get so rare that it will pull a premium price. Either way, things will get better eventually.

I finished this several weeks ago. I was looking through things and realized though that I never posted it on the Village. I'm sorry. This is Bessie The Cow. Unlike most of my projects, everything except the rocker assembly on this project was painted. Pink for the udders and insides ears and then black and white for the rest of her. After two (three in some places) coats of paint, everything, including the rocker, got two coats of shellac. I cut this, like a lot of my bigger projects on my old Craftsman scroll saw that takes pinned blades. The blade holder though has two different holes on the top and bottom. You can cut like most scroll saws, or you can turn the blade sideways and use it almost like a bandsaw. Now most of these rocking toys I make could be cut on my bandsaw. I have found though that the old Craftsman cuts cleaner and take the tighter curves much better than any bandsaw I've ever owned. True, it is quite a bit slower than the bandsaw, but I have found from experience that taking the extra time on cutting is more than made up for when it comes to the sanding, and on projects like this cow, there's plenty enough sanding to do without creating more for yourself by making bad cuts and burn marks with a bandsaw. This side cutting technique really helps. For those that don't have a saw like that, there is another way to do it. I've tried this on my Delta, and it works good. You chuck up a blade to cut with. Then, with two pairs of pliers, grab the top and bottom, next to the blade clamp, and bend the blade sideways. While I'd wish I could take credit for comeing up with the idea, I didn't. I read about it on Rick Hutcheson's website.

About ninety percent of the wood used on my projects is recycled. It is wood panels they reject from a local company. They put them on the lot for anyone to get. Most people use it for firewood, but I use it for my projects. The kicker is that the company I get it from is a casket company.

The Dome Clock from Wildwood Designs. I want to make the two back to back that looks like the complete building with the additional Dome clock stand, which would put the clock at nearly six feet tall.

I finally finished it and named it The Red Baron. It is 54" long with a 53" wingspan. It is made of cottonwood and is painted with Rustoleum (two coats) so it can stand up to the weather. The control stick works by a pulley system so that when the child moves it, the plane moves side to side, front to back, or a combination of the two. I had a lot of fun with this project. The curved pieces were cut on my Craftsman scroll saw with the sideways blades slot. It was tough though because I'm not used to cutting pieces this size on the scroll saw. I had to use roller stand under the wings, for example, to keep them up level while cutting. While a fairly simple project, it challenged me just because of the size of it. I have a messed up back. Every time I got ready to move it, flip it, or pretty much do anything with it, I had to call over to the house to get help over to the shop.

Thanks for the input. My love is doing kid's toys that are out of the ordinary. I also get a kick out of doing things like this that most people think can't be done on a scrollsaw. There's a trick to it though. I have an advantage over most. I have an old Craftsman direct drive. It uses only pinned end blades, but it's got the slots to install the blade sideways. Thereore, I can basically use my scrollsaw just like a bandsaw. Actually, according to the plans, a bandsaw is what is supposed to be used for this project. However, I have found I can get much cleaner and accurate cuts with my scroll saw. Makes for a lot less sanding. These type projects require enough sanding without creating more. For any of you who haven't already, go to my user gallery and check out some of my past projects. You've heard of a rocking horse? Well, I don't make those. I do however make a rocking motorcycle, pig, train, and tractor. Stay tuned. I just recieved plans to make a rocking cow and a bull. I'll try to do a complete tutorial on one of these.

I sold my rocking pig, Poke Chop, at Christmas time. He got such good reviews here locally that I wanted to make another one. This one is very similar to the last one. The greatest exceptions is that I painted the insides of the ears and nose pink, and instead of my usual stain, I used shellac. For those who haven't seen this one before, yes, the whole thing is cut on the scroll saw. The only exception is the thick side of the compound cut for the ears.

While I'm certainly not a new member, I have been away for so long that I thought it appropriate to post in this section. No, I haven't dropped off the face of the earth or nothing like that. I have missed you all though. My latest woodworks have been out of the shop. I recently completed building an office inside a furniture store for a lady. Now I'm in the process of building her some desks to go in that office. After that, that same lady's mother has a door for me to work on. While I have thoroughly enjoyed doing these jobs, I looked over at my scroll saw the other day and it looked so lonely. I hope to get back on it soon. As soon as I do, you know I'll post photos. I'm sorry I haven't been on. With all these bigger jobs (most of you know about my bad health), I've been entirely too tired to even be online nearly as much as I used to. I hope everyone is doing well though and I look forward to talking again real soon. HAPPY SCROLLING!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My saw of choice is the Delta SS250. I have two of them now. The first thing I do to a new one (this model) though is to remove the screw and thumb nut on the top quick clamp and trash it. Then I take a machine screw and grind the head flat on opposing sides to fit the blade holder. I use a wing nut on the other side. It works great. Now from time to time, the machine screw will bend and break, but it does last muchlonger than the screw that came with the saw. Because of this, I keep several spare screws on hand. All that being said, if I had the budget for the Dewalt, I'd jump on it in a heartbeat.

I use almost exclusively FD#3 spirals for my portraits.

My favorite is mahogany. A plus to that in reference to the free side is that I have plenty of mahogany that I got for free. The wood cuts easily with little to no splintering like plywood does so often. Then, after cutting, it (IMHO) is one of the most beautiful woods that God ever created.

Do yourselves a favor and check with store owners about "dumpster diving" in their dumpsters. I know that here where I live, the local authorities will try to cook your goose for Christmas if you check dumpsters without permission. I've come close to getting into hot water a few times. I really didn't see the problem myself. As long as you do things safely, it seems to me they'd be glad that you're recycling, with everyone wanting to "go green" these days.

Hello all! It's been a little while. My saw has been mighty lonely. Since most everyone here knows some about my various health problems, I won't bore you with the details. The extra work I put into getting my new vehicle running kind of put me out for a bit. I'll try and get back on the sawhorse after the first of the year. In the meantime, I did get a short custom order that I'd like to share. A bus driver for my kids wanted a motorcycle and tractor portraits for last minute Christmas presents. Luckily, as I didn't have patterns, I knew of this place called Scrollsaw Village (great bunch of talented designers there) where I'd seen some perfect patterns for the job. ***Special thanks go to Muleskinner and Grandpa for the great patterns.*** I hope everyone has a merry Christmas and a blessed New Year.

Wife, kids, friends? I wish I could find anyone locally as interested in scrolling as me. We could set up saws side by side and improve each other's cutting.

I do a lot of veining in my portraits. I use a #63 blade that I got in a mini drill bit set at Harbour Freight. I use #3 spirals by Flying Dutchman that I get from Mike's Workshop. With this set up, you cut the vein, backtrack to the beginning to clean out sawdust and you can't tell there was ever a round hole drilled.

Oh! I started with the advice and forgot to mention, nice fretwork.

I use Gorilla Wood Glue on everything. You have to make sure it is Gorilla WOOD Glue though. The rular stuff will expand and destroy your project. The wood glue is white, just like other brands of wood glue. If you don't want to worry about that differenciation, Elmers or Tightbond are great too. I just like Gorilla because of the faster set times. For projects like yours, I lay a piece of paper down beside it and squirt a puddle of glue on the paper. Then I use my finger to spread it onto the back of the top piece. Then carefully position it on the bottom piece. Then it needs to be clamped to glue properly. If you don't have clamps, just carefully turn it upside down wothout moving the position of the top piece, and lay some bricks (or something pretty heavy) on the backer board. After the glue is dry, you have a choice of leaving it natural, or applying some kind of finish like polyurethane or something. A tip for future reference is this. If you decide to stain your projects and want the cut piece and backer board in different stain colors, you can stain them. The glue will still bond to stained pieces. If you decide to attach pieces to painted parts though, use cement. My favorite for that is a brand called Duco cement.