RipCat

Hey Travis... at the moment I'm sawing on our back deck, and my work bench is the table of an outdoor dining setting..not ideal! For me, the first requirement would be an absolutely flat top, for when putting intarsia pieces together and measuring sanding lines. I'd want several shallow drawers, much like a mini map cabinet, that are easily removed... good for laying out pieces as they develop. Plenty of smaller drawers too for ready access to smaller tools, like calipers, set squares, pencils etc. Some holes drilled in somewhere to house tubes of blades currently in use for a particular project. Dremel vice would be on there somewhere too. They're my initial thoughts anyway...more to come I think, will have to get sketching!

Thanks for the info Barry... I'm Oz tho, will have to investigate here too, but the site u pointed me too was a good start from an educational point of view (knowing nothing about lathes). Thanks to everybody else again too for you kind comments and support!

Hi Marg, welcome back, looking forward to seeing your photos. If you don't use spiral blades, what do you use? I can't imagine tackling one of Jeff's images without a spiral!

OMG! What an awesome set-up and space to work in. I have a tiny shed, but do most of my work on the back verandah. Don't suppose you want to adopt anyone do you greasemonkey???

Travis... the chimp came from Christensen Burghout Designs, and is where I got the idea for the inks. Leather dye inks are impossible to find here, which is why I ended up using some old airbrush ink. I haven't tried out the special wood inks I got from U-Beaut yet, but they have that richness & purity of colour I think you may be after, and apparently can be easily mixed, diluted, or whatever. Check out the U-Beaut site... they've got some good pics of what the inks look like. They were originally developed for wood turning applications I think, but I can't see why airbrushing, or different apps. wouldn't work.

Many thanks Linda and Barry for your comments! Barry, re Shellawax... I've only used it so far on the segmentation and intarsia projects. Got a few new ones I haven't put pics up for yet. It's just a terrific finish. I don't have/use a lathe, instead I use the Dremel rotary tool, with the polishing pads, for the eee-wax and the shellawax. I also use the swansdown buffing thing from U-Beaut, to finish off the eee-wax stage, before applying the shellawax. I really want to try these waxes on the fretwork, but I think the only way would be to apply the finish before cutting, since there's no way I can think of to apply the shellawax with enough pressure/force to generate the heat needed, after cutting. Open to suggestions and ideas from anyone!!!! I'm hoping it works to apply beforehand, cos I really don't like the spray on, or brush on finishes on the fretwork... makes them look cheap n nasty, lol, and plastic-y (is that a word?). I've tried a variety of oils and mixtures, but not been happy with the results. Linseed oil in particular I thought would do the trick, but it discolours the wood too much, and doesn't produce that beautiful 'glow' I'm after. Looking at buying a lathe soon too... any recommendations??? Never used one before. cheers Rippy aka Simon

Thanks Travis. Always a bit scary showing people my stuff... anyway re airbrushing, yeah it's something I used to do a lot of years ago, but a bit rusty at it now! I actually used ink on the chimp, to see. I really wanted intensity of colour. Being crappy radiata pine though the ink didn't 'stain' the wood well at all, and just sat on the surface, hence blue fingers. Had to liberally coat with varnish to stop it coming off; not too fussed though, was a good experiment. I've since found inks specifically designed to work for wood at . They also make the best finishing waxes I've ever used! No more varnishes for me! The Shellawax is just incredible... I don't normally gush about products, but it really is fantastic.

After a bit of a false start, actually managed to get some pics uploaded.. in particular where I put my blade storage tubes. Hope this is the correct URL: www.scrollsawvillage.com/gallery/index.php?cat=11912 cheers Rippy

Hi Steve, that's almost what I did too... I found a magnetic socket set holder strip that's double sided, so sticks onto the base, with the other side free for holding blades, small drill bits etc.... very handy, and a cheap solution. On the topic of blade holding, not having a scroll saw stand or decent table to sit it on, I bought one of those foldable saw horses and bolted the saw to that; in the the wooden slats on the top there are pre-built holes (normally used for the plastic clamps). These holes are exactly the right size to hold the blade storage tubes I found from WildWood Designs, so keeps my oft used blades right next to the saw, but protected and sorted. I'll take a pic and load it up so ppl can see what I mean; might be useful info for someone short on space.

that's beautiful! Inspires me to try my hand at pyrography... yet another tool/gadget I need to buy *grin*; hmm, bigger garage needed too!

Like Handi, I tend to use blades over and over, trimming here and there etc... used blades (especially the bigger sizes) are good for small jobs, or quick and dirty cuts that don't need accuracy etc. Main problem here has not really been economic, more blade supply... only recently have I found a supplier that can get me blades quickly; I tend to be rather impatient, lol and want to start 'that project' right now, and it kills me if I don't have the right blades to hand! Only recently realised the benefit of buying in LOTS of blades in one batch, duh. For the used blades, I have a couple of tubes just for them, so I don't get them mixed up with the new ones.

I thought it was just me, but yeah I've had problems recently with olsen blades and now use FD and Pegas blades pretty much exclusively. Luckily there is a retired couple here in Oz that import the blades, and they're great to deal with. I use a lot of 2/0 FD spirals and they last well, great blades! Just trying out FD mod geometry and a few other styles to see what they're like.

Wow, what a welcome! Thanks everybody.... and yes, I think my blade choice is too small for the wood and accuracy I need, erm, want! Will take some pics and get a gallery happening. cheers all.

Hi Clayton, thanks for the welcome. My problem is cutting on the lines! Squaring is OK, I generally can manage that, but I do waver off the lines a bit. Experimenting with different blades at the moment... I'm very used to size 2/0 blades for what i've been doing so far, and has been a big mind shift to switch to larger blades; I tend to use #3 blades at the moment, might need to go to #5 for greater accuracy. cheers Rippy

hi all, just discovered this site in my searching, great idea! From Australia here, where scrolling is a hobby very much in its infancy; materials and supplies difficult to find locally, thank god for the internet! I discovered the scrollsaw hobby quite by accident when a friend told me about a book that I went hunting for, and discovered another book about segmentation. Managed to find a cheapy scrollsaw from Aldi of all places. Was good enough to get me going, but soon realised the limitations of pinned blades and other drawbacks. Upgraded to a DeWalt 788 (had to order one from New Zealand of all places; at the time, the only other option available in this country was a Hegner... a bit beyond my budget--at least according to my wife!--) and been happy ever since. Got a handle on segmentation and fretwork OK, just starting out on the intarsia now... a bit daunting getting those 'perfect' cuts. Not quite there yet, but I do tend to be over-ambitious and start on complex things! Now trying to work out how to fix/hide not quite accurate cuts... some pieces seem close enough to not need a re-cut, but do need a better fit... help and advice is most welcome! Regards to all from a new addict, Rippy