JTTHECLOCKMAN

I am on board thanks.

Had to rejoin so waiting for approval. My old account seems to not work. As of right now though I am unable to see anything. See what happens when I join.

The scrollers cafe is still around??? I have lost contact and could not find them. Do you have the link?? Thanks

That beatles album is fantastic. what a great idea. I am going to add this on my to do list. That is so cool and I have never seen this. Boy I have been away for too long.

16" floor delta model drill press.

If you were into casting that would be a good project to cast in colored resin. It would fill in the voids and add strength and color to the piece. Not a good key chain to put in the pocket though. Maybe do something flat with a backer piece of different colored wood.

You can use a scrollsaw to enhance your pen making skills. There are many people who use it to help in segmenting of their pens. There are those that actually scroll objects and then adhere to the tubes and cast in clear resin. You can see a lot of this at the IAP pen turning site. Pen making took up quite a bit of my time when I first got into it and I slacked off my scrolling. I am now at the point I can do both and not be overwhelmed with either. There are so many little items you can make on a lathe that sell very well. Bottle stoppers. birdhouse ornaments, as mentioned pens and pencils, bowls, clocks and so forth. Expanding your hobbies is a plus when it comes to selling your wares. Yes turning can be an expensive hobby but it depends on your desire to evolve with it. Your items do look great and should sell very well. Can be a little extra income while you are having fun.

A scrollsaw blade is very very flexible. You can almost bend a blade 90 degrees and it goes right back. My suggestion is to tilt the wood more and bend the blade more and thread it in. Do not be afraid to kink it. It will take some force to do that and if it happens so what change the blade. Another thought is (strickly out of the blue)and I have these on all my saws. A plexiglass top. I have found it gives me the right surface tension and slipping ability to spin the wood or material being cut plus it gives me a zero clearance hole (over the years that has not been the case any more) But what you may want to try is get some acrylic mirror and place a thin piece of plexi on top. The mirror will help you locate the holes. I am afraid if you do not use a top coating it would scratch too much and become dull. Or you could try one of those safety mirror such as used on medicine cabinets. Diamond drill will get your blade hole. Sorry but that is all I have for you. I do also have a bad back and can not sit at a saw as long as I used to. But we overcome for the love of the hobby.

You really do not need the packing tape. The blue tape will do what the packing tape will do. Every roll of tape has an coating on top so that each layer is easily pulled off and that is the basic reason the theory of packing tape came about. It is the coating on the tape that is suppose to lubricate the blade. I do not believe anyone has really proved or disproved this but it is what it is. When I first started I used packing tape and have since gone away from it all together. I do use colored painters tape under the pattern. Blue if I am going to peel away in a day or two. Purple or green if I am leaving on longer. The latter two have less tack. We all know the longer we leave tape on a wood it will be harder and harder to get off.

Just another tip along the roller tip lines is to use a sponge. Whenever I need to glue a backboard to a piece I use a sponge. One of the real sponges and not a plastic one. I put some glue on a piece of wax paper and dab the sponge in and then dab the back of the project piece making sure not to get too much glue in the fret work edges. You can easily even it out by dabbing. Use it all the time. When done snip that section of sponge off and good to go for next time and no clean up needed. If you had a real large piece the roller is probably a better idea but for small projects a sponge works too.

I vote Titebond II wood glue also. Not sure what your finish of choice is but sometimes with CA it will leave a glazed spot and may stand out. Just a thought.

I use FedX all the time but i do my own copies. The self serve machines will do 11 X17 and they also have a plotter which can make any size copies as long as you know how to use it. I have copied full size blueprints off that thing and have had no problem. I also have done in the past taken a pattern if too big and draw lines through it and copy sections. Then when I need the full size pattern I put together and tape like a puzzle. It used to be when I first started that the copiers were not that accurate and would distort or stretch or shrink the pattern in odd ways. With todays copiers they are pretty darn accurate.

You are doing a great job in such a short time span. Looks like that you are having some fun. Great work and it is inspiring too.

Flying Dutchman all the way. I use to test blades for Mike at one time and any blade except the spirals and puzzle blades were a hit with me. Miss that man. One of the nicest people you ever want to talk to.

No problem. I simply forgot I had to do the same thing that long ago. It was good that I kept my notes on it and also the packing slip. As I recalled the parts were under warrenty. RBI made subtle changes over the years and are still making changes. They looked at some shortcomings of their saws and made improvements. I am sure there will be more. I recommend the RBI saw. I have scrolled on many saws over the years and own a few but my go to saw is my Hawk 220vs. That fix is actually a very easy fix. Push the pin out, install the arm and reinstall a pin.

Trackman Your saw is a little older than mine but is a saw they updated right after the use of the barrel blade holders. It has all the modern tension arms and yes they did not have the set screw and they improved right after that. I found my manual and in it I found my notes. I bought my saw in 1998. I ran into the same problem you have and replaced that pivot arm in 2002. Boy the mind is a terrible thing to waste. I have no recollection of doing this Thanks for keeping records. I bought my 226 a little after that so they already made the change on that arm. But anyway very easy to change and not expensive at all and I bet if you explain they may even send it free or give a discount. The packing slip does not have the price if I paid anything at all. I do not remember. I believe it was under warrenty. I can give you the stock # but they may have changed being a different company. Just tell them what it is and they will know right away. Top blade holder assembly 615-7000 replaces 615-4153 upper blade holder assembly 615-1182 Tension pin or called roll pin 716-0042 Press the roll pin out and the arm comes right out. Put new arm up and insert roll pin and you are scrolling again and yes the setscrew is adjustable so you may need to adjust after getting installed. You do not want the tension too tight or you will wear the screw down. All it does is gives some friction when the tension arm is pushed into position. As I said very easy to fix and takes 10 minutes. Give RBI a call. They will know right away what it is you need. Good luck and it is a great saw. I love mine and have many many many hours on it and many projects came off it.

I have one that I have put off for almost 10 years now. Now that I am back in the shop and full of pep I may just get around to it.

It looks pretty simple. You have the prototype in front of you so you can easily copy the angles and measurements. Just a matter of how fancy you want to get. Pin all the joints with some dark dowels. Make the spokes a different colored wood than the body and the ideas will flow.

I have to say I am impressed that everyone is truly a master scroller here. It takes some adjusting as we cut out our patterns and just that little thing about fragile parts and adjusting thickness is something that is not taught in books that I know of or at least when I started some 35 years ago. But these and a few others mentioned here are things we learn as we grow into the hobby and hope they get passed on to new member who want to learn. I also agree about switching directions at times is necessary but I always like to keep the slant of the teeth to the line so that I can shave some if I need to. One other thing, there was a time or movement by pattern makers to make their patterns in red ink because easier to see. I suppose if you copy a pattern you maybe able to change ink color. But I see most patterns in black and white. Thanks all for posting and happy scrolling.

Lets bring back an age old discussion that probably has been asked since scrolling was invented. It is actually a 2 part question. When you are cutting a project out that has a pattern and you attached to your wood and made all your entry holes. You now get ready to proceed to cut the pattern. When you follow the cut lines of the pattern, do you cut them down the center, stay on the inside of the pattern line or stay on the outside of the pattern line. ??? Second part, do you scroll right or left??? Lets have some fun.

I agree with the others and no that is not normal for it to release like that. But it is an easy fix. I love my Hawk 220 and 226.

I will agree about the dust. That stuff is so fine it gets everywhere. Not good to breath in either.