JTTHECLOCKMAN

Have an older Delta model myself. You can easily hone those blades. Many years ago I bought one of those honing devices for jointer and planer blades and it works quite well.

Nothing but flat blades here. I tried spirals and could never get the hang of it. I use to test run blades for Mike Moorloch and had to tell him any of those puzzle blades or spiral blades he would have to find someone else to test. Never could get the hang of them.

Never seen that but my guess would be a hand made blade from a coping saw blade. What happens many times and I am sure we as scrollers all know this by now that blades slip out of the holders. This many is due to the oil that is on the blade when they are made. That is why you need to clean them before use. I always sand all 4 ends of each blade before I go to use it. The screw in the clamp becomes shiny and very slippery from rubbing against the metal of the blade when we tighten. That is why on occassion you need to run a piece of sand paper in those clamps. The person probably did not know how to correct this problem and their solution was to wrap the end so that the screw goes through the hole thus not allowing it to pull out. Even if this is not the answer I think that was a pretty good thought and took some brain cells away. I do not have many to give away any more. I hope you do not have any more surprises for us. Hope you find the answer.

Well Les you have an RBI saw. Now the thing is I have no clue what year or model that is. They do not make 16 saws any more. The very first 16 saw did not come with a VS motor and was belt driven on the side. This model , being my guess would be the next generation. There is no quick release in either the front or the back. You have a thumb screw on the side in the front and you have a knob in the back to release and add tension, much like the early Hegner saws. The next generation had a quick release lever in the back that wore out at times from having to do that every time you want to release the blade. It had a VEE shaped block back there much like what the Hawks have today. It too had no front quick release. With being 16" there should be no problem reaching over but does become one pain in the butt if doing alot of fret work with a lot of holes. You will probably notice vibration on the upper top speeds. The bigger the saw the more mass and wider stance of the table helps eliminate that. If you scroll in those speeds you may need to weight it down. It is a very reliable motor. A little cleaning up and you are good to go. Have fun and happy scrolling. For the price not bad at all.

Thank you. Have been doing this for over 30 years. The wood on that project is RedHeart and the brass is a soild polished brass door guard purchased from home depot. The bottom steps have red stained glass in the openings.

Had a Jim Dandy on it. but took it off. That arm can get a bit heavy if you do a lot of pierce cutting. But I do not use that saw much any more. My go to saw is the RBI Hawk 220 or 226. I am a bottom feeder and it is as most things whatever you learn at the beginning and get use to. I will challenge anyone that I can mount my blade ready for sawing as fast as any top feeder. The thing is the blade is flexible people. I barely tilt the piece and can thread the blade through the hole no problem. I bend the blade over almost 90 degrees. When drilling holes the pattern dictates what size the entry holes can be. I use a rather large bit if allowed and adjust accordingly. It is quite simple and the blade holder right on top is there for the eye to see very easily. I will never switch. I know this has been a long standing debate as to weather top feed or bottom feed. It does not matter. That is why they made those type saws to accommodate either way. Just sit back and enjoy the hobby and turn out some great projects. We all win.

Well Randy, I belong to a pen turning group called IAP. Maybe you have heard of it. There is a fellow there that cut coins also and he too is very good at what he does. He then actually thins the coin and bends it to wrap around a pen tube and then casts in clear resin. He makes some great looking pens. We got into a discussion on how to thin quarters. He would not disclose his secret. So I answered one of the other posters with the 3 ways I know of thinning them. Sanding on a belt sander, turning them down on a lathe or cutting them in half with a scrollsaw. Well as you I got of negative nay sayers on the scrollsaw ideas and even the guy who cuts the coins challenged me to show them. I told him if I did it he would have to make me a NJ quarter pen blank. I told him I would send him one of my copper braided pen tubes and he would add the quarter and I would cast and spin down and finish. He agreed. Well here are the results. It took me 5 #2/0 jewelers blades to cut that quarter and the material is harder than it looks. As mentioned he was a man of his word and here is the pen I wound up with.

Yes those are very good quality blades and are indeed made for a scrollsaw. If you cut quarters have you ever cut a quarter in half?? I bet you have not Slice a quarter in half using a scrollsaw. Now that is a challenge few will accept.

As you may know then jewelers blades are made for cutting metals. The finer the blade the finer the cut. I used Jewelers blades to cut all the brass on this project. 3/0 is what I used.

I too am a turner but stick with small items such as pens, birdhouse ornaments, and clocks. It is all that I want and need to do. I have 2 jet lathes 1014 an 1220 both VS. Fine tools. Yes the lathe is the cheapest part of that hobby because buying all the tools, grinders for sharpening and pen kits it does get costly but it is a hobby and keeps the mind active. I was away from my shop for close to 3 years due to health issues and family issues and just recently got back and I really missed doing what I do. Good to be able to create things again.

I am a bottom feeder and never had a problem. I can do it just as fast and as easy as a top feeder. Just a matter of what you get use to and use every day. I am an RBI man and my go to saw is the RBI Hawk 220. I own a 226, A delta 788. a Hegner16" I believe the Jet will come down in price somewhat and settle in the $700 range. I believe they will run sales on it to promote it more. That lower clamp looks like a problem because it is not something you can do while sitting at the saw very easily. Changing blades should be an easy thing.

I agree that is not cheating at all. If there is perfect circles I will drill them out. If the pattern is an oval or circle or even square. I will use the tool to make the shape the easiest way. If making multiples I will make a jig and then rough cut and then trim with a router. Not cheating at all. That is why you have a shop full of tools. I will ask this then. Is it cheating using a machine as a scroll saw when this hobby was invented with the use of a fret saw and done by hand. ???There are still some purists that still do it that way.

I use painters blue tape and if it is a delicate pattern with alot of fret work I will switch to the purple or sometimes even the green. Less tack and comes off very easily. Alot better than trying to scrub off glue residue from the pattern adhesive. Chance of breaking delicate pieces. Works for me.

This is a good point and I did not even think of that. It is basically because of those type blade clamps used underneath. That was part of the ad that I saw was that video. She was honest.

Just got an ad for the new jet scroll saw and I was wondering if anyone owns one or tested one and what your view of it is??? It is the Jet JW22-22. Looks like a knock off of the Excaliber with a little Dewalt thrown in. Thanks.

I got some shop time the past few days and turned a few pens. The first 2 are a Hybrid Cambridge kit with titanium gold and sterling silver trim. I interchanged the caps and bottoms to give a different look but some wanted to see them with their respective caps and bottoms. Your comments would be appreciated on these. The material used is a green banded malachite truestone and a faux casein material. Thanks for looking. Here is a blue Cambridge with a blue acrylic. Here is a full sized Majestic kit with a green acrylic. As mentioned thanks for looking.

Strarted taking some photos for my web site and was looking for opinions as to which background would look better for a web site??? Thanks for the replys.

Dan Good to hear you are going to give it a try. I cut the ends of the hose with a hacksaw and then cut the lengths of braiding with a pair of tin snips. I even trim the ends with the tin snips after I get the chrome glued to the tube and it has dried. As far as after the resin has cured and you need to trim the ends I have a carbide barrel trimmer but you can also use the side of a grinding wheel if you have a way to keep the tube 90 degrees to it. Good luck and look forward to seeing the results. They do make nice pens.

Way to go Mike. Congrads to you and I am sure many more patterns will be turning up now. The magazine can spot talent. Thanks for sharing.

Marshal and Travis Thanks for the kind words. I do realize this is a scrollsawing site and I was showing pens that were turned on a lathe and using metal as opposed to wood so I did not give much thought in the responses. I posted them mainly because I thought someone would enjoy seeing them even if they did not respond and I thought they did come out quite well. I grouped all 4 metals that I did cast to show some comparison. viewtopic.php?f=3&t=2712 I do promise I will get back to making some wooden things again. I have some clocks I am working on but with my new job I am finding no shop time at all. 3 years to go before retirement and I can't wait to be able to enjoy alot more shop time. Thanks again for noticing and the kind words.

These are the 4 Metals all together for the first time. starring from left to right is braided brass, braided stainless steel, braided copper, and finally a weaved chrome. These are the 4 metal sleeves I have been casting and showing photos and I want to thank all who have followed them and plese excuse the poor photos because this metal stuff is hard to photogragh. Thanks again for looking and any comments or questions are always welcomed.

The last metal in my series of metal sleeved blanks which I cast in clear poly resin is a braided copper sleeving and I put it on a satin copper/ copper cigar kit, a copper cigar kit, and a satin copper/ copper sierra kit. Thanks for looking as always.

Dan I have been doing my own casting. This braided material is actually some flexible water pipe I found at lowes home center. Cut the ends off and pull the hose material out and you have an out brass sleeving which I cast in clear resin after I wrap it around the pen tubes. I get some failures but most have been fairly good. I have a couple more castings and then I need to get away from pen making for awhile. I have some clocks I want to get done before summer. Thanks for looking.

This is the latest metal sleeving in my series of metal sleeved pens. This is a weaved chrome sleeving which I cast in clear poly resin. I put it on a chrome cigar kit and also a chrome/satin chrome elegant sierra kit. The hard part was taking the photo because of the glare from the shiny chrome. I tried both indoor and outdoor shots and this is the best I could do. Thanks for looking.

Here is the next metal in my series of metal sleeving pen kits. It is a braided brass sleeving cast in clear poly resin and put on a Sierra Vista gold kit. Thanks for looking.