JTTHECLOCKMAN

Mark I do not own an eclippse but I have cut on them and yes they are a great saw. To me overpriced but that is another story for another day. They are all hand made so that is why the long wait. Ernie is a good man and will tell it like it is. You should in my opinion not have been charged for the saw untill it was made. Now of course the other side of that is he needs the money to get the parts. But that is business. Again another story for another day. The saw is a tremendous upgrade from what you are using. There is no and I mean no vibration in that saw. The saw does cut a little differently than other saws that are parallel arms in that it is a true perpendicular cutting saw and the blade goes truely up and down as with a parallel arm saw it has an arc to it thus making it a faster cutting saw. The eclippse is a slower cutting saw and will take a short bit of getting used to. You won't be disappointed though. Good luck with it. Boy I just wrote this whole big lecture about buying the right saw and had to delete after I reread it because it might have been offensive to some. My thoughts are just buy the best saw you can afford and I think we should even take it to the next level. You will always be able to get your money back for the saw if you decide to sell , they keep their value unlike the cheap saws and you can also earn a few dollars selling your wares to pay for it. That is all and happy scrolling

Just a note when people talk forstner bits, alot of times they are referring to a sawtooth bit. A true forstner bits does not have jagged teeth going around the outside edge. These are sharpened differently than a sawtoothed bit. But here is a chart that shows bit speed and also a couple photos of sharpening. The one key thing is to never touch the outside of the bit with a grinding wheel or file. This will change the dimentions on the hole it cuts. Always sharpen from inside out. A small diamond file are very handy to touch up the edges of the bits and if you keep the file flat against all cutting edges a few quick passes and it is good to go. If you google forstner bit sharpening you will see many examples of how to do this. Good luck. Here is the chart. http://www.wwch.org/TechData/Forstner_B ... Lo_Res.jpg

It probably is an easy fix if it is just the bellow. Some people and I was one of them when I first started with a Dremel 2 speed saw way back when, buy a fish aquarium pump. Works great. As far as the bits go for you to be getting burning in the second use a couple things maybe the cause. First off Grizzly is not the best bits out there but still should cut . SPEED is the culprit. Slow the speed down. Let me say that again. Slow the speed down. A forstner bit is not a high speed bit and the larger the size the slower the speed. A good bit will have the speed stamped on the bit or on the box it came with. The other thing to make sure is if cutting into resinous wood it will build up on the rim of the cutter so you need to clean this. Also keep the bits sharp. Good luck and happy drilling./

Did I mention I make clocks??? You do not mention what size the clock insert is. Normalli if it is a 2-3/4" insert and you are using 3/4" wood you need to drill all the way through anyway. If it is the small 1-7/16" I only drill deep enough for the insert to fit in. I do not put a battery in the clock until it is bought.gone through alot of batteries that way. I use the blade of a pocket knife to pop the insert out if I can not do it with my fingernail. Never had a problem. I include instructions on the bottom of the clock that explains this and how to adjust the time. What the others have said is not a bad idea if you feel more confortable with that. Good luck.

You can get a brand new Dewalt for $450 with all the bells and whistles. I would not buy it.

In one of my latest woodworking magazines they have a few tools that are being recalled for various reasons. Some may already know of these or have gotten recall notices. But I see often people asking about new tools for their purchase so this may be of interest. Grizzly metal/wood 17" bandsaw model#G0640X Ridgid 10" Tablesaw model #R4511 with date codes betweenCD0829 and CD0837 Rockler magnifying light model #27017 and 26429 purchased between3/27/09 and10/25/09 Shop Fox dust collector model #D3038 and D3346 Need to contact the respective dealers

As mentioned there is no set rule. Always check the clock insert. The company you buy from will always tell you the hole needed.

I am an all around scroller but like the fret work clocks both large and desk type. I also am a turner and trying to incorporate both artforms together. This year I wat to try my hand at an intarsia project. Have never done one but I have one I want to give a shot at. Will see. Scrolling and turning are fun hobbies and you really can get alot of enjoyment out of both.

Welcome to the scrolling world. I am sure you will have hours and hours of fun with your new found hobby. I was never one for using spiral blades. To me they are basically for portraits and things that do not need nice straight lines . I always got jagged edges with them because the blade is always cutting. I would highly suggest to learn to use flat edge blades first. The idea of setting your chair off center is always a good one especially when using flat blades. Spirals it does not matter as much. There are a ton of patterns and ornaments for the holiday season to try. Good luck and look forward to seeing some of your work posted here.

Merlin It is not that simple. The wood ones are made with a close grain wood and getting the stain to penetrate all the way through has been a problem. I need to find another way to get the color all the way through. I am thinking I may boil the sticks before placeing in the stainand this will open them up more. I am experimenting a little. Haven't worked out all the details yet.

I have a lead on some and will check it out tomorrow. I would rather not say at this time. If it does come out half way decent I will post a photo or two. Thanks everyone.

Does anyone know where I may get round colored plastic toothpicks???? I got some colored ones on line from the only place I could find and that was Ward's natural science. But they were not round the were flat. I need thousands of them in different colors. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

Thanks for the kind words. I have been making these since then and have always put the stained glass as the background. I was thinking the other day I may put the red white and blue behind there.

This maessage goes in any board. Let us not forget this date. Let us display those flags proud.

The great thing about that site is going to all the picnic pictures and looking back over the years as to what patterns were hot at the time. Boy some of those bring back memories. I used to go to the Pennsylvania picnic every year and they were some good times. Great seeing first hand so many scrollers work. Lets you know where you rank amongst your peers. Have not been to one lately. They have somehow fallen off in attendence. But if you have never been to a picnic and one is in your area you owe it to yourself to attend.

Blame did list a whole lot of defects which is basically what Travis asked. But not sure if that is what he wanted and only he can say for sure. But some of the defects that were listed lead to some interesting characteristics in woods such as the spalting and bug holes. To add to what Travis listed I would add birdseye which you can get in woods other than maple too. Tiger striping could be another which is found lengthwise with the grain.

Well well well. Hello Jim I have not seen you on the sites in a long time. Where have you been hiding??? I am still visiting some of the old ones. I found this site through Mike M. ( Flying Dutchman) This site is so well set up with alot of neat features. I think as this site grows it will be one of the best. I just joined so I am feeling my way around and getting to meet some of the members. Great to see a familar name and will be talking soon.

Barry practice is the key. Check out youtube and the turning videos there. There are tons of them and there are many using the skew. It is one of those love em or hate em tools. I love mine. Good luck

Barry Thanks for the kind words. To answer your questions, you can get the computer pen blank from alot of dealers that sell Berea kits. Such as Bear Tooth Woods and others. I choose to get them from over at the IAP pen turning site. They have a classified section there and people sell all kinds of things and blanks are one of them. One of the original makers of the computer pen blank now sells the generic version which I show and here is a link there. His name is Bruce. http://www.penturners.org/forum/showthread.php?t=47284 As far as the red Sierra blank, I made that one myself. I do not know of anyone making them. They are not hard to do. It is just segmenting. As far as sharpening the tools, that is a must. Need to have the equipment and learn the process. I use a slow speed grinder from Woodcraft and use the Wolverine shapening system. Quick and easy. The tool of choice for me in pen turning is the skew. Love to see other people's pens and turnings too. Hope this helps.

Travis Thanks for the kind words. I see you have tutorials on just about everything here. It is a little more sofisticated site than I am used to but with a little reading and watching I hope to get the hang of things. I do want the Irish pattern for sure. Ideas started flashing in my head. I just have to figure out how to download it. I also have to check the pattern vault here. Is this one of those sites that take requests too???? As far as the computer circuit board pen goes, this is a blank that can be purchased and is made from a real computer board that was designed for pen making. It is then wraped around a brass tube and then cast in clear resin. When we get them all we have to do is square the ends and then turn it to the shape we desire keeping in mind we can not go too far down or else we hit the components. These are very popular and I have had success selling them. Pen turning is the hottest hobby going and there are so many materials you can use to make pens. I have only just started but will keep improving. I have some ideas to incorporate scrolling and turning which will expand the scope of my work some. Thanks for looking.

Thanks Travis for the directions on adding an album. There is so many things you can do with the software you provide, it is amasing. I did not get creative but just uploaded some items I have done over the past years. Made a seperate item for some turning s too. Will try to add to the albums over time. I do not know how to put a link to the album but if you go to gallery just click on JTTHECLOCKMAN. Thanks for looking and any and all comments and questions are always welcomed.

I tried to upload some photos in a gallery that I thought I was creating. My question is do these have to be approved before they get submitted. ??? I clicked on my gallery and there was nothing there so I stopped uploading photos. Maybe someone can explain how to set up a gallery or if there is a tututorial somewhere point me in the right direction. Thank you.

That is one of the older models that have the barrel holders. Not quite following why you would have slack in the blade. Did you adjust the arm in the back for the blade size being used. They still had that clock looking mechanism in the back that adjust the tension.

Thanks all for the welcome and I will look into setting up a gallery. Every site is a little different but will give it a try over the next couple days.

Just thought I would take a minute and say hello. My name is John T. and just joined your site. I have not had a chance yet to look around and get familar with the site yet but it looks like a very nice set up. Not sure if I recgonise any names yet but my handle is jttheclockman and maybe some of you may know me from other sites. I have been scrolling for over 25 years and my main saw I use today is a RBI Hawk 220. I like to do alot of different works including alot of desk type clocks. I live in NJ. I have just started turning and use a Jet midi lathe 1220vs. I have been doing a few pens lately which will diversify my scrolling so hopefully will help in sales at craft shows. Ok that is about it for me for now and hopefully will get to chat with you all and hopefully I can add some things as well. See you all on the forum and have a great day.