JTTHECLOCKMAN

To be honest with you Rolf I do not get the magazines for a long time so do not even know who or what is being included in them. I am familar with Judy Gale's work. I am not into intarsia and never was. You have to admit there were alot more pure designers out there years ago and I can list a bunch but not fair because we always leave some out. Not my point. Yes over time we become better at scrolling and that is a good thing and the challenges are few and far between for what the basic idea of what it is. Where we challenge ourselves or at least I do is thinking of projects that are useful and can be handy in today's world. I have a creative mind and always have, so my challenges can be tougher and I look at simple projects a waste of time and thus why should I spend money on a magazine that does not interest me any more. There was a time I use to get over 20 magazines wood related at a time. But for the same reasons one became boring they all did. Magazines just compete with each other. You had more scrolling magazines or magazines that carried scrolling projects in them such as Wood magazine but that too just got redundant. Now do not get me wrong here I still love scrolling and always will. It is what I grew up with for over 35 years. But it does not light my fire any more. I spent many years on the selling circuit trying to sell my products which I spent long hard hours doing and yes again there were the better years when I started and wish each new scroller could have lived through those times. They have no idea what the craze was. Not so much today and if you are selling you better have something that people gravitate to because it is a hard sell. I test cut for John Nelson also( that flexible watch design of his was my cutting and probably his biggest design project he was proud of) and I use to cut for Steebar Corp. Many of the patterns and deigns are mine in his catalog. now that all changed hands so not sure what is still left but again time of a different era. Now my interest or fire is at a lathe doing small projects like pens. I can make and sell pens for far more money than I could have with any scrolling project I ever made if I want to, easily hands down. But being in my later years on the back nine, money is not my goal in the least. I give more pens away than I sell. My point to all this you asked a question about writing into the magazines and voicing opinions. Yes I have. Will magazine stick around, maybe but just like newspapers, not needed any more. So many new ways to get info and so many new ways to advertise. With the big push of Enviromental issues and cutting of trees and things of this nature is another reason you see these items disappearing.

When I still was getting magazines which I have totally stopped getting all magazines, yes I did. I on a few occasions sent Scrollsaw Woodworking and Crafts a letter. Back then that was what we used not emails. I told them their projects are just too beginner oriented and which they were and still are. There was no imagination to take to next level. No offense with your testing and all that but scrollsawing has become so generic. just like with the many woodworking magazines I use to get they all relied on advertising for new tools and the testing of tools which they all test the same tools and just varied their results. They are geared to the beginner scrollsawer and simple patterns because it takes alot more explanation and photos to show more advanced projects which requires more room in the magazine. They are limited of the pages to print. I find it no surprise they are shutting down. The same with newspapers. So many new ways to get info. Plus people are tired of reading about the new tools which probably are not new just redefined. Stop and think what are some new ideas that hit the scrolling world? I can not think of any other than maybe say the 3D stacking of layers to form projects. To get back to that question, the answers were they always geared to beginners. Think about what scrollsawing is, cut holes in wood in shape of pictures. yes that is the basic idea and sounds generic but think about it. Now you got lasers more so today than ever before doing what we did with the saws. One of the reasons I moved away from scrollsawing and turned to the lathe. I can challenge my mind more than what I do with a scrollsaw. I loved my journey and there was a time and place but it has become a fad and the newer generation do not appreciate things that are hand made much any more because they can buy them from china for cheaper money. I go back to the Robert Becker days and we worked together along with John Nelson in putting new patterns and ideas in the magazine. We lost so many great designers and pattern makers over the years and there have not been many new replacements. That means alot. Just an opinion. One other thing I wrote to them about was showing galleries. People like to see what others are doing and that is how the field is expanded. At one time they did not have enough reader projects shown. This is how I get ideas by looking at others work and using it to expand my ideas. Have all my life. This is what people come to forums for. Only so many times you can talk about broken saws and how to fix. Not everyone is mechanically inclined to do this.

That is super cool. Nice work.

I bet it is a wood chip that got stuck in the shaft mechanism that lets the head ride up and down. Simple fix.

Do not understand why you would want to do that. If you want a belt disc sander they sell those. https://www.ebay.com/itm/295773454599?chn=ps&norover=1&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-213727-13078-0&mkcid=2&itemid=295773454599&targetid=4580428016871213&device=c&mktype=&googleloc=&poi=&campaignid=603247657&mkgroupid=1229254994528356&rlsatarget=pla-4580428016871213&abcId=9316139&merchantid=51291&msclkid=a50decbbb95e16f329868912e0cca5cf If you want to use a mop pad then use either a drill motor or a drill press and lower speed with belts.

No Tea--- Time To Flee

Cleaning the contact points of what holds the blade in is always the first line of defense. Not sure what holds the blade in on those saws but if it is setscrews, make sure they are set properly as far as distance in and out. Make sure they are sanded down to get rid of any oils from the blades. also I always sand the ends of the blades I use down on both sides of blade and both ends of blades. They are manufactured with a coat of oil on them.

Yea that would be a huge problem here too. Between the squirrels and the deer not sure how much the birds would get to use it.

I wish you best of luck. Hope to see some Intarsia work. I always loved looking at that type work but never got that pure desire to dive into it. Right now I am finishing up a bunch of pens and my next adventure as I put the pen turning aside for awhile, will be boxes. I want to use up some of the lumber I have stashed away over the years so that when I do pass my family has less to get rid of. I am thinking would be easier to give away boxes than board feet of lumber. Also have some turned trinket boxes in mind. That is my next adventure.

I will never buy any tool with a motor from HF. I do not trust the things they put out. They are cheap for a reason. Yes this so called new line is suppose to be a step up but says WHO? Step up from what. You can have it Wish you the best of luck.

I have to agree that the question is not if a better saw will make a better scroller. A better saw can make scrolling more pleasurable because it is easier to change blades and less vibration and things like that. But with that said there are people who do not have steady hands and no matter what saw they use will not correct that. Being able to relax at a saw for long periods of time is a plus. The Hegners and Rbi's do not get the press because they are highend production saws and are high $$. But you get what you pay for. The double link saws are all clones of one another. They all could come off the same factory line as far as I am concerned. Not much differences in the designs on them. Bottom line is if the saw is working fine for you than have fun and make some saw dust.

I believe if you ever scrolled on a RBI saw you would never go back to a double link saw of any kind. I still say the RBI saw is the best saw on the market. I owned a Hegner, a Dewalt 788 and a 2 Rbi saw and the 2 RBI saw are the ones I kept and sold the others. price does play a part in decisions. But if you truely want a serious saw that will last then try a RBI saw. You will not regret it. If you are a casual scroller than any saw will do. Sit behind a saw for hours and making it a business and you will change your mind.

That screw is used to set the height of the upper blade. The lower you screw the bolt down the less you allow the blade to bottom out in the clamp. If you allow it to stick up as you have then the blade can now travel upwards into the clamp more.

I am extremely happy for you. If you need the inserts he sells that is great. My comment was MY OPINION. And I stick with it.

I see nothing wrong with the puzzles. Yes they maybe be challenging but hence the photo. That is the beauty of doing puzzles and so called PUZZLES. You want something to test the mind. Kevin never did understand why you sell clock inserts?? on a site you now have to be sure the battery is good or the movement works well. Yes you can offer returns and things like that but you added a layer of hassle. When I sell at shows I always tell the customer the insert has a life time warrenty and it does. I will replace any insert on my dime. Not batteries. I sell or at least I have a variety of themed inserts that customers can choose from when they are there I would never offer them on a web site for above reasons. That is why selling face to face has value. I would think the only responsible thing needed to be printed in the ad is the overall size of the clock. If you now ad the hole size you added confusion because as you know not all same sized clock inserts have the same drill hole size. But that is your call and then need to deal with fallout. The person should have tried working things out with you first for sure. I never trust reviews unless there is so many negative ones. Then I move on.

Sure would like to see a photo of the puzzles and maybe a piece or 2. I use to love to do puzzles when I was a kid. The harder the better. Made it a challenge.

Job very well done. I always love seeing projects like this that take you out of the scrollsawing norm and challenge you a bit. I am sure it will be treasured forever. Thanks for showing.

There is another angle that I never thought of because I do not engrave or use a laser, but these things are important factors not only working in a shop but if you are or plan on going down that avenue of selling things. Big business have capital to back them up and lawyers. We the small guy have to be extra careful. I use to make a fruit bowls and banana rack combo that I sold many of back in the day. Can not remember who made the pattern but clones followed for sure. I at that time used nothing but Behlen's Salad Bowl finish. If I were making those baskets today I would still use it. I dug as deep at the time as I could and asking on forums what is the safest finish and of course the old debate kept arising and to this date there is proof for both sides. As I said even mineral oil is a touchy finish and people use wax because the argument is well apples and other fruit is protected with it. But is it the same stuff? But when I started making these baskets again many years ago, my line to customers always was if you plan on putting fruits or breads or other eatables in them to use a doily to seperate from the wood. Now the baskets were dipped in one coat of Danish oil and left to dry. But I also sold wood fruit and also used props such as fake rolls and things to give ideas to people where they can go to Hobby Lobby and buy them. https://www.shellac.net/SaladBowl.html

That is a sad situation that Kevin brought up and is one reason I do not make toys for kids. Just not worth the anxiety of what if. The OP and his video opens a age long practice that all the person in the video is pointing out and that is advertising methods. There is nothing wrong with it and buyer beware. This applies to that bag of chips you buy and the contents and size of packaging and so forth. So no ground breaking info there. Now another long and I mean long term discussion that has to do with finishes that gets debated till the cows come home is how safe is so called food safe finishes. There is the theory out there that when all finishes are dried and CURED are food safe. But are they. Look at the ingredients that go into making them. Where did the ingredients go that now make them food safe? Because they are now solid or attached to wood fibers makes them safe? What if you use a cutting board that has finishes on them and you cut into those fibers. You see many people making fancy cutting boards with exotic woods segmented. Then they use say a mineral oil on it How many people are allergic to mineral oil? How many people are allergic to exotic woods. heck there are people allergic to walnut wood dust. And the list goes on. Yes know what is in the product you are making but as with big companies you can not protect everyone. Common sense has to play a roll and unfortunately we have become a sue first nation . I wish the person in Kevin's story a speedy recovery and a happy outcome. But to take this back to finishing and making your own concoctions, be aware of what you are mixing. Those big companies have science behind them and mixing amounts needed to produce a product. We all fall in love with a favorite finish for various reasons. that is fine and hope you get the results YOU are looking for but it is not for everyone. Thus the amount of different products on the market.

Kevin there are more than 2. Different states have different regulations on the VOC limits. On a Home Depot shelf you can find different states mixtures. The higher the VOC the better the product but more dangerous for breathing. The voc is a combination of materials to make the product spread easier as well as penetrate woods easier in stains. They play an important roll. Again when you mix your own finishes you are not adding the correct ingredients to make a product that is as efficient as what is mass produced. Will it work, sure because all oil will penetrate wood fibers. But now that product could be blotchy, could take longer to dry, could be hazardous to breathe. Do as you wish. Work as safely as possible. Paint and stain finishes are being worked on all the time to lower the VOC to protect the air. That is why waterbased finishes have been developed.

Not if you are buying pure oils. If you are buying wipe on oils then why make your own. Wasting your time in my opinion.

But..... There is always one ingredient that does not get talked about that is very important in making your own is DRIERS. Just because you mix stuff together it also needs some driers to help the product flow out as well as dry properly or it can linger for days. People do not have those laying around in their bins often.

I watched the video and he is not saying anything new that has not been said many years ago. he is right about the advertising but that can be said about any product ever sold. Words are used to try to distinguish your product from others. That is called sales marketing. Come on we all do it with our products we make. Hand made , one of a kind, and so on. Making your own finishes is something that has been done since the start of woodworking. Nothing wrong with that. But also there is a thing and again it applies to all products ever sold especially today. Ask the price that you think you can get and adjust from there. You ask why have finish product prices been rising? The factors are supply and demand, ingredient availability, and environmental laws. All play a factor. years ago those were not real players in the world of finishes. have to say Formbys brand was one of the best wipe on finishes used. I still have a few bottles. He is right in the fact most are watered down but that plays well for convince and also penetration into wood fibers so not a bad thing. I won't go into which brand is better because they are basically all the same with the fact of tweaking a little here or there. So buy what you want. As far as making your own, I have never and have no intentions to ever do that and waste my time mixing things when companies professionally do it for me with exact measurements. Savings, what a couple pennies. You make lose that in mixing time and now extra storage space and containers. So there goes the profits. As far as my all time favorite finish is and always will be Watco Danish oil. I would maybe go through about 2 gals of it per year but my projects were rather large. I used both the dipping method and also the brush on flooding method because the projects were too large to always dip. But would always catch runoff in clean container and just pour back in can after use. used that method till this day. Works well. Danish oil has all the ingredients to put a beautiful finish on any woodworking project. I defy anyone to show me something different. All part of woodworking.

Very nice. did you ever consider putting stain glass acrylic paper across the back?

There is nothing to lose than. Try it.