JTTHECLOCKMAN

Very nice Frank. It reminds me of a pen I am working on with the religious saying Footprints in the Sand. Thanks for showing.

All about an assembly line Mr. Ford had it right. You plane the boards to thickness, sand them smooth and have all patterns cut out and printed and layout on board to get max use of wood. I will rough cut on either table saw or bandsaw to free each one. Take to drill press and drill all entry holes and can drill clock holes too. Then sit at saw for a couple hours and before you know it many are done. strip prints and quick sanding and ready for finish. I have jigs set up for bases for sizing and holes placement and drill and counter sink those. Dip finish and assemble in a day or 2. When I did the stores I got pretty darn efficient because I need every hour because I still had a real job too. Many jobs I was the boss so the people I worked under were high up the ladder and get the work done they never bother you. We are all replaceable Kevin. What do you think is going to happen with your business when you go to that big shop in the sky . What is the saying do something you love and it is like never going to work in your lifetime. Keep on scrolling.

Jerry as I said everyone cuts at a different pace plus if you have the saw cutting slower speed it will take abit longer. I too have cut these and many designs like this and average 20 minutes is very doable. It has 4 blade hole entries and then the outside form. With the saw constantly running it is all about hand eye coordination. I have been scrolling for over 40 years now and my biggest slow down factor is my eye sight. Not what it once was. An experienced scroller and production guy as Kevin is he should do it easily in 20 minutes. One blade is all that is needed. Doing that many the hand eye memory will even quicken because you know after the first few where the slow down parts are and you can spin right through them

Depending on the base but if it is basic like yours with a rectangle, I cut to length and width on the table saw and then use a quarter to mark the round edges and scrollsaw them off and then quick hit on a disc sander to clean up. Ones that I router are different story but I always like to put some shape on the base. That is not cheating. I use a branding iron to mark mine. Had a custom one made for me. I also include instruction on changing the battery in those clocks along with the supplied instructions of how to set it. If it has a clock it has instructions. I also add the fet dots to keep from maring any counter tops if need be. just my extra touches.

Again when doing large orders you set up a production line and it cuts down on time tremendously. You cut to size all bases, (your bases are very plain so that is an easy cut) and the same for the project wood. Size accordingly and before cutting you sand the entire board so that any sanding after is just quick sand to take away fuzzies and adhesive residue. Palm sander makes quick work. You set up a jig to drill and countersink holes for screws. Again production work. When doing this kind of work that is the first thing you learn is to do things in batches and cuts down time tremendously. Finish depends on how you apply. I am a dip and let dry guy. I have seen this type operation before and it becomes more mind numbing than fun. Packaging and shipping needs to be designated to help. These are Rick Longabough design. you can always tell because of the outside shape of the pattern. He used that on many of his small desk clock projects. I have made these in different sizes. The ones that accept the 2-3/4" inserts seem to do better when I was selling.

Everyone cuts at a different pace but with the design Kevin is talking about that is a 25 piece order, if you look there are few stop points. That is where you have to stop and move the blade to a different hole. There are 4 stop points within the pattern and then the outside cutting. This saves a ton of time when doing production work. if you can keep cutting and just concentrate on that then it does go fast. But as with most people that would bore the dickens out of me. he seems to enjoy it and believes he is making money doing these things is all that counts. My life is too short to focus on mind numbing projects. I had an order for 500 of two different type ornaments one time. The lady had various stores and she wanted them in her stores. they were a Christmas religious ornament. Well I cut 200 of each ornament and went to deliver to her and told her to find someone else. I could not do it and be happy. There is no money in work like that even though you think there is because of the numbers. Time is money and life is time.

Those are very cool. Nice work.

Have to ask who bought 25 of those clocks.? I make and sell them and have never sold more than 10 all time. Did they say what the plans were. That is an easy cut. 20 minutes tops for each one. Prep the wood and have at it.

Very glad you did well. Good to hear and maybe there is some hope for the craft shows yet. very nice work and nice display. I know about the working alone thing. I always had to beg my brother to give me a hand because of the carting and setting up and also able o deal with a couple shoppers at one time. Good job.

I too sold in stores like that for about 5 years. I was in 6 stores in 3 different highend malls in NJ. The owner was a husband and wife team that hired a couple of dedicated workers. It was based on a contract for certain amount of space. There was a commission but what was so nice was they did protect things, took all sales and orders and called you when orders were in or if they see your area being cleaned out and you need to restock. they wanted all crafters to do well and we did. My contracts varied because I was in so many of their stores and got great discounts. various times of the year they loved putting different crafters products in their front windows and have to say they did this with many of my items one Christmas season and I sold out almost instantly. that was one busy year. Holidays were the best times of the year and if you cater to the specific holiday with your product you did very well. have to say i did quite well doing those stores but it was a job along with my career job I was traveling great distances to keep stock on shelves and also coming home tired at nights to hit the saws. then things turned quickly when the owners sold the business and the new owner had only one person working in the store. I had way too much stolen goods and broken items that I had to pull out of all. Plus the fact was that malls just became hangouts for kids and true customers were leaving and buying on line just like it is today. Infact I just learned one of the largest malls in NJ in my area will be shut down after this Christmas season and a Hospital will be built in its place. That mall lost so many huge name stores over the years and is what killed it. Anyway those consignment type setups can work well depending on location and the people running it. It can work.

Very nice cutting. Thanks for showing.

Thank you! I will try to drop in now and then. I still do love and care about scrollsaw work. It was my first woodworking hobby. Not many scrolling sites around any more. Not a huge fan of FaceBook.

yes the juried shows are tough to come by these days but were the norm in the older days. Today if you have cash they take you in. I was at 2 shows that I did years ago where 3 crafters were asked to leave in the middle of the show because they had made in China stickers on the items they were selling. I remember this well because one of the so called crafters then went around to many other crafters and stared looking for same labels. when she picked mine up i told her you will never find one here. All made by me by hand. But nice try.

Like with any tool there is always danger and proper technique and use of tool is always paramount. This is how accidents happen. With all these new cheap lasers hitting the market as well as all these 3D printers these days, people are just not aware of the dangers not only from the beams but the fumes coming off these burning tools. that is why ventilation is a key when setting up in a shop. Just like working on computers all day can effect eye sight so can sharp blasts of light from lasers. I seen people bring scrollsaws and lathes to shows and yes scrollsaws are less dangerous but lathes can get dangerous if you have chips flying around and no barriers. Most shows do not allow these unless properly set up. Me being an outspoken person, I would have said something to them for sure. Just imagine the vendor next to them all day. You want to do custom work then take orders and ship. All part of business. One lawsuit in this lawsuit happy society these days and you lost everything. not good. With that said, good to see craft shows are still hanging around and getting to see other's talents is always what drove me into this in the first place. When I do shows I always loved seeing people's reactions and talking to them to get feedback and input. Those were special qualities I found best when on the circuit because it is instant feedback and knowledge. if doing web sites it is tough because all you have is wait and see if items sell or not and what price points. love seeing the talented artisans.

That was absolutely beautiful and whoever bought it got a masterpiece and keepsake for a long time. I bet you had a hard time letting it go. Thanks for showing.

Wow I really did not think anyone really remembered me and here you are remembering a request I had. Yes since that time I have gathered a few patterns of trains from other woodworking sites as they were gracious to give me links. I just checked your link and have to say it is exactly what i wanted. They have so many different trains and cars to go with. This is the direction I want to take my woodworking skills in, Being I am phasing out of scrolling, I still can use that skill to enhance many items in those plans. A++++++ on the site and thank you for the link and remembering. Have to saw WOW again. Thank You!!!

You will have bigger problems than just rust on the surface. All parts inside the tools are subject to moisture no matter weather you use breathable tarps or not. Have you considered a shed that is weather tight. gets tools off the ground so you do not have that moisture. Shed would serve far better than tarps.

Those all are very nice and well done. I can see why they sell very fast.

Napkin holder.

Dave I always loved your inlay work. It is some of the best I ever seen because of the details that you can do. I have had a project on hold for a few years now because I need to practice this technique to even attempt it. Love the box. Well done because there are a few different aspects of woodworking involved in that. Thanks for showing.

I thought there was some kind of paper that you can put on them that will avoid those brown marks from burning. That was how I explained many times at shows to people when they accused me of using a laser on my work. look for the brown burn marks and the inside of the cuts. Hope you have many sales on them.

I guess but I learned long ago to live by the adage if it is not broke do not fix it. Do not go looking for trouble. I know for as long as I have left to scroll on these saws they will never need for me to touch that wedge. I set the tension when I first got it and never touched it again. Just do not see the need to If your blades are breaking I bet it is something more than that wedge causing the problem. My saw the wedges are basically same size as arm. No overhang and maybe a little less. The biggest thing other than changing the front tensioner and getting new blade holders and new thumb screws I changed that silly plastic clamp holder under the bottom arm to spring steel and has work like a charm If i could figure that out why could they not see that being a weak link. Anyway Happy Scrolling. Again in my eyes the best saws on the market hands down. They are worth the money if you want an industrial saw. If a weekend warrior than any other saw is good for you.

Well Kevin I have to say I must have gotten the golden 2 saws. Have a 220 and 226 and both are as sharp as the day I bought them. That wedge does not move one iota when scrolling and when changing blades at all. I have tons of hours on those saws. I will never sharpen or touch them ever and they will be as pristine as they are now. Not sure what you guys are doing. The only time I get blade breakage is if using jewler's blade or those thin puzzle blades. Or if I am pushing the life out of a blade because too lazy to change one. Now blades pop out of clamps because I forget to sand the edges of blade to rid it of oils. I have dressed the thumb screws often and have changed them the most. I wish they would use the ones like Hegner does with the floating washer. Other than that no oils just vac the dust off after each session. Had to change the front tension lever on each saw once so far and have back ups if need to do again. Now those spinning points I use dry lube on. I believe that RBI has the best saws on the market. Sold my Dewalt 788 and my Hegner this past summer. Never really used them anywhere near as much as the RBIs The hegner was set up to scroll those collapsable baskets because I was making so many different styles of them, setting that angle was a pain on the RBI. Stopped making them so gone goes that saw. Guy got a good deal and a good saw. Same with the person who got my Dewalt.

I have to ask why do you even play around with that part of the saw. I have never touched that tension thing since I owned my saw and it probably as old as yours. How often do you change size of blades. I use the same blade for just about all cuts I make. If I happen to use a different size blade I make adjustments in the front tension by adjusting the depth I insert the blade. just never could understand that when people write they have a rounded over wedge. Does it rock some when you release front tension, maybe so slightly but nothing to wear metal. Maybe I am missing something. But I have cut a ton of work on my saws.

Nice work Ron. I too make the angel wall hanging cross. I sold a couple over the years. I see you added Jesus to the cross. Nice. Thanks for showing.