JTTHECLOCKMAN

Spiral blades is probably the easiest way around this but if you are not familiar with the way they cut it can ruin the piece in a hurry. I have made large mirrors and other projects that were too big for my saw and I have a 26" RBI, but was able to work the blade in ways to cut the outer edges where need be. It usually just a few cuts that are tough to get at. I would twist the blade 90 degrees if I had to. I always had to stand when cutting those type projects because of the extra wood to spin and the center core of my body got in the way for some reason. It is not bad once you figure things out.

Great minds think alike.

Years ago that was a problem with printers where they would stretch the pattern. I have not run into that any more. At least at the FedX place I go. I hold the original pattern up and overlay a new pattern and if it lines up I am good to go. That is how I check for pattern accuracy. The light will let the pattern shine through easily.

The Master of the inlay. Your work stands out and your talent is unreachable. We all can only dream or at least I can. Another superb example of perfection. Thanks for showing. Always love looking at your work.

Over the years I have done that quite often because it gets costly to have larger patterns printed. I use FedX many times for making patterns. I run so many copies or at least use to that it was just worth using their copiers and I wrote off the cost of patterns on my taxes. But they have large blueprint copiers which I used but as I said they got expensive. What I did was take original pattern and drew matching pattern lines and numbered the patterns so when I tape back together I would have an easier time matching things up. Worked well. I use to make large mirrors and shelves and other large projects and still do a few.

300 hours on the EX and it needs bushings???????? Wow. Even the Dewalts lasted longer than that or at least the type #1 did. The Dewalt type #1 saws were all the rage back in the day. They were the prize mid range saw because all clubs had them and they were sold at Home Depot and easy to get. There were repair stores around to fix Dewalt equipment of all kind. That switch has been a factor ever since they came out and the fix was always just cover it and use a foot switch.

Folks he said The saw is on its way. Do not discourage him. We are here to encourage people.

As I said many people did not mind the aggressive cut and some never knew it was there. May still be on the newer ones too. Who knows. How many people check this on any saw. All the new Pegas saws have the same blade action and all the excaliburs too. Very easy to check. Just take a square and place behind a blade just touching it, and by hand move arm up and down. If the table is true then the distance between the square on the top stroke should match the distance on the down stroke with the blade touching the square in the middle of the stroke. This was the idea behind that system. The rocking motion is less that a longer parallel arm saw . The old "C" arm saws were even more aggressive.

Just so you know there were 2 things with all type #1 Dewalts and it involved the table. Now this saw has been used so maybe the owner addressed them already. But the table was always offcenter and many times had to be moved over or else the blade would cut the side of the hole. The table always rocked because it is tough to tighten the screws that hold the table in place and if you lean on the table one way or other it throws it off 90 degree plane. You will see. And the big one was the table was never level and the blade always cut with an aggresive cut. Many people never noticed and it did not bother them. It did me so I fixed mine and requires a shim in the back of the table as shown here. Depending on the condition of the saw and the hours on it, it could be a worthwhile investment but they are known to knock and need attention. That is how all those videos of tearing the Dewalt apart started. It was on a Type#1 saw. They are not a production saw but are a good mid range saw. Good luck.

One important safety note, wear a good dust mask and safety glasses. That fine material will get in your lungs. I should have mentioned I use newspaper under my projects and then just the crease in the paper makes a nice funnel to pour back in the bag.

Looks good from here. I am sure it will be well received.

I agree 100% too. Nothing wrong with gluing edge to edge if they are jointed properly and use a good quality wood glue such as TitebondII Clamp well but do not over clamp to squeeze all the glue out and starve the joint. I have used glued boards many times. I prefer hardwoods too and use plywoods when needed.

Well have to say this, I make some Religious cross boxes that are meant to hold prayer cards and prayer beads and other items like that. It has a scrolled cross sitting on top of a box and inside the box I glued colored acrylic mirror to back of the fret work and then I covered the back of the mirror with sticky back felt. I use different colors depending on the woods used. Well to make a long story short a customer had a broken the cross and damaged the box. I said I would fix it for them free of charge. I went to pull that felt off and it was stuck very well on there. That was after about 3 years. So can not say for sure but.

Sorry no that is my idea. I did have someone make the cards pattern for me. Her name was Sylvia( JR Ranger) I do not know if she released the pattern to the public. You can google it. I think Steve Good has something similar if I remember well. I made the Wooden Dice for the clock insert. Have not yet made the themed pen for this but it is on my to do list.

Flocking is very easy to do. The material will only stick to surfaces that are painted with the adhesive so if it gets in the fret work, no big deal. It will fall out when you shake the box or you can blow it out or use a soft brush. Just use clean paper under the project to catch all the loose fibers and pour back into the bag. One bag goes a long way. The puffer is great and no you can reuse as long as you clean it out and what I do is dump excess back in bag and then use shop vac and vac it out. Works great. The whole trick is to work quickly so the paint does not dry on you and plan your stratagy ahead of time. Have puffer filled and ready. Tape off areas you do not want to flock because it makes painting so much easier and faster and you do not have to be picky. Use the proper color adhesive for the color flocking in case something shows through. It is tough to redo but can be done if need be but the best advice is when you think you have flocked enough, flock some more. Never can overflock. Flocking will not hide poor joints. It is not like felt. Speaking of felt, that is another way to go. I have made many boxes and lined them with stickyback felt and looked good. Here are some examples of my flocking. One important note is allow at least 24 hours to dry. I leave it for a couple days to be sure. On the pool table I flocked the top and rails and inside the box I use felt. The piano was red cardinal flocking and the Diamond shaped box was a deep blue. I flocked the tapered pen holder as well as the underside of the lid of the box. Used same puffer for all, and it was actually easy to do.

Finishing is an art in itself but I would like to point out unless you are using a gloss finish on fret work which I do not like, then being particular about getting into the frets is over kill. You spray the project at all 360 degree angles and I start in the back. Oh by the way when top coating with a lacquer or poly or even shellac it is a great idea to do both sides to prevent warping. You are sealing the pores of the grain on one side and movement is not the same all around the project. Finishing101. With satin gloss or shellacs the shine is not noticable if you missed a spot inside a fret cutout. I use satin lacquer all the time on fret work and have no problems. Here is an example. Satin lacquer 6 coats.

I agree it came out well. Also trying new things can open up more avenues for future projects. We are artisans and we thrive on using our creative side of our brains and this is a way to give it a workout. I am sure you learned valuable lessons in this project. It came out well too. Thanks for showing.

I have too on occasions and the reason we can get away with it is there is very little poly in Danish oil. 1 to 2 coats of Danish oil does not build up to much at all. You run into problems when the project was top coated with poly and then lacquer placed on top of that. Unless the poly has been sanded and shellac placed between layers it will peel in time. Poly layers lay on top of one another while lacquer they melt into each other for a lack of a better word. Lacquer will not melt into a hard finish like poly. Agree 100% about the way to a good finish is patients and that is so true. Many times, even in pen making people are in such a hurry to put a finish on a project that took quite long to cut or turn and yet rush through the finish part. Sometimes that extra layer or that extra sanding grit or even just using some paper bag material to knock off those small nibs means a world of difference in appearance and feel to a project.

First let me say because there was statement made here that is half true and needs to be corrected. The impression was made that BLO will have a tendency to be a hazard with rags and paper towels and such, this is true if not discarded correctly but so will Danish oil or any other oil finish!!!!!!!!!!!!! Please be aware of this and be careful. Now to answer your question and most have done so already. I dip in blo if using lacquer as a top coat because Danish oil has poly in it and poly and lacquer do not play well together. You get the same color effect with either BLO or Danish oil and yes the color combination will just be more pronounced and look great. For BLO I let sit for 24 hours. For Danish oil I let sit a week but i do not top coat Danish oil unless I add Polish to it to give it a deeper sheen. I love the look Danish oil leaves. I see the advantages with mineral oil in puzzles but any other woodworking there is none except maybe cutting boards. Shellac is a good go to finish as well. I use that under a lacquer finish where I do not want the color of the woods to change at all such as with holly or aspen. I want that white color. That is what you pay big money for when buying those woods. As far as amount of coats I usually use 5 to 6 coats at least. I mainly use satin but on some projects such as my birdhouse turned ornaments I use gloss. Rarely use semigloss.

I dip in BLO and then spray a satin lacquer. If no lacquer I dip in Danish oil. I would not use mineral oil and then top coat it with anything. Mineral oil is not a finish or a product that stands up to time. I am surprised you use it on puzzles. Yes it makes the puzzle look deeper and richer when first done but does not last long in my experience using mineral oils. They always need to be recoated. Just an opinion so take it for what you paid for it.

That could be very cool. Thanks.

Blue painters tape under the pattern. Tape does not come off unless you pull it off. Pattern sticks better on an underlayment as opposed to directly on wood. The grain is not flat so lots of air spaces under it where pattern does not stick. Some people use shelf paper. I am going to try this because I bought rolls when Iggy posted the link for a sale on it.

I looked the other day when I was cleaning the shop, which is finally done. That took about a month to get all cleaned along with the game room but did need it for sure. I did not find the receipt but I do know I bought it at a woodworking show and in fact bought both at a show. One was the show model and got a good deal on it. The other 220 was just a show price but I am betting it was about $1000 with light and foot switch. That was the package back then. They ran out of shirts so that upset me. Back in those days every vendor had shirts or some sort of thank you gift. Those days are over. I bought my Hegner that way too. It was the one used at the show and again just foot pedal came with that one. To address Hotshot, they did not have any blade clamps or quick release kits when I ordered mine 5 months ago. Hoping they stock piled a few. They take up very little space on a shelf so that is not the reason. Money is their problem. They had problems with that machine when Kevin bought his saw last year so again tired of hearing excuses. They used that one in their message on their site. Well will see if things improve. The RBI, Hegner and Delta P20 were the work horses and best production saws that were made. I had no experience of using Ernie Mellons saw the Eclipse but did try it at a show once. Not my cup of tea but that saw could have been a winner also. The Excalibur is labeled as a production saw but read too many failures with it. Time will tell on this Pegas saw.

Well Jim I am going to echo what Kevin has said. My saws are the first Ultra saws that hit the market with the new square bottom blade holders. The company back then was RB Industries and they were a real tool maker. They made more than just scrollsaws. They made planers router setups and much more. They did well with these tools because they were USA made and quality made. They were well run and parts were always available. The scrollsaws were and still are some of the very best on the market and that includes the saws of today such as the Pegas. Now saws such as the Pegas is a sort of different style saw and those with the tilting head are just that different style. Does not make them better just a different way to cut angled woods. Not many people need that feature so why pay for something not needed. Titlting a table is easily done and one gets used to either method, just like with different blade types. It is what you get used to. The RBI saw is so few parts that when things wear out they are just wear points and normal for most saws. The old adage K.I.S.S. applies to scrollsaws as well. Hegner is that way also. Now the RBI saw is expensive because it is a production saw and built to last a long time. And they do. As I said here before I love my RBI saws and have made alot of money using them. They owe me nothing. But to throw away a perfectly good saw because of a few parts that should be able to obtain from a company that still produces the same saw with a few tweaks should not be asking too much. This is where the problem comes in. The take over of this company has not proven to be a well thought out event and over the years has gotten worse. Yes it is a small business and I get that but the responsibility to your customers comes first and foremost over your other ventures unless their farming stuff is that much more import than sell the company or close the doors. Not fair to string along customers and potential customers. If it closed and I needed parts and could not get them or do any workarounds, then I will unload them and move on. But they have you over a barrel as would most scrollsaw companies do when it comes to specialized parts and Pegas owners will find this out too. Just as Dewalt had problems. Those saws are new to the market so lets play them out and see where they stack up. Now the advantage saws like that today may use interchangeable parts so that could be an advantage. So for me just because a few parts need replacing I find it hard to throw away a $1200 saw of any kind or any tool for that matter just to move on from that company. That is why I put up with their nonsense and hopefully they either straighten things out or as I said close the doors. I feel OK either way. Just saw this on their site. Weather this is heartfelt or just typed words remains to be seen. I wish all who deal with this company now GOOD LUCK. Maybe we can at some time praise this saw again with much fanfare and bring back its reputation. Bushton Manufacturing would like to apologize for the recent delays with some of your orders, Nilus and Scott have been busy at the shop working to fix our downed machine so we can get everyones orders out. We ask your patience and understanding while we work through this to get you the parts you need to keep making sawdust. We also have a new CSR in the office! Adrianna is full time and she also brings her son to the office, so we apologize for any background noise! Thank you for choosing Hawk! My intention when I started my attack on RBI was purely frustration and continues to be. I came here with a place to express my rage and maybe inform a few people as well. I know my posts on this may have pushed some limits here and Travis has stated as such. I apologize if they crossed some lines and i know this is becoming a topic that to many has probably become boring and unreadable. With that said this should be my last post on this topic and hopefully anyone else who uses RBI saws can find peace with this company as they hopefully get things together.

Heck I use a finishing nail cut down for punching them out too. Those type tools are nice if you use them alot but many work arounds if not.