JTTHECLOCKMAN

Sort of a intarsia and fret work 3D project. Very different. Came out great.

Make sure the table is 90 degrees to a new unused blade. Do not go by degree markings or any detent stops. You can always make an auxillary table top to make the work surface larger. I did this with some 1/8" BB plywood. Seal the wood and a coat of poly on top and slick enough to control your projects. The metal tabs that hold the blade holders, make sure they are straight or else the holders will be tilted and thus throw alignment of blade off. Make sure blade travels up and down in a straight plane.

I am with Al all the way. Really no need to use that thin of a blade. I can spin a #5 on a dime. To me that is the perfect range for newbie scrollers to start and go from there. People think because the projects is thin or fragile looking that you need a fine blade and that is just not true. If you can drill the hole for a #5 blade in the pattern then you can cut with it. That is where the smaller blades maybe needed. The size of the drill hole as a determining factor. Tons of different blades out there. Happy blade hunting.

Please read my entire post Thank you.

it is the constant making and breaking of a live circuit that wears the contacts on a switch. Any switch will fail over time and add elements to that switch location and it is a failure that will repeat. Protect the environment of the switch and use a heavier rated motor rated contact switch and will last longer. Those saw switches are low rated and being most people switch to foot controlled switching many people never have to replace them. You have this on lathes alot too because the constant on/off all the time. I just replaced a switch on my tablesaw and it was a 20 amp rated motor switch. Just normal wear and tear.

Why do you feel you need to use such thin blades?? I hardly ever use that small of a blade unless I have fine veining to do or doing puzzles. My go to blade is a #5 silver reverse FD blade and I cut 1/8" to 3/4" oak with it. The heavier blades will track better. You do not say what saw you are using? Using thin blades like that you need to lower the speed and tension and can not push as hard. When switching blade brands it always takes some getting use to. There is a learning curve. Here is an example of what a #5 blade can cut. 1/4" red oak on the lettering.

Very nicely done. I will caution you though with your choice of finish. You try not to mix poly with lacquers. Not good adhesion. Lacquer will lay on top of poly but with BLO it will blend and lock into wood fibers. Danish oil is BLO,MS,and Poly blended together. You would get the same results if you used BLO. Do not use plain linseed oil. BLO will give the wood a yellow tint as does Danish oil but without the poly. Now you get away with this because you do not use more than one coat of Danish oil and the amount of poly is minimal. Love the project and love the finish. When I use lacquers I polish out using Micromesh 1200 and lemon oil. I like Formbys lemon oil. One other thought those that use wax as a finish do not top coat with either poly or lacquers you are wasting your time. No adhesion at all it will peel. Just some of my thoughts. Do as you may.

I would use water based paints to add color. Many child safe paints out there.

It is great to see such talent here and the variety of projects being shown is fantastic. Keep them coming. Love it when people think outside the box and maybe use a pattern and add their own touch. Shows a creative mind.

I never sand my plywood ahead of time. To me it is a waste of time. I do not use much BB plywood but did when I made the napkin holders because it needs to be strong for the thin cuts. Actually used aircraft plywood which is stronger and more plys. I use light tack blue painters tape. I always use to apply my pattern directly to wood but found that to be a messy operation and when pouring MS or acetone on project the adhesive can get into the frets and it is a mess.

If you are handy enough and comfortable enough to work with electricity, make a switch controlled outlet and use a heavy duty motor rated switch and attach to the side of the saw. Flip switch on and off like a light switch. Or have electrician wire in one. Very simple to do.

There is 2 types of blue painters tape so be aware of that. One is low tack and the other is medium. From Scotch. Yellow Frog tape is good also. low tack.

Is this a pattern available from a designer or pattern maker?? Sure would be interested to get a copy. O know you mentioned the web site but was it in a magazine and if so do you remember which one?? My memory is fuzzy but I can picture either it was this or a set of interlocking hearts on the cover of a magazine but was not a scrollsaw magazine. Just can not put the mind working in the right place. Thanks. Found this https://www.woodworkingnetwork.com/wood-market-trends/woodworking-industry-news/production-woodworking-news/woodcraft_acquires_woodcraftplanscom_127779258.html

I have seen other shapes as well. I also seen people who actually nail the pieces and to me that looked unprofessional. The thing with these is the layers lock in the next layer and makes it very strong so no nails needed. Now I do glue and nail the feet on because that is where the most stress can become. I also seen the design used for outdoor planters and wishing wells.

Thanks Dave your boxes are always nice to look at. I bet though there has to be one item over periods of years selling stood out and made you continue to keep making. Those are the tried and true projects that stand the test of time. I do know how shows can be fickle. Some people can make items they think would be good sellers and then make $5 ornaments and they sell out every year. Just the nature of the hobby.

When I say system it basically steps and I make each step a part of the process. Such as one day I will run boards through the sander one side. . The next step would be to mill the correct width and thickness of strips that I cut from the sanded boards. The next would be to cut to proper size pieces and sort them in boxes(different species) . I will cut thousands of pieces at this time. Next I pull out my jigs for building and start to build. This takes the longest of time in this project but I will have two baskets going at one time. One with the one side done already and working on second side, and the second just start the first side. I keep doing this because it takes time for glue to dry so can not rush things. Works out well. After all are complete I have a dipping day and dip in Danish oil and let to dry. That is it.

Dave nice set up and great to read you did well. Guess that show is now on your list. Can I ask what were the top sellers that people bought?? Thanks for showing.

Those that sell your finished products and projects, what has been the best of the best projects?? I know many times through the years things change and they can change from show to show and I get that, but what the question is, over the long haul what has been your top of the line can not miss seller?? If you choose to show off a little please do so we always like to see photos and bragging is a good thing. We all probably go to shows with various projects which is always a good thing to try to help in sales. I get that. I also get some people here specialize in one particular area such as puzzles. That is cool too and if you want to show them go for it. It would be nice to include where and what type shows you do. Any other facts or tidbits you want to brag about go for it. Such as what price range have you found to work best. What woods or materials you use work best and help in the selling. What type shows seem to work best for you and your area. Did it take awhile for that project to take off and did you have to tweak it over the years and are you still tweaking it?? I post this here to maybe in some small way help those that are just starting out and wanting some examples and helpful hints. I will start it off since I am posting the thread. I make a large variety of projects and have made over 900 different ones. I have narrowed my inventory down to ones that do well and are easier for me to carry to shows these days as I get older and not as nimble any more. Clocks of all kinds have been a great line to sell and will always continue to be. Thought that is a broad field I will bypass that. But surprisingly enough I would say I added a line of baskets that are great for table center pieces and other things that from the very first show till even today these are good sellers and have to say my best sellers of all time. I say that because of the numbers which I have no idea but do know it is many. I tried thinking when I introduced them but have a hard time pinpointing it but will say early 1990's. Seen the pattern in Wood magazine and decided I want to try these. In the magazine there is one size and two different versions, one wall mount which was half a basket and the large version. I made both but found the wall version a bust and stuck with the center piece. I then after a couple years scaled it down and made my own version of a smaller size and those are the ones that have taken off and even today still outsell the large ones. The large version uses 125 pieces as the small ones use 85. Have no reasoning as to why one sells more than an other. I sell them $50 small and $65 large and have kept this price through out with raising $5 half way through the years I have carried them. Could I get more probably but have found this price range to be the best and it works for me. I do these in batches and have a system to make and works well. I make them in all varieties of domestic woods and a few exotic woods. I have started introducing spectraply woods and for those I make only small but have to charge $65 for because the wood is very expensive. I hope to add more colors this year. But I have included a photo of them as well as photo of the baskets I am talking about. They are fun to make because I know they sell. Sold 3 at a show this Sat. Have order on another. So what say you and lets brag a little. The best of the best.

Good to hear. What were your big sellers??

Have to say I have never seen or heard of that Knew Concept precision saw. That is strictly a jewelers saw from what I see. But it is a different looking saw for sure. Thanks for the link. Learned something.

I will disagree with Randy on the Hawk and Hegner being a huge problem as he puts it, at least I had not found it to be. I have both saws and have had no problem cutting metals on my RBI. I have cut brass as shown, copper which can be a bear and aluminum with absolutely no problem. Have not tried cutting with the hegner. Have also used the Dewalt and that too cut well. I had mentioned this before that on the type #1 saws they had a flaw of the aggressiveness of cutting due to the table not set up properly to the blade. I had to jury rig the table to make the cuts more parallel. I have shown photos of how I did this here too. Not sure if that situation was ever addressed with the newer ones or if anyone really checks to see on their saws or if it even bothers others. On the RBI saw you need to make sure you are in the non aggressive slot when setting that bottom clamp. From what I read on the new ones there is a way to take that aggressiveness out by sliding the bottom clamp in and out. Setting up your saw is always important to get optimum use out of it.

So what?? The train is just going the opposite direction. As long as the keep all sides the same.

I can not answer any of the Canada questions but I can say Any saw and I mean any saw can cut metals. Weather bearings is a problem that one I do not believe is true because the saw would also be suspect to saw dust. My opinion. . Set a vac up to collect fine shavings then. With metal you do not get the fine air born dust as you do with woods. The use of jewelers blades and speed is what controls. You will also find that a saw that does not have an inherent aggressive cutting mechanism works well too. I would think any of the Dewalt style saws would be great for that because they have a more perpendicular blade movement. I cut brass and other metals all the time. Now I have and cut them always on an RBI saw. The company that took over selling RBI saws has taken it to the dumps in my opinion and getting parts and saws take forever. But with that said I have a ton of hours on mine and have 2 of them 220vs and 226vs. I have recently bought some of Mike's Flying Dutchman metal blades and so called jewelers blades but have not tested them yet. I have been buying mine here and like the Antelope blades. https://www.ishor.com/jeweler-bench-tools/jeweler-39-s-saws-and-blades By the way your work looks great. need to show us more. here is a project I have done a few times and the brass overlays were all cut using the the blades mentioned and on the RBI.

The tree is basically my design, yes. All I did was find a basic Christmas tree on Pintrest and added the wheels to it. Those wheels were shown here before on a thread about napkin holders. I added a star to it. I will see if I find it here. Used the same round base I did for the others and sized it according to the size napkins I used. I believe the 5 X 5 size is perfect for these things. You have my permission to do as you wish. I used the same rings that Don used for his Valentines day one. Open his PDF file and you will see them. I will be making that pattern too for next year. Did not have enough time this year. https://www.scrollsawvillage.com/forums/topic/32576-my-napkin-holder-for-valentines/?tab=comments#comment-364291

DUH