JTTHECLOCKMAN

Well kevin it is understandable about trying to do shows with kids You do not see that often or at least I have not seen it. Your attention is on doing the right thing with potential customers and if you have to divide that watching kids you are doing a disservice to your customer and yourself. I have always done shows that are juried or at least tried to be juried for there is always the people who claim they make things but clearly China made and passed off as homemade. I bet it happens on Amazon and other sites too. I know all the catalogs out there that sell stuff. I try to do shows that have many crafters and this one has over 200 crafters. It is a High School and a large footprint. Most my shows were in High schools or church schools. Over the years you develop a rolodex of good shows. I stay far away from the small school shows and boutique shows. The PTA shows and the 4 hour shows. Not worth my effort for what I sell. As I said craft show circuit is fickle and changes show to show, event to event, year to year. Many factors come into play. the economy is a big player as well as the organizers, location, and advertising. I could always go through some of my knowledge of doing shows as I collected over the many years of doing them if you ever decide to return. Some things and rules have not changed and some increased. The do's and dont's, the highs and lows of doing them, the pitfalls and pleasures. It is and has been a thing I am glad I experienced when I got into scrolling. There was a crafter next to me that sold wool sweaters and also tye dyed shirts( I guess that stuff is making a comeback) and he did over $3000 worth of business . As I said I walked around a little bit to check in with a few friends crafters to see how they were doing and all said it was an uptick to the last couple years and hopefully this is a thing that will continue and I wish success to all doing shows this season. Happy Crafting.

I got back from today's show and things went well. The weather held up till time to go home when it started raining as we got out, so it did not temper the crowd and the crowd was larger than the last 2 years. I believe there is an uptick in the economy because I talked to a few crafters and all said they did better than the last 2 years. This is encouraging. I did well on many of my new items as well as some items that are proven tried and true sellers every year. i cleared just over $1200 which is a normal show when things go well. Still not like the old days when 2 day shows I would do close to $5000 back in the 90's but I will take it I do not do 2 day shows any more. It encouraged me to do the show again next year. I started having reservations the last 2 years. But that is the show circuit and these days it is more fickle. I had only 2 people who wanted to use a card but being I do not take them they still were able to pay with cash so did not lose the sale. Surprising I did not, and have to check that, I did get one check and it was for a $15 item. Made me laugh some. I usually get 4 or 5 checks per show depending on sales. I do not know if there is anything to read into that or not. I did pick up some requests or suggestions as I like to ask potential customers and those that did purchase things, for some new items. So I will work on them over the summer and probably will be here asking for new patterns from our talented pattern makers. I hope those doing shows this year find the same results in that the economy is doing better. That is my report and as I said I will post photos of some items and I think my brother who helped took some shots of the setup so I may post them if he sends them to me. All in all a good day.

Man I have been using plastic containers for 30 years. I have been pouring the remains back into the original cans for that long and actually have Danish oil that is about 15 years old in the same cans half full and never solidified or went bad. I must be one lucky guy,

The one thing I took away from your questions and your post is the statement of you scroll MDF and 1/4 plywood. Both material but especially MDF is a nasty hazardous dusty material that is not good for the lungs. A good mask and dust collection system would be well advised. You did not say what type of plywood but whatever it is it will be rough on blades because of the layers and the adhesives used to make it. Some plywoods are not good for breathing the dust either. The questions were answered so I won;t touch those. Welcome to the site and the world of scrolling.

Probably. I have been using the Penguin silver reverse blades #5 for the longest time and they fit my speed and my comfort level. Going from a stamped blade to a milled blade will take some getting use to because the way they track. But like everything you can get use to them. I have no reason in the world to switch what I do now. Not sure how many more years I have left on earth to enjoy scrolling and speed is not in my vocabulary. I leave that to the young guns. Go get em. I find myself saying this as I drive around town these days too. As I said they make so many different saws and blades and tools to fit anyone's needs and wants. Boy I remember the blade wars when pegas blades first came out. Wow the scrolling forums were always full of those wars. I can tell you some sad stories behind the scenes that would shock some. Oh well happy scrolling with whatever blade floats your boat. Try them all.

All look great and I am sure will sell easily if someone bought your patterns and made them. I like 21,30,and 42 the best because they are different from what you see most of.

Wow those ornaments stand out when painted like that. That is a seller. More work but worth it for sure. Thanks for showing.

Stamped VS milled to begin with. PSR only have reverse teeth about 1" up from bottom. UR have every 3 teeth. Both do the same thing in that they prevent fuzzies and splintering on bottom. I do not use the UR but have used the ultras and they are sharper but I find for me control is key and I get better control with the Penguin. I am not a production scroller any more. I am a hobbiest.

yea I am into the segmenting and trying new things. I will see you over at IAP. Need to give Mark a run for his money over there. I* can not do 2 things at the same time because it takes up too much equipment room. Has been a while since i turned some pens. Want to start working on my Bash entries for there also.

I have no doubt. You would need someone to do a video of the speed thing. leaves me out.

Different type of stand. 3 legged tripod was designed for those reasons. My hegner will run at all speeds no vibration. Dewalt did the same. The thing with Dewalt though it is cheap metal bolted in so many places so the design is sort of countered. Hegner saw is not bolted it is welded. Makes a difference. RBI is also bolted and now you are dealing with 4 legs need to be level and tight and splayed right.. These come into play all the time.

Well I got all my projects done and on time as my first show is this Sat. I will try to post some photos and to show off some of the patterns some of the great pattern makers have helped me with. Hopefully I get all names and patterns correct. I thank all that helped in this area. I think they came out well. Will need some time to upload those after this show. After that I will put a hold on any other scrolling unless I get some kind of order at shows. I will then focus on my other hobby pen turning. I will probably be stepping aside from this site for awhile. Will see how it goes.

Never use them so I had no idea. Sounds like a good solution. Not sure why you want a blade like that but i am sure there is a reason because they make them. I guess a popular blade. For all those that need faster speeds here you go. I knew the ultras were milled differently than standard blades that are stamped. There is a blade out there for everybodies cutting habbits. Happy scrolling. Flying Dutchman scroll saw blades are 5" long and pinless. Milled blades, which makes a sharper cutting edge. Manufactured in Germany with top-grade high-quality hardened steel. Ultra Reverse blades are our top selling scroll saw blade. They have a unique design where every third tooth is reversed to prevent splintering on the underside of the project. They also have an aggressively fast cut, while at the same time being a smooth cut.

Been that way forever. I never go any faster than that anyway. Call RBI to solve the problem if they can. Has to do with harmonics. The movement of the long arms up and down. They will tell you the story and what to do. The first thing will be to anchor the stand down to a solid surface and have the legs splayed properly That is a must with all saws. Check all bolts are tight. Good luck.

Never saw a dimple in any FD blades that I use and Mike never mentioned this to me for I use to test his blades for him. I do the run the finger down the blade takes 1/2 second. Not cutting into my time for cutting. I sand all 4 ends of the blades every time too. #5 FD silver reverse best blade on the market in my eyes. I use that blade more than any other blade. Buy them by the gross.

Start with the easy ones. Yes to your danish oil problem. I leave it in the ca untill I am ready to dip my project. Then using a funnel I pour it back in the can after use ready for next time. I clean the container out with acetone and wipe fairly well. Really does not matter if you do not fully clean it because it is a designated container for this purpose only. The film will dry hard so no big deal. Table yes to some wax the table and a good wax is johnson's paste wax made for wood products. I have added an auxillary table to mine to make the work surface larger and made from 1/4" plexiglass you can get at home centers. I wax that on rare occasions but it stay pretty slick. Do not want it too slick. You want a bit of drag to control your cuts better. Be careful waxing any table that has texture to it. Finally you should have to set the back knob once with each different size blade and the front tensioner should release enough tension to take blade out and replace again for next hole. If not then the tension lever needs adjusting and I have no knowledge on that saw so someone else can help there. Good luck.

Congrats and good luck. Hope to see many projects come off that saw over the years. Enjoy it in good health. Yhey sure have not changed design much over all these years. I guess when you have a proven product you stick with it.

What blade clamping hassle??? They supply a place to hold the clamp just like RBI to insert blade lower clamp. There is a slot that runs down the entire front of the table so you can pull the blade down as far as you want when tilting piece to insert blade in hole and the upper clamp has a quick tension lever like RBI. If you want to top feed you need a way to hold the arm down. RBI and Hegner saws are the cadillacs of saws on the market . They are a professional saw built to last a life time unlike a Dewalt. Thus the price differences. Blade changing can not be simplier on both the RBI and Hegner, Tons of room under the table to get your hands there no matter how big your hands are. I totally disagree with Kevins assessment on agressive cutting with a Dewalt over an RBI or Hegner but that is my opinion and am allowed to have it. I have all 3 saws and sawed on all 3 so have some experience here too. Dan you are going to love the saw. Just like with any saw there is a feeling out process but once dialed in you will love it. Good luck with your new toy.

Now that is different. Looks good. Thanks for showing.

I missed them too. All nice projects for sure. Can not help with album. I never got mine up and running here either since the change over.

Ray you got the saw cheap and other extras as I said go to sell it if you do not like it and you made your money back many times over. Bite the bullet. Any backyard fix will deter the next buyer. What is the saying penny wise dollar foolish.

scrollsaw no sanding. no tearout. Use a reverse tooth blade. Use of a router require a reference point and that would more than likely require a hole or doublesided tape to a master. No time saved there and only as accurate as the master cut. But as mentioned give it a try and see what you think.

stack 2 but I would not even do that. As I said 5 minute cut at best.

not enough air and had to get a larger hose and that did not help much. For me a waste of money because back in the day that was the recommended fix mentioned on alot on forums. Now I would just get the bellow. As I said selling feature if you do not like it.

That is about a 5 minute cut on a scrollsaw (backer) If you are making the same backer all the time stack cut a couple easy to do. You will not get the accuracy with a bandsaw that you do with a scrollsaw because it cuts too fast. Very nice clean sharp lines cutting.