JTTHECLOCKMAN

Ray, I was talking about the Dewalt saw. Seems to be a serious discussion about the Hawk and the Dewalt. IN the lower photo I show what I did to improve the forward motion of the blade on a dewalt. I calculated the amount I needed and made a shim. Then had to enlarge the 2 side holes to be able to secure the table. The Hawk as the ability to do this with the placement of the bottom clamp so no further adjustment is needed. Anyone who uses a Dewalt especially for delicate work and marquetry work usually made some sort of adjustment. There is a scrolling club that goes to a woodworking show that I attend and they showed me that trick. I believe Rick Hutcheson has done this also and maybe on his site. That fix was popular with the Type #1 saws coming out of Canada which I have. What the saws look like now as far as that aggressiveness is something I do not know because I never measured on a newer saw. I believe both Iggy and Kevin have a newr saw and never made that adjustment and it is set up to be more aggressive in cutting. So it is unfair for me to compare any more. In my mind and on my saws the way I have them set up they cut the same speed. I do not tell anyone to alter anything but will offer my solutions if I found a way to improve something. It is only metal. My saw is way beyond warrenty.

Did all those people need a map on how to get there or did they just use Alexa or Siri??/ Just kidding Good luck.

Could be a number of rosewoods also. cocobolo is usually in the brown series but can run the gamut. http://www.wood-database.com/wp-content/uploads/cocobolo.jpg

inch for inch yes Not that fragile. Cutting the brass was the hardest part of the project. The stain glass in the steps made me have to go out and buy a better glass cutter than I had, that is for sure.

Like I said if neither Iggy or Kevin did not correct this then their saws will cut more aggressive than mine for sure.

Red heart is a heavy exotic wood. I know it it is hard to see but here is Redheart with a Danish oil finish on it in this project.

What photos are they??? If this is what you are asking. This topic came up before and I tried to find the thread. To fix the aggressiveness of the Dewat there are 2 methods. This was mine. There is a method that moves I believe the upper blade clamping system. This is that video.

Better than a video Iggy, because it is so hard to tell at least for me even at low speeds to see any difference, to use a machinist square. There are 2 ways to make sure your blade is cutting at it optimist. I am sure you and most scrollers are familiar with those methods. The first is to make sure the table is referenced 90 degrees to the blade. Not that the table is level. Take a straight edge and place against the back edge of the blade on each side of the blade after you installed a blade in the clamps. I like to use a small machinist square for this. There should be no spacing between the blade and square on both sides. You need to just kiss the side of the blade because any pushing of the blade throws off the test. You adjust the table left or right till you get it perfect. Now the blade is trued to the table and your cuts should be straight up and down. You could also use the cutting test where you cut a slot and then reverse the wood to the back of the blade and it should slip into slot easily. If not adjustments are needed. The next test is to see the forward and backward motion of said blade. This is done with the same square set at the back of the blade. As you by hand push the arm up and down you will observe the travel of the blade from its top stroke position to bottom stroke position. The ideal position is to have the same amount of gap at both the top and bottom of the stroke with the center part of the stroke having the blade flat against the blade. This test will give you a better view of your saws blade travels and you can see how aggressive it cuts. If more gap at the top stroke then it is set for more aggressive cutting. Again this all depends how you install the blade in the clamp. I like to bottom out my blade at all times so I know it is the same for every blade. Some saws allow you to set the blade a little forward in the clamp and this will allow more aggressive cutting. When I got my Dewalt I wanted my saw to cut as perfect straight up and down as possible. I showed the photo here before of how I had to adjust the back end of the table to allow this. Back then Dewalt saws were known for their aggressive cutting action because the top of the blade was a larger gap than at the bottom of the stroke. The RBI has ways that this can be accomplished too. But for me I like to be straight up and down. Maybe this is why I do not see the speed difference in the 2 saws. I can post that photo again if someone is interested.

Len do not be afraid to jump in. It is not anything here that is gospel. I probably took Iggy's original posting and took it down a different path but that is what we do. Maybe I am or maybe I did miss the entire point. I just could not and still can not see the justification of speed when scrolling anything. I understand all the desires to meet deadlines and order numbers and quantity numbers but they are just numbers. No one is holding a gun to these guys heads telling them to do it or else. So many factors go into doing tests against saws. If someone knows of tests like this that have been done against the top brand names I would be interested in reading. I posted this question on another forum trying to get outside info because I have never seen testing like this. Come on in and play. No right or wrong answers.

Would not hurt them if you dip in jewelry cleaner if the wife will let you have some. Then as mentioned run through a piece of scrap wood a little thicker than what you will be using for a quick time.

Kevin I do not care about the speed. I use my RBI saw and love it and will defend it against any saw on the market. If you want to do speed tests so many things need to be the same. Same speed, same blade, same table top resistance, same weight ratio if you are setting up pulling like someone suggested. same wood density, and probably more things. The thing about blades not lasting as long with one saw compared to another is another mindboggling thing to me. I can not wrap my head around you 2 guys and your findings. Let me take a 10 inch Freud tablesaw blade and put it on a Delta saw and the same blade and put it on a jet or a Sawstop saw and tell someone that one saw wears the blade faster they would laugh their A-- off. The same goes for a scrollsaw blade. The teeth contact the wood the same amount of times unless there is a drastic difference in distance of arm travel if all elements are equal as listed above. Unless you drastically adjust the angle of cutting then that is a factor.I believe all this is a mind thing with you 2. I do believe different saws do have different blade travel lengths. Longer means more teeth cut thus lasting longer as opposed to shorter travel because the same teeth have to do more work to cut the same. Now if you can prove this then you have something worth taking note of. I do not have all the specs on each saw. Some saws you can vary the length of the blade by the amount of blade you have sticking in a clamp. That can affect blade travel distance too. My point here this is not a scientific study that will carry any weight at least not with me. But knock your socks off and have at it.

My opinion is just go by teeth depth and hold them against each other. Use them as you see fit until you use them up. I have blades I have no idea what number they are but if they cut what I am working on I do not care. I try to keep blades in packages when buying but it has happened when things get mixed up.

Amazing, Now blades do not last as long in an RBI saw as opposed to a Dewalt. I have always heard that Dewalts break blades faster but again I digress. Iggy made the point now that he bought the RBI saw he seems to think it cuts slower than his Dewalt and Kevin seems to agree too. Fine will leave that alone. It was beat with a dead horse. But I still believe this is a personal thing and no one who is in the market for a saw should base their decisions on speed of cutting alone. So many factors go into speed of cutting as well as how well a saw performs. The type of blade used, the material being cut, the speed of the saw, the famirality of the saw and so on. Performance of a saw can depend on ease of use., ease of changing blades, tools needed to change blades, vibration of saw when cutting, ease of clamps being used, amount of maintenance needed to keep saw running, breakage and time lost for repairs all go into choosing them. Iggy set up a test clock and cut 2 puzzles side by side and timed it and jump to the conclusion that the Dewalt cuts faster and can save time. Even if you are in production mode the time difference between saws is so hard to judge. Again I go back to they all do the same thing and that is go up and down. Drop a blade, have a blade break while cutting, have a phone call, need to go to the bathroom, changing blades on each saw may require more effort as it does with Dewalt over RBI, breakage of the saw and down for maintenance, all are factors that can throw that time schedule right out the door. What he should have said is he tried the RBI but still likes his Dewalt and leave it at that. The speed thing is not a far comparison as I mentioned to like or dislike a saw. Things can be done to make a saw cut faster. But when comparing to a saw where you have more cutting time on will always get skewed because yes muscle memory is a thing and does play a part. I believe that Iggy and Kevin need to sell off the RBI saws and get a couple extra Dewalts to have as backups. They are a good saw but for that kind of abuse are not designed for. They are priced as a midlevel saw and made to do just that. When doing production work as those 2 are doing they need a more robust tool and there are those with the higher price tags out there and they are priced higher for a reason. I believe the only true way to step up production is to either add manpower, add time behind the saw, or source out some of the operation. I knew a husband and wife who actually went into this as a business when craft shows were a hot item. They ran older RBI saws, the ones with the barrel clamps, they hired a kid to do all their sanding for them and they did the dimensioning of the wood and the scrolling. Worked very well for them. They moved and I have lost touch with them. This is all of my opinion to this matter. It is a topic of conversation and maybe helpful and maybe just that a conversation. I am not in any way putting down what others are doing but lets throw in all the facts too. It is good to see there are those that can make a go of it doing this and is encouraging for others who are reading. Hope others jump in and have fun. Thanks Randy for posting your reply too.

Wayne nice cutting but I will have to differ with you 100% Look up any data base and it will state that Honduras Mahagony will be a light reddish brown to a darker reddish brown. I can pull some boards out and take some photos if you would like and compare to a few other mahagonys I have. . I work with it alot. Put a film finish on it and it will darken and over time it will really deepen to a dark reddish color especially if left in sunlight. People will spend big money on furniture made from it. http://www.olivercustomfurniture.com/photos/wood03.jpg many people pass off Sapele which is in the mahagony family as Hondurous mahagony http://www.wood-database.com/wp-content/uploads/sapele.jpg

I can tell you for sure it is not bloodwood or redheart. They are the redest woods on the market but hard and heavy woods. It is a mahagony, if real red it could be Honduras mahogany.

Many species of Mahogany out there with Honduras Mahogany very expensive and hard to find. It is a soft wood, light in weight and weather resistant. Nice material to work with because of ease to cut and no harsh grains.

https://advanced-machinery.myshopify.com/pages/about-usYes. milliseconds. It is called soft start. Many routers or at least the better ones incorporate that technology. Just a nuance with Hegner. After awhile you do not even pay attention to it.

Nice job. You are a good person. Spread the smiles. Good luck with your health issue.

Kevin I own a Dewalt 788, a hegner 18" a rbi 220vs and a rbi 226vs I have cut on all of these and many others over the years. I have never set a clock next to cutting but from my experience and again MY EXPERIENCE I see no difference. To make a blanket statement is just plain wrong. I said up and down motion are the same. The angle the blade enters material maybe different with the workings and construction of the arms. As I mentioned the old Delta C arms had a more aggressive cutting motion because of how the blades are fixed in the arms. The Dewalt ,Ex. and jets use a closer to the material and shorter arm but still goes up and down. There are built in options to increase the angle the blade enters the wood such as the bottom clamp. The RBI and others use the longer parallel arm system but still go up and down I believe it is the material you are cutting. Maybe the travel is longer on a RBI to make it slower. Then speed it up. Change blades do whatever to make up 2 minutes if that means the world. You production cutters are in a class by yourself. I have told you this I have been there but never once in my lifetime felt I had to go faster behind a scrollsaw. I too have cut for production but I do not like blanket statements. It is a personal thing as it is with you. You feel you are on a highway doing 25. I got it. get off the highway or get a faster car. As you and Iggy you have to make up your own minds and buy the saw that fits your need. You both now have experience with a couple of them do what makes you happy. I shared my experience and again I do not like blanket statements and he made one. as well as you are. In your mind the RBI is a slower cutting saw. Please leave me out of this for the best of this post. I stepped away because production scrollers are in a class of their own. Have fun and scroll away and stop talking . Get busy time is money orders to be filled. Not sure what else you want me to say. I understood everything he said and I understand everything you are saying. But at least take my opinion into consideration too have been cutting for over 35 years.

We do speak the same language but as i often said many times on other forums sometimes the typed word gets translated differently than if it were spoken face to face and that is just a common thing. I was a foreman for many years in the electrical industry so I dealt with many different personalities and they can be challenging for sure. I try also to impart some of my past experiences within this forum and love looking at others works. It gives me joy. May not be able to do what I use to any more but many projects brings back memories. One thing I am sincere at is I do wish you good luck and do hope you continue to make people smile and continue to share not only here but wherever you go and when people ask questions at shows be forthcoming and share. It is how we all learn. keep those saws humming and get back to work.

Iggy here you go again and draw me back into this. I know of no one who scrolls like you do. You come here tell us all how many puzzles you cut per year and then proceed to tell us how many saws you go through per year because of this intense scrolling. You now come here and tell us of a test you did comparing a saw that you have had for what maybe 2 months as to what have you been scrolling on Dewalts for how many + years and you tell us that you can fairly tell what saw is faster in the long run. Every saw will have characteristics that apply to that saw. Nature of the beast or else they would be all the same price with different colors. You have to decide weather you want to use a true production saw such as the RBI or a entry level saw such as the Dewalt and continue to replace or maintain every year and maybe twice a year. Maybe this will even increase now that you have stepped up production. The Dewalt may scroll or cut faster on the straight line and with all the twists and turns you have to make with a puzzles your cuts do not need that true accuracy that some fret work requires thus the speed thing comes into play. If i read correctly you did not even use the same blade for both cuts. The steps to insert a blade on a Dewalt is more than an RBI so time loss there has to be a factor also. Again the more you use a saw you will get faster just in this department. The longer you use a saw the more you trust the turns and you learn the nuances of that saw. It takes longer than 2 months. So for you to tell everyone that your test is the tried and true runoff between the two saws is just not fair. To you at this particular time with the cutting time you have on the RBI it may work for you. Everyone does not cut like you. I have never heard anyone wondering what saw cuts faster. when you get into scrolling you sort of know right away it is a tedious hobby that requires patients and if you get the chance to saw on different saws in your life time you may find out some of those nuances. I know you are in a business and you are juggling many things. Happy for you because this is what you chose. No one is forcing you into doing these things. Enjoy while you are still young and can do these things. There was a time in my life when I scrolled to keep inventory up. When I had 6 store locations and was doing 8 shows a year, I chose to do that and have to say my RBI saws came through all that and still not a drop of maintenance needed except a tension lever. To me this was my test of saws. Again nothing disparaging against you or what you are doing but my original post pointed out what I thought are facts that I have found in my many years of doing this too. The decisions you will have to make pertain to you and your style of cutting. It does not apply for all. If you find 2 minutes per puzzles means that much then your question has answered itself. Just need to decide if that time saved is worth the price in saws. Again I want to step away from this because it makes people uncomfortable as I read others comments. I am not here to put down what you do but sometimes facts need to be brought into a conversation. I again wish you the very best of luck with your many ventures and wish you good health to continue forward. I am sure you will make alot of people happy when they purchase your products and seeing smiles on peoples faces makes it all worth it. Happy Scrolling.

I better step away from this again because you are all about speed and I am far from that. Best of luck to you at whatever you do and God Speed!!.

I am older school I guess because I just do not trust anything that sticks on a wall as opposed to mechanical. That stuff is advertised alot though. Good luck with it. And yes that is a French Cleat system. Nice project by the way.

Will never be a fair estimate because you have way more time on a Dewalt than RBI. Called muscle memory. You will burn 2 dewalts out before you even have to touch an RBI for any maintenance. I say let someone match you using the same saw they are familiar with but they would have to be familar with cutting puzzles. I am faster on an RBI because I use it more than an occasional use of my dewalt or hegner. I bet I can thread a blade faster than you on a dewalt. RBI always had an aggressive setting to their lower blade clamp if you want to be more aggressive. The thing with that is you may get over or undercut on top or bottom and not be even. Could affect puzzles not sure I do not do them. Just can not see how one saw can cut faster than another. Same motion up and down. If speed is the same. Dewalts, excalipers, and jets all have the same arm setup and it is suppose to be the most true up and down motion as opposed to the longer arms of a RBI, hegner and other saws that use that system These saws are naturally more aggressive just because of the cutting motion. The older C arm delta saws were the worse for this. Being this is just for your purposes have fun. Just some facts for your input.

You really know how to rub it in Ray. 15 degrees here. Good to hear the trip went well and you came back with a fine saw. You will be a happy scroller for sure. As I told you those saws are production saws and will last a life time. Good luck and happy scrolling.