kmmcrafts

Ray, If I'm not stack cutting I go down a size or two.. Well maybe I should word it better.. If I'm cutting thin stock 3/8" or less I go down to a #3 and sometimes a #1.. but can use a #3 or 5 on the thin material too but then I'm slowing the saw way down.. I don't fool with the saw speed much and usually just change the blade I'm using.. Also remember.. that the smaller blade will give a smoother cut edge.. so even some projects I use a #3 as well.. even on the thick 3/4" stock.. animal puzzles come to mind here.. like Scott ( iggy ) makes.. the pieces fit together better with a number 3.. But yeah. my most common used blade is a toss up between a #3 and #5.. I use a lot of both.. probably the same amount of either one.. Now to throw a curve ball.. LOL.. I use the #5 the most on my Hawk.. as it's a less aggressive cutting saw... BUT.. The Ex-21 and 788.. I do find I use the #3 more... so this is a big reason I try to answer those what blade to use questions with.. buy sample packs... not everyone's saw cuts the same as mine.. even a difference in cutting between the two Hawks.. My 220 is more aggressive than my 226..also not everyone does the same types of cutting. and lastly.. not everyone likes to cut fast / slow.. Some places you buy blades from will give gross pricing on mix and match sizes so you might be better off to order 6 dozen of each blade and then get plenty of each size or break it down more and buy 3 dozen of a few sizes.. Just hate to see you plunk down a lot of money on one size blade then realize you wish you had a smaller or larger blade too.. . I'm not sure that DnD does the mix match for gross pricing.. but there are other places that will on the Pegas..

I had wheels on my first Hawk when I brought it home.. that thing would literally vibrate across the floor.. I did everything I could think of to dampen the vibration.. including parking the saw on a piece of carpet padding.. I ended up ditching the wheels.. I've thought about those roll around tool stands ( shopfox ) like I bought for my bandsaw.. but not sure that would even work... Now this is the older Hawk which does have more vibration than my newer Ultra.. so maybe they improved the balance of the machine on the Ultras..

I'd use the blue loc-tite.. Blue is for medium duty.. Never ever use Red loc-tite unless you never plan to take it apart again, LOL.. actually the bottle instructions on the red says it'll come apart but only with heat from a torch.. Not sure if they mean heat from a cutting torch or just heating it up a little to loosen the loc-tite

Actually yes.. I have the box fan with a allergen type furnace filter on it.. and whatever saw I use I put the fan on the side that my saw air blower is aimed at.. o my Hawks the blower is on the right side so I aim the blower to blow the dust toward the fan on the opposite side.. I have to take that filter outside 2-3 times a day and knock out the dust and then bring it in and sometimes vacuum it off too.. It's amazing how much dust it catches.. I do set the fan up on something that will raise it up so the top of the fan is as high or slightly higher than the saws table.. some dust still flats past the top of the an or off to the sides.. which is why I have the ceiling mount filtration system.. BUT... I've been playing around with using the shop vac and PVC piping to actually suck the dust into the vacuum.. and I think this is working much better than using the fan.. as there is very little dust now.. I need to get a more permanent system built and a better and quieter vacuum.. and hook it to the foot switch is what I have at the moment..

The box fan with filter works quite well... The hanging filter probably does the same thing.. I have only had mine up a few days.. but see the filter is already picked up a hint of cherry color to it... I run the box fan next to my saw.. but won't be doing that so much in the near future since I'm planning to run piping to each saw for my dust collector to get right at the source.... Hanging a box fan in the ceiling could very well be an option for someone.. on a small budget.. But I don't think those furnace filters are designed to capture the smallest of the particles like the box air cleaners are with their double filtration.. Not saying a box fan couldn't have a double filter added to it.. not sure how many CFM a box fan moves.. My brother uses box fans with filters and has 2-3 of them that he hangs in his basement ceiling to filter the air in his shop.. he says it works really well..

Just tell her to send them to me.. I go through about 4 - 5 gross of just the #5 Pegas MG a year.. and almost that many of the FD UR #5 not to mention the other sizes and styles I use.. even the least used blade I run through about 1 gross a year.. which is actually the #1 FD New Spiral.. Good thing I only saw about 3-5 hours a day

Have no idea why I refer it as live edge.. guess it's how it was refereed too as I was introduced to it.. Maybe I should call it Dead edge.. .. If you google live edge wood.. it brings up what you call natural edge.. but then... so does natural edge, LOL

I think mine are actually dowel pins.. I call them roll pins as that was what they remind me of.. but they are not really roll pins with the slot cut down through the pin.. mine are solid I'm pretty sure....

Ray live edge is just a natural edge of the wood.. ( ie saw the log into lumber without cutting the edges off.. so the outer part of the tree with the bark is still on the lumber ) well actually the bark doesn't have to be attached to be live edge.. but just have the natural slab.. rather than the lumber being squared up into a dimensional board.. This piece I cut out a few days ago is on a live edge slab.. notice the edges are natural tree's edge rather than a squared off 1 x 12 or whatever size I think most of what the hobby stores carry are smaller pieces.. and rather than cutting the length of the log they are cut through the log as in like firewood is cut.. except in small 1" slices, LOL still live edge though.. just different cuts... sort of like sirloin or porterhouse Hahaha..

My brother owns a sawill business.. and yes he does sell the bark.. LOL... there is no such thing as scrap in the mill business.. he sells the shredded bark.. slabwood for fire wood.. and anything that doesn't make slab wood sawdust or lumber gets run through the chipper and he sell the wood chips.. though last I talked to him sawdust was paying more than woodchips so he was grinding it into sawdust.

Yes the DeWalt would be an upgrade over the Delta 40-640 type2.. Nothing against the Delta saw.. it's exactly what I started out with.. as it was given to me by my dad when he wore it out.. I rebuilt the saw in 2007.. and many of the parts was discontinued way back then.. It took a lot of persistence but I found all the parts needed... actually found a guy that bought out a bunch of deltas parts.. he has a web site call Mikestools.com.. he still has many many old parts.. though some aren't so cheap.. but he does have a lot of stuff that no one else does.. He actually had the circuit board I needed for my jointer.. but I wasn't paying the price for it and just wired it direct.. Anyway, I still have the old Delta.. all restored.. and I never use it.. won't sell it as it was my fathers saw and just kind of a sentimental piece that I hang onto.. I do use it from time to time..

I did some research on these last year.. and found that.. Sharktooth blades are no more than just re-branded either Olsen or Flying Dutchman blades depending on the style you choose... so if you've used Olsen or Flying Dutchman blades you likely will know what you're getting from this name brand.. I agree with grizz.. Pegas blades are the best I've used for the most part.. I use a mixture of brands actually depending on what I'm cutting and which saw I'm using.. but Pegas is the most used blade I use.. Only use their Modified Geometry blades so can't really comment on the others..

Just realized I forgot to ad the link to the one I have from the post above .. LOL http://www.grizzly.com/products/Hanging-Air-Filter-3-Speed/G0738

Yeah I just took a better look and I think that is the same one I have other than color.

Thanks for the update Scott.. This is about how well the EX-21 does with just hooking up my vac to the dust port.. before doing that.. I'd have a pile of sawdust in my lap, LOL.. I don't get that with my Hawk.. but I still want to try to vac the dust rather than blow it in the air with the saws blower system.. then it seems to take a ride through the air and lands on my toolbox and anything and everything else.. Need to portion it off like you did.. I'm thinking maybe actual walls though and run heat and AC.. in the little room.. probably able to do a 10 x 14 ish room.. Hey our news has been taking about the giant mosquitoes down that way after the hurricane.. saying they are about the size of a humming bird... they say you need a shot gun to shoot them out of the air etc.. people are passing out after it drinks a quart of blood.. Sounds like a hoot of a time to me... wish I had more money for ammo.... Maybe scientist will morph some sort of giant bats to be able to eat them..

I actually bet the blades lasted longer the way the blade has that rocking motion .. the Q3 is a C arm saw and they are quite aggressive cutting.. The DeWalt and EX types saws also have some rocking motion.. My blades last a little longer on the DeWalt and EX than they do on the Hawk...

If you feel like puttering around you can make one fairly easy out of a range stove hood.. My brother made one from a range hood he picked up at a garage sale for $2..

This is the one I bought.. If you wait a while.. Grizzly usually runs a holiday sale from like Nov thru Dec.. I only gave $89 for mine.... Not saying they'll offer it for that price again but holiday sales are coming.. as well as black friday

If you happen to have a Delta P-20.. Those was awesome saws from what I've heard.. How it compares to a DeWalt? I can't say because I have no personal experience with the P-20 other than drooling over them in the show room floor back when they was new.. Those things was a tank.. but how they compare to a DeWalt.. there are a lot of variables.. one being..the P-20 is by now getting to be quite old.. many parts have been obsolete now for a few years... Parts for a DeWalt are still available... Believe the P-20 was not a true variable speed saw but had many speeds to choose from... which isn't a big deal to a lot of people.. most probably pick their speed and never change it much after that anyway.. and the DeWalt is variable speed..

My shop is 24 x 32 with a upstairs that is 14 x 32.. I bought the expensive styrofoam sheets because there is only room for 4" on insulation up stairs since I want to keep it open rafters for storing lumber in the rafters.... so I bought R15 3" foam sheet.. then topped it with foil both sides bubble wrap.. The lower ( shop area ) I have R19 for some of the shop but not enough to do the whole shop yet.. Almost went with the spray foam.. and probably should have.. but I didn't want to have to conduit all my wiring etc.. it's been a work in progress.. and like you said Ray.. I'll never have it set up.. I know when I did the wiring.. I put in a lot of outlets.. ( or so I thought ) .. now I want twice as many, LOL..

kind of looks like it could be possible two things.. First.. check to be sure your saw table is square to the blade... second possibility if the blade is square. be sure you are not pushing the blade too hard and making it flex.. suppose not enough tension might be a possibility too.. At any rate the way the picture looks.. it looks as though the bottom side it thinner than the top.. which is why I suggested looking at the table to be square to the blade.. Quick and easy way to check it.. get a fairly thick piece of wood maybe 1 or 1-1/2 inch and make a cut just deep enough into the wood to get the blade all the way into it.. then back it out and try to insert the back part of the blade into the slot you just cut... if the table is square to the blade it should line up.. if not then you need to adjust the table and make another test cut.. keep doing the process until you get it to line up... Or if you have a small machine square you can also use that.

I also googled those numbers.. My first thought was that back in the day.. several of the scroll saw manufactures use to use a prefix number before the main model number to indicate that the saw came as a package with stand and light... though I didn't find anything pertaining to that with this saw and number so I don't know if those numbers are correct... On another note... is those numbers actually DW7880? If so that is the number for the DeWalt stand..

What kind of blade speed you run on these? I'm wondering if the blade getting hot and sort of melting the tape / glue... I've never had this issue with any of my saws other than the DeWalt.. and it never happen very often even on that saw.. but would from time to time.. My other saws I don't run the blade speed quite as fast mostly due to the fact that the max. speed on the other saws is slower than the DeWalt.. Now I realize you'er using the Excalibur and they don't have a very fast speed either but I'm also assuming your cutting thick wood? I don't know.. just thinking.. it could be blade speed and or the wrong type blade for the job that is creating heat to melt small portion of the tape..

I’ve never done compound cutting either but my DeWalt would do this sometimes when stack cutting as I use tape to hold the stack of boards together. Not sure why it does it but makes it hard to spin the wood on that sticky table

Heat is over rated... Cold make you work harder No, I have all of the upstairs insulated and have almost enough to get the downstairs ( shop area ) done.. in fact I have a little of the downstairs done.. But... that said.. I'm not real interested in heating the whole shop just yet.. mainly the cost to do so.. and I'm thinking about putting up a wall to block off a small area.. and just heat the scroll saw area up.. I don't need it to be T-shirt warm.. really most times its not bad until it gets below 20F.. I'm thinking I'd probably heat it at around 40-50F would be plenty warm.. and wouldn't cost much to do just that small area..eventually the whole shop will be able to be heated in case I take on another car or tractor restoration or just need to work on a car.. but I won't keep it heated.. Actually what I've been doing the last few days is cleaning ( vacuuming the dust off the walls and everything ) hopefully the wife won't see me doing this or she may see I can actually do a deep cleaning, .. then I plan to do a little different shop layout.. and possibly run my dust collecting piping to more of the machines.. Everything I've done in the shop has been temporary because I know I have to do more wiring and access the walls etc. for insulation sooo. my shop has never really been set up... the way I want it to be... just a work in progress..