kmmcrafts

I'm always torn on the search function of a web site.. because on one hand.. most questions have already been asked.. so I feel the forum would be one of those other boring lame forums that seem as though they are basically dead.. If one gets tired of reading and answering the same old question.. sometimes it's time to take a step back and find another forum or hobby to do or forum to read.. I'm not trying to offend one in saying that.. but it is true that the forum is dead if not many people are posting things and asking questions.. Plus.. many times topics go off into some interesting discussions.. Sometimes it's a pain in the behind to search and sift through the thousand search results to find a simple answer that someone could just answer for you in a few minutes.. Plus.. sometimes.. a new question will get a different perspective and possibly a different out come on the answer.. Like I said in my last reply.. many times a newbie can teach a old dog new tricks.. many old timers get stuck in their same old ways of doing things..

I may offend someone here in saying this but.. it's how I feel.. First off.. I don't feel there are "ANY" pro's here on this forum... We are all here to learn from and give advice to one another.. I don't consider anyone above or below another.. I've been sawing for 12 years.. about 6 years production cutting.. so what!!.. I don't want to cookie for that statement LOL I learn new things here almost on a daily basis.... and those years don't compare to one that production cuts.. a production cutting may have more experience in 1-2 years over someone cutting for 50 years as a hobbyist.. My point is.. Everyone has room to improve. and sometimes that improvement is from a newbie.. that tip or trick for doing something different or out of the ordinary.. I have to be honest and say.. Many of the old timers have been doing things the same way for several years.. a newbie comes on board and shows a different method and bam.. the old timers say to themselves.. why didn't I think of that? Also there are many styles of scroll sawing.. Ie.. not everyone does fretwork.. not everyone cut's wood.. some cut plastic or metal etc etc.. a scroll saw is a very versatile tool and many many different types of projects and materials can be done on a scroll saw.. In my mind. a pro would be one that has done most all materials and all styles of cutting.. from fretwork to intarsia to inlay etc etc etc... I've pretty much done fretwork and lightly touched inlay work.. So, like I said in your post the other day... Have a question? ask it.. because there are many different ways of doing things.. even though I've been on this forum for years.. I learn something new almost on a daily basis.. even though I've been sawing hobbyist for 6 years and production cutting for another 6 years.. One thing I find with production cutters.. they are very routine in how they cut.. and what they make Ie.. I keep it as simple as possible.. very seldom do other styles of cutting... because one... I don't have time to do a lot of playing or experimenting with other styles of cutting.. for instance I don't think Iggy has ever cut anything other than puzzles.. I went a long time with only cutting ornaments and clocks.. I'd like t do more puzzles, and portraits... and try making bowls.. more bandsaw boxes.. but all the orders I get.. I get stuck making ornaments and clocks the most.. because that is what I started my business doing.. BTW.. not complaining about that.. I enjoy making whatever is ordered and making the customers happy.. but I miss out of other cutting styles and other things to make..

There are several topics here in the forum with links to the videos.. Might find it by searching this forum for Dewalt bearings.. To watch all 3-4 parts of videos is about an hour+ of time so have coffee and snacks LOL Edit to add link: Here I'll make it easy for you... videos are in this topic.. Not sure why it put two links in here.. but click on the JoeM part on the top.. that should take you to the post where the vids are

Taking it apart to add grease is easy to do... however I wouldn't personally do that for a couple of reasons.. First being.. you void any kind of warranty that it might come with.. second is.. in order to grease it the " right " way you need to take it farther apart than just exposing it enough to "add" grease.. Reason I wouldn't "add" grease is because there are many grease's that are "not compatible" with one another and could actually do more harm than good.. To properly do a good grease job on it.. you'd need to clean out all of the old grease.. then re-grease the bearings with a high quality grease.. I'd run the saw for a year or so.. then do the maintenance.. or wait until it starts making noises and buy a better quality bearing to put in it.. The bearing quality in these saws isn't that great.. then top it off with not much grease.. and it leaves for a failing saw in a short amount of time.. quality bearings added with quality grease will actually make these saws run a long time and run much better.. My Dewalt needed a rebuild after just a couple of years for me.. I bought the best bearings I could and high end synthetic grease.. that was 6 years ago.. and the one that is making noise now if the one that I didn't do because I needed to put the saw back together for a order..

Very nice!! That saw should serve you very well for quite a long time.. I remember the amazing difference when I went from my old Dremmel to the Dewalt.. what a smooth quiet saw.. Then going from the DeWalt to the Hawks and Excaliburs.. Like your light and light mount, LOL.. cool idea.. I'd have never thought of that one.. If you don't have a foot switch... that would be my next investment.. was amazed at how much easier to control the saw with the simple foot switch.. Have fun making sawdust.. and post pictures either of the projects or the pile of sawdust

Thank you

Thank you, If I do this again I might try a bigger insert.. I thought the insert was small for as big as the piece was.. however the clock is also about the size of one of the balls.. so I had mixed feelings with it.. I'd like to see what you make out of that pattern.. Also we was at a restaurant and ordered sandwiches.. they put in a tooth pick to hold the sandwich together.. it was a odd one from the other picks I'd seen.. but I'd also thought the way they was shaped etc. they almost looked like they could be used as cue sticks.. which i contemplated adding to the next one.. Anyway, love to see what you come up with.

Thanks everyone for all the likes and comments.. Was a fun one to make.. thinking about doing it again

I'm also a bottom feeder.. and think I'm a good person / and hope others feel the same about me.. LOL Something else to consider on a saw.. is the fact that.. the top arm rises.. and something real nice is a saw where the top arm rises on it's own when the blade is un-clamped.. Might not be an issue for some.. but for me it is.. When I first got my DeWalt 11 years ago.. I hated trying to hold the arm up while trying to feed the blade.. ( many use a block of wood etc. ) at any rate.. I bought a "jim dandy easy lift" and haven't looked back since.. My Hawks both have the spring loaded upper arm.. break a blade.. the arm pops up and doesn't keep running trying to stab you hand until you get it shut down, LOL... My Excalibur you have to lift and lower the arm manually.. it does stay up on it's own.. but is annoying to me to have to manually do this with each cutout.... I love the Excalibur.. but also do have two complaint about it as well.. One being the manual arm movement. the other is the blade is out near the end ( front ) of the table way closer than my other saws.. doing larger work makes your work piece hang way out off the table.. Not a issue doing smaller items.. like most my clocks that are typically at most 10".. for me.. I'd never buy a large Excalibur due to price.. and I don't care for the blade being so close to the front.. so doing large work and having a large saw throat for me personally.. the EX wouldn't be my choice.. That's why I plan to hang onto my 26" Hawk.. But in doing your research. everyone has a different style of cutting.. and likes and dislikes about a saw.. I'd be nice to have a line up of all the brands at the stores that could be test run.. so keep that in mind when reading reviews.. I have had many entry level saws that while worked good.. but they lacked features and production cutting qualities.. I try not to knock down any brand of saw.. I have 2 Hawks, a DeWalt and a EX-21.. I think if I had to choose one saw.. It'd be a tough call between the Ex and the Hawk.. If the EX had the blade set back a little farther.. it'd probably be my choice.. I can live with the manual lifting arm.. since it stays up on it's own.. unlike the DeWalt (without the easy lift attachment ) .. I suppose my Hawk would be my choice.. for just one saw.. I find myself starting out in the shop on one of the other saws.. but I end up on the Hawk before the end of the day..

My wife purchased a lightbox from Amazon for my birthday several years ago.. While it was a great start.. the thing was made of cloth material.. and i had a hard time keeping the wrinkles from creating shadows and other distracting elements in the photos.. So.. I made just a cardboard box.. cut a large window in the sides..and taped white tissue paper over the windows.. I use the tripod lights that my Amazon lightbox came with to shine light through the windows.. I then bought a plastic poster board to tape to the top in the back and let it drape down with a natural curve at the back.. This has been by far the best box I've used so far.. Short of it being a little on the small side for photos of my "large" portrait cuttings ( 11 x 14 inch) .. I plan to get a larger box this year for the larger projects.. I do use the fotofuse web site.. and I have the pro version because I have over 2000 photos.. It is linked directly to my Etsy shop so once I edit the photos it will edit them for my automatically to my etsy shop.. That said.. I only recently went with the pro version because of my Handmade@Amazon site requires a certain size photo.. and fotofuze did that automatically for me.. with the upgrade.. it also resized the etsy photos for a nice large image when one hits the zoom button.. I think it's well worth the $5 for the larger photos. Once the photos are uploaded to the sites.. I can drop back to the free version..

Just curious.. what saw do you use.. I ask because Pegas in my DeWalt almost always leaves me with a slightly rougher edges.. but not in any of my other saws.. My DeWalt is getting noisy and has a little slop and I believe this is the cause of the rougher edges.. I've never used a blade that gave rough edges other than a old Delta saw that had quite a lot of side to side play in the bushings.. That saw would leave a rough edge.. and never could use a spiral blade in that one ..

Good friend of mine did that on a mini hay wagon for to pull kids around at the lawn / garden tractor shows and parades.. made from walnut and wow! sure is a sharp looking rig.. But it doesn't see much outside weather so durability is a ? I would think it would be one of the best options.. coming from a ex auto collision worker.. But who knows how it holds up on wood..

I've done the base paint on a sign I did a few years ago.. The odd part of my story is.. the counter people at the mixing station thought I was nuts that I wanted paint that had no pigment in it.. And they didn't belive me that it would dry clear.. as the can of paint without the pigment looks like milky white.. He took a sample and let it dry.. sure enough it dried clear.. Funny thing was is he argued with me that it wasn't going to be clear.. Should have wagered some money on that. like if it dries clear I get the can free, LOL... You have to do real light coats or else it will dry kind of hazy and not look real great.. The signs I did was about 4-5 years ago.. still looking pretty good.. haven't been recoated or anything yet..

I also use pegas #3 MG blade for the puzzles I have made ( not many yet ).. I've made mine from hardwood such as oak.. and today what little time I've had at the saw I started cutting a VW Beetle puzzle out of Hard Maple.. Yeah I know what you're thinking.. that it's insane to cut a 3/4" hard maple puzzle.. my answer to that is. it's not 3/4".. that would be too easy.. I like a challenge when things are slower on the orders and I have a little play time.. So I decided to cut this at 7/8".. Now for the truth.. it's an experiment.. so i am not some sort of crazy mad scroll sawing man, Hahaha Never know I may not even cut the est of it.. that said it's cutting amazingly easy with that #3 pegas.. I'm always amazed every time I cut with them blades.. Might be a while before I get this done now though.. I have a custom order today so now the Beetle is on the back burner Iggy, I find that a lot of times.. that #3 actually cuts better then the #5.. in some cases.. it's actually cutting better than the #5 did in cutting the outline of the Beetle in this Hard Maple.. Bigger isn't always better with these blades..

Just a couple of pictures of a pool table type clock I made about 10 years ago.. just ran across some old pictures and thought I'd share this one..

I agree and also would like to thank everyone for partaking on this site.. whether you are asking questions or answering them.. without the constant questions and answers etc going on here the site would be quite boring.. So with that said.. if you have questions.. ask away as many as needed / liked.. as it's interesting to me to read all of the responses.. you learn that there are many ways to accomplish basically the same final out come of a project.. many times that leads one to "try" a different method of doing things.. or.. at least teaches us all that our way of doing things isn't always the only way..

I tend to put too much pressure when cutting thick wood that is just going too slow for me.. When I first started sawing I was cutting thin wood.. the cutting was going so fast for me I had a hard time staying where I needed to be cutting at.. so then I learned about stack cutting.. I started stack cutting and learned that it's easier to control my cutting with some thicker wood.. I got used to "how to cut" by cutting stacks.. at a comfy pace... then I started cutting different things.. Most people don't learn this stuff over night. When I started being successful with selling my crafts.. a good friend of mine wanted a piece of the action too.. and thought he'd make some easy money ( I made it look easy ) so he started shopping scroll saws.. found an awesome deal on a brand new Hawk 216VS that was .. $100... I gave him about 3 blades of every blade style and brand I had and some pieces of ply to get started.. He did make some stuff but found it not as easy as I made it look.. One thing that set him up for failure right away was the fact that.. His sole purpose for scroll sawing in the first place was what? ( Make some money ).. I see this all the time.. people browsing handmade sites such as etsy and whatnot and thinking they want to make some easy money and choose a craft style or item that interest them.. and they want to do that.. without really knowing what the craft actually involves. Sorry I got off into the business topic again.. I always do that somehow I only mentioned it because much of what I gather from you're post make you sound much like my friend... Most all successful crafts business's start by accident rather than on purpose.. They find that they love what they do and can make some money doing what they love. Iggy didn't start his puzzle empire by going all in and getting a saw etc because he seen some puzzles online and thought he could make a business doing that.. He started making them for his grand-kids.. then started giving them away.. because he enjoyed making them..one thing lead to another and now he's making money doing what he likes.. same for me.. As JimErn said.. watching you tube videos of the pros.. you won't start out like that.. and not many people will video their failures.. or they might video them.. but they won't end up on youube.. because most people will not admit failures. LOL.. and actually.. it might be a good idea to video yourself and then play it back to watch for yourself.. you might learn something about your cutting by watching what it is your actually doing.. I hope you don't take offence to what I say here.. just take your time in learning the hobby.. relax it's not a race.. you'll enjoy more and learn much better by just taking your time.. scroll saws aren't fast cutting machines unless your purposely trying to go slow

I may be wrong.. but I don't think there is a timberline bandsaw blade.. Was you thinking about the timberwolf bandsaw blades, LOL I know.. I'll admit it now.. I typed up a post similar earlier and thought that it just sounded odd so i looked it up and seen timberwolf.. that's why it sounded funny..

The Excalibur named ones are now made in the "new" China location.. Believe they only offer the 21"? Anyway all the other brands are still made from the same company as they was always made in.. At least that is my understanding of it.. Probably why King never offered the 21" to USA.. as there was some deal from what I had heard between general and King to not bring out a 21" saw from what I gathered in all the discussions I've read about it..

You suppose this will cause some headaches down the road for those that are buying used saws.. Suppose they'll be marked with where they are made.. This will certainly have me on the lookout if I was purchasing a used EX.. That said.. I doubt I will be buying any saws for quite some time.. since I have plenty around here.. some still quite unused.. I want to try a Henger someday.. but doubt I'm going to be buying anything for a few years at a minimum.. LOL

Actually Seyco still sells parts.. most of the main parts are the same as the Seyco saw.. too.. and also King would be a source of parts..

Never heard of the Timberline blades

I have a cheap palm sander.. it's a off brand odd ball sized thing that I bought for $10 at some bargain store.. years ago when i first started.. I figured I'd get the moneys worth out of the sand paper if they thing quit working.. so long story short I used it forever.. well until all the sand paper got used up and I couldn't find anywhere to get ( hook and loop ) the odd sized sand paper.. I tried cutting my own but that posed a mess and the cutting did something to the pads and ended up making the sanded surface scratched up.. Still have the sander.. but any how.. I bought a cheap ROS.. loved it.. used it until the motor smoked on it.. bought another cheap one that I hated.. it sets under the workbench only used a couple times.. I need to dig it out and sell it or donate it to someplace. I finally did some research and bought a high end ROS that has a dust collection that was a hard case plastic.. ( one complaint about the cheap ones I had was the bag getting torn and exhausting the fine dust throughout the shop.. Really liked the DeWalt VS one.. but a bag rather than the plastic dust collection. I ended up with a Bosh VS model.. Love the VS as I can slow it down to a crawl for delicate work.. Only sander I use and will never buy one with the dust bag.. as the bags never hold up.. Great if you hook it up to a DC.. My shop isn't that advanced to have DC hooked up to everything yet.. just the big mess machines ( planer and bandsaw.. ) .. If my ROS died today.. I like this thing well enough.. I'd be buying another just like it.. as for the palm sander.. I suppose it would matter a great deal on what you make.. but after having the ROS I just don't personally have the need for the palm sander like I originally thought I would.. the one I use to use was used mainly for doing work that the ROS was probably a better fit for anyway.. Sure got my $10 out of it though.. it came with a 6-8 inch stack of sanding papers, LOL..

Years ago I bought my tubes and storage tray thing from maybe Rockler? It was for blade storage and the plastic tray is made to elevate each row.. ( kind of like stadium seating ) .. I can't remember now but seems like it holds 16 tubes.. Though not nearly as cheap as you all are making them for.. Believe I paid like $24 for it.. Though I really like it.. My biggest complaint is.. I buy too many different style blades and don't seem to have enough spots in the holder.

Exactly... I've heard of them I believe from another forum several years ago.. That's the extent of my knowledge on them though