kmmcrafts

Expect to have to install the table and adjust the angle of it to the blade.. I'd throw away that hold down foot but some people do use it. I'd also check the position of the blade in slot of the clamps. Some folks like to have it in the center of the slot and some like it over to one side or the other.. don't think it really matters so long as both upper and lower clamps are in the approximate same location. You don't really want the top one off to the right side and the bottom one to the left side basically is what I'm getting at. Do that first.. then check the blade to the table and adjust the dial indicator tab to zero it out. Getting it all tuned and dialed in first thing makes for a better overall experience and will possibly save wear on the saw if it's running smooth. If you don't have a small square you can just check the blade to table square by taking a thicker piece of scrap and cutting a notch in it a short way and then back out of the slot spin the board around to the back side of the blade and if the blade is square it should slide right into the slot you just cut.. if not then adjust and cut another slot check again and do this until you get it to easily fit. Don't know how the new DeWalts are these days but I bought my first new one back in 2008 which was a type 2 and it was an awesome saw to use.. I bought the stand with the saw and also would have to say it was the most comfortable saw to sit at that I've owed so far.. Maybe the Hegner is right up there with the 3 legged stand. Agree with Bill, I had the Jim Dandy Easy Lift system.. which made sawing a lot more pleasure. Many folks might say to just tighten the screw where the upper arm pivots.. I would not do that myself as that is eventually going to wear out that joint and deem the saw junk since I believe you'd have to change the whole saw body so basically need a new saw, LOL. I had to rebuild with new bearings in my saw after about 3-4 years of pretty heavy use. But once I did that and used a high grade synthetic grease I never did have another issue. I sold the saw back around 2018 to my sons friend. He don't saw much but still has it.

Thank you Bill ! That helps ease my mind. I'm always wanting to make the best product possible and meet the customer needs / wants as best I can. I went to my local lumber supplier this morning and talked with a couple of the employees that run a side hustle making signs with their CNC's.. They told me the best finish / sealer options was either Spar varnish ( which would need sanded and recoated yearly) or they have a epoxy finish that really works and holds up very well and no need re-coat it basically for a very long time.. Not the cheapest stuff but I personally know this customer and know they'd rather pay more up front than to mess with sanding and sealing every year.

I typically cut my ornaments in stacks of 4 pieces of 1/8" BB ply or 3 pieces of 1/4" solid core ply, or solid wood. Usually on solid wood I plane it down to 3/16 and do stacks of 4 depending on wood type sometimes just 3 pieces. I used to do 5 and sometimes 6 pieces of BBply depending on the situation at hand but I much prefer doing 4 pieces. Years ago I started out doing 6 BBply in a stack to maximize production and I never did anything more or less than the 6 until I came up with a custom order for 8 ornaments. I normally cut all my blanks back then at 8 x 8 inch and could get 4 - 5 ornament sets out of the blank. That custom order for 8 pieces made me do a stack of 4 so I ended up cutting 2-3 more times on that blank of other ornaments and the cutting seemed to go way faster than cutting 5-6 stacked.. That was my comfort zone from then on so I've kind of stuck with stacks of 4 unless I have some odd number of ornaments I need to make where doing a stack of 5 or 6 makes more sense.

The customer sure likes the look of Cherry.. not sure how well Cherry will hold up out in the elements? Anyone know or have any experience with Cherry being outside? I'm wondering now what the best option for a finish might be to help preserve the wood. Whatever type of final finish I go with will need to be compatible with whatever paint I use for painting the carved out areas. I typically use either acrylic craft paints or sometimes if it's all going to be one color I'll just use whatever spray paints I have on hand. I've heard exterior house paint is great on signs and I've done it several years ago on a scrolled sign I had that I used a backer board on for the contrast.. just buy the base paint without any pigment, the paint shops look at you kinda weird when you don't want any mix in it, so I don't know how the house paint would do with the acrylics... Also thought about just using some automotive K2 clear since I have some left from a paint job I did a while back.. again I'm doubtful the K2 clear will do well on the acrylic paints though, LOL Anyway, if anyone has suggestion about using Cherry or finishing suggestions I'm all ears, LOL.. I know I can make it look good for short term, just like to give them something more long term. Their intentions are to screw it to a tree out on the front yard / driveway so it'll be out in the sun / shade? / rain/ and snow... I told them I wasn't sure how long it'd last being out there like that.

Really? I'm putting this throughout my whole lawn then.. save a ton of mower gas too which means more walnut lumber money.. Seriously though that is good to know, I knew it's not good for animal bedding as it poisonous to many animals. I take my sawdust to my brothers mill and dump it in his big pile.. but if I have any exotics, walnut, or glued up panels in the shavings I have to leave my bags with him as there are certain places he can take that stuff too but not for the stockyards or the horse farms etc.

Nice looking fire pit you made, I also have a fire pit and we I typically make enough scraps to not only have kindling wood but most times enough to have 4-5 fires a year just from my scraps.. yep, I mess up and make that much ornamental fire wood, .. No kidding aside on a more serious note, some of the wood I get is rejects because of splits / knots etc.. and I work around those bad areas quite easily doing small scroll sawing works so I do generate a few wheelbarrow loads of scraps every year so it's a win win as the wife and kids love to sit around the fire.. makes great family time for us all.

Had a 1989 Mercury Sable and my truck was broke down. I needed to haul some 10ft pipe for a plumbing project I was working on. I took the back seat out and the pipes fit nicely by laying the front passenger side front seat back as far as it'd go. Guy and his wife was walking to their car and I overheard her say. That car must have a huge trunk. .. I never said a word and had a hard time keeping a straight face and not laugh..

I also should note that they want the sign to be approximately 24 x 15 inches so I'm likely going to need to do a glue up and or choose a plywood. Assume marine ply if I go that route but I'm not sure how well it would carve on the CNC and since this is a scroll saw site, doubt anyone here knows that either, LOL. I'm thinking I'd rather go with solid wood anyway. One issue will be gluing up a 15" wide board since my planner is only 13" wide so all boards will need to be the same thickness when the gluing happens and any uneven parts if any will need to be hand sanded flat. Or I can run a surfacing bit in the CNC..

I knew sooner or later I'd get a request to make a sign for outside use. I actually have had request but kindly turned them away because I know that outside signs don't typically hold their fresh wood look for all that long. So this brings me to the questions that have been asked before probably many times.. what material is best for a outside use. I've read to use deck seal finish for longevity but does anyone know how it reacts to acrylic paints? I may be painting the carved text for contrast and will want to top coat the whole sign. They don't really want to use a light colored wood and prefer something along the colors of Cherry however I'm not certain Cherry is something that would hold up to the elements. They want to mount this on a tree leading up to their cabin so it's not going to be sheltered much at all, LOL So, those wood and finishing pros, what wood should be used and what finishing sealers for the most life out of this sign? Also any tips or suggestions that might help.

If you get the seyco system hooked up then that should catch all the dust falling through those holes I would think. I'm probably the odd one here but when I had my shop vac hooked up to that port I loved it.. and the collection was the best I have used on it by far. However I have a big shop vac and the noise was just too much for me. The vacuum holds the wood down to the table was another thing that actually after using it for a few weeks I grew used to and liked.. if I could have got past that loud shop vac I'd have never bought the seyco system. What I really want to do is just build a manifold PVC pipe system to each saw like many have shown on here a be able to just swap the vac over to whatever machine I'm using. The seyco system doesn't work great in my opinion and I have it attached to the Excalibur, as it even a worst system on the Hawks. LOL

You spelled Chevrolet wrong, and engaged in doing repairs?

I looked them over back around 2008 before buying the DeWalt.. If I remember correctly you had to open up the bottom side panel to access the lower blade. Believe it was a hinged door type deal but still would be annoying to do blade changes, thought I'd likely just remove that door.. Maybe thinking of a different saw but I looked at a lot of low - mid level saws back then and am glad I went with the DeWalt. IF I were in the market for used saws knowing what I know about most brands I'd probably only consider a DeWalt and the EX,King,newer Jets styled like the EX, and Pegas like saws... and obviously the Hawk and Hegner... Hawk would have to be a Ultra or newer and the Hegner would have to have the front tension lever and quick clamp.. though the quick clamp is a fairly easy and somewhat reasonable priced add-on.. front tension lever is a easy add-on too I think but not necessarily cheap unless your getting a heck of a deal on the saw. Since the whole upper arm has to be replaced I think.

Don't know much about these old saws but seen this and thought it'd be neat to have something like it. If I had the space I'd probably buy it. Think this is the same seller that has been had this listed on and off for a couple years.. Price don't seem bad, but I don't know. https://saginaw.craigslist.org/tls/d/midland-foot-treadle-scroll-saw/7603086178.html

Unfortunately everyone has a different idea of quality.. and value.. As a seller on etsy I offer a full refund within 14 days if the item isn't what they were expecting. Lot's of sellers won't even accept returns and get all huffy puffy with a customer for complaining about quality of items etc.. rather than learning to improve quality from it. Because everyone's idea of quality is different I've always strived to give the best quality possible and best customer service. I cannot give the best price but they can know that if there is something wrong with the order it can be returned. Unfortunately not many sellers are like this and these sites ( etsy, ebay, and amazon ) have to implement a customer satisfaction money back guarantee that comes from every sellers pockets buy rising selling fees etc. to cover the cost of those type sellers.

I have not messed around too much with colors other than backers for portraits. This one here is flowers for spring time maybe? LOL.. The only other thing I do with colors is done on the laser so this one is all I got other than black backers.. Backer on this is just foam sheets

They say to use as big a bit as you can.. I'm certain I read that somewhere, LOL.. however if you're like me I typically need that small bit on every project at least once.. and lazy as I am I use the smallest bit recommended for a #5 blade I think it's a #58 bit? I know what bit tube I grab but not sure what the number is now, LOL.. anyway I'm too lazy to swap bits so I just use the small bit for all the holes.. But anyway, yes.. larger holes if possible does help a lot.

I say do it however is most convenient to you, I started sawing years ago and didn't have the option to top feed. I did learn to top feed when I had my DeWalt but to much muscle memory lends me back to bottom feeding.. just what I know better. As others have said, the blade teeth point down and tend to catch on the wood, if you're not careful you'll bend / break your blade.. with practice you'll figure it out.. how much practice? might be after ruining 2-3 blades or 2 - 3000 blades, LOL.. for me it was closer to the ladder of the two.

There is a adjustment screw to put more tension on the arm to hold it up. If you look at the back of the saw on the opposite side of the motor there is a screw with a large thin locking nut on it. You loosen that lock nut and turn the screw in until you get just enough resistance on it to hold the arm up.. move the arm up and down a few times to be sure it's where you want it then tighten that locking nut back up.. If your arm stays up most of the time you probably only need to move the screw in just slightly..

Kind of depends on how big the project is. Big projects are harder to do.. most stuff I do I can tilt the board up to see the holes and then guide the blade to the hole and lower the board down. I rarely have to bend down to see with this method.. as I said, big projects are harder to do and sometimes does require bending down to see.

It is a great reminder for all of us, and also we have a lot of newer members so I am glad you brought this up and as you mentioned, you knew it but didn't realize how quick it can happen etc.. This is the reason I set mine on fire and do a control burn.. even just setting them up outside to "dry" they should be watched over to be sure the wind doesn't carry them into the yard or a neighbors house etc.. I'd rather stand by a fire that I light and watch for 5 minutes than to get side tracked and forget about the rags drying out in my driveway or wherever..

Not just linseed oil does this.. all oil base finishes and most chemical finishes too.. motor oil and many other things are the same way.. As Dan said I use blue shop towels.. I set mine on fire when I'm done so it's a controlled burn rather than a wait and hope it doesn't catch fire when I'm not there.. I live in the middle of nowhere so I have a burn barrel just for doing this.. once done finishing they go in the barrel and get lit while standing there.

My brother sent this to me, I thought it was pretty interesting. Probably take some talent to get that wire bent just right to make it work. https://www.facebook.com/reel/1245252096030105?fs=e&s=m

No need to be sorry it's just an opinion of mine.. yours is different..

Also should mention that "some" paper types are coated and used as moisture barriers.... Maybe that is done so they don't have to spend resources to "finish" a piece to look "proper" to speed up production it's quicker to have a light coat of spray on the back and then cover it with a moisture barrier paper for a easier look on the eyes that see their poor quality. Either method has nothing really wrong with it so long as it's sealed up good enough to not warp etc. Some businesses or hobbyist pride themselves on the fine details while other pride themselves on production numbers and meeting halfway with quality vrs. price.. in either case I don't think a person doing a half *ss job should be trying to net the "high end" prices.

I really like this clock, I'm going to have to search for the pattern on here.. Beautiful work as always!!