kmmcrafts

You may be onto something with that first sentence, LOL. You know, my el-cheapo Ryobi had a molded dust shield cover that had a built in port... off to the side too, LOL.. Seems like DW could have included a fitting at the price of the equipment I still have to buy a elbow. I guess I can sort of understand as not everyone would be using a 4" connector as some hook to a shop vac. etc.. To be fair I had to buy a reducer for the vac. to hook up to my 4" hose so.. DW just don't know so they let you buy what you need. Amazon!! I hate that place.. I try to do as little business with them as possible.. Oops there goes another of your first sentences.. .. Lets just say I'm a seller on Amazon and I know how they treat their sellers vrs. their customers..

Thanks, I think I found one that'll work well. My confusion is it seems like DW would know that it would need a elbow, LOL

Yeah like searching FB Marketplace for scroll saw and I get miter saws, table saws and hand saws.. pictures of saws saw manuals and you scroll down about 4 miles and find the first scroll saw listing from 3 years ago. Eventually you find some recent adds for local saws for sale but not until FB shows you many other possibilities. This has been tough to those trying to sell things online. Even when I had my saw up for sale I got very few views on the ads. List on CL but not many people even remember what that site is. Like I said before, FB seems like the hangout where everyone is.

Yeah the planer is noisy and makes a big mess in a hurry if you don’t have some sort of dust collection. I guess I shouldn’t complain as it is a nice planer from what I read about them. Just seems like the chip outlet could have been a better design. I don’t know if I’m missing a part to it or that’s just how they came. Seems pretty silly to have the port straight out the back in the center of the outfeed area, lol. Maybe I’m missing the idea or a part for it. Who knows but I’ll figure something out.

Am I missing something with my planer? The hook-up for dust collection comes straight out the back of the planer. I would think they'd send you some sort of elbow to direst it out away from the outfeed lumber. I sold my old ryobi yesterday and I can see that my 4" hose from my dust collector will slip over the fitting in the back of the planer but unless I drop it down from the ceiling, get a elbow, or ? it's going to get knocked off when the board comes through. I'm sure I can find a way to tie up the hose out of the way but I'd have thought they'd have a easier ready to hook up elbow or something that'd make more sense. Obviously the engineer doesn't understand the machine operation.. My Ryobi was designed in a way that the chips come out the one side and your hose would / never could get in the way of the outfeed. So now that my rant is over, LOL.... How did those of you that have these DeWalt planers hook up your dust collection. I might not get back to my woodwork until mid summer.. I have my whole shop in disarray and I'm considering running piping all through the shop from my dust collector. I could pipe it down from the ceiling if I actually do pipe my whole shop out. Something I've been wanting to do but on the back burner, along with many other things. I may not even do any work this year and focus on getting the shop finished up they way I intended to several years ago, LOL

About the only thing I use them for.. I have on occasion done custom requested ornaments where I only want / need to cut one piece of 1/8" ply and they fit the bill for that quite well. Like I said above, I don't use them often, but when I do I usually use them on my Hawk.. because it has a less aggressive more straight up down blade movement which is much easier to control when using just one piece of thin stock.

Ray, your work always amazes me.. the quality of products many folks do on here and the uniqueness of some of the projects. A lot of folks say they envy the people that can do what they like for a living and I am thankful to be able to do that but at the same time I envy those that can take on and create unique projects. Dave Monk with his inlay work is another that I like to see. I wish you all would post more of your works and some of the process to get those beautiful results.

I agree with you Ray however I don't encourage people to do that.. simply put.. I've seen hundreds of post topics about the saw not working right and or the blades are way too long / short for the saw now.. apparently a lot of people have used that knob at the back of the saw a few too many times without resetting it back to it's parallel position.. so I rarely talk about that method.. as it apparently messes up a lot of folks new to the hobby that use these saws. Randy ( Hotshot ) put a video up on YouTube about how he uses his finger to "deflect the blade" as he clamps it into the saw which gives the saw some slack, then once he flips his tension lever it's at the correct tension needed for the small blades. Edit to add: If I remember correctly he is the one that bought the new Pegas 30" saw that has the on / off switch back by the motor?

I don't use those real small blades often, but when I do I normally use my Hawk scroll saw because it has a "variable blade adjustment " so I can adjust a lighter tension on the blade. The Pegas and like saws you mount the blade and flip the lever to tension it with no way to really adjust that tension. I don't know if this is the problem for you or not, but those smaller blades do break easy and finding the right tension is more picky with them.. too loose of tension they break.. too tight they break, LOL so it might be something with the tension.. saw speed shouldn't affect the breaking blades provided the proper tension is applied to the blade. Those small blades also easy to push / feed the wood too fast.. thin piece of steel blade will heat up a lot faster than a heavier thicker blade. I'm not sure what advice to give you, I think it'll be something you'll have to give trial and error to figure out.. I just know that tension is a big factor of breaking blades.. especially those small ones. Some people with the Pegas and like saws that have no "adjustable" tension will place it in the saw with a slight amount of slack and then tension it.. eventually you'll find that sweet spot on the blade tension and it'll come natural for you to just know what is the right amount.

I understand what Ray is saying, I've noticed it too and it's been happening for a longer period of time than just the last few weeks.. I'm going to add to this conversation just a little bit and try to keep politics and whatnot out of it. We had a handful of people that would comment on most every topic to keep conversation going.. those few people, well some are no longer with us on this earth and some others are dealing with health and other hardship times... When I start a topic about something and nobody comments on said topic.. what's the point of posting my conversation??? lots of people "read" but don't comment.. makes me feel as though I'm wasting valuable time and I can go to a FB group and post and get 50 like reactions and several comments.. post same topic here and get maybe 1-2 comments and very little reactions. IF nobody is here to pick up my conversation I'm just talking to myself then right? SO, if you want to see a change in the activity on the forum then be the activity you want to see. Those few people that used to help keep conversations going made it feel like someone was actually listening (reading ) and they spent a lot of time on here doing so.. many of us are working still and don't have the time to go through every topic and comment, but they almost commented on every post in every forum topic which made the topic starter feel someone cared and was listening.. now it seems like talking into space.. I can talk to myself out in the shop while getting work done and get the same answers I get here lately so why not get some work done instead. People will go where they get the attention.. unfortunately those FB groups are hopping with activity.. I personally can't stand the FB groups nor FB itself or the founder and his weird beliefs... okay.. better stop there because it's heading into a political convo now.. but you all get the idea.. anyway it's sad that so many are actively using that place and if I want any conversation at all whether it's woodworking groups or family I have to go there to get a response and that weirdo founder seems to have a strong magnet drawing people in. It's a sad day when I can call my brother on the phone who lives in Florida and he don't answer the phone but I can go to FB and message him and get a response in 1-2 minutes.. That's exactly why I hate that place.. almost a cult of sorts.. and many don't see it like that. I recently bought a new planer and a new table saw.. posted about those new tools here and only a few people posted on those topics.. back in the day of those few regulars keeping conversations going there would have been 2-3 pages of replies / comments / story telling.. and the topic would change from planer brands to planer knives and dust collection etc. etc. Instead I got a couple of congrats on the new tool.. some take those new tool post topics as bragging or showing off, flaunting your money, new tool etc.. I just try to post topic starters.. many folks would turn those into conversations.. now they just dead end streets so to speak. Anyway you get the idea, there just no chatty folks on here, just lurkers.. until that changes it'll be dead here because people will gravitate to where the attention is at..

I've been real busy myself.. I've been checking in on here daily but really not been posting much.. most times someone already answered or I just haven't been in the discussion mind frame. I have 4 cars in the drive that needs worked on. I have a 24 x 24 shop that over the last few years has been the catch all and it's turned into a storage shed rather than a shop, LOL.. I've hauled 2 loads of scrap iron to the metal recyclers and at least one more load to go out of that shop. I have not done any scroll work in at least a week other than a couple small made to order items to make. I hope to be back in the shop scrolling at least some in the next couple weeks. That being said, I'm slowing up on the scroll work a bit.. probably hurt my wallet this year but I've been trying to get to learning the CNC better as I have some more involved projects than I've done in the past that I want to make and maybe sell if I can learn the special technique. Yard work too but not just yard work.. In the past I used to put in a larger garden about 30 x 30.. but a few years ago I had a new driveway put in and they had to remove 6" of the old drive to remake a solid base.. I told them I wanted to keep the dirt and told them to put in my my garden area.. I had no idea there was going to be that large of a pile.. so now.. I'm moving all this old driveway gravel out of my garden. My bigger tractor is broke down so I'm shoveling this into my trailer and taking it to that back part of my property and shoveling it back out. About half of it is gone so far.. At least I'll be able to do half a garden at this point.. but would like to get the whole thing done.. don't think it's going to happen though. Anyway, Yeah.. just trying to get things caught up and also trying to get as much as I can done before the temps rise too much.. I don't like doing this kind of hard work if it's too warm, I work a lot harder in the cooler temps. Would have done a lot of this over the winter but the dirt pile was froze solid, LOL Not working that hard to pickaxe it up, LOL.. Speaking of digging.. I need to dig up my septic tank to have it pumped out. I try to do that every 5-6 years.. 5 years was when we was on lock downs for covid. I only dig that up in spring or fall.. it's out in the yard where there is no shade at any time of the day. The pump guy says he'd put a riser lid on it as it's about 4 foot down.. Over my 30 years of living here I'm now starting to get to the age and mindset that he's probably right.. I always told the guy that those risers are for lazy people, LOL.. With the last couple years being a crap show with Covid etc.. a lot of things around here got put on the back burner because of the lock downs etc. and I'm trying to play catch up now. Haven't even turned on my new dewalt planer or the new table saw. setting in the middle of the shop floor right where I assembled them a few weeks ago. I did manage to get the old planer and some other tools on FB marketplace today and looks like tomorrow will be busy loading them up into the buyers truck.. time to get more stuff listed..

I agree with Ray, Not all bearings are created equal. The first time I ordered bearings for my DeWalt when I had that saw I bought some cheap ones off eBay.. they was really sloppy.. the needles was almost falling out of the cage.. and you could tell they was not very good quality, I never even used them.. I ordered some from VBX and they lasted 6 years of heavy use.. The next time I ordered I got them from a local bearing shop and wouldn't you know they came in VBX boxes, LOL. I sold the saw before rebuilding it but sold it with all those parts.

Actually a pretty big market for them too.. but not so much for a generic one maybe.. I can't tell you how many request I get on etsy for a sign to hang out in front of a campsite with names and a campfire graphic or other graphic added. Actually just got a request yesterday for one, LOL.. Big reason I bought my CNC router was to make this type of signage.. Now to find time to actually run it.. LOL

I have one of the newer China made Excaliburs.. My advice.. is stay away from them. Pay for the Pegas.. OR King as has been mentioned. Woodcraft stores sell Pegas, though I don't know if they put them out on display or have them in stock? Maybe call your local stores to see if they have them on hand on display etc. Honestly they are basically exactly like the King other than they do have a more robust bearing inside the saw that is a wear point on the other saws after a lot of hours use.. and the blade mounting system is more robust on the Pegas. As for appearance and function.. I think both saws would be really comparable.. in my mind a weekend hobbyist would do just fine with the King or other like saws.. I think if you was doing a production business type setting I'd go with the Pegas, Hawk, or Hegner.. for saw reliability etc. or do as some of the others and just plan to buy a new replacement every few years. LOL DeWalt saws are really pretty nice saws for the money.. in a production type setting they only last a couple years but great budget saws for a beginner. Especially if you ad the Jim Dandy Easy Lift arm lifter to it. If you're mechanical inclined and can feel comfortable taking one apart and adding grease to the bearings on the Dewalt saws.. they can last a really long time. The type of work one does can play a roll in what saw to buy. If you're going to be doing angle cuttings.. I'd go with one of the King or Pegas type of saws where the table stays flat and the saw head tilts.. makes angle cutting so much more enjoyable.. in that case don't look at anything besides King or Pegas in my opinion.

Portrait art is what I started out doing. My very first projects was more complex and not really beginner type portrait projects. I do not have pictures of my very first few projects as they was given away and the pictures are long gone from a computer hard drive that crashed and wiped out all my patterns and pictures. Fortunately I learned to make back-ups and back-ups to my back-ups and also have cloud storage for some of the more important things like patterns. Frank is quite fortunate to be able to get into the art museum to sell off a few of his works of art. Portrait work is what I started with but as has been mentioned, finding subjects to cut and in my case finding shoppers that like the said subjects.. Portrait art is probably one of the hardest things to sell as it is just that.. " wall hanging art " not to take away from shelf sitting art. In one way shape or form we all are creating art.. I think some use the term with a lot of emphasis while others don't put in enough on the term, including myself LOL.. some see portrait work as just a piece of wood full of holes.. Just as I see some of those art paintings that look like several paint cans exploded onto a canvas just that.. paint can exploded, LOL I'm probably one that doesn't use the term art strong enough.. BUT, I do that because of the wide open opinion of the term and many forms of art out there. I show pieces to my friends / family / customers and let them say the term for me if they see fit. I've had many "most" folks say my car clocks are works of art.. I've seen people say they're just a clock too.. and that's okay.. In my head they are art and I don't need to prove it or point it out to anyone.. I just don't push the term. My favorite things to make is the things that people want, LOL.. ie I like making that special personalized gift that's exactly what the customer wanted. Aside from that my favorite is Christmas ornaments because being a Christian, Christmas time is a special time of the year for all Christians. Making ornaments that people buy ( some personalized ones ) that are gifts bring a couple different things to mind. First being the purchaser got a gift for someone special in their lives. Second is the fact that that person digs out the gift every year for decorations and is reminded of the moment / gift giver etc. of the said gift. Many return customers come and custom order a design that is themed to special moments of the said year. I have pieces that are special to people that they hang up as a decoration in many peoples homes all around the world. Selling online ( in my experience ) opens up a communication / friendships so to speak with many customers. While craft shows you get the one on one in person interaction but many of those customers you never hear from unless you run into them at the show again the following year. You hardly ever hear back from them or get any kind of feedback.. While you hand out business cards.. most get lost / tossed so said customer may not ever give you any feedback or reviews. I have a large number of emails/ messages because the customer has online records of their orders and my contact is all over the place for said customers to freely contact. It's really cool to get a follow-up story and some even send videos of my item ( their gift ) being opened to see the reactions etc. So at the end of the day, I do this for the smiles and the special gifts.. doesn't really matter to me saw time is saw time.. doesn't matter what I'm making. Some think it's about the money for me and it's totally not. But without the money I couldn't stay in business to do this kind of thing so it does have to be a little about money. If I was mostly worried about the money I would be doing a different business that created larger profits. This portrait is one of my first few projects.. How to know? I didn't learn about the stability of plywood until I progressed 6 months or so into my scrolling. This piece is made from solid 1/8" red oak. I also learned that red oak while it was widely available in 1/8" also has a lot of distracting grain when doing portrait works.. I switch to basswood after red oak, before finally discovering plywood. LOL

That's a neat idea! Beautiful work too.

Very nice!! Looks to be a 30 inch saw? certainly not the normal 21 inch saw that is most common here in the states. Though they are making them available to us soon from what I've heard. Hope you get a lot of joy and cutting from this well built saw for many years.

You can view it here for free or you can purchase one on ebay.. Not sure if you'll be able to read it since I think the prints I found are maybe only in English but maybe pictures will help you.. https://www.mikestools.com/ownersmanuals/DeltaScrollSaws/40-540.pdf https://www.ebay.com/itm/185292373532

I have the Banks 22gauge pin nailer from HF.. smallest pins are 1/2" I mostly use the 1/2 and 5/8 which is also from HF.. I've only had it maybe a year now.. but use it quite a lot for nailing 4 - 5 1/8" BBply for stack cutting ornaments. NOTE: I nail them on the concrete floor. If I try to use a longer nail in a short stack.. the nailer will jam if trying to prevent it from going all the way through. My random orbit sander even with pretty fine paper on it will sand them flush in no time and keeps the nails from scratching the saw table..

I used to use screws in the waist area. If the screws poke through the back you can simply back them out some. when you're done you can remove the screws and save for the next project. I now have a pin nailer and use it for certain projects but sometimes the nail sizes are too long or short.. then the screws come in handy.

I can probably take a look at the saw for you, but it might be a while as I've got myself into a big major job of swapping a car frame from one car to another car. But maybe in 2-4 weeks I can get with you and take a look at what is going on. Do the blades that are too short fit in the other saw? I half wonder two scenarios.. one being I wonder if you have a bad batch of blades. I bought a few blades a while back and some actually are defective and only measure about 4.5 inch instead of 5.. The other thing is.. I wonder if someone had the saw apart and cranked up the tension rod too tight.. Lot's of people that develop a knocking sound see those YouTube videos that has you tighten the tension rod up some.. I've seen some people really crank them up to the point the arm won't come all the way down. But anyway, I'd suggest measuring the blades as a starting point.. Anyway, if we can get out of the cold and rain spell so I can actually get caught up on my projects I can probably swing by and take a look at those saws you have.

What happen to your DeWalt? I will likely be selling a saw soon, but I'm unsure what one or how soon it'll be. It'll either be a Hawk 226VS or a Excalibur EX-21. If I remember correctly we in the same town.

So people expect it on the 1st so I run my jokes late, lol.. I have another one I wanted to do but I suppose it'll have to be next year.

Sorry, I was just joking around, I wondered if anyone would catch it as a joke or not. LOL

So I put my new table saw together a few minutes ago and this is so dumb on their part. I gotta send it back. They put the blade way down below the table. How the heck do they think it’s supposed to cut like that?