kmmcrafts

If I'm not mistaken the puzzle patterns they sell are done by Harvey Byler.. same ones that Iggy ( Scott ) sells on his site for less money and they are digital download.. You might want to look at https://woodcraftbyscott.com/collections/scroll-saw-patterns

Menards doesn't have the florescent one that I use anymore.. I just looked and they now only offer a LED one.. I put LED tubes in mine once the Florescent went bad. I like the idea of having the flip up lens cover.. If you have a window in your shop be sure the magnifier isn't going to catch any of the sun. I came into my shop after lunch one day to finish a project I had been working on.. my saw sits by a window and the sun was catching the light and the focal point of a bean was hitting thankfully just my saw table but it was so hot I couldn't touch the table.. had I had my wood project setting up there it'd probably been on fire.. I now just had a old box blocking the window.. the flip lens cover would be nice though..so long as you get into habit to use it when not in the shop.. LOL Good luck with whatever you decide.

And what exactly is the purpose of top coating over danish oil? It has poly mixed in with it so there is a bit of sealer / protection with it.. I'm talking specifically for puzzles like shown in the photo. How do you do proper coverage with a top coat inside the cutouts? Inside and outside of each piece. inside the puzzle tabs ( female & male portions ) sanding these areas alone for a second coat would be pretty tedious to say the least.. mind you, you have to make it practical so you can keep it a practical price for a customer.. Yes there are a range of customers that'd pay $200+ for this puzzle with the nice topcoat finish on it.. There is also a lot of money to be made by making these practical and lower priced for a kid to play with them. Doubting anyone would make much money selling these at $200 +each. Doubting after a year of kids playing with them the top coat would still look great.. if one can ever get it to look great on all surfaces. I would love to see a video of you spraying the cutouts in the wheels on this and getting even coverage throughout those cutouts from front to back without distorting or flooding the main surface... I've got 37 years of automotive finishing experience and 15 of those was specifically restoring classic show cars.. I'd rather see a even applied oil dipped finish than a nice looking coat of finish on the flat surface with lots of rough looking over spray half sprayed half way in the cutouts.. pretty tough job to spray all the edges of each piece on all sides.. If you lay them down and spray the front and sides.. the back isn't getting any finish? if you flip it over after the front and sides etc. to spray the back then you're getting over spray on it somewhere of those edges... Like I said.. pretty tough job to practically top coat these puzzles and do a professional job of it.. it's in the details as you mentioned.. or lack there of.. that makes me say there is not fretwork out there that has good even coverage on ALL surface's.. Now.. that said I'm sure it looks great to a lot of people.. and as I have mentioned in one of the previous replies.. I have that trained eye to spot those bad spray coverages. etc.. and to me.. they don't look good.. I just can't bring myself to spray a top coat on fretwork from thick stock.. Now.. thin stock is a bit different... easier to get a even spray on like 1/8" portrait cuts etc..

I agree 100% but also this is dependent on the project at hand too.. I can't see trying to apply several coats of finish to a puzzle or Christmas ornaments that have a lot of detailed fret cutouts.. where you cannot really "sand inside the fret cutouts" to do a "proper" multi coat finishing.. This is 100% why I refuse to use topcoats on fretwork pieces.. Trying to finish puzzle pieces with a top coat is pointless and would be a royal pain to do "all" the edges of each piece.. Those projects in order to keep production flowing smoothly need that quick finish.. Now if you're talking bandsaw boxes, signs etc. where you're working with flat smooth surfaces then yes a nice lacquer finish done properly enhances the piece drastically over just a quick dip in oil and send it out.. I do the better finishing when it's practical.. That said, for me.. I mostly make and sell ornaments, puzzles and desk clocks in which is mostly fretwork. To me a top coat on anything fretwork looks terrible if it has cutouts with the different grain patterns ( ie end grain and face grain ) as end, edge grains soak up a lot of top coat.. in doing the spraying it's almost impossible to get "good " coverage on all edges without getting it all over the face surface as well.. so you get a nice looking face surface but then looking closely the cutouts are lacking good coverage. Just an example as to why I prefer Danish oils.. because they do enhance the wood grain on all surfaces.. quick and easy but still produces a nice finished product that doesn't bottleneck production. Like I said.. larger flat surfaces.. top coating would be better than just a quick dipping and sending it.

Well considering how "I" try to streamline things myself, and considering I have the spraying equipment and don't use it was my thought process..

Save your money, LOL.. If you really need to use the saw for a sander glue strips of sandpaper a old saw blade or in some cases some saws clamps open up enough to allow you to fit a fingernail file / sanding boards in.. OH, and the sanding blades for the scroll saw.. won't fit in the Hawk.. unless there is a new style out that I haven't seen. You're better off with spindle sanders, belt sanders, sanding mops etc. IMO.

Yep, Been doing it this way since about 2007, LOL.. I started out with just foam sanding blocks of various grits.. was at a dollar tree one day and seen the anti slip shelf liners in a roll.. bought one to try it and like you say.. saves a ton of time.. and am able to use the random orbit sander on them. I don't have a sanding board per say.. but I just roll out the liner on my work bench.. usually double it up. The stuff from the dollar store is cheap and smaller bumps / grips ( for a lack of better wording LOL ) I think the more pricey stuff would probably work better... I've just never run across it and the wife keeps bringing those dollar store rolls home to line the drawers.. somehow she misplaces it and gets more rolls.. Don't tell her they're misplaced in the shop..

That's how I do finishing IF I am top coating.. most my items just get Danish Oil without a top coat so I don't do this much.. and hate having to take the time to do it when I need too.. That being said.. I don't see Iggy wanting to sand raised grain of plain poly finish.. but I also don't see him wanting to finish twice ( ie dip in danish oil and then wait 2-3 days and then spray poly).. Also don't see him OR the neighbors liking the lacquer spray finish either... So I say it's going to be interesting what he does.. But I also don't know the output of the sprayer he's looking to use.. nor do I know the level of spraying he'll be doing in a batch.. or how many days a week he'll be spraying.. Being in production mode like he is ( me too at a level ) I see him wanting to streamline this to be as simple as can be possible.. I may be wrong but I see him going back to spray cans how he's been doing it.. They are quick, easy to grab and go at it.. when the cans empty throw it out.. I don't see him liking the hassle of cleaning the sprayer up now and then or stopping to mix up more finish to fill the gun up.. There is extra steps to having spray equipment.. just grabbing a can and spraying is where I see him.. yeah it's more expensive to use spray cans but sometimes convenience is worth paying for.. As I said before.. It'll be interesting to see how this works out for him..

I think Shellac is very sensitive to humidity.. Scott being only a couple blocks from the ocean might effect his results with it.. Lacquer is also sensitive but can add retarder to it to help.. But it's very flammable and strong smell.. so much so that if you have close neighbors could be an issue depending on how much you're spraying at a time etc. For his location and what he's doing.. I'd think the water based poly might be the best solution however I'm not sure he's up to the task of sanding the raised grain before applying the second coat.. I think he may need to consider "trying" the suggested finishes in spray cans to see how he likes them.. I'm not sure how much output or nozzle sizes of the sprayer that he's looking to buy but I can say that the spray guns I have will spray about as much as 4 spray cans spraying at once so the volume would be much more over spray going into the air.. I'll be interested in hearing how this works out for him and what his choice of spray is going to be..

You are a bronze supporter.. you have to upgrade to silver or gold in order to get access to the cnc / laser group.

You should join up, I think there will be some interesting projects.

You can read a little about it here in this link.. it's from the SSV news section.. I believe you have to be a certain level of supporter ( maybe silver? ) to access the cnc / laser forum. It's just getting started so not much there yet.. and I've been busy with orders etc. so I won't be doing much there until after the holidays probably..

I video recorded the laser cutting this.. I'll try posting it over in the "new laser section" once I get a break from the orders and can mess with uploading. The laser cut this out in about 4 minutes.. or at least the video is 4:20.. but the ending could be cut from the video so I think it was about 4 minutes..

Do you have a air compressor Scott? I think if I was going to experiment with spray equipment I'd go with a small cheap set-up before spending bigger money on something that may not work well for your needs. Harbor Freight has some real cheap HVLP spray guns ( like $14 cheap ) If you have a compressor I'd experiment with something like that to see of spraying bulk quantity's of product is going to work for you..

Okay, I ended up needing to size it down to fit into my gift boxes that I put my ornaments in. In doing that the details was way too small for scrolling. So I cut it on the laser. Even the first one broke on the laser when knocking the cutouts out of it. But I did get it to work. Thanks again for making this design for me.

The water base poly doesn't change the color tone to the wood like the oil base does.. however you seem to like the mineral oil poping the grain colors so you might be better off with shellac? Tom is correct in the fact that water based finishes might raise the grain some. Another thing to think about is humidity.. being right next to the ocean.. that could affect the lacquer.. I know it's a big factor with auto lacquer based paints and clears.. I would assume the same for wood finish as well?

I like the speed that Lacquer dries.. BUT, you need some very good ventilation as that stuff has a strong smell.. and will make your projects smell bad for a couple days.. That said.. I have messed with some of the water based polyurethane and I have to say it dries just about as fast or maybe even faster.. Much less potent smell and could actually be mailed out after drying for a few hours.. so that is what I've been using for the last 6-8 months. I suggest you buy and try spray cans of either one and see what you like. Those two I mentioned is probably about the fastest drying finishes that I know of.. OH, another fairly fast drying finish is Shellac.. also not too strong smelling.. Lacquer is potent stuff.. don't light any sparks or matches after spraying that stuff, LOL

That will be perfect Dan, Thank you!!

Guess I should have been more specific... I wasn't asking for advice on how to make the design, I have those ideas in my head.. I'm not proficient at the design software yet so I don't have time to set for 45 - 1hr. designing a pattern.. I was asking if anyone knows of one for sale or otherwise that is already made.. When I said I could easily remove the hat.. I meant as in not working with a pattern at all.. just take my existing ornament I have in stock and sawing the hat off / out..

Doesn't the newer style Jet saws have a tension adjustment via the tension lever? Like turn it clockwise for a bit more tension and counter clock for less tension? Maybe that got turned several turns and got it out of whack? BUT as I said Jet made a few different saws over the years so without knowing the model I don't know for sure..

Well honestly I probably should have left off the cowgirl in my post as she said cowboy boot.. I think they are pretty much the same style between the two.. other than the girls boot sometimes are pink or other colors.. but I may be wrong.

Welcome to the Village!! I'm assuming you're talking about a newer model Jet saw? They made some old saws that I would have no clue on.. send the model number of the saw and maybe someone can give some ideas to look at.

I had a request for a cowboy boot ornament pattern. I have the one shown from Sue Mey but they don't like the hat in it. I could easily remove the hat but then I think it'd look pretty goofy with the one booth way off to the side with nothing on the other side, LOL Thanks for any leads on a pattern.

Since it's happening to two different blades and completely different brands I'll go out on a limb and say it's not the blade.. Saw set up might be the same etc. But is the blade tension slipping / flexing? during the stroke? Are you pushing straight into the blade or off to the side a bit? Heat kills these blades... a slight side pressure will create heat.. pushing too hard feeding the blade creates heat. I find it real easy to either push too hard or sometimes onto the side of the blade when cutting out the rounded outer profile of an ornament, patients is key when doing those long cuts. I used to have a lot of troubles with this until I found the Pegas MGT blades.. they bite right through fast enough on those longer cuts I don't tend to push like I did with other blades..

I agree with what has been said already.. you can always find places to "donate" for local charities, toys for tots, salvation army, goodwill.. mail it to me Many years ago there was a portrait for fallen military men and women site where artist donate their patterns ( judges voted on the best design ) and then there were looking for sawers to cut said portraits.. etc.. They would have designated folks to deliver these in person per-area etc.. pretty neat operation and a good cause... This was back in 2004-5 when I was first getting into scroll sawing as a hobby.. I never felt I was good enough in the beginning and once I felt I would like to give that a try.. I lost the website contact info etc.. Anyone else remember this or know where the site is.. This is something I've often thought about doing.. Might be something like this you could do in your local area or? just some thoughts.. Edit to add: There is also a company that had contacted me several times through etsy, my site etc.. that you can mail your products too and they sell it for you.. crazy % though so I never wanted to do it.. I want to say they get 60+ % of the price.. but it is getting you a little money to help off set the cost of materials.. If they message me again I can bookmark the link and pass it onto you.. They haven't messaged in a while, may not even be doing it any more but there has to be something of this nature online.. If not maybe I should start one up.