hotshot

Making this for a Disney and Star Wars fan. Found the graphic on Google Images, and thought this might be the perfect fit for this person. I wasn't super familiar with the Star Wars symbol, but it came up all over the place in may searches, so evidently it is common amongst the fans. Those ears however, look very familiar :-) In a totally accidental happenstance, notice how In God we trust was in about the only place it could be, and still be completely visible. Not sure I could have done that on purpose. What do you think? ------Randy

Yep, you are right. In addition, the rough circle is supposed to be the "under construction Death Star" The recipient of this attempt is a Star Wars fan, and also a Disney/Mickey Mouse fan. So. I have a mash-up I found on google images that I just cut and will post soon. -------Randy

Well, the source image was promising, but sometimes you lose too much detail when you scale things down. Can anyone tell what this was supposed to be?

Well, the source image was promising, but sometimes you lose too much detail when you scale things down. Can anyone tell what this was supposed to be?

No files. All the detail is cut with the blades.

RJ, these are done on a Kennedy. There were a few times during the cuttings I questioned rather I should have used the Eisenhower :-)

Yeah, I need not to save my post until I'm done editing it :-)

Someone found my facebook business page for coins, and asked if I could put a Name in the empty spot up top of the butterfly coin. That empty space always seemed awkward for me, but I wasn't sure how to fill it. I really really don't like fonts that have a line under them to hold them together, but found some name art on another facebook page that I did like. The font that I thought flowed together nicely is called "Birds of Paradise." That font is free for personal use or $49 if you are going to use it to make money. I'm sure most use this for free regardless, but my conscience said to pay the artists, so I did. The other coin is the Eagle Saw that I had left in the Acetone (forgot about) and needed to be polished to finish it off. I've been randomly giving coins away from my personal Facebook page for sometime now, but have switched to the business page so that all my friends that don't care about crafts or coin cutting don't have to see all my coin posts. I'll probably give the Eagle coin away on the business site sometime soon. When I sell a coin, I get money and that is my reward, but when I make someones day with a gift, that actually makes me feel good. -------Randy

I don’t like to “miss the blade” so I keep the upper arm a tinge lower than recommended

I think changing the stroke length would be a very bad idea, and am a little surprised he mentioned that. I don't know of anyone using the shorter stroke. Hans was right about being able to adjust blade angle by moving the blade forward or backward in the clamps. I would definitely see if you can experiment a little to get a more perpendicular situation. My saw is over 30 years older than your saw, but the blade at the top of the stroke seems to be more perpendicular than your new saw. Actually, I have the sneaking suspicion our saws are identical in there basic build, but we are just missing something simple here. It is a little confusing problem because it just shouldn't happen, but the mystery is highly interesting. It's almost like the blade isn't going all the way to the back of the QuickClamp, but if that was the case, the classic clamp on top would have solved it. Another test for you, see what the actual front to back blade travel is down close to the table. Also, how is the vibration through the entire range? At the end of the day, you will need to figure out the value proposition of the support and performance you are getting, and weigh that against the price you paid for it. I hope you can get to a place where you are happy with the saw, but if not, you can always return it.

Dave, I have the Multimax 22v, here is what my angle looks like at the top and the bottom of the stroke. Remember, I'm zoomed way in, so that little bit of space you see at the bottom of the stroke is pretty nominal. I would say the angle at the top of the stroke on is perfect.

I think that explanation works pretty good . . . for the user that was expecting zero blade motion, but noticed some very minor movement or changes in blade angle throughout the stroke. It was very very well written, and they should really include that in their documentation. I don't think the email answers one very simple question, which is, if the blade is correctly positioned in the clamps, is that angle to be expected at the top of the stroke? I would interpret the answer to be, the saw is locked in to the optimal settings, so if there is a problem, it has to be the blade orientation in the clamps (or a damaged saw). If the problem was vibration, and you got an very detailed explanation back about how the saw was designed to be vibration free, and all settings were locked in to assure that, but when you turned on the saw, it danced across the floor, well, regardless of the explanation, the explanation doesn't affect the reality of your experience. Ironically, his explanation fit's right in line with what I observe with the Hawk. On the Hawk, you can change the blade angle, however, since it moves throughout the stroke, fixing it at the top of the stroke does't mean it stays perpendicular in the middle or bottom. His explanation makes my Hawk blade motion/angle make sense. Dave, check the angle at "mid" stroke. Also, if you try to compensate by moving the blade forward in the bottom clamp so that at "mid-stroke" it is perpendicular, how does it look at the top and bottom of the stroke? On the Hawk, I adjust to perpendicular at mid stroke, then just don't worry about it. (Only areas of his letter that I don't agree with in terms of a rational explanation was the reason the design of the saw couldn't be improved so that the arm lifted higher. That part was Bull. If a customer can tweak a couple of things and have it work without issues, then that proves that explanation is bull. But, Advanced is in a tough position as they are not the manufacturers and are not the engineers. I doubt they have a lot of influence on the engineers at Hegner that haven't changed the mechanics of that saw for more than 30 years.)

But then you would have a Hawk :-). To me, a key strength of the Hegner is that the critical elements are locked in to exacting standards/spacing, which usually makes the saw setup very simple and ridgid. This alignment has to be something simple. Going out to look at my Hegner now to brainstorm.

Dave, just as a troubleshooting step, can you put the Quickclamp to the side, then use two regular clamps, with the blade positioned identically in each, and see how that looks?

King is re-branding the same saw as Axminster, Carbatec, Pegas, and etc. King is not the manufacturer. Some time back I posted two shipping manifests, from a single Taiwan company, to both King and Seyco. Same company that formerly shipped Excalibur. It is curious that the Canadian twin of Harbor Freight would start selling this quality of tool. It's also a little weird to see the U.S. Harbor freight selling their new Vulcan branded welder. Strange things do happen. The whole truth will emerge as more people get their hands on these, and have to start resolving some technical issues with them. I would be happy with a saw replacement any day. Would be happier yet if Seyco started slapping their brand on this model also.

I love the Ex stand, except for one thing. That freaking lower front cross bar is right where my feet should be. I should probably figure out how to put a support at the very bottom of the front, then get rid of the mid support. Other than that, the stand is super solid, is height adjustable, and really seems to keep the saw vibration free. ------Randy

I'm with Chiloquinruss, If the original pattern changes hands , going forward, the right to use that pattern is transferred to the person who is in possession of the original. I don't use patterns that I don't own, but I suspect a lot of folks look at this the same as breaking the speed limit everytime they drive.

Highs: Meeting Hawkeye at his shop, meeting a small group of local Scroll Saw artist at Sloans, meeting fellow scrollers at the Atlanta Woodworking show, then meeting Denny and Fibber at Art Crafters High: Giving a Navy Emblem to a retired Navy security guard where I work. I got an emotional response I did not expect. Highs: Those first few moments of cutting with a fresh blade. Highs: Finishing my first puzzle box and scroll saw dovetail box. Highs: The highest tool related high was receiving the EX because it was my first premium saw, and it was an awesome improvement to what I had been using. All the rest of the decent saws I've gotten since have been high spots. Highs: Getting through the "Two Horses" coin the first time. This one gave me the confidence to continue. Then getting the inlay coins to work as I felt that was something completely new to that sector. I think anytime I try something that I'm uncertain that I will be able to do, there is a high with success, and a bit of a low if the idea doesn't pan out. Lows: Making something out of Spalted Maple, and have it crumble at the end. Lows: Coin prep.

Congrats on your new toy. I was a little tickled to hear you talk about getting a little more aggressiveness with your saw. Because of the nature of my much of my work, I'm always trying to keep mine tuned to minimal travel. That said, you can turn the motor on the EX and get a very very aggressive cut, probably more than practical. Since you can now tweak that to the extreme, it will be interesting to see where you land on your aggressiveness settings. Keep a backup saw, no saw is bulletproof (coming from the guy with 5 saws) ----Randy

This specific cutting was probably 3 hours, though I'm not positive. Sometimes time gets away from me, so it's hard to say for sure. I don't know about the magazine. All my stuff was submitted a very long time ago, so they may be looking for the right issue/time. -----Randy

I've done this cutting a few times over the years, but haven't cut it for a while. I'm trying to get my inventory up, and folks seem to like this one, so I cut this today, and got halfway through another one just like it. The pattern is by Steve Good and is cut on a Kennedy Half Dollar. Steve actually featured a prior cutting of this on his Blog a while back. ------Randy

For the final piece, I would have her try a 3D cutout, which are fairly easy, but are impressive and show progression in difficulty. -------Randy

A Dewalt for 300 all the way to Hawaii, I’m a bit surprised. At that price point, I don’t think you could have done better.

I thought it might interest you that with Jewelers blades, you can easily cut copper with your saw. There is a lot of potential there.

I think he is talking about the spring on the main pivots. Do springs with very little movement weaken over time? That back spring sees a lot of moment, so it would make since it would eventually weaken, but I've never really considered the possibility of this kind of stationary spring weakening. That is very interesting. To Kevins point, yes, Hegners have things that occasionally need replaced, but usually after many many years. Two things that often need replaced at the > 20 yr mark are the bellows and the connector rod, both because of the weakening of plastic over a very long time. My old Hegner had the connector rod break with less that 10 hours on the saw. My mom bought it for my Dad, thinking she could get him into the hobby, but he was not interested, so with less than 2 hours on it, it sat idle for > 20 years. I was already deep into the hobby before I ever found out they had this saw, imagine the suprise. There are things like clamps knobs/clamps that may need replaced, but I don't really count those and almost consider those consumables. I've had the tip break off of a QuickClamp knob, but have yet to destroy a clamp itself.