hotshot

Marg, I have all my beginner patterns at http://www.coincutting.com/coincutting. I'm not 100% certain how making a pattern from Trademarked sources would go over, so to be safe, I'll keep those off the site. If someone sees something that I've cut that they want to try, PM me your email address, and I'll send it to them.

On the scroll saw, you have to focus your work towards project types that sell. For me, I sell all the scrollsaw boxes I can make. Jim Finn does well with those also. For the bucks per minute, I get more for my coins than the woodwork, but I like doing both. I tried selling a fretwork piece in the same CraftStore, and didn't sell it until I marked it down to a penny. ------Randy

Brings back good memories. 4-H forced me to learn to speak in front of people. You did a wonderful job on that project.

Man that looks great. That wood choice is excellent. Of course I'm a sucker for gears.

First off, for getting a workable pattern, thanks to BirchBark and DonR putting out solutions to my floating eye problem. (I just can't for the life of me get that element to look right) This was cut on an Eisenhower for a Pastor friend of mine that is the biggest Cubs fan I know. I hope he likes it.

Very good, you guys are Awesome! Thanks for the help guys. The lines are pretty thin, so I'm excited to see if it is cuttable at coin sizes. Again, thanks -------Randy

Ok, these freaking floating eyes, man oh man. I think this one may be harder to make look natural than that last, but thought I would get the opinions/help of our experts here. I tried to put in a straight bridge, but it obviously looks bad. Any pattern tweaking help would be appreciated. (When I cut out the pattern for the cub itself, the lines on the bear are not the cut line, but are the part that will remain. This sort of follows the other patterns I've done lately. There are some simpler variations that don't have the floating eye issue, so I can resort to one of those if a good solution doesn't present itself.

It's interesting that Steve Goods' poll put the bottom feeders closer to 25%. Not sure what the difference is between our two audiences is, but it is sure interesting. I do know that the majority of his projects are very simple novelty type projects which may appeal more to those new to this hobby. He doesn't really put out a lot of Dearing type fretwork, or Intarsia, or anything complex, so I suspect his audience is more likely to be using saws not top feed capable. But that is just a guess. I wish Steve would have limited the poll to those that have top feed capable saws, because the rest do not have a choice so their vote is meaningless.

I don't have the ability to create original art, so my subject matter often requires me to stumble onto something that is easily translated to a pattern. My Dad is a big University of Oklahoma fan, but there is no suitable drawing of a the Sooner Schooner. Much of what is available does not translate well to scrolling, especially at this size. There are several GameCock themes that would work. The standard LSU Tiger has a lot of floating stripes, so I would need help on that pattern for sure. The Missouri Tigers might be doable.

LOL, but I'm trying really hard to change that!

Special thanks to MrsN, WayneMahler and Birchbark who helped out with the pattern and came up with a natural solution to "unfloat" the eye. The Kennedy was a little small for this pattern, so I might try it on an Eisenhower next time. PS Even though the teeth were painfully small I wasn't happy with them, so I recut this. I also put this one on an Eisenhower to help give me a better shot on the teeth. 37 Inside cuts. Below is that second try:

Wow, you all did a very good job. I'll try to see if this is cuttable at coin size, I'll post the results back in bragging rights forum if I'm successful. Again, thanks to all -----------Randy

I did a cutting of a gator for a friend some time back, but I was just starting into coin cutting and it was weak attempt, and it still haunts me. I'm hoping someone with a good sense of style can help me tie in the the currently floating eye in such a way that it looks "like it suppose to be there." I'm really good in photoshop, and can man handle a lot, but I need a little more finesse if someone here has that artistic touch. Thanks, Randy

In Steve Goods recent Jet review, he made a comment "fortunately, over 90% of the people out there are bottom feeders, I don't know why that is, but almost everybody does" (30:44 in the video). I think what this poll does show is that the two camps are closer in numbers than what he thinks. What difference does it make? For those of us happy with our saws, and their capabilities, not much. But in establishing the value of a new scroll saw that is solely for bottom feeders, that distinction is meaningful as that saw "takes sides" with one group, alienating the other. Once i understood what Jet had done, my heart sank. If I were a bottom feed only user, and I was in the market, I would be very excited about the new Jet, but, I fall in the wrong camp for that saw. -------Randy

I started on the Porter Cable for a short while before moving up, but the blade change mechanism was part of the reason for laying down that kind of money. I agree that it is easy for some to switch, but many do not. So with all the bottom scrollers, there has to be a reason.

If along side these results, we also had the numbers of years the folks have been scrolling, I think you might find a divide. All the old scroll saws were bottom feed only, so all scrollers that started during those years would have been bottom feeding, I would think for those folks, switching to top feed would be awkward. However, for those that have come into scrolling with the Hawk G4, DW788, or Excalibur, all of which are top feed capable, I suspect the numbers would tell a different story. Also, for those that cut exclusively cut puzzles and intarsia, I think feeding may be meaniningless for those project types.

Rockytime, glad you asked, because, that is the tool I use when I'm away from my saw at home. So, with so many folks doing this with the Jewelers Saw (HandFrame), it must be easier or more accurate, right? Well, no, not at all. First, the scroll saw provides a stable cutting plane, straight up and down and frees you to manipulate the coin or small objects with both hands, as you would a larger piece.. You have two hands to make the turns and control the piece, and because of the speed, you can do grinding operations with the side of the blade that would be very time consuming/not practical to do with the handframe. Even the tricks "like over cutting to float elements" is easy with the scroll saw. So, though I enjoy trying to do it the old fashion way from time to time, the scroll saw is much faster, and for me at least, capable of superior results, in a fraction of the time. If you curious about how the other side lives, you can get a traditional Jewelers Saw on Amazon.com for less that 20 bucks. However, if you have a scroll saw, your time would be better spent using the more modern tools. --------Randy

This is an old thread, but since it somehow found it's place to the top of Google results for this topic, I thought I should weigh in for any users that happen this way, so too late for Waxman, but for whoever comes next: Hegner will require special blade clamps (not included with saw) to hold the smaller Jewelers blades, so you will need to add that to your purchase if you go the Hegner route. You will also want the QuickClamp to replace the standard top clamp as this is basically fretwork, so you will go between holes and break blades often. I do have a couple of Hegners, but I personally prefer the Ex for coin cutting as that saw is great for top feeding, and the stand is at sitting height. Also, you will break a slew of blades, so that means completely changing out blades multiple times through the course of a single coin, which means, you want the absolutely easiest blade changes. Though the top blade clamp on the Hegner would be easier with the quickclamp, the bottom clamp would still be more effort for those times when the brade breaks, which is often. DW 788 would work also, despite it's greater blade travel. If you don't mind bottom feeding, you can now choose a Jet which might work for you (it would not work for me because I prefer top feeding.) So, to answer the question, any of the top tier saws would work fine, but you keep the blade change process as one of the core concerns. Waxman, if you already bought your new saw (which is likely), what did you buy, and in retrospect, would you go that route again? ------------Randy

Why can we not delete our posts? That does not make me happy. Since I couldn't erase it, I wrote this in place of the original content.

Steve definitely has his own perspective on things and she goes through enough of the saw to give us a good idea of what it is all about. He more or less dismisses the top feeders as being a very small percentage of the buying audience and dismisses the usefulness of the tilting head versus tilting table (as I about fell out of my chair). But still, everyone has their opinion, so all in all, it would be useful for anyone trying to understand how the saw worked. I would love to see the folks at Gwinnett Woodworkers take a shot at this saw. Those guys are pretty freaking awesome from both an advanced project perspective and also for having a good handle on the mechanics of their saws. --------Randy

I had someone contact me about printing one of my coin patterns earlier this week, related to scaling. I think the problem in that case was that the user was opening the pdf directly from their browser, and that browser plugin gives reduced functionality. I tried to explain that they needed to save the pattern locally, then open in acrobat (usually by double clicking). I haven't heard back from him to see if he was able to get it to work or not. This is one of those things that is easier to show someone in person, or have someone computer savvy assist with. -----------Randy

At 6 hours a day, I think you can justify a backup saw. I've had blowouts on both my Ex (bottom blade clamps made of aluminum) and the Hegner (Plastic connection rod). I haven't used the DW788 enough to break anything.

I do understand that there is some value in the stuff being included with it, but still. Makeshift crude stand is really a crude table, with no place for feet, so that wouldn't work for me at least. Price asked: $750 EX 16 new $600 but we will subtract $100 for being used. Not sure is warranty is transferable, and if not, - 50 more. So being optimistic, saw value $500. 750 - 500 = $250. I wouldn't pay 250 for those extras. ------Randy

Craigslist is ripe with folks trying to rip people off. They do not make parts for the older Excaliburs, so that makes their value very low. I would say the PS Wood and Hawk saws are a good deal at that price, comparing that to the other saws in that price range. -------Randy

There is a G426 listed on Craigslist in Ashville SC for $375. Last thing on earth that I need is another scroll saw, but I would be hauling it home anyway if it were within reach. Very very good deal if you live in SC. -----------Randy