hotshot

The yellow heart is very fragile, so my wife has that one hanging up in her office. As long as you don't breathe on it, it is fine. Does anyone know a wood type that is strong along the grain? I've also tried purpleheart, not any better. I love wood, but most is very weak along the grain. Still, even with the wood being fragile, they are fine for hanging in stationary settings. The piece made from a coin is study enough to be worn. ---------Randy

Well, since I was already warmed up, thought I would try something a bit more difficult to end the week. [update, not being a Georgia Fan, it got past me that this is not a UG logo. It is actually the logo of the LCA Bulldogs, a high school. Probably less likely to get me in trouble]

You know, I was thinking about the volume of stuff you put out while doing some of this and was wondering if you still enjoy scrolling when you are under the gun. When I'm cutting to fill inventory, it starts to feel more like work than play.

Busy weekend trying to replenish my inventory in the local craft store. Here are a few pics from that work: PS: Yes I know, the very clear Kennedy face on the "Fruffy Horse Coin" is a little freaky.

You know how after you start scrolling, every material or symbol you run across during the day becomes a possible project or idea. Saw this logo on someone's shirt at work, and first thought was, "I can totally cut that." For this piece, I glued the coin to yellow heart to give me something to hold on to after the center was cut out. I looked up the company and it turns out it is a non-profit clothing company raising money for Elephants, cancer research, and etc: http://www.ivoryella.com/ (Not sure why pic is showing twice, in editor, it only shows once)

Wow, good job.

You are a very smooth cutter. The results are superb.

On very small detailed work, the width of the line makes all the difference, so cutting on the line, or off the line creates significant change. I create/modify most of my patterns, so I make the lines very thin, then when cutting, I stay in the waste area, just barely touching the line. So, by design, these are created such that the the border between line and waste is where the most detail is. That said, I recently cut a reduced pattern in the "Fox Chapel" style, and had to follow the inside edge of the line in order to make it work. It is so hard to cut accurately (see where the blade is against a black line), when you are trying to stay in, but to the side of the line. The cutting was sloppy, so I ended up pulling the whole thing up in photoshop, re-working that pattern to my own style, and re-cutting it. On full size stuff, I usually don't even worry about it and cut it Hawkeye style :-) ------Randy

First time, I used the built in windows util to rotate the image, but when I uploaded, it still showed upside down, so I cheated and used photoshop to re-render the image. SInce I was curious, I research for a bit, and there are a few free programs that fix this, xnview being one of those. I downloaded, tested, and it worked, as I attached the imaged I fixed with that tool. http://download.xnview.com/XnView-win-small.exe

Images have weird direction attribute that don't always get corrected, even when you flip it using windows utils, hope this works:

That one makes my brain hurt. I watched your video many times (along with others on the topic on YouTube). Very very cool. A word about SSWC, it has been an amazing resource for patterns over the years. I was going back through my SSWC collection last night, looking for patterns I could adapt for coins, and it was a great feeling knowing that any pattern I could find, I could freely cut, and sell the resultant projects without worry of copyright and so on. Didn't really give it much thought until I started selling online. But beyond that, the magazine is well done, and look forward to getting every issue. I might have to try this once I get my copy. ------Randy

I love and hate superglue. I love the speed/conveniance, but wish it would stand up to stresses better. It's peel strength, for example, sucks. If you keep this out of reach of the Kiddos, superglue might be ok. I would use the impact resistant version sold by Gorilla which is also thicker and better for imperfect surfaces. If you don't want to risk it, stick with the Weldbond or the Titebond -----------Randy

I'm so glad you got the EX, I think you will be happy with it. The Road to Franklin from Murfreesboro, I know it well and it scares the crap out of me. I always wondered what I would do if I broke down. The ditches are straight down, so no place to pull over. I usually take 840, which is a bit longer, but safer I think.

I like the freestanding white shelves, I don't see any supports except where they go into the wall. How did you you sturdy them up to where they would hold weight?

Hawkeye, I think they would replace the 788, and most of these have served their users well, so, that is to say the DW788 is a good saw. But, I count this as fortunate, and this gives you the chance to get the EX16 if they still have it. I have both the EX and a DW788, and love both, but there is just some magic in the EX that is hard to explain. On top of that, if you ever do bowls or cut on an angle, the EX will definitely show it's strength. Also, the arm on the EX saws go up higher, and have a mechanism to hold the arm up (if you want that). So if you top feed, having the arm raise higher is significant, and if you bottom feed, you will really appreciate the arm staying up. There really are some real world benefits of the EX over the DW788. It's not perfect, but well worth the price difference. So, take the stroke of good luck you have been given, and get that EX while you still can. Run don't walk :-) ---------Randy Make sure you test the EX before you bring it home. I believe it is their last floor model, and sometimes floor models are floor models for a reason.

This isn't the first time the supply chain has run dry. A few years back when I ordered my saw from Seyco, the supply line had run dry, and it was several months wait because the manufacturer has to setup the line and do "a run." They only do "runs" periodically, so I suspect the factory was backed or something. This time around, we only have speculation, and nothing solid. General hasn't said anything to Ray or otherwise as far as I know. He was asked and said he didn't know, unless he has heard something since. That said, there seem to be EX saws available under the Pegas Brand, and also plenty of Jet's, so I'm not buying the theory that they lost their factory, although, who knows. I used to be able to get answers from General about stuff like this, but they have made some bad decisions lately, and have quit responding. Probably the worst decision it to put their name on a "CRAP" line of tools: You might recognize this saw as the HF/Ryobi/Taiwanese clone: https://www.amazon.com/General-Intl-Power-Products-BT8007/dp/B015R40F6W/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1473305131&sr=8-3&keywords=general+scroll+saw

Yep, same here, I just tap the pedal and accept that annoyance as a characteristic of the saw. It's interesting that the behavior is happening more for you now.

Bill, Hegners also have their issues. I have a 22v and had the connection rod, which is made out of freaking plastic, break. As I found out, this is a common Hegner breakage. Over time, the plastic breaks down and the integrity of that part diminishes, even on this saw which had very little use, and no abuse. Good thing about Hegners, they are pretty easy to work on. I was really hoping they would start making the connector rods out of something more sturdy, like they do on the Hegner Polymax. ------Randy

Many have sent letters, General is not talking. I sent several myself. Steve good mentioned it in his distribution that went to thousands, and I forwarded that communications to General also, trying to get them to reply. Not a peep. I love my EX, but this kind of behavior from the manufacturer is very disturbing. ----------Randy

Impressive! I did try this, as I suspected, the deeper I went, the slower it got. I got about 1/3 way through before it just stalled, went through countless blades with little progress, and eventually it came out the side. I suspect If I cut a little, then rotate the coin, I could keep the depth of cut smaller, and perhaps make it work. That was fun, now back to work.

Yeah, I like a challenge, and can easily cut a line down the width of a quarter, and could hold it with a jig, but the problem with splitting a quarter is that the thicker the metal, the harder it is to cut. So, don't think that one is possible for me anyway. There is an industrial machine that cuts with a small wire/electricity and can cut 4" and greater steel with precision. The techology is called "EDM", which could split a quarter with ease. If I had a couple of million dollars (or whatever they cost), might be fun to play with:

I use these type of blades all the time in the excalibur to cut coins, My site isn't set up all the way yet, but it it far enough to see some of my work. http://www.coincutting.com. I have used all the way up to 8/0 (of another brand), but I prefer the control of the 2/0 to 4/0 blades, and have been using Pike 3/0 a lot lately. I also cut a few coins a month using the handframe, but for detail work, I'm convinced the scroll saw is the better tool. Many would disagree with that, without ever testing that assertion.

Ultimately, I don't think anyone that top feeds on an EX would ever be happy with this, especially for those that do a lot of fretwork. For them, it would be a major downgrade. For those that prefer bottom feeding however, this is great. I'm getting too old to try to look under a piece to feed the blade up through it. It's nice to have choices for those that like this approach, but for me, I would never buy it.

Here is a review from Carole Rothman, the bowl lady:

To each their own, but my own disposition and reaction to these do not invoke happy thoughts. Feels more like a religious assault, than a atheist affirmation. -------Randy