hotshot

It does have a miter gauge, and another straight guide. If someone was in soft wood and using spirals, in theory, this would allow perfectly straight cuts.

Here is the deal. This scrollsaw is like new, kind of looks cool. From just a casual observation, it looks like it might even be decent. It has an interesting design, and even has a blade guide which I've never seen on a scroll saw. But . . . in practice, it is utter crap. You can see my review and pictures in the scroll saw reviews section of this site. Here is the Amazon.com page for this product: https://www.amazon.com/Proxxon-37088-Scroll-Colors-Vary/dp/B0017NUBMQ?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B0017NUBMQ&linkCode=as2&redirect=true&ref_=as_li_tf_tl&tag=scrollsawreviews03-20 See how the saw works here: That said, I know a few of you might be curious. Also, I can see how some of you that go to shows could take this along and put it on your display so people can sort of see what a scroll saw is. If I went to shows, I would definitely do this. This thing is very small and superlight, and might make a good decoration for you. Here is the stipulations to this gift. 1. You can't be new to this hobby. I refuse to ruin you on the hobby because you get a piece of crap, and believe that this is what scrollsawing is about. Scrollsawing is awesome, and a poor tool will suck the joy right out of the hobby. 2. You have to commit to at least using it two hours, then writing up a review in the reviews section on this site. Who knows, you might even like the saw, the stuff you cut might lend itself better to this tool. 3. Since I'm paying shipping, you have to be in the continental U.S. If you buy into all that, I have already packed up the saw, and am ready to pay the shipping to send this to you . . . before my wife finds out that I ever bought it . . . . First victim to take me up on this wins. --------Randy

Dave, if you can easily reproduce the symptoms for the Dewalt Tech, then definitely take it in. If they can't get it resolved, I would start pushing for a replacement. A well functioning Dewalt should be smooth and quiet.

Jim, when you are working on coins, you guide and rotate the coins with the tips of your fingers. You can't really do that with a "Steve Good" type jig. Also, most jigs don't have any support in the center of the coin, so if the blade catches, it will bend or break the small pieces off. Believe me, with a little bit of practice, on coins as big as the Kennedy, you don't need a jig. An old scroller called "Oily" on the forums gave me the best option for cutting smaller coins. You take a thin piece of wood a few inches square, and put a puddle of superglue in the middle, then press coin down into the superglue. This gives you something bigger to hold on to, but keeps the support intact, and you can still handle the piece with finesse. Also, after you soak it in Acetone, you have a bonus copy of your pattern in wood, with more detail than what you could get in wood alone. I miss Oiley, he passed away a year or so back. ---------Randy

Dave I also have the DW788 and love it. The Dewalt is very capable of this kind of cutting. ------Randy

Wow, double bonus for the Type I, and all the rest. Nice

I've always dreamed of being able to get enough detail at a small scale to do a portrait on a coin. Well, I'm not there yet, but in my defense, the scale is pretty freaking small.. Part of my problem is that even though I'm using #72 bits, my drill holes are still bigger than the details I'm trying to cutting. Second problem, I'm not the best pattern designer. If I try this again, I may need to see if I can go down a bit size or two. Still, I feel good about a few of the thin strands of hair. Ok,enough excuses . . . The image is from a picture of my daughter. --------Randy

The Proxxon DS 115/E has minimal vibration, even with no stand, uses pinless blades, is quiet, only weighs a few pounds. You can carry it with one finger. Actually, despite all the above being true, it is a piece of crap "See my review in the scroll saw reviews section." I bought it thinking it might work for portable use, but is currently the worse saw I've ever used. If anyone in the continental U.S. is curious, and want to play with it, I'll pay to have it shipped to you. Only stipulation is that you have to spend at least a few hours with it and write up a review to post pack to the reviews page, and don't give it to a new scroller which would pretty well put an end to their scrollsawing. ---------Randy

I like it, but if I were you, I wouldn't use real money going forward, or at least be very discreet. The law is different with paper money than it is for coins. See 18 USC 333, (https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/333) I doubt these laws are often enforced, so your probably safe, but my luck, I would get nailed by some bored bureaucrat. --------Randy

Kevin, as it so happens, I think I have some larger blades that I do not use that might be right up your alley. Send me an mailing address and I'll see if I can round them up and drop them in the mail for you.

It doesn't hurt to try what you have, but I agree with fredfret that 2/0 Jewelers are the way to go. On amazon, search for Pike brand as they are they best I've found for this type of blade. If you are not cutting high detail, you could go a little bigger (1/0 is bigger than 2/0), but I would stay with Jewelers regardless. ----------Randy

Flying Dutchman blades are re-branded Niqua, so you are using the same blades that are popular in the States. ------Randy

LOL, Agreed. I've never wore a necklace in my life, but if I did, it wouldn't be a bird. Now that I'm feeling a little self conscience, I'm going to have to cut me something manly to hang from the mirror in my car, any ideas? :-) Wait, I think I have already cut just the manly thing. How about this from Call of Duty Ghosts:

Uh, Feminine? LOL Thanks, I think . . . :-)

This is my second cut after tweaking the pattern. The recipient of this coin requested it be done in copper, so I cut this on copper coin (provident round) which is a few mm bigger than the Kennedy.

I'm using a inkjet, but have access to a laserjet from work. The challenge for a toner transfer might be that the coin is not flat, which is part of the difficulties in getting the pattern down. I am now "Pressing the coins, with the pattern partially attached prior to gluing so that the paper conforms to the coin. This does help quite a bit.

I had way too much pattern lift on this coin, so I thought it might be that the superglue was getting too thick, so I thinned it with Acetone. Well . . . . . that wasn't good. It quasi-exploded out the side. Guess I'm going to have to run and get more superglue.

I got a request to do a humming bird coin. I looked and looked and could not find a cuttable humming bird line drawing that would translate well to a pattern. Finally, I gave up, found a line drawing that was not cuttable, and then went to thickening the lines and taking out the extra detail to make it doable. This is what I came up with: I'm not happy with this yet. I've tweaked the pattern and am re-cutting now, hopefully getting closer to what I'm wanting. I envy the pattern makers that can draw/create patterns from scratch. I have to rely on images.google.com to get something close, then tweak it into something workable. At some point, I would like to hook up with a true artist to really bring these projects to another level.

What happens is, these blades are almost hair thin, and stretch easily. So during fretwork, you are constantly re-tensioning the blades, and they continue to stretch. After a few hole changes, they just pop. Sometimes they pop as I'm applying the tension. From time to time, if the blade "catches" during a corner, they will snap, even on a fresh blade, and I usually consider this user error, bite my tongue, and grab another blade. This happens much less with practice. ------Randy

On this coin I used Pike 3/0 purchased from Amazon. Best blade I've found for this. I had really really good luck on blade breaking on this coin, so it only took 4 or 5. Very rarely, I get what I call a Demon blade that does not break with use, and eventually it dulls and I have to change it before it breaks, and I had one of those on this project. I cut on a medium speed.

If you find a good portable saw, I would like to know. I tried the latest model Ryobi for this purpose because the new model takes plain end blades. Bad mistake. ---------Randy

You can do these fine on a Dewalt. I use the EX, but also have a Dewalt and either would work as well. The Dewalt has more control over tension, so in that respect, the DW has an advantage as the blades are pretty fragile. DW may have a little more blade travel, but in all honesty, that makes less difference than what you would think. If you want to try it, there is an easy starter pattern in the tutorials section. ----------Randy

I'm getting the hang of these, so I'm sweating less, and seldom ruining a coin. The part that is scary is pattern lift. I don't have a super good freehand eye, so if the saw rips off a part of the pattern, I have to go at it blind, which scares me to death. I only had a few small pieces I had to cut blind on this one. This was actually a Kennedy Half dollar, which is quite a bit bigger than a quarter. I don't think this would be cuttable on a quarter. -----Randy

I'm having pretty good luck finding patterns on Facebook. This is the second pattern I've used from "Woodworking Artist Worldwide" this particular pattern is by Ron Tocknell. 51 inside cuts, my most yet on a Kennedy. Missed a little piece on the right, so I went back and fixed it, but too tired to re-take the pics. -------Randy

If you have a strong vacuum, you might find that larger pieces are pulled snug to the table, causing issues trying to move it around. A closed off vacuum is very strong, so you may need to create an alternate "place" for the vacuum to suck so that you never have that issue. Splitting the hose with a Y with that second connection going to a top suction hose might be a good solution. You basically need to create a controlled leak. Anyway, if you remove the membrane, none of this will matter. I suspect the membrane idea will be replaced soon enough. --------Randy