oldhudson

I often use hardwood plywood in cabinet work. I like to apply finish (3 coats of poly acrylic) to the full size sheet(s) (4' x 8') before cutting it (them) down into the component parts. It works quite well for those interior pieces of cabinetry. I've never tried this for any scroll project but a couple of thoughts. Many scroll projects are one sided any tear-out would be on the back side. I think the type of finish you are considering will be an important factor. I think you should try it on a couple of smaller projects and see - then share the knowledge with you closest friends on SSV.

While typically don't make resolutions I thought I'd make a few and see how it rolls. 1. I'll be 70 this year. I have CKD but other than that I think I'm healthy. I'm not so much overweight as I have a problem with weight distribution. Instead of a Porsche I'm an old Buick, if you know what I mean. So I joined a gym I to a years membership for $25 and I'm going to train to run a 5K this spring. I'm sure I could walk it but I want to try and run most of it. 2. I'm going to continue doing volunteer work. I just started with a non-profit in the area and I do respite work with a couple. The gentleman has Alzheimer's and the wife is the full time caregiver. I give one afternoon a week so she can shop/sleep/visit a friend/see a dentist or whatever. I want to continue this work. 3. In the shop I want to a) build another wooden gear clock; b) do an inlay project with the router; c) do an inlay project with the scroll saw; do at least half dozen woodworking for pay jobs in the neighborhood. 4. I want to try snow shoeing this winter. 5. Finally for a number of years my wife and I have had a goal to hike in all of Minnesota's state parks, there are 76. We have visited and hiked about half. I want to add 4 more to that list year.

Nice pattern and fine work. What size is it?

I really don't know which saw you should get but let me say "Life is too short for cheap tools."

That pic was taken with BOTH the diaphram pump and my little aquarium pump running.

I certainly admire your courage to take on a task like this and I think it would be very worthwhile! Still, IMHO, the process will have a lot of 'chuck-holes' to negotiate. 1. Vibration - someone who has Saw "A" on a stand may experience much different vibration from someone who mounted the same saw to a bench. And doesn't the type of stock cut and type of blade influence this? 2. Price - to some extent price is pretty subjective. $150 is pocket change to some and a large portion of someone else's SS check. 3. Some saws that are more popular e.g., the DeWalt. And thus a few dozen users may weigh-in and rate a model. Other saws because of price, or some other factor, may only be in the hands of a couple users. It's clear that a larger number of raters will provide a more realistic view. (I know that when I'm at Amazon looking at reviews of products and I see a 5 Star rating, it's a lot different if there are 155 reviewers vs a single reviewer.) 4. Finally, those who have only owned and used one machine won't have any basis for comparison for some things like vibration or noise. I fall into this group. I'll be happy to participate and rate my Delta 40-540.

Nice, as always, what kind of stock and finish?

Hi John. As another SSV member from Minnesota (I'm in St. Paul) I wanted to welcome you to this wonderful forum. There are some very experienced people here. I too have an interest in whriligigs so I'm waiting to see what you come up with.

Love this one Hans. Why is it that so many people still find steam locomotive engines so interesting and exciting?

I love the sleigh and raindeer, really a nice job!!!

I hope I have the picture situation fixed. It's tough when you are technologically impaired.

I'm sure some of you wonder if I ever do any scroll work based on my posts which almost all seem to be in other woodworking. But in fact I do some scroll work so.... I used Steve Good's Scrollsaw Workshop stencil printer for these. I made 12 altogether. The ones on the right are walnut and the ones on the left are cherry. The large hole for the key ring came out poorly, I'm using a standard twist bit and it just tears the wood. I don't have a brad point or forstner bit that's small enough - I need to see if I can find a small brad point bit. My second issue is that the dust (waste) doesn't always blow off the pattern. My saw is a Delta 40-540. I use a small aquariam pump to blow of the dust and sometimes it works marvelous and other times it looks like I'm plowing a row of dirt. I used a #1 blade. If anyone has any suggestion I'll be listening. Thanks for reading.

I've made 3 over the years. I used clear cast acrylic. I'm pretty sure I mail ordered the stock, my memory is not was it used to be. I agree with everything Carl said about cutting.

It's amazing how old threads can come to life again. No wonder I can't see the picture. I made a whirligig some years ago after watching Roy Underhill make one on his TV show. It didn't run very well but I'm a better woodworker now and maybe I should try again? They are a great example of folk art. I'm feeling inspired but I won't put out a whirligig in the middle of winter so it'll have to wait until spring. Fat chance I'll remember this then, huh?

I only put batteries in if I intend to use it, otherwise I tape them to the outside of the gauge with painters tape.

I've never tried a spiral blade and I'm going to be placing an order, so I thought I'd try them out. I work about half the time with hardwood 1/4" or less and the other half with pw. I generally prefer Olson. Do I want the want the flat end spiral or regular spiral? Thanks for reading.

I get it now. The Wixey is about $40. There's another manufacturer but I don't remember their name, but I thought they were a bit less. You'll have to look for a sale at Rockler or Woodcraft or even a big box store.

Maybe I haven't read you post carefuly but I'm confused? If you have a digital angle finder you should be able to "zero" it out on the surface of the table, then attach it to the blade with the magnet and adjust the angle of the blade until it reads the angle you are trying to set 22.5° or 45° or 90° or whatever. It should not matter if the table is level, what's important is the relationship between the table and blade - not the table to the floor. At least that's the way it works with my Wixey angle finder. The digital angle finder is one of those 'new' tools that can really improve the accuracy of a home workshop. Good luck with this!

I just piced up one of these sanders (EB 4424) second hand and wondered if anyone was purchasing the sleeves for the sanding drums from anyone but Home Depot?

I don't see re-purposing as cheating. Good job.

Nicely done!

Excellent.

I do almost the same thing that Ralph does, cut the wheels out with a hole saw on a drill press. I actually found that process problematic. You really have to clamp down on the stock so it doesn't move around. I too use an circle sanding jig on a disk sander to clean up the cut from the hole saw. You can use the same type of jig to cut circles at the scroll saw if that's your preference. I drill out the body of the toy for the axle, 1/64 oversize, and use a dowel for the axle. Here's a pic of a pull toy I made a while back.

I think its a very nice piece of work and certainly belongs here and I loved the story.