Xray

Well, you probably do more cutting than me, I've never went at it that long. Anyways, I like to stand. I work in the construction trade, always on my feet, so I'm used to it ... And standing saves a little wear & tear on my rear,too !

Here is my most recent exotic wood creations, a different wolf design. I stack cut all 3, a long time in the making. I started these months ago, then got to working such long hours I put them on hold. Work slowed down, then I started having problems with my saw. Got another saw, and still having problems but all in all I'm satisfied with these.

Got an Excalibur 16 the other day. Oddly enough, still have the same problem. Spiral blades only want to cut in certain directions, just like with the Hitachi. Maybe got a batch of flawed blades I don't know, they are FD. I ordered a new batch from Mike, I'll see what happens.

When I first started, I hobbled myself being too gentle with the blades. Was super careful and generous on curves and turns, I was paranoid of stressing them out and snapping them ,,, And the result was sloppy corners. Blades can generally take alot more stress than most people would think, and once I started pushing the envelope a bit, results were much better. So my advice would be, don't be too gentle with those blades. Push it a bit right from the git go. Sure, you'll snap a few. You'll do that anyhow. But you don't know what any tool or machine is capable of until you explore its limits - And if you tend always to err on the side of caution, your work will suffer.

Heres my main work area, it has suffered from neglect during the winter. I'm actually looking forward to organizing it once the weather warms up a bit. I have many other things to set up, including a drill press, band saw and a CNC router.

Wow, hope it don't slide off into your lap ! I wouldn't mind a bit of a tilt, but I bolt my machines down to a work bench, so thats not much of an option ,,, Though, come to think of it, I could still just shim it up in the back a bit and just use longer bolts. But I stand while I cut, tilting might actually be counter productive for stander.

Cool link, my kind of guy.

Well, this is black felt, seems a little more tiger like than purple.

Thanks for the comments, heres another variation I came up with today - I think I got the eyes a bit better. Next, I'm going to see if I call pull off a white tiger, will post back [unless it looks horrendous].

Never claimed to be much of a painter, but I've been spinning around the idea of painting up one of my tigers, here is the result.

Well, I've had it for over 2 years, so I'm doubting its still under warranty. FAIK, Porter Cable took over the Hitachi name brand on the saw more than a year ago, same saw, different name.

Same flawed response with a variety of wood, and blade tightness is fine. I'm coming to the conclusion that either the blade holders are warped, or the arm have somehow become dysfunctional. Its all but unusable right now ,,, And will probably upgrade to an Excalibur16. That said, I'm, not giving up hope, and wouldn't mind having 2 machines. I fix & build things for a living, once it warms up a bit, I'll strip it down some, and see if I can find out what the problem is.

I got an idea sprouting in my head. Cut out a plexi heart, say about 3 or 4 inches across. Cut out a name or names in it, or some lovey dovey motto. Then, I'd cut out an identical heart of 3/4 wood, only about 25% bigger. With a router, I would cut out the middle of the wood heart, exactly the size of the plexi heart, 1/2 in depth. 1/2 plexi, 3/4 wood, it would sit flush with the wood, which would have a heart shaped wood rim all around it. Then, I would fill in the letters with something that will flow, then dry. Paint would flow too much, so I'll have to think about what to use, perhaps black paint with a flow inhibitor like Cabosil ... But this would be a nice affect, the 1/2 inch long filled in letters would almost look like they are floating in air, and the stained grain of the wood would be visible all around the heart, and right through it. Once I perfect that technique, and especially if I can do the routing with my coming CNC router, I can see doing all kinds of things, custom angels, crosses, names, with the same process. Plexi & wood, router & scrollsaw, will combine to create a stunning, unique affect. I actually could have got alot more of this, I wish I would have. It would have required me to carry these heavy pieces a long ways after a 12 hour shift, thats why I didn't ,, Bit I'm already regretting it, as I knew I would.

1/2 inch plexi, and quite a bit of it. The larger piece is very heavy, this stuff would cost some $$ store bought. Never even been used, still has the protective paper on it. This was deemed scrap at a job site I was at, so I snagged it right up. Never tried scrolling plexi ,,, I'm getting a CNC router pretty soon, so between the two, I'll think of some kind of project for it.

Heres the latest batch, the leopard wood looks especially intriguing ,,, Never knew it existed until the other day.

It is ultra easy to get into mixups via the internet. Sellers get burned one or twice, get jaded, and assume anything amiss amounts to a scam attempt ... Buyers too. Indeed, sometimes it is. I'm a ebay power seller so I have some experience with things like this .. Sellers are forced to take paypals shipping info as gospel, and don't have much leeway accepting anything else but what info they send you. A little patience & understanding on both sides is necessary, and most misunderstandings will be cleared up if both sides remain clam and factual.

Odd. If the info hes get from ebay says you live in Germany, that sounds like something you should clear up. If your address is not verified, most sellers will refuse to ship, as they will not be covered in case of a loss. You probably already knew that, sounds like a communication breakdown. I had an invoice within hours, and wood on my doorstep in 3 days.

I'd say try again, hes answered me a number of times, usually within an hour. Sometimes messages get lost in the system, or unintentionally ignored or deleted by recipient.

I just ordered another batch, he says hes expecting to be offering even more in the near future, including mesquite, macassur ebony & redheart

Glad to hear, Mike. Never bought exotic before, I had the feeling the prices were lower than what I could expect most anywhere else, even figuring in the shipping. I'll be buying some more soon as I get my paypal account juiced up a bit.

I agree, I got to search around. Home depots I think put many lumber outfits out of business, theres got to be some around. Theres a Woodcraft store not far from me, I know they sell exotics, probably at exotic prices too, but I'm going to check them out.

Good work, ask her about a deduction now !

WTG, thats alot of $$ to a worthy cause, your time & effort not to mention your generosity will someday be repaid.

Yeah I'm satisfied with them, especially considering that I'm working with a hobbled saw. The dark one looks great, cam didn't pick it up too well ... Would probably look better with a white or gray fuzzy background instead of black, for some contrast.

Here they are with gloss coat and black velvet backing. Gloss coat really brought out the colors. I'm working on another wolf design with more exotics including zebra, but problems with my saw is really holding me back.