scrimper
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Everything posted by scrimper
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I have a Scroll Saw dilemma ... please help
scrimper replied to LarryEA's topic in General Scroll Sawing
IMHO that Eclipse saw looks too complicated in it's build, it may be brilliant quality and may be superb to use but all those electronics and special mechanisms would put me off, it's fine while it works but has a lot more to go wrong and would be more difficult to fix if it does; especially if spares are hard to find. Often these days electronics are used in products that do not really need them and add very little in usefulness. Technology for technologies sake! -
I have a Scroll Saw dilemma ... please help
scrimper replied to LarryEA's topic in General Scroll Sawing
I have a Hegner and a Diamond but if I saw a Hawk (sold in the UK as Record and painted Green!) I would definitely buy one. I would choose the Hawk over the Dewalt. -
I tried using spiral blades once and found them impossible to control, they may have a use but they are IMHO useless for detailed work.
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I am not sure about the little oak leaves at the bottom, they are aright if the item is stood on a shelf but hanging on a wall it might look better without them and I might chop them off!
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This is the other one I mentioned.. not finished yet it has to be cleaned up and a couple of coats of water based varnish applied.
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You folks are just too kind, if you look too close it's not that good.
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This is what I have been cutting today, not finished properly yet, I have done 3 of these but using different woods, the next one has the main fretwork done in Mahogany with the surround in maple, sort of a negative to the one shown here. I can post a picture of that one if anyone is interested. It's made entirely from recycled timber bits and pieces, The main deer fret is Birch ply from some small off cuts I found in a skip, the outer frame is from a mahogany door frame, the 2 mini surrounds are maple from a kitchen top and the leaves are oak from an old set of drawers.
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Lol lately mine usually snap before they are worn out but I am using very fine blades at the moment!
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Amazing work made even more amazing that you cut them out with spiral blades! Spiral blades IMHO are not easy to control!
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Hi Linda It's just recycled stuff that was thrown away by others but treasure to me! The owl part is some old plywood from the sides of a chest of drawers it had some old veneer on but underneath it was good ply so I removed the veneer with a chisel and cleaned it up with a random orbital sander. the backing and surround was an old mahogany door frame that was given to me as firewood! (the frame is actually made of 4 strips glued side by side but as the grain is the same you can't see the join) I get much more satisfaction from salvaged wood than if I bought new timber.
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Hello Ann Thanks. Yes the GSD is Max we took him on after a cruel previous owner dumped him in the countryside where he was found starving and wounded, he turned out to be a brilliant loyal dog who actually saved our lives in a house fire 12 months after we rescued him!
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I made this up for my sister who likes owls, Compared to most of the stuff posted here it's a bit mundane but I quite like it myself and now my daughter has seen it she wants one too so it's a good job I cut three!
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Have a look at this thread and all will become clear! http://www.scrollsawvillage.com/topic/11893-my-4-peacocks-done/
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That is absolutely amazing work, I have been fretsawing for 50 years and am a beginner compared to you! I have spent today cutting out an owl pattern but I am scared to post my picture of it after seeing the quality of your work it's awesome.
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I always find patterns filled with bold colour and no single outline (like the one above) more difficult to cut out than following a distinct line so what I do is process them in photoshop repairing any missing bits or creases then changing the fill to a much lighter shade and apply a outline to follow which for me anyway makes them much easier to cut out. Below is my version of the bird bracket I posted above.
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The person who owns the site in question has posted on the UK forum under the name of Pedro, (he has similar interests to myself regarding the Hobbies and Handicraft companies.) He offers lots of old hobbies fretwork plans that you can download for free an example is shown below. I can vouch that the downloads are 'safe', the patterns are old and out of copyright.
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A3 is the same as 2 A4 sizes side by side, A2 is 2 x A3 side by side etc A4 is 210mm x 297mm or 8.3" x 11.7" A3 is 297mm x 420mm or 11.7" x 16.5" I recently bought an Epsom office A3 scanner/printer for the very purpose of scanning and printing fretwork plans. I find it brilliant. Whilst A4 printers are cheap as chips once you get to A3 the prices are at least 4 times higher for the cheapest A3 printer compared to the cheapest A4 one.
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I don't know one way or the other whether the Niqua blades are the same as the FD ones all I can say is that the FD blades myself and several others in the UK bought From Mikes workshop recently have had lot's of breakages whilst I have not experienced that problem with the Niqua ones purchased from Hobbies in the UK. We have had several threads on this subject in the UK forum and a couple of people there stated they had emailed Mikes workshop about the problem and not received any reply? I am not making this up, what would be the point I have no axe to grind here, maybe we were just unlucky and have received a batch of blades that were a little to brittle or something? But it is a little disappointing when one buys something that others recommend and they don't work as they should. With hindsight perhaps I should not have aired my experiences about these blades here as I appear to be the only one who has not been 100% in favour of the FD blades and I am going to be thought of as a bit of a maverick!
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Well I may be a 'Nut' but I do know how to operate a Fretsaw and how to make best use of the blades, I have been doing fretwork for over 50 years using a hand-frame, a treadle machine and for the past 20+ years a power fretsaw. I realise that people here are very pro FD blades and I was dubious of mentioning my experiences with them fearing that I would be branded a 'Nutcase' However as I mentioned earlier I am not the only person who has had problems recently with FD blades as quite a few other UK scrollers have reported problems with recent deliveries of these blades. The fact is that I have had a lot more breakages with FD blades after very short use than with any other make of blade.
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I am not convinced TBH can you show evidence that FD blades are the same as Niqua? Because they certainly look different, for starters the FD blades I bought have a tiny kink to indicate the correct way to fit the blade, all of the Niqua blades that I have used in the past 25+ years have not had such a kink! Also if what you say is true then there is not much point paying extra for FD blades if the cheaper Niqua are identical!
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Marg, that is a good question. I do sometimes place a sacrificial piece over my smaller items, sometimes top and bottom, as Master Scroller says using reverse tooth blades minimise problems. I often cut 4 or 5 at once and I find the top one with the glued on pattern the most difficult to salvage, I glue the pattern on and with delicate patterns it is difficult removing all traces of the pattern, normally I use a 6" wide belt sander to do this but it is a bit fierce. Generally the bottom one is not so much a problem when using reverse teeth blades. I rarely cut just one of an item unless I am using thick material. I always cut at least 2 often 3 even if I only need one, you then have a bonus if they all turn out. Often when I show my daughters something I have made they want one anyway!
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Sorry to be a killjoy but a lot of people in the UK scroll-saw forum have reported problems with FD blades breaking with recent FD blade purchases (inc myself) For at least the last 20 years I have used Niqua blades but reading how good FD blades were I ordered some, however I found they kept breaking near the top or bottom after very little use whereas the Niqua blades only need replacing when blunt and only very rarely break. Quite a few people in the forum (UK) have reported the same problem and some have switched to different brands one being Olson. I can only assume that our experience is because of a faulty batch as previous reports on FD were positive. Hope I don't offend anyone with the above but felt it fair to give my experience with the blades.
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Afraid I can't really advise on doing a portrait as I have never done one. I am so sorry if this sounds like I am being a killjoy but if you are a total Newbie to scroll sawing do you not think you would be better off doing something a bit simpler to start with, IMHO a portrait is not the easiest thing to do and I am dubious that you might be starting on a very ambitious project without trying a simpler piece first. (I hope you don't take my comment the wrong way, I realise it sounds negative but I am only trying to offer help.) Good luck anyway.
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Roly, Thanks for the offer however I recently bought myself an Epson A3 WF-7610DWF scanner/printer for just that purpose, it seems brilliant and ideal for what I want. I am in the process of scanning and repairing some of the old patterns using Photoshop, some of the patterns are in a bad way with the paper fragile and crumbling but I actually enjoy restoring them. I want to save them before they deteriorate further. Below is part of one early Handicrafts pattern I am working on at the moment (now) This is just one of 8 sections of the pattern and is in A3 format! As you cab see from the second scan it is getting better.It was in small A5 sections from where it perished on the folds.
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That is one question we can never be sure about, He passed away in 2006 and I can't remember whether I asked him nor if I did what his reply was. I know my grandfather gave fretwork lessons and I know my dad was a really accomplished fretworker so it's likely he made them all but I can not say for sure. When my dad was a lad there was not much to do in your spare time so I imagine he spent many hours with the fretsaw.
