chippygeoff

The way I get round this is to drill 3 or 4 tiny holes with a very small drill bit all very close together so I form a slot and then the blade can be pushed through, its a bit of messing about but on a nice piece of fretwork I cant see the start and finish points.

There are a number of materials you can use. I have found formica to be good and also thin plywood. The good thing about making your own inserts is that you can have a very small hole for fine fret work etc. If you are going to use metal plate for an insert be sure to put a wooden sub table on your saw first.

I have used a lot of MDF in the past, I hate it now and rarely use it. I used to mix PVA glue with some water, about 70% glue to 30% water. I just sealed the edges with this, when dry a light sand with 320 and then a second coat. I then used to give two coats of acrylic paint leaving overnight between coats and then a coat of acrylic varnish and that was a good finish. When working with MDf it is very important to have good dust extraction and wear a mask, a proper one that is.

Well done Kevin. Very nice work and very well made. They remind of my dire need a few weeks ago when my 788 died and I was desperate for a new scroll saw and then the money turned up that allowed me to buy a new Hegner. God knows our needs (not wants) and provides.

I decided to make a plaque with the same words some time back but the words on there own seemed a little lost so I added the following. LIVE every moment, LAUGH every day, LOVE beyond words. I am not good at posting photos on here but if you want to see the finished plaques visit my facebook page. Wooden crafts from Wales. I am in the UK.

I to use various oils for finishing items and like you I use a tub to dip the smaller items. With the bigger items I use brushes about 1/4 -1/2 inch to get to the inside cuts and then use a rag to oil the rest. I will give you a good tip here. Ten minutes after oiling go over it with a rag and wipe off any excess, if you don't you will get high spots that stick out like a sore thumb when viewed in a certain light. Like Travis I also use and acrylic spray on lacquer depending on what i have made and with other items I use a wax polish after the oil has had 24 hours to dry. Another tip, when I oil my items I lay newspaper down on the table and then thin sticks the place the items on so the air can get underneath. When wiping off the excess oil pay attention to where the sticks were. Hope this helps.

Hi Pops. I just had a friend stay with me for a week, all she had ever cut previously was 18mm MDF and she was really bored with it. It was not the cutting of it that got her down but the finishing, two coats of primer and then two top coats of acrylic paint, so time consuming, especially on plaques with names cut out. I got her to cut a few things in birch ply wood and one coat of acrylic brush on paint gave a great finish, two coats were even better. i then got her to cut a few things in hardwood and you should have seen her face when I put an oil finish on it and the grain pattern seemed to jump out. Now she is hooked on making things in birch ply and hardwood and never wants to see another piece of MDF as long as she lives.

Well done Kevin. I have had many answers to prayer and very often the answer comes from where you least expect it. My old 788 is coming to the end of its life now so I am praying the good Lord will bless me with a Hegner.

Hi. I am in the UK as well and most of us buy the flying Dutchman blades from Mikes workshop. I don't know what your cutting but in my opinion the best blades are the ultra reverse. They leave a smooth side to the cut and very little fuzziness on the bottom. Just type in "Mikes workshop" into the search engine and his site will come up.

Hi Jim. When I had my excalibur i had the same problem and initially used plumbers tape with some success but the best solution in the end was locktite. Pleased you have found your own solution.

Lovely work DW. I am in the Uk and I am always looking for nice fonts where i can make words in one piece. I downloaded the cream puff font and will be making the love sign you made. Your names look really stunning.

I have a MK1 788/I have had it for about 15 years now and bought it here in the UK. They are no longer sold here. Soon after I bought it I had an electrical problem and it went back to the supplier twice. It was just a simple thing. I had to use a surge protector, the same thing people use with their computers. I never had a problem since and now all my scroll saws and other light stuff are plugged into surge protectors.

I was going mad with boredom with nothing to do. I was so used to working long days as a carpenter but a disability prevented me from working so i took to the scroll saw, best thing i ever did, just love it. As I say to the people at the craft fairs. I have to sell the stuff so i can make some more. There are several reasons why I do it. One is obviously to keep me occupied. I love the creative side of it, getting a piece or plain wood and turning into something really nice and useful. I love the challenge as well on the more difficult things. It keeps me going every day. I get up in the morning and really look forward to getting on the saw and very often i am still there late into the evening.

Thanks Jim. Getting planed hardwood in the Uk has always been a problem. I don't have the room for a planer but I hope to have a thicknesser soon. Getting hardwood is easy here but getting it planed to various thicknesses is a major headache so a lot of things I make I use MDF and birch ply.

Hi 1Doc. Like you I am in the Uk as well. I am working long days building up my stocks in readiness for the craft fairs. I have got the first one at the end of the month. I just bought some coaster patterns from Sue Mey and they are brilliant and I am working on those for the next few days. I have also been building a large stock of jig saw puzzles for children. I have made a nice display stand for the puzzles and will be making another one before the end of the month to display other things, this one will be a double, like a pasting table but a lot smaller. I have a good stock of portraits so I am almost ready.