Bill WIlson

I wonder if it would be a simple matter to ream the holes in the EX frame to accept the existing tubes? That sheet metal is pretty heavy, as I recall and I'm not sure how much space is in-between each hole, but it may be an option.

One thing to be cautious about, with Luan or wood paneling, check the core of the sheet. Many times these products have some sort of foam or pressed wood/glue type core, covered with a thin ply of wood veneer on the top & bottom. They aren't alternating layers of wood ply, like Baltic birch or cabinet grade ply. The "foam" core isn't nearly as strong and if you are cutting delicate fretwork out of it, it is very prone to breakage. Not sure if all Luan and paneling is like that, but most of what I see around here is. May work as a solid backer, but no good for scrolling.

I'll be following the replies to this question. I have a dozen tubes I bought from Sloan's (I think) several years ago. They won't fit in the holes in my EX either. Fortunately for me, I have a table right next to my saw, where I can keep all of my blades, so they are always in reach. But when I take the saw off-site, it would be nice to be able to use those holders in the saw frame.

If I'm understanding the question correctly, you could use a bowl press, such as what Carole Rothman recommends for her stacked ring bowls. It's similar in concept to using cauls, except the cauls are simply squares of 3/4" thick plywood (or something similar) a little larger than the outside dimensions of your project. One goes on the top and one goes on the bottom. You just sandwich your project in-between. You can use all-thread bolts and knobs, through holes drilled through the corners as clamps or I just use Irwin Quick Clamps all around the edge of the plywood. Snug them up gently and slowly, alternating corners, to apply even pressure, all the way around. As for the salt trick, yes it does work. The key is to only use a few grains. It doesn't take much. When I make stacked ring bowls, there is a tendency for the rings to shift slightly during glue up and the salt trick helps keep them in place.

I will differ slightly with the advice to avoid plywood. Yes, plywood does have a lot of glue in it, which can shorten the life of blades somewhat, but I don't think it's all that dramatic of a difference between cutting plywood and any solid hardwood. The key is finding the right plywood. Good quality plywood will give you pretty uniform resistance, when cutting. Voids should be minimal, if not non-existent. Many scrollers use Baltic birch plywood for their projects. Personally, I don't think it's best for everything. When practical, I prefer to use hardwoods myself for most things. But for certain types of projects, plywood is an excellent medium. Now, as I said, the key is good quality plywood. Good quality ply can be as expensive or even more so that some hardwoods. But, if you know of any cabinet shops or lumber yards in your area, you can likely find all the scraps you could possibly use in their dumpster. Most places will be willing to give it to you, for the asking, because they have to dispose of it anyway. Good quality plywood, be it Baltic birch or cabinet grade ply can be identified by counting the number of layers in the ply. Of course the number of layers will depend on the thickness of the ply, but relatively speaking, the more layers the better. For example, 1/2" thick construction grade plywood may have 3 or perhaps 5 layers. 1/2" thick Baltic birch or cabinet grade ply will have at least 7 layers and up to 9. Baltic birch ply and cabinet grade ply will have smoother, more defect free face veneers. Not all that important for practicing, but it speaks to the quality of the plywood. So, if you can find a source for some good quality ply, it will make an excellent material for you to practice on. I've been using it to teach my grandson how to scroll and we have no problems with it. If it dulls the blades a little faster, I don't worry. Blades are a consumable and you will use a lot of them and probably break your share as well, while practicing. The few extra that you might go through by using plywood won't break the bank. Good luck and have fun making sawdust!

" No matter what combination I tried, I couldn't get the drill bit to go all the way through the wood. It seems that even if I mounted the bit with as little shank as possible in the chuck, by the time I drilled down into the wood, the jaws of the chuck would contact the wood before the drill bit exited the back side of the wood. " To me, this is the key to the mystery. If the jaws of the chuck are touching the wood, then it's the length of the bit that it the problem. If the jaws stopped short of the wood, then it would be travel. It shouldn't matter how thick the backer is or even if one is used. If the bit is too short, the backer won't matter. When using a larger bit, the jaws won't protrude as far out of the chuck. The smaller the bit, the further the jaws will protrude. I don't know how much difference this makes between a 1/16" bit and a 7/64" bit, but it really doesn't matter if there is less than 1 1/2" of bit sticking out of the chuck.

Who you callin' old!

Nice save. I've experienced the heartbreak of glue creep a time or 2 myself. If you know in advance that there is a risk, there is a little trick you can use to prevent it. After you spread the glue, sprinkle a few grains of salt on the joint, then clamp together. The salt will provide just enough grit to help keep the parts from sliding and will dissolve as the glue cures. I've tried this a couple times when making Carole Rothman bowls and it works well and I've not had any problems with it compromising the joint. I will say that my wife gave me a puzzled look when she saw me taking her salt shaker downstairs, to the shop. So now I keep a little in a small jar.

It keeps the screw from twisting the blade out of position. In other words, the contact point of the thumbscrew isn't subject to the torque of the screw being tightened and this helps keep the blade in position. If it was just a plain screw, it would twist directly against the blade as it tightens in the clamp and the blade would tend to move around and even bend.

Well, in the interests of full disclosure, I'm not completely ambidextrous. If I had to eat right handed, I'd either starve or ruin a lot of shirts.

From time to time the publishers have solicited opinions, on the content of their magazine, from the members of their scrolling forum. Probably not going to get input from a majority of subscribers, necessarily, but they do ask for input.

I must be a wimp. My basement shop is cold, to me, in the winter. It runs about 55 - 58 degrees. That's too cold for me to work comfortably. Sure I can layer up, but I won't wear gloves and everything I touch is cold, so my hands are perpetually cold, not to mention my feet, on a cold, concrete floor. I'm not freezing, but I'm just not comfortable. Up until last Winter, I heated with wood & coal. My basement shop would stay at about 65 -68 degrees. That was tolerable and didn't require any supplemental heat. I had to replace it last year and didn't go with wood & coal. The lower temperatures in both the shop and the house have forced me to adapt. I do have a small electric space heater I run in the shop and sometimes I fire up a kerosene space heater over in the other part of the basement. It makes it tolerable. I'm still adapting.

I believe Scroll Saw Woodworking and Crafts is the only regular publication, dedicated to scrolling. I've been getting that for several years now. I also get WOOD Magazine. Unfortunately, in this digital age, paper magazines are becoming less and less viable and will probably disappear all together, in my lifetime.

Well done Melanie! I like the idea of the barn wood backer. Am anxiously awaiting pictures of the finished product.

My first scroll saw was also a Craftsman, much like the one pictured. It was VS and at least 18" deep, so it was their "deluxe" model. Still needed 2 different tools to change blades. Fretwork was a real chore with that thing, but I didn't know any better at the time. After joining a scroll saw club and being exposed to other options, I replaced it with a DeWalt, but not before I wore the old Craftsman out. It wasn't much fun to use, but I learned a lot about scrolling on that saw. I'm chuckling over Rolf's adventures of left handed hammering. I'm naturally left handed. My Dad worked in the building trades most of his adult life. I learned to use tools from him. He gave me my first framing hammer. It was one he had found on a job site. He hauled it around in his van for a few months, trying to find the owner, but no one ever claimed it, so he gave it to me. I was using it one day, when I worked with him as a teenager. He commented on how he couldn't drive a nail straight with it, which is why he gave it to me, but I wasn't having any trouble. I told him it must be a left handed hammer. Despite Dad's difficulties with the "left handed" hammer, one thing he always emphasized to me was being able to use both hands. Working in construction meant you often were in awkward positions, trying to perform certain tasks. I learned how to use a circular saw, hammer and other tools both left and right handed. It came in very handy. When I graduated HS, and moved away, I got a job with a building contractor. Most of the crew, despite being older and more experienced than me, couldn't drive a thumb tack with their non-dominate hand. I got their attention and some respect, when I was able to hang off of ladders and scaffolding, using either hand to drive 16D spikes, or switch hands when laying shingles, depending on what end of the house I was working on. Even now, after being out of the building trades for almost 40 years, I can still manage to swing a hammer with either hand. Only difference now is I do it mostly to keep my forearm from cramping.

I think and hope you are right. Craft shows are as much entertainment as they are commerce. I don't sell, but the wife & I like to browse. We'll take an afternoon and attend a craft show/festival and not even buy anything, but enjoy the day out. Maybe this is a generational thing and Millennials aren't into it, but, like you, I think it will come around again.

The wood is probably jumping because the blade is grabbing the wood, instead of cutting it. This happens for a couple reasons. The simplest is a dull blade or blade installed upside down. Barring that, the most common cause is trying to make tight turns too fast. Pushing the wood into the blade, while turning quickly and tightly doesn't allow the blade to cut fast enough and the blade will bind in the wood and the teeth will grab on the upstroke, instead of cut. This can also happen when trying to use too large of a blade. What size & type of blade are you using? What kind of wood are you cutting and how thick is it? Does the lifting happen just in cutting curves or all the time? Many scroll saw blades have reverse teeth in them. This is intended to reduce the tear out on the bottom of the wood. Most reverse tooth blades just have a few teeth pointing up at the bottom. Some have reverse teeth placed through the entire length of the blade. These sometimes cause more trouble with lifting the wood, because there are more reverse teeth engaged at any given time. If the problem persists, you could try a skip tooth blade, which only has teeth that point down. You may sacrifice the slightly cleaner cut that a reverse tooth blade offers, but it should help minimize the lifting. Also, most scrollers remove the hold down bracket on their saw, but if your saw is still equipped with one, make sure it's lowered far enough to help hold the wood down, without being too tight and causing friction between the wood and the table. Good luck. Hope this helps.

Gotta love the Duke! Saw a program last night called Mysteries at the Museum. One of the stories was about a planned assassination of John Wayne, ordered by Joseph Stalin, back in the 50's. I had never heard this story before. Unfortunately, I didn't get to see the whole segment, but in true accordance with the legend that is John Wayne, he worked with the FBI to foil the plot and turn the KGB agents into defectors who provided vital intel on KGB practices, during the Cold War.

You've gotten a ton of good advice in this thread. Compound cutting isn't really all that difficult, but several factors come into play that aren't as important when cutting thinner stock. One piece of advice I have not seen posted yet pertains to the positioning of your pattern. Applying the pattern precisely is absolutely critical to getting a good, finished piece. IMHO, it's just as important as all the other great tips you've gotten so far. I take great pains to ensure that my pattern is aligned correctly on the blank. I won't go into detail, because people will think I'm nuts, but trust me, it's important. You can have your table precisely at 90%. Your stock may be perfectly perpendicular. Your cut may be flawless. But if the pattern is even slightly skewed on the blank, then your end result will not be symmetrical.

My suggestion would be to compare the unidentified blade with a known size/type, under magnification. I've never tried it, so I can't vouch for the effectiveness of this suggestion, but it's worth a try.

This is where a good bandsaw, set up and tuned for re-sawing, is worth it's weight in gold. Nothing goes to waste.

I wonder if that could be part of the problem? Years ago, the general consensus on some of the WW'ing forums, was that tack cloths could possibly contaminate the surface and cause problems with the clear finish top coat. Don't know if that is a myth or not. I never use tack cloths. Personally, I would use alcohol to wipe down the surface of the wood. I've used mineral spirits, but you have to let it fully evaporate first and it takes some time for that to occur. Alcohol will evaporate considerably faster than MS.

Hi Melanie. I'm a little late to the party, but I'll chime in with my $.02. First the wood selection. It would depend on a few factors. If I were only making one, I would likely make it out of a solid hardwood, not more than 1/2" thick. Personally, I think Keith's word art plaques look best cut in thicker hardwoods, but that's just me. If I had a bunch to make, I might stack cut them from 1/8" or 1/4" BB ply, but then I'd probably figure out a way to build a frame for them. Perhaps if I were going to use some sort of holiday themed, multi-colored backer, then I would also go with the thin ply. So, for me, much depends on how I want it to look and be displayed. I wouldn't touch this pattern with a spiral blade. I would likely use an Olson #3 MS or perhaps a comparable size FDUR. I prefer using small blades for the finer detail and tightest turns. I might switch out to a little larger one for the bigger letters, say a #5. The only real delicate cuts you have there is the cursive writing in the middle. I might start there and follow Paladin's advice above. The rest, I think you are safe to just cut at will. But I don't think the order is really critical on this particular piece. Now the other patterns, with more cursive writing, will be a little more challenging. But once you've done one, your confidence will grow. Think of them all as just lines on the paper, that you follow with the blade. Don't get too hung up on the size and complexity of the entire piece. Break it into smaller bites and it will be easier to digest. Good luck and have fun making sawdust!

As mentioned, there are any number of ways one could do this, depending on skills & tools. If you are working just with simple tools, I would cut 6 squares (as close to the same as possible) to fit the dimensions of the pattern Jim posted above. Next I would mark the center, (draw diagonal lines connecting opposite corners and where they intersect is the center). Drill the necessary sized hole in each piece. You could even use the first piece as a pattern to mark the center hole on the rest. Then apply the pattern to one of the square blanks, lining up 2 parallel edges with the edges of the blank. Using the scroll saw, cut the other straight edges, staying slightly outside the lines. Once all are cut, put a dowel rod through all 6 pieces and rotate each piece to line up the edges. Sand them all even with each other and then rotate each piece and sand each face, until all are flush, using the dowel rod to keep them aligned.