Bill WIlson

I'll do ya one better.

I have at least 7 routers. One is the Bosch 1617 and is mounted in a table. It's a nice router. I also have a couple DeWalt 618's, one was a 3 base kit. I've used all 3 bases. In fact, I bought another motor, just so I could keep the plunge and the D-handle set up and ready to go. The DeWalt 618'ss are nice routers, but I'm not sure I would recommend them. They had a problem with the magneto self destructing. At best, this meant you lost variable speed. At worst, the router wouldn't work at all. It happened to one of mine a few years ago. I bought parts and got it fixed, but am waiting for the other one to go. This was a pretty common problem with these routers. Not sure if DeWalt ever got the problem fixed on new ones or not.

Congratulations, I think you will grow to like the DeWalt very much. It really is a user friendly saw. I think there is a blade guard contraption, under the table. Most people remove it right after they remove the hold down. That may make operating the bottom blade clamp a little easier. Good luck and have fun making sawdust!

Preventing the material from melting back together, behind the blade, is probably the single biggest challenge when cutting acrylic. As previously mentioned, the proper blade, speed & feed rate will help minimize this. Most acrylics come with a protective paper covering on both sides, at least commercially they do. I work at a manufacturing plant and our machine shop makes a number of parts out of various types of acrylic. I scored some nice sized, scrap pieces of Makrolon polycarbonate, (also commonly branded as Lexan) which looks a lot like acrylic, but is a little different. It cuts very nicely and doesn't have nearly the tendency to fuse back together. I don't know how expensive it is or how readily available it is for hobbiest use, but maybe worth taking a look to see.

I've made several of the bowls from Carole Rothman's book. In fact, I just finished 6 footed candy dishes, from her Wooden Bowls book, to give as Christmas presents. I use every sander at my disposal. My main sanding tool is a Rigid oscillating spindle/belt sander. I also use a drum sander mounted in my drill press as well as the sanding attachment on an oscillating multi-tool. After that, a lot of hand sanding. I love Carole's designs. She is indeed the master and her videos are well worth watching, if you are considering making any of these bowls. To go along with her considerable talent and creativity, she is also an excellent teacher. The one draw back to Carole's designs, in my humble opinion , is that they require so much sanding. Her more innovative and complex bowl shapes really require something akin to the specialized sanding system she uses in her shop to accomplish the shaping in any sort of efficient manner. I've not tried some of them because of that reason. The belt, spindle and drum sanders I own are better suited for sanding on a flat plane. Sanding complex contours with them, doesn't work very well. I've actually considered getting a Guinevere sanding system in order to facilitate making some of the more creative bowls in Carole's book, but have not yet done so. Do not be deterred though. She has several designs that can be effectively sanded with more common workshop tools, so I encourage you to give it a try. Good luck and have fun making sawdust!

Interesting. I searched for "Pegas" and found a website for a company called Scies Miniatures in Switzerland. They were established by the Grobet File Company. I have no idea if or how this may relate to the quality of their products, but they look have a substantial background in jewelry saws & blades. https://www.scies.ch/who-we-are.html

By similar logic, we should have the ultimate car/refrigerator/cell phone by now as well. Reason we don't is that every manufacturer tries to maximize their profit by balancing features, options, quality and availability to their best advantage while trying to appeal to customers who all seem to want something a little different. As for dust collection, I have no idea. I presume that the market hasn't driven that need hard enough yet to compel manufacturers to add something really functional. Saw Stop wasn't simply a manifestation of someone's altruistic desire to make a safer saw. It was one man's belief that he could corner the market and make a tidy profit by offering (some say forcing) his safety feature to the customer.

That's the devil in the details. Chinese manufacturing is capable of making top quality products, so just because something is made in China, doesn't necessarily have to mean it's inferior. The parent company has to specify tolerances, components and testing protocols to achieve the level of quality they want. The fact that manufacturers aren't necessarily re-inventing the wheel doesn't mean they aren't building a better mousetrap.

I use a combination of my initials and the year for just about everything I make, from Christmas ornaments to furniture. I usually use a fine point Sharpie, but have used paint pens before. Nothing fancy, but it's the same for everything.

Now what kind of question is that?

Now that's what I'm talking about!

It's long been a dream of mine to eventually cut one of the great clock patterns, such as the Dome Clock, or the Chimes of Normandy Clock or the Shopiere CLock. To me, those represent the pinnacle of scrolling skill and ability. When I first joined my scroll saw club, projects like this were the staple of the founding members. I was so intimidated by the projects these master scrollers brought to the brag table each month that I didn't bring anything of mine to show for a very long time. To this day, nothing I've made is on that level, but I know I have the ability to do it. A couple things hold me back. One is time. Still working full time and have too many other projects in the queue. The other is a practical consideration. What would I do with it? Neither I nor anyone in my family has room to display such a piece. It remains a dream for me and perhaps will always be so.

Trust me Ray, you aren't the only one mystified by finishing. It's a very common problem among inexperienced and veteran woodworkers. Problem is, manufacturers aren't much help in clearing up the confusion. In fact, they contribute to it. Some products labeled "Tung Oil Finish" may not contain any actual tung oil. "Danish oil" is generally just a blend of varnish, oil (boiled linseed or tung) and thinner (mineral spirits). It's sometimes called "antique oil". "Tung oil finish" may be a blend, similar to Danish oil or it may simply be a wiping varnish (regular varnish thinned with about equal parts mineral spirits). There are no set rules when manufacturers name their products, so it will leave the consumer unclear as to that he is actually getting. It's all marketing and if the consumer can figure it out, more power to him. The books I mentioned earlier will explain all these differences at length and will go into plenty of detail on their relative strengths & weaknesses, when & how to use and just about anything else you could think of plus a lot of other stuff.

First off Ray, I have to ask, why to you want to combine these products? I try to keep my finishing methodology within a few general rules of thumb. One is that simpler is usually better. Don't add steps to your finishing schedule, unless they bring something useful to the party. Next, you have to figure out what you want your finishing process to accomplish. Do you want to add color? Do you want grain enhancement? Do you want a protective finish? What level of sheen do you want? What application methods fit into your skill set? Next you choose your finishing product(s) based on the answers to the above questions. Only use what is needed to accomplish the goal. To put it another way, there isn't much benefit to applying a Danish oil, then topcoating it with oil based polyurethane, or even shellac, for that matter. Why? Because if you are using Danish oil to bring out the grain, you can get pretty much the same results with shellac or oil based polyurethane, so the Danish oil step really doesn't add much benefit and just complicates things. Now, if you were topcoating with lacquer or a water borne polyurethane, then that's a whole different kettle of fish. In that case, I might use BLO or Danish oil to pop the grain (I usually only do this with woods like cherry, walnut or mahogany. It won't do much for the red oak and maple), then apply a barrier coat of shellac Seal Coat. This prevents any adhesion problems between the oil and the lacquer or water-borne top coat. If you want a film finish, with a little bit of gloss, then I would just spray the whole thing with shellac and forget all the other stuff. If you want less sheen, then the Danish oil is probably the simplest option. You don't have to have a pan deep enough to completely immerse the basket. You just need something to keep the fun-off contained. Pour a little in a pan, put the basket in, then dip a narrow brush or foam brush and start slathering the Danish oil all over the basket. Don't worry about getting it nice & even. Danish oil is meant to soak into the wood, not lay in it like paint, so you want to slop it on heavy, working it into all the nooks & crannies. Pick it up and let the excess drip off. Set it on some paper towels and let it drip off some more, then start wiping down where you see excess. Maybe use a little blast of compressed air to blow it out of corners. Bottom line is you want full coverage and you aren't building a film finish, so getting it all even isn't really a concern. You just want full coverage without a lot of excess. This is probably long winded enough, but as a final point, I highly recommend a couple of books if you want to really up your game and take some of the mystery out of finishing. 1. Taunton's Complete Illustrated Guide to Finishing - by Jeff Jewitt 2. Understanding Wood Finishing - by Bob Flexner

There are so many options for finishing. What you use will depend on what you want the piece to look like and what the finish needs to accomplish. I use several methods, depending on the wood and the project. I rarely stain, but when I do, I pour a little stain in a tray and using an old artist brush or foam brush, work it into all the frets. Take it out, wipe it off, lay it on a paper towel and gently blow out the excess from the frets with compressed air. I do pretty much the same process when using BLO or Danish oil. My go to finish for most fretwork is shellac. I spray it on with a spray gun, but spray cans are available most places that sell finishing products. I like shellac for several reasons. It dries very quickly, so I can spray several light coats from different angles to get complete coverage, without taking days waiting for it to dry and without getting an excess build up that causes drips and puddles. Shellac clean up is a breeze. Denatured alcohol will dissolve dried shellac. I'll even use ammonia, diluted with water to clean the outside of my spray gun. Frankly, I don't often clean the gun all that thoroughly, because all I need to do is spray a little denatured alcohol though it before I start spraying. I have a couple spray guns that I dedicate only to spraying shellac, so I don't have issues with cross contamination from other solvents and/or products. I use cheap guns and they work fine. I have one from Grizzly and one from Home Depot. I think I paid less than $20 for one and no more than $30 for the other. Some folks say the spray guns from Harbor Freight work pretty well and they are even cheaper. You can add color to shellac by mixing your own using dry flakes. The flakes come in a wide variety of tones. You can also mix alcohol based dyes with shellac and apply it with the spray gun. I've never used the dyes, but I've mixed from flakes. It isn't difficult. Zinsser pre-mixed shellac is readily available from most stores that sell paint. It comes in clear and amber color. The amber is fairly dark, so sometimes I mix both if I want something in between. There are all sorts of options. If you are intimidated by the thought of spraying, don't be. Spraying shellac is easier than spraying paint. I often do it outside, as shellac isn't temperature dependent, like many other finishes. Just needs to be dry and relatively low humidity for best results. But I do occasionally spray in my shop. The fumes are mild and dissipate rapidly, so that hasn't been a problem. I contain the overspray with a make-shift spray booth made from an large cardboard box, but shellac dries to quickly that any overspray will be dust before it lands on stuff, so I don't get a sticky mess all over like you can get with slower drying spray products. Sorry for the long-winded reply. Hope this helps.

One thing to keep in mind is that once the pattern comes off, most people won't be able to tell what it was supposed to look like, therefor slight deviations from the line are less noticeable. If you do wander off the line, try to compensate gently rather than make a sudden correction. Often this will be invisible to the untrained eye. When approaching a sharp turn/corner, use the waste area to your advantage by nibbling away some room to turn your blade without having to make the sudden turn, which can cause you to go off course. I like to cut sharp corners by cutting along one line to the point, then cutting across the waste area to the intersecting line and then back into the point. This gives you a place to start and cut out of the corner naturally, without having to spin the piece abruptly during the cut.

One alternative for a clear, outdoor finish is clear paint base. If you go to a paint store and ask for a can of clear paint base for an oil based paint, you will get a product that serves very well as a clear, outdoor finish. Full disclosure, I've never used it personally, but the method has been an internet staple for many years. I've never heard of anyone being dissatisfied with it. I have no idea how it might affect the figure in curly Maple, but being oil based, I would think it would accentuate it fine, but again, I've never tried it. As with all new finishing products/techniques, practice on scrap first. This is a cut & paste of the original woodworking forum post from a long time ago. My apologies, as it is quite lengthy. Clear Paint base as an exterior finish "The idea came from a guy in Florida. It was tested in Texas my a well known finishing person(Jim Kull). "As a preface, allow me to set the stage. Almost daily there is a posting about clear, exterior finishes for doors, chairs, signs and such. Responses run the gamut from diehard marine finishes to apply a coat of primer and then paint. Each of these has a bit of a problem. Marine finishes are not always the easiest to find and it grieves me to think of a lovely oak, teak, mahogany, fir, redwood or similar nice wood door painted in mauve goop. Bob from Fl inspired me with his continuing and accurate statements about the failings of a clear coat and the advantages of a good quality exterior paint. I decided after lots of reflection that he really was right but there was always the picture of mauve in my mind. Sooooooooo, how could one take advantage of his advice and yet capitalize on the beauty of a nice wood. I began to reflect on the characteristics of paint. Now, comes the boredom. There were several things I knew about paint. Exterior paints contain a mildewcide and a fungicide that a varnish does not. The best quality paints will contain a UV protectorant and trans-oxide pigments in very high percentages. Almost all paint is custom mixed by the store. The retailer maintains a large supply of base products that are used to achieve the desired color. There are generally 4 base products and the specific one for your paint is determined by your color choice. These base products are either named or numbered. They are named pastel, deep, tint and neutral. If numbered it is cleverly 1, 2, 3 and 4 with the exception of Olympic who numbers 1, 2, 3 and 5. Olympic is unaware that 4 comes before 5. Pastel and/or 1 is virtually a pure white and used for the lightest of colors. The others are slightly color altered from white and more translucent than pastel. These are used for succeedingly deeper colors. All of this comes to neutral, 4 and/or 5. These are clear and used for the darkest colors. In the can they are somewhat opaque but dry more or less clear. Now comes the testing. I bought 4 oak exterior doors. Each door was given one coat of the same MinWax Stain. On 3 of the doors, I applied 2 coats of "paint" to the 6 sides of each door (3 coats on the top and bottom edges). Each of these three doors had a different type of exterior neutral, 4 or 5 base. The fourth door was finished with a common spar varnish from my local friendly paint/hardware store. The bases for the 3 painted doors were an exterior semi-gloss acrylic, an exterior semi-gloss oilbased polyurethane floor paint and a semi-gloss oilbased trim and siding paint. The doors were set up, slightly inclined, in mostly direct sunlight under a pecan tree in the backyard. My wife just loved that one. Daily, the sprinklers managed to hit the doors. The birds in the pecan tree used the doors for target practice. And, yes Steve, the dogs did anoint the doors on a regular basis. My blonde Cocker, Zazu, was particularly enamored with thedoors. Over the course of the test the doors experienced lots of Texas sunlight, rain and snow. The temperature went from below freezing to over 100. The advantage to the inclined position of the doors was the snow, ice, water from the sprinklers and the rain tended to collect in the raised panel areas. I feel these doors were subjected to far more severe environmental conditions than would be expected from normal use. The results were interesting. The spar varnish looked fabulous but after about 2 weeks it began to develop small cracks. In rapid order the door began to turn black, started to mold and the smell was enough to knock a buzzard off of a manure wagon. The waterbased acrylic is milky in the can like a waterbased poly. It dried to a more or less water clear surface but was a bit cloudy. It tended to wash out the stain a bit. Over time it became cloudier and ultimately become almost white. But, it remained solid and protected the wood. The oilbased bases are also a bit opaque in the can but dried to a clear finish that is almost identical to a spar varnish - they added an amber tone to the doors. Both the poly floor paint and the trim and siding paint remained "clear" over the entire test period. The testing came to an end with a bit of encouragement. My wife said something clever like, "Get those damned doors out of the backyard?". She does not understand science. The floor poly had some minor checking and a thinned coat of the same base over the surface made that disappear. The door with the oilbased trim and siding paint was perfect other than it had lost a bit of the gloss. So, I am with Bob - paint the door. My preference is the oilbased products. If you are predisposed to a waterbased use an acrylic rather than latex. One thing you will find when you go out shopping for your product is a lack of knowledge on the part of the salesperson. Not many of these folk are aware that their neutral or 4 base will dry clear. If you want to have some fun, spring it on them. They will suggest you are full of Donkey Dust. Ask them to shake a can and put some on a stir stick. Dry it and voila, it is clear." "

That is what is called a "Win/Win".

Please don't be concerned about asking basic questions. This is a friendly place and all questions are welcome. You aren't the first to be confused by the blade designations and descriptions, so don't feel bad about it. First keep in mind that the blade numbering system is not universal among manufacturers. A #3 reverse tooth blade from one manufacturer may not be exactly the same size as a #3 revere tooth blade from a different manufacturer. How's that for confusing? We're only talking thousands of an inch difference, but it is important to note. Think of it in relative terms. The smaller the number, the smaller the blade. If a blade size is indicated with a 0, such as a 2/0. this is smaller than a #2. Each manufacturer will list the dimensions and TPI (teeth per inch) count in their descriptions, so you can always determine just how large each blade is. The "R" in a description usually denotes a reverse tooth blade, as opposed to a skip tooth blade. There are several types of tooth configurations and again, not all manufacturers will use the same system to describe them, so it's important to read their detailed descriptions, which can be usually found on the supplier's website and/or catalog. They often include pictures of the tooth configuration to help. The Skip Reverse tooth blade you refer to is one that has larger spaces between the teeth, like a conventional skip tooth blade, but also has some reverse teeth on the bottom. I know Olson brand has a #2 reverse tooth blade. I don't think Flying Dutchman does. Again, if it is really important, take note of the actual dimensions for an exact comparison of blade sizes. Hope this helps.

Flying Dutchman, Olson and Pegas blades are the ones most commonly used, with FD & Olson the most popular, but Pegas seems to be gaining fans. There are several on-line sources for blades. Wooden Teddy Bear sells both Olson and FD. I'm also of the opinion that no brand has the best blade in every size and tooth configuration, so again, you will need to experiment a bit to see what you like best.

You will find that most scrollers use pin-less blades exclusively. I don't even think my saw will accept pin end blades. Plain end blades offer the most variety and the best quality of cut for most scrolling applications. There are all sorts of different tooth configurations available, so that is a learning experience unto itself. That said, there are a couple tips you may not be aware of that should help. First, take a piece of sandpaper and rub it on both ends of the blade. This cleans off any residue that remains from the manufacturing process and roughs them up just a little, allowing the blade clamps to get a better bite. You can do something similar with the contact points of the blade clamp. They can get a slight build up of gunk on them as well. Don't oversand, just enough to clean the clamps, but not enough to alter their surface. Generally speaking, more tension is better than not enough. Even tiny blades are pretty tough and shouldn't break with proper use. Once you overcome the challenge of getting them to stay in the clamps, you will never go back to pin end blades. I'm not familiar with the blade clamps on the Porter Cable, but there are aftermarket blade clamps available that may be better suited for pin-less blades. I'll let someone with more direct knowledge of the PC weigh in on that topic.

The rocker is outstanding! The lines flow so smoothly and the transitions are so subtle that it almost looks like it was carved out of one piece of wood. Excellent craftsmanship! Everything from wood selection to finish is top notch. You should be very proud of that.

Yea, I see that as a problem. I've ground the blade end to a point, to make it easier to feed through very small entry holes, but that doesn't look helpful at all.