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Jim Finn

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Everything posted by Jim Finn

  1. Jim Finn
    Well... perfect is good enough..<grin>
  2. Jim Finn
    I have not used pallet wood in about ten years now, but I learned much of what I know of woodworking using pallet wood long ago.
  3. Jim Finn
    Tooled leather Images copied from a cookie tin lid, but the bellows design is mine. I usually do not make seasonal items. Too hard to sell, for me.
  4. Jim Finn
    You asked for the "best" saw. I like Hegners but they are expensive.
  5. Jim Finn
    After reading this thread I did an experiment while drilling a bunch of holes with my drill press today. I taped a piece of 24 gauge sheet metal to a one inch thick pine that I clamped to my drill press table. When I drill through the wood for my project and through the metal the tear out on the bottom of the hole is mostly gone. Much better than when using wood. I clamped everything in place and used the one hole in the metal over and over.
  6. Jim Finn
    Very well done. It is obvious you have good control while cutting with a scroll saw. .............Now that you can make a cut right the first time I suggest you try Double bevel inlay. I say this because cutting inlays is a one way trip though the wood. If you get off the line there is no going back to fix it. You just toss the project and start over. Every year I make and sell over three hundred boxes with inlaid images on the hinged lids. They sell well and are rewarding to do. After learning how to do it well, the cutting of most of the images I do, takes about five minutes at the scroll saw. Takes a coupla' hours to make the box though. I have attached a photo of my display of these boxes. I will be glad to answer any questions you may have about this.
  7. Jim Finn
    Very nice work.
  8. Jim Finn
    I do a lot of inlay using my scroll saws. I use #5 flat blades. Spiral blades leave a very rough surface on the cut edge so, even though you can change the cutting angle to accomidate a spiral baldes thickness, you will not get a good fit because of the rough cut.
  9. Jim Finn
    I have often wondered why some folks like the DeWalt and others not so much (like me). I was thinking the cutting of the thicker material I use is what damages a DeWalt but it just may be because when doing fretwork (that I do not do) the saw is stopped and started every few seconds and when cutting toys it runs for an hour at a time without ever stopping . Different demands on the saw.
  10. Jim Finn
    When I first started using a scroll saw much I tried a spiral saw blade. What I found out is that it makes a very rough cut edge on the wood. I can see it can be useful when doing fretwork but I do not do fretwork. I started cutting out toys and had to sand the saw cuts using the spiral blade. The cut edge you get using a straight blade is so smooth that any sanding of it will diminish the finish of the cut. There are many other techniques to try when using a scroll saw. Lettering, like you have tried, toy making, compound cuts bowl and basket making, double bevel inlay, fretwork, scroll saw boxes, segmentation, intarsia, and sign making. Research them and give them a try. Lots to keep you busy.
  11. Jim Finn
    Remember... a scroll saw, using any blade, is absoulutely the slowest cutting tool/saw in a woodshop. Take your time do not bend the blade when feeding the wood into it..
  12. Jim Finn
    As much as you use a scroll saw you should get a Hegner. MUCH more durable than a DeWalt is.
  13. Jim Finn
    A friend of mine had a problem with DeWalt fuses blowing while cutting thicker wood. He replaced the fuse with one rated at a few more amps and it worked well for him.
  14. Jim Finn
    No Dave one at a time.
  15. Jim Finn
    When applying paper to wood I use a thin layer of white glue and flatten it out with a dry paint roller. Dries in a few minutes. Sand the paper off when finished.
  16. Jim Finn
    .."...I definitely have to break down and buy a drill press. Pretty hard to drill straight holes without one. Glad my drill bit was 1/32" or my filled holes would have been more noticeable....." I tried drilling 1/16" starter holes with my drill press and kept breaking bits. I now use a black and decker rotary tool (like a Dremel) mounted in a mini drill press made for a rotary tool and have it tilted to about 6° to drill my starter holes. Drilling at this angle, slanted the right way,makes the starter holes disappear completely... most of the time. Inlaying multiple woods is tricky. This is why I mark the pattern (using carbon paper) on the background wood and have the wood to be inlaid underneath as I cut. Still it can be tricky to do like you did. Here is one I did using three woods plus the background wood, it was a lot easier to do:
  17. Jim Finn
    I have done this myself on occasion. I have even used some less than perfect inlays as the box bottom and made a new one for the top. If you plan to sell them make some shiny and some not and you will see what sells in your area and proceeded from there. That is what I did. I also figured out what size to make this way, by noticing which sell quickest, large or smaller.
  18. Jim Finn
    Looks great Dave! My experiance is that the public likes shiney stuff. I use gloss finish.
  19. Jim Finn
    I have a friend that killed a Dewalt motor every year for five years untill he finaly tossed it. He was cutting 1 1/2" thick wood, making toys. I guess the DeWalt does not hold up well under hard usage. This may have been how your motor has been used.
  20. Jim Finn
    Your thought of getting a second scroll saw is a good one if you can afford it. In 2008, I bought a new 20" Hegner Polymax and a few months later a friend, from an on line forum, told me of another for sale, on Craig's list, near me. I bought the second saw for $600 as a back up. It is a, like new, 25" Hegner, made in 1986. I have, on occasion, had need for a larger saw than that new 20" Hegner and this second saw fills that need. I then found an old 15" Jet scroll saw on Craig's list and got it for $15. I adapted this old (1988) Jet with Hegner clamps so all my saws work the same. I now have three saws. I have one set up at the required angle for doing my inlays (2.2°) and the other for straight cuts with the 25" saw in reserve. Life is good!
  21. Jim Finn
    I do about 25 sales a year and have, on display, close to 100 items. Lots of kids. They spend there energy playing with the rubber band shooters I offer right out front. Indestructible toy. I let them play with them. They pretty much leave the rest of my stuff alone.
  22. Jim Finn
    When installing surface mounted hinges (Metal) on my boxes I put a spacer between the lid and the box at the hinge. I use a double business cards as my spacers. I put one near each hinge. This gives enough gap, for me, so that the front of the lid makes good contact with the box front yet does not look too crooked, when viewed from one end. I have also done it this way when installing wooden hinges that I have made in the past. In the photo you may be able to see that the right end of the box lid is slightly higher than the left side is. The hinges are on the right in this photo.
  23. Jim Finn
    The ideas to use the sawdust as fire starters is interesting. I produce bushels of sawdust a week. Most of it is a fine powder, like talcum. Hard to think one could sell that much let alone transport it and make it worth while.
  24. Jim Finn
    Not a pattern but an idea I thought was nice. Just an image of a pair of sneakers, a pair of high heals and a pair of booties with a name and date below them.
  25. Jim Finn
    I would glue it.......... I have never used a riveter for wood. Rivets are made for metal. I am a retired sheet metal worker and have used riveters for over fifty years and never found a riveter that did not work. If you want a rivet gun anyway, a cheap riveter will work well.
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