redwine

I want to thank every one for the kind comments. The customer is to pick up the cutting tomorrow ( 8-10 -16 ) and I am hoping that she likes the final result, it is paid for so no problem there. As for myself I thank it turned out really well and again I want to thank the 2 top designers that made an inoperable photo into a very doable pattern! Russell and Sprithorse went above call to do this and I truly thank both of them! Erv

A couple of months back I had a customer ask if I could cut out the 2 dogs that she had pictures of. This is the final result and I want to thank Russell for the pattern of the dog on the left and to Spirithorse for the pattern on the right. The customer wanted the 2 dogs in one frame with their names included and matted. All comments welcome. Erv

I have the shop vac set up to connect to the saws, table and scroll, plus the hand sander as well. I do have a box fan with 20" x 20" furnace filter attached. When the vac is attached to the scroll saw it will start and stop with the saw by using a 3 way plug into your wall or electric strip and the foot feed. Be sure to wear some type of mask, It all helps & if you can afford the large collection systems, that would be even better. Erv

I will put in my 2 cents worth,. As others have stated the burn marks are created by both wrong size of blade and speed and the thickness of the wood. Thicker wood needs a larger blade and reduced speed which will make you want to push the wood into the blade to speed up the cutting. This is the most difficult part of the learning process, not to push the wood into the blade. Here is a very good tip to use when doing any type of cutting with either thick or thin wood and that is to every once in a while check to see if you are pushing the wood by letting up on the wood to see if the blade continues to cut into the wood, if so you know you were pushing to hard. Use a steady feed of the wood into the blade and the blade will do its job. Another tip, as you get close the finish of the project do not rush as this will most likely result in blade going off course or worse. Hang in there, you have a very good start and keep asking questions, we have all gone through the same process! Erv

I sign and date all of the larger items and use an address label with the name of the shop and phone #. 75% of my projects are crosses that have a lot of fret cuttings and no where to sign or place the label. Since I do not do any pattern designing, I also include the name of the designer so there will be no doubt about the origin of the pattern. Erv

If anyone is close to a sawmill,l check with them for blue pine. In most places it is considered a defect to the general public and is put aside mostly for contractors that know the blue does not affect the strength or workability of the wood. It will be at a lower price and in some cases free for the taking. I would be worth the trip to investigate the cost and availability of the wood. Erv

Kevin, the Pegus blades are available at Ben's Scroll Saw .com. Erv

I have manly had good luck ordering parts from ereplacement parts for my P-20 Delta saw but the parts are slowly becoming obsolete, no longer manufactured. I did run into a problem with the site when I was looking for a replacement motor unit for a Shop Vac and I put in the model number and it came back no longer manufactured, obsolete. I thought, that didn't sound right as the vac was not that old. So I went to Shop Vac"s site and to the replacement parts, put in model # and there was the item in stock ready to ship. So it might be wise to first go to the manufactures site first and see if the part is available and most likely will be at a lower price and shipping. Just my 2 cents worth. Erv

The rubber ring does secure the insert into the opening and you really need to use a Forstner bit to drill the hole, the bit size is1&3/8 inch. They are low priced from The Wooden Teddy Bear. You only need to drill down a 1/4 inch or so and to make it a little easier to remove, drill a I/8 in hole through the center so a small wooden dowel can be used to push the insert out. I usually supply one with each clock I make to sell or give away. Oh, by the way, only use the bit in a drill press. Erv

No, 1/8" ply is not to thin for spirals when stack cutting 2 or more at a time. Now this is using Baltic Birch ply. You want to make sure that the ply you are going to purchase is at least cabinet grade and with little or no voids. Does the sawmill have different types of ply such as oak, cherry, poplar, etc? Some times oak will splinter at the wrong place of the cut and stick out like a sore thumb! Erv .

I am not sure what you mean by cutting wider lines. If you really need wider lines, and I assume you mean the final cut and not the lines on the pattern, than about all you can do would be to cut the original line than switch to a #2 or #3 spiral blade and retrace the cuts. The only really thick blade for a scrollsaw is the "Iron Man" from FD but that will destroy what you are doing. Erv

Frank, you are doing a great job on the "Old Mill" and you have received a lot of very good ideas and advise from the crew! I agree with Jay about using different size blades as you work along. Save the 0/3 for the very fine and close quarter cutting and use the larger blades for the long runs and wider sections of the pattern. Also, and this may sound strange, ever so often stop and turn the project to a different angle which will use a different part of the blade. You will notice the difference of the cutting like a new blade. Use all of the blade this way and you won't be stopping so often to replace a "dull" blade. If you use BB plywood you have to do this as this wood and the adhesive used to bond the plys together is hard on spiral blades. Stay with it you will have a portrait to be proud of! Erv

This is a very soft wood and as already stated will dent very easily. I don't thank I would recommend using it for jewelry for that reason. It's a bland color that might be used for intarsia but I believe you would be better off using basswood. Just my opinion! Erv

I have found that the thinner the line the easier it is to follow or stay on the line. If the pattern is mostly all black, try fooling your brain that by staying at the very edge of the black and visualize that it is a very thin line will help some what to cut with out drifting quite as much. Erv

This is the nature of the beast and not being a mathematic expert by an means, it seems that 2 arms that are connected together and move up and down on a solid mounting point will produce that back and forward movement of the blade. Now the only scroll saw that I know of that the blade absolutely moves up and down square to the table, is the Eclipse made here in the US, but you will shell out about $1700 or more for it. This scroll saw uses some type of belt and mechanisement to produce the straight up and down movement of the blade. Google the site and details about the working can be found. Redwine

Hindsite is always 20-20 but you should have tried it out first with the sellers permission of course. You may have been able to talk the price down even more if the part was not available. How ever you probable bought a good saw once you replace the part. Redwine

1/4 inch wood of any species is the worst for cupping. The way you stated you are like I am, do not have a bandsaw or a planer to resaw and surface the wood. In that case I would purchase the wood in 3" width and glue them up alternating the end grain to mostly end the cupping. This is a lot of work and time consuming so you might try ordering from a wood mill that would quarter saw the wood for you and that will take care of the cupping. I have not had any luck with wetting the board and putting weight on it as it resumes the cup when dry. I usually stack all of the wood when I receive it and put spacers between each layer and place weights on the top and leave it for 2 weeks or more, even than some will cup and even twist! I am still learning about wood and how it acts here in southern NM although we have very low humidity in the spring and summer but wood still does strange things! Redwine

Cedar, poplar, also laminate different hardwoods together for a different look. Erv

To be sure that is a very fragile pattern as was most of Jeff's! When ever I cut one of his or Charles's patterns I generally had to turn them over and use some scotch tape and tape the waste into position to help with supporting the next cuts. If only cutting one rather than stack cutting, you can place the tape on top. You do have a cutting you can be proud of and as far as the piece missing only you will know where it is! Great job! Erv

Hawk, I feel for you about not having one of the best scroll saws made and not receiving it from the divorce is unbelievable! I have one that is among the last to be made and wouldn't trade it for any thing else on the market now. It is true parts are becoming harder to find but will keep it till even a machinist can no longer make the part. If you do locate one, there are a couple of things to check, first is the amount of up and down movement of the lower blade clamp, if there is a lot that pen is well worn and it is no longer available. I have went through 3 of them in 10 years and now having a machinist make 2 for me for $80. The second thing is the movement of the arms sideways and I believe those bronze bearing too are no longer available but it would take a lot of stress to wear these to the point of replacement. One other item is the link between the 2 arms as it has 2 very small ball bearing (the balls themselves). When one of the bearing let go you have tiny bearing every where! The link is no longer available but bearings made for routers will fit, just take a measurement and purchase 2 for about $11 and have some one press out the old ones and replace with the new ones that withstand 32000 rpms. This is the only problems I have ever had with mine and it is well used believe me! Redwine

Tomsteve, Great looking cuts and you really should finish the tiger-swallowtail butterfly. I have thought about doing that one for some time but just never got with it. One question, where you get the anchor cross pattern? I would like to cut that one for a special person here in the southwest. Good job on all of the cuts!! Redwine

Scott, you should be proud of yourself, that is a beautiful job on the cut!! I have only been scrolling for 10 years and had to learn on my own, but I started with the spiral blades, not knowing any better, and like the idea that you could cut large portraits that would fit on a 16 inch table without spinning the project! With that said, all of the comments made are true and the only thing I can add is to use all sides of the blade. By that I mean when you detect that the blade is dulling, don't just replace it, simple orientate your cut so that you will be using a different section of the blade. You will notice the difference as if it was a new blade. It works for me anyway! Erv

Super job on this cut Steve, just to finish a very detailed pattern of Charles Dearing is in its self an accomplishment!! Good job!! Erv

Tony, not sure what I am looking at, Bob Marley I understand, as being a rock star back in the day, but your heading of a Buffalo Soldier threw me! They were the regiments of black soldiers during the civil war so as I stated not sure of your heading. With that said you did a bang up job on the cutting! Good job! Erv

At one time, if I am not mistaken, The Winfield Collection had this pattern but it is no longer in the catalog or on their website. Now it might just be my imagination that I saw it there. As Wayne stated there was a gentleman a few years back that made a very large copy of the document using maple and walnut lettering. Each letter was cut separate and I believe he was over 1 year completing the project. The only thing I could thank of would be to download a copy of it and select a suitable font and either put the lettering together for each word or separate the lettering and leave space between each word. In any event which ever is chosen and assembled as close as possible to the original document, you will have a one of a kind! Erv