redwine

For myself if the blade still has some life left I will put it on the wooden platform, 4" x 4" with self stick magnet strips and the platform is attached to the top of the saw and it is numbered 2/0 up to 9. This is also where I keep fresh blades that I will be using for what ever I am cutting at the time. This has worked for me but normally I discard the blade after cutting the project and if it shows a dark blue on the blade which to me is starting or is dull. Erv

Truly a master craftsman for hand made guitars! This is not an afternoon or week end project for sure! Noticed that a scrollsaw was only used once but at least it was part of the assembly! The use of Tru Oil for the hand rubbed finish look does work! When I was in to target and metallic animal shooting in the late 70s and early 80s, I would finish gun stocks with it that were already cut to fit the gun barrel and trigger mech. but have never thought about using it for the scroll projects. Will have to get some and try it on boxes. Thanks for posting this video, loved it! Erv

About the mistakes, this one should be the topper and I shut down the shop and found something else to do! I put the blade in, upside down, backwards, forgot the tension and oh yes, table was tilted 3.5 degrees from the day before! Of course when I started the saw that woke me up, so adjusted the tension and proceeded to cut or tried to cut, figured out the blade was backwards, turned it around and started cutting and could not stay on the line, okay bad blade, put in another one , same thing happens, put in another one, than it finally dawns on me to check the way the teeth were pointing and put it in right, made a short cut than got up and closed the shop. Only problem was when I returned to finish the cutting was I had forgotten to set the table back to 90 degrees and couldn't understand why I was having trouble backing the wood into the "v" to come out in different direction until the very dim light went on in my brain that the table was still set at 3.5 degrees! What a day! Erv

Edward, I have reduced the price on some items but not that much! I have also increased the price by $10 to $20 and you would be surprised at times that they will sell at the higher price! Try that on one or two items and place them in the display that draws the most attention and see if they sell. The other thing that we do is to provide them as door prizes at shows that request the venders to provide an item for such. If you have had the items that long, you can probably do the increase in price and the customers would not notice it and even if they do, you can say that it is a new cutting and the price of materials has increased or that improvements had been made but use this excuse only if you have to. Normally the increase will not be noticed! Erv

I was given a lot of this wood that was cut offs from flooring that a doctor was having put down in a new built house. I cut off the tongue and groove and glued up sections 6 inches wide than run it through the planer to 1/2 inch thick. Your right it is a very hard, dense wood and does a number on blades! It makes for beautiful projects though! Erv

I sign all of the projects that is possible such as framed portraits, boxes, shelf standers, most anything that has room on the backside. I use printed address size labels that has my name and phone #. As we do not do any pattern designing, I include the designers name. I use a very fine ball point pen to sign with after spraying the first coat of clear so the ink will not bleed or spread out as on raw wood. On items that I cannot use the label I will tell the person the designers name if they ask if I designed it. Erv

Iggy, is this $20 passed on to the customer or not? If so that would make for a very expensive puzzle. Just wondering! Erv

Ray, you stated that you would be taking notes on the different blades you are or will be using and that will help you a lot. I would keep a log, pun intended, of the mfg., # of blade, teeth, tension, tight or not so tight, wood used, thickness, etc. This may seem like a lot of work but it would come in handy later on. Incorporate that information with one of the blade charts mentioned and what you yourself find out about different blades you use and you may end up with more information than you can use. lol. Other than this just pick and choose different blades till you fine one that works for you. Erv

A lot of good advice and the use of a hot glue gun I have heard of but don't own one, may break down and purchase one. I thank I will keep a roll of tape on hand for the stack cuts and use the liner for the one time cuts. I appreciate all of the input, I knew I would get a lot of answers to the question and thanks to all for the info! Erv

I do a lot of stack cutting, 3 - 4 layers, and just wondering if I switch over from the blue tape to this shelf liner what would I use to keep the layers together? At one time I used to use small brads to keep the stack together than I started to use the blue tape and wrap the layers together and that works just fine. I have used the 2 sided tape but getting the stack apart is a chore not to mention the breakage that some times happened. What would be the best way to do this? Erv

I have used the spirals since I started doing this great hobby and before I found out about the different sites on the putter about this hobby and the spiral blade was given a bad reputation even than, but not knowing that the blade could not be controlled, I ordered some along with the flat blades and found that with a little practice I could do just as well with them as the flat blade. When Jeff Zifono, not sure of the spelling, was doing so well with the patterns he created and the write ups in the magazines and the cd he produced, I learned about the better ways of using the blade. For instance, if at all possible pull the work toward you and not pushing it away from you, this will give you much better control and you will cut straight lines much easier. The main thing to remember is that if you don't want the cut to go left or right, don't move the wood! The blade does not have a mind of its own, it is just following what has been introduced to the teeth of the blade! If your fingers moved the wood just the slightest amount left or right, forward or back, the blade will remove what was put in its path. I know that all of this sounds logical but just take a look at the photos that has been posted by 2 other masters of the unwanted blade and tell yourself that the blade cannot be controlled! Erv

Welcome to the addiction of scrollsawing! The way I got started a few years back was with a Dremel saw picked up at Home Depot at half price and what few blades that was included. I already had a Dremel tool for drilling and some thin scrap wood on hand so I took a pencil and drew a bunch of wiggly lines and some circles, drilled some holes and proceeded to see if I could follow the lines. It took a while getting used to a tool that I knew not one thing about not to mention that I was not a wood worker in any shape or means. By the end of the day I was fairly comfortable with the saw and had tried different blades and speeds. Do start out at slower speeds to get used to what your saw will do and to be able to control the wood and follow the line. Don't over think what the saw is doing, just go slow and easy and it will come to you as to what you want to do. The main thing is to have fun and be safe. Erv

I have been using the blue tape for 12 years or so, the 3m tape, but have had trouble finding the original type. The newer tape is listed as multi surface tape and I have had problems with the tape lifting between close cuts. I have tried Blue Hawk brand and it does not stick well either. Walmart still has the original tape but not sure if it is being discontinued by 3m or not. Just wondering if anyone else has had problems with the multi surface tape? Erv

Iggy, I wouldn't touch that request in any shape or form! There is no way that what you come up with a pattern than request her approval of the pattern than round up the wood, plane, sand, cut the pattern, finish, apply the finishing coats, the drying time, prepare the sign for shipping and unless it would be sent overnight express it would never see the 18th! On top of that, $35 might be a very small deposit to start with and $100 would be more like a starting point for a price. I am about to reach the point of no longer accepting special orders for that very reason. I had one customer that we had made up name shelf standers for and I use poplar wood as white as I can find and she has seen the word art I cut at the shows, but when she picked them up she was not happy with them and of all things she even said they looked like plastic and should have been done in a darker wood! Iggy, you have a market going with your puzzles, and if I were you I would stay with that until and if that market dries up. This is just my opinion but you have a good thing going and looks to get better! Erv

I use Poplar wood for the word for the word art and shelf standers name plaques. It is fairly easy to cut and with variations of colors from the green heart wood to black, purple, yellow, tan it makes for interesting projects. The Lowe's store here seems to get a lot of the wood with the different colors and the wood that is almost white is hard to find. I have 3 pieces 24" x 3" x 1/4" that is completely black and use it for ebony for trim or inlay on boxes. Erv

The photo would not open, but I am sure it is top notch! Erv

The chuck that Dremel has is available at Lowe's and at our Walmart is a great addition to your drilling of small entry holes. I have had the 3 jaws seize up once in awhile but just keep them clean and squirt a little WD40 and wipe off the excess and that usually solves the problem. Don't know if that chuck is still available from Mike's Workshop but forget about obtaining one. Once you find the right place for the drill bit you will be using it works fine, but than you change to another bit and you go through the process again aligning the jaws for a wobble free turn. I finally "chucked" mine and just use the Dremel with the router stand for the really small bits. Erv

If you have a Home Depot and/or Lowe's near you, they both will have the SSW&C magazine in their magazine rack. The magazine is printed 4 times a year with a Holiday issue late in the fall season. At least the 2 stores here have the issue when its due out. Erv

I too live in the SW and I have to order all of my wood, thick or thin, as I do not own a bandsaw but do have a planer that I use for cedar and pine, takes to long with hard woods and to much waste. As soon as I receive the order it is immediately stacked and stickered and weighted down for at least 2 weeks. This will usually leave it flat till it is all used. In saying this I ran into a piece of 1/4" maple a month or so ago that cupped after the 2 weeks so I went through the wet procedure on the bowed side and it flattened out great but as it dried, with weight on it, it bowed the opposite way and I did the wet procedure again, it bowed back the other way and now it was splitting down the middle. I ended up doing this 3 times! It finally dried out to about 3/8" bow and I cut it into 3 pieces about 2&1/2" wide and 2 of them are flat, the 3rd one still has the bow. Some real gremlins in that piece of wood! Erv

The roller wheel cutter was meant to be used for straight line cutting of fabric which is the best way to cut it. It will not cut circles very well and could be a little dangerous to your fingers holding down the felt and maneuvering the cutter around. What MrsN says is true and it works very well, just be sure that the thin ply is pressed very tightly to the felt and there will be no problem cutting. Erv

Thank you Travis for all of the work and time you spend and everything you do to keep this site up and running! It was a real surprise yesterday when I clicked on the site and this full screen popup appeared with the large 403 error and that I had been denied permission to access the site! I realize that I don't post that often but couldn't image that I had been dropped. But by late afternoon there the site was open, what a relief! Once again, thank you for all of your time and work keeping this site open!!! Erv. aka, redwine

Dick, have you been there in the summer with the temp reaching 112f and higher and the humidity at 2-3% ? If you can afford it, winter there and than back home for the summer. I was born in the southwest and spent 90% of my life here and I am more or less used to the dry heat and I just don't spend a lot of time in the mid day sun. I wouldn't want to live anywhere else. Erv

The last time I ordered from Heritage was 3 years ago when I needed some wide panels of maple glue up. This was the first week of Dec. and it was 9 weeks and 3 phone calls and excuses before I finally received the order. I thought that the delay may have been that they had closed the books for the year and would not do the order until the new year. The orders before that for just normal size and thickness was also slow, 2 to 3 weeks. I do not even consider ordering from them any more even though they do have very good wood. Erv

I will chime in with what I have experienced with the wood padauk and cutting with maple wood together. It will bleed or discolor maple really bad and it seems to stay permanent. When ever I choose to cut padauk, it is cut separate from other woods. I don't know if it will bleed into or onto other woods or not, just never took the chance. As far as blades go, I would not use any of the FD ultra reverse blades and instead use the skip tooth blade preferably with out the reverse teeth at the bottom. I have always used the Pegus modified blades for cutting thick compound designs using the #5 or #7 blade at a moderate speed. You can use the tape but for myself it was a waste as I use a clamp to hold the wood while cutting it. The clamp I use is from Steve Good's patterns listed under tools. If your wood is bowed, twisted or anything not flat, you have a problem before you begin. Also make absolutely sure that your saw table is 90 degree's to the blade and check it often as you cut out the "bandsaw" box. They are possible to cut on the scroll saw but takes time to get them right! You have received a lot of very good advise, you will persevere I am sure! Erv

I will have to replace my box fan this year as the old one up and died in January. For my small shop, 200 sq. ft., it works fairly well with the filter on the back. As for using a vacuum attached to the various tools and to the scroll saw, it is a good idea except they are not designed to be used continually even though I had it hooked up to start and stop with the saw. I have replaced the motor head on my Shop Vac twice and if I decide to do it again, it died last November, will probably hook it up the same way. I would like to have a full dust collection unit but just out of my price range. I do wear a dust mast the entire time I am in the shop sawing or not. Erv