Wooden Lace

Nice to find something that works...especially when it's cheap! I used to use a Fein shop vac with small hoses to top and bottom of table, and that worked well. But, even though the Fein is quieter than most vacs, it was still too loud. I've gone to the super low tech solution of the box fan with a 20X20 furnace filter. It sits on a LOW table at my right side, at the edge of the saw table, and not only catches all the dust from the top and bottom of the table, but anything floating around my face. I don't need to wear a mask, and there's nothing on the floor in front of the saw. Just need to make sure you have the fan facing the right way, so it's pulling the dust from left to right, the same way the saw's blower line is facing. I tried cutting Bubinga as my trial run 'cause there's nothing like red sawdust to see if the filter is actually catching it. Great results, and a really pretty filter! It's easy to clean too, just take it outside and sweep it off with a whisk broom. I'm a happy camper now, and I can hear the CD player. Nancy

He's a scroller's treasure, that's for sure. My only problem with him is that his daily posts arrive in my inbox just after 4 A.M. and if I 'm not sleeping around that time, I'll wait until his post comes in and then go back to bed. Of course, sometimes I also spend another hour or so checking out everything else online!

The pattern wasn't designed for intarsia, but as we can see, it works really well that way too. It's from Scrollsaw Woodworking & Crafts magazine, Issue 37, the Holiday 2009 issue. There are several versions of it as a layered cross. I kept a picture of it many years ago, but then forgot about it. Found the single picture recently and wanted to make some, but couldn't track down the actual pattern. Finally located the magazine on eBay. Still waiting for time to cut some, but they're a great use of small scrap pieces of wood.

Nice job on the cutting. I love how the pattern incorporates a cross. I don't recall ever seeing that before. Nancy

Your display area looks great! Do you actually demo while you're there, or is the saw just for show? I only have modern saws, but have done many shows where I'm cutting the entire time. As you say, it's tiring, but always lots of fun, and people like to see how the projects are actually made, and gives them a chance to ask questions. I even sold one of my extra saws to a guy who was so impressed at the variety of projects that could be made with a scroll saw.

Welcome from Longview, WA, formerly up in Lynden right by the Canadian border. What part of the Pacific Northwest are you in? I can't find any other scrollers around here. It doesn't seem to be a "thing" around here. If you ask if someone is a woodworker, they assume you mean at the pulp mills here in town! Glad you've joined us, you'll find lot of helpful info from the members.

All of my work is pretty delicate fretwork, with holes quite close together. Using the DeWalt, which doesn't stay up by itself is no problem. I always top feed, and start with the blade in the upper clamp. When I'm done with a cut, simply release the lower clamp, lift the arm with the left hand...just enough to clear the wood, then with the right hand, use the bottom of the blade to slide the piece to the next hole and drop it in. I've had a Jim Dandy gizmo to hold up the arm, but with my method, it just isn't needed, so I gave it to another scroller. Now that I'm using the new King 16" saw, I simply loosened the upper arm so it doesn't stay up by itself, and continue using my method. Everyone seems to like doing things in different ways, and it's interesting to see what other methods work. Nancy

Welcome back! I have 2 DeWalts that are over 20 years old now. They are so old that they were made in Canada by Sommerville! I use them up to 6 hours a day. Price at Home Depot and Amazon is $399, which is hundreds less than it was a while back. I used to have a 16" Excalibur that I foolishly sold. Now the company that makes those calls it King, and the one actually labeled Excalibur is a different company altogether. I tried a Hegner, but didn't like the blade change or the tiny table.

I used to do large 5 day craft shows and sold almost nothing but ornaments. I had several table with stacks of each ornaments, as well as a large table at the front with either 2 or 3 brass ornament carousels. These each held 60 ornaments and revolved slowly. This way people could see them hanging. I never used any boxes, just small bags and no one seemed to care, so I didn't add the expense of the box. Sorry I don't have a picture of the carousels, but we've moved twice in 4 years and I'm lucky I even know where I am, let alone anything else!

SO CUTE! I went to your site and ordered my set. They'll look great on the window sells in the sunny breakfast room.

Sorry I don't have any pictures of the beaded ornaments, as everything is packed away from our recent move. I only kept 1 client, since the business is pretty much closed down, and the website taken down.

I've sold over 10,000 ornaments made of 1/16th inch Finnish Birch from Aircraft Spruce. I still use ones I made almost 20 years ago and they look perfect. I used to stack cut 10 at a time, but didn't like having to use a blade large enough for that. Now I usually do stack of 4 or 5, and use a Pegas modified geometry #1 blade. No fuzzies on the back to worry about. Some people don't think plywood looks nice enough, but I sell almost all of mine at high end wood galleries and their clients love them. I use no finish at all. Most are inset with 2mm gold beads to give extra sparkle. The wood is thin enough that they show from both sides. Simply drill a hole and press the bead in with a shaker peg. Very high tech! I've made some of hardwood, but they don't sell nearly as well. Plus, it has to be light wood such as maple for the pattern to show on a dark green tree.

The Gwinnett video in very good. I contacted them and for a $20 donation to the group, they sent it to me on a DVD. Not sure if they still do that, as it's been years.

It's been several years since I purchased any of the 1/16th plywood, and all my records are "somewhere", since we've moved twice in 2 years. I did a Google search for 1/16th aircraft ply, several names came up, and Aircraft Spruce sounded really familiar, and my husband agreed. They have 8 locations, including Canada and Alaska, so shipping is quite convenient. You can find them at aircraftspruce.com. Customer Service is 800-861-3192 and their Order line is 877-477-7823. Check their website for additional numbers for outside US and one for Canada as well. It's Finnish birch, their quality was always great and shipping was really quick. I also tried their 1/32nd. The people who didn't like it thought it felt flimsy, and those that liked it described it as delicate. You can't please everyone, but I've never had any complaints with the 1/16th. Hope this helps.

I've always used 1/16th aircraft ply and people love them. I've cut as many as 10 at once, but really don't like the thicker blades needed for that. Mostly stack cut 4 or 5 at a time now, and really enjoy the Pegas #1 modified geometry blades. My only problem with those blades is that, even though I have the Pegas blade chucks, I can't seem to keep the bottom blade in the holder unless I lightly scuff it with sandpaper before starting. Same with the 2/0 size. NO FUZZIES on the back with those blades.

I've been scrolling for 22 years now and have to say, when I look through my patterns, there's a LOT of Sue Mey and Sheila Landry/Keith Fenton patterns. Also have quite a few from Dirk Boelman, his Cathedral cross is my favorite. Another one I seem to collect is Pedro from Seville, Spain. He's at www.finescrollsaw.com. His patterns are not originals, but computer precision remakes of old patterns. They tend to be pricey, but worth it. I have him email me the patterns, but they are designed for much larger paper, so I simply forward them to my local print shop that has paper that size. My favorite of his is the Venetian bird cage, and I made that one.

Hi, just curious as to how you get scratches on the top of the board from top feeding. Not something I've every heard of or experienced. Nancy

I have a Grizzly and we've had no trouble with it for the past 8 years or so that we've had it. Really great for resawing hardwood. It's the GO636X, 17" 5 hp with the resaw fence. It's not in the price range you're looking for, but my son has the 14" and it works great as well. Sometimes people have heard bad things about Grizzly tools and don't want to try them, but they've come a long way since they first came out, when the price was good but quality wasn't the greatest. I also use their table saw, jointer and planer and love all of them. I live about 20 miles from the Grizzly store in Bellingham, so it's very convenient if I need to ask questions from the guys in the shop. This beast has a shipping weight of 784 pounds, so it's not something we can just throw in the back of the van and take in for service, but they can generally talk us through any adjustments that need to be made. Actually we did bring it home, in the crate, in our van, but it's not something I would EVER do again! They put it in with a fork truck, but we didn't have one at home and it took us forever and about killed us both. Next time I'd pay for delivery.

I purchased a supply of Pegas Modified Geometry blades and was very pleased with the service. Price was good to start with, and the January special was free shipping, so that makes it even better. Blades were well packaged and arrived in great shape in just a few days. I'll be back next time I'm running low.

I don't actually remove them....just bend the crap out of them so they point kind of sideways. Then it's in the perfect position to hold a small plastic tube that's connected to the shop vac for dust collection. It points right up under the table toward the hole. Connects by a Y connector to the one on the top of the table. That way, both top and bottom of the table get ALL the sawdust pulled away, and I don't have to breathe any of it. Kind of my version of a Scrollnado.

I'd be happy to share pictures of my wine glass caddies, but actually don't even have any photos of them. Used to show all 25 current patterns on my website, so buyers could identify their favorite ones. Now it's just a hobby with only 3 clients, and they take an assortment of whatever hardwood and pattern I want. Don't have a recent count, since I quit using QuickBooks, but it's somewhere around 9500 of them sold. Between those, ornaments and stuff I want for myself, it keeps me out of the bars!

I use mine mainly for finish sanding my wine glass caddy blanks before I scroll the pattern in them. They're only 3 1/2 X 9 1/2 inches, so not a problem keeping pressure on the small of a piece. I use 360 grit. If I use the right blade, there's no need to sand the back again, 'cause there are no fuzzies. I use either Olsen Mach 3 or Pegas Modified Geometry 1, depending on the hardwood I'm using.

I have one and love it. Bought mine from a friend who was moving and didn't have room for it at the new place. I'd looked at them before, but just couldn't justify the price of a new one, but $150 for the used one was a great buy.

I didn't download the patterns, so don't remember exactly what the full saying was, but something about "until your proud". It should have been you're instead of your.

Congrats on the new saw! I've tried friend's Hawks and Hegners, plus have had Excaliburs and a Jet, but DeWalt is still my favorite. BUT....really don't care for the yellow, so this past winter when we were snowed in for over a week, I got bored and painted one of them. Masked off a few things and hit it with 3 coats of Rust-Oleum Cranberry, then 2 coats of spray lacquer. Sure is pretty! Everything that was black still is, just painted the yellow, and the ugly orange on-off switch. Noticed on one of my newer saws that the switch is burgundy rather than orange, so maybe they thought that was ugly too. Hope you get lots of use out of your new toy.