CharleyL

I once dried a few small bowl blanks (one at a time) using a large old, but still working microwave. Set it on low power and let it run for a few hours at a time, but check it often. Also expect this to require a bit of a learning curve and don't do your best blanks first. You don't want the wood hot enough to make steam. Just elevated in temperature, like about 140 deg F. Check on it frequently until you figure out how long it takes at your power settings for a given size of blank to get it dry. A pin type moisture meter is necessary. The microwave dries the wood from the inside out, so when the meter says it's about 6-8% near the outside, it's quite likely that way all the way through. Charley

I use the smallest drill bit that I can for the blade that I'm using, but large enough that the blade can easily be pushed through. Dremel sells a set of small drill bits and I usually have 2 or 3 of these sets or partial sets around. Since I have been frequently using my Dremel tool in a Dremel Plunge Base for drilling pilot holes in my patterns I have been leaving the Dremel set up this way with whatever bit that I'm using left in it. In the up position, the plunge adapter protects the bit quite well. The best place to buy drill bits of these sizes is usually from an industrial supplier like Grainger or WT Tool, but I don't have one close so I usually just buy a new Dremel set from Home Depot or Lowes when I need them. Not cheap, but easier to get. When I use my Dremel to plunge cut the holes I use a scrap piece of rigid foam or plywood under my projec,t so the bits don't cut into my bench or table. The tiny holesmade in it don't do much damage to this scrap, so it will not need replacing for many years, even if you cut into it every day. I usually just try to place the holes somewhere near the end or turn of a cut line in the pattern waste area, and then cut from there to the line end or corner and then cut out on the lines from there.. If the hole is against the cut line, it's difficult to cut the line and get it straight without a kind of divot left in the line where the blade began cutting which always seems to leave a part of the hole behind,. I would rather have to cut from the hole to the line end in the waste area and then turn and cut on the lines from there. I think the OP may have failed to post the pattern, since it hasn't been there since his post. Charley

This can be caused by sawdust getting into the power switch, worn brushes in the motor, the motor worn badly and about to die completely, problems with the electronic motor control board or a bad connection between the plug and wall socket. It's also possible, but quite unlikely that a wire inside the power cord is broken, but this usually doesn't happen unless the cord gets bent sharply at the same exact place frequently for many, many times. With the power cord unplugged from the wall I would first check the brushes. These are located behind small screw caps on the front and back of the motor. Be careful, because there is a spring between the brush and cap that will make the cap try to fly away if you aren't prepared when you unscrew it. Remove the cam and slide the brush and attached out of the hole. The black carbon part of the brush should never be shorter than about 3/8". If the brush wears away and the spring touches without the brush, the motor is history. Replace the brushes before they get too short and inspect them at least every 20-30 hours of running time. Next I would remove the power switch. With care, you can carefully dis-assemble it and clean it, then re-assemble it. If you can't do this, at least try blowing compressed air through it. Then re-install it. A test run will see if this was the problem. I always wrap a layer or two of electrical tape around the sides of the switch to reduce the chance of saw dust getting inside. It still does, although it won't be necessary to clean it as often. I would also check to see that the power plug is making good connection in the wall socket when it's plugged in.. Also check the fuse, fuse holder, and the fuse holder cap to be certain that all of the electrical connections are good and the fuse is also good. At this point it helps to have a multi meter and understand how to use it to make simple voltage and continuity measurements., but check the above and post the progress before trying to find and use the meter. Charley

I agree with Scott, although it is possible to completely replace the motor with a variable speed motor and special electronic controller, it's usually not financially worth doing in small tools. Charley

Higher moisture when storing them in a basement will make them warp. You want a dry space. How about in the attic or garage. Even the unheated garage should be better than the basement. My last shop was in the basement of my former home. It was never wet down there and it was air conditioned and heated, but it always had a higher moisture content in the air in the shop than in the house above it. That, combined with shop noise and saw dust getting up into the house made me build a separate workshop when I moved here, but I built it too small. It's warm, dry and air conditioned, but way too small. If I live long enough for a third shop it will be at least a 3 car garage or more in size. Charley

I started my granddaughter on the scroll saw at 8 and she is now 17. She is the daughter of my deceased oldest son who died when she was only 1 1/2. Her other grandfather was a new home carpenter and her mom is a licensed building contractor who had worked with her father in house construction, so I can't claim that my granddaughter learned everything from me, but furniture and cabinet making was something that her mom and other grandpa never really got into much. When very young, she used to come into my shop while I was working in my shop and play with the small scraps from the scrap bin, making use of them like block building toys to build things on my shop floor. I sometimes gave her some glue to put them together, but most were just dry assembled and went back into the scrap bin when she went home. She has always shown an interest in what I make, but she has understood how dangerous the tools can be if not used properly. Like her father, she has always been interested in building things. She has progressed through the safe use of my tools over the years and is now allowed to use any tool in my shop whenever she wants to without supervision, except for my Unisaw. She now uses the Unisaw, but only with me watching closely. Next year she can probably have the keys to my shop if she wants them. She is a very good woodworker and very careful when using the tools, having been gradually trained in the safe use of them. She is off to college now and studying to be a teacher. Maybe some day even teaching woodworking, but who knows? I'm very proud of her, and I have loved working together with her on projects all these years. On each new tool to her I took the time to carefully teach her what to do and what not to do when using it, then worked very closely with her for the first few hours, and then gradually let her make the decisions and slowly give her more ability to do the work. When I've been totally certain that she knows how to do the task and do it safely, I have still stayed close by for a while, but let her do the work completely on her own, while still answering any questions that she has had as she has worked. We have usually talked over each project together before she starts, for me to make certain that she has a good plan to follow, but I'm not even doing much of this with her any more. She has reached he point where her knowledge and abilities of woodworking exceed those of her dad's, who I had raised and taught woodworking to in the same way. Last Summer she spent 7 weeks in Haiti, helping to build a church, where she has taught several young teen boys and girls how to do some of the woodworking that was needed. While there, she also learned how to mix concrete and lay bricks from one of the other teacher/aids that was there. She is quite beautiful in appearance now and surprises many people when she begins doing the work now. I guess they expect her to be a model, or someone with beauty but no abilities. Start your kids early on some easy projects that don't require dangerous tools and see if they enjoy working with wood. Then gradually introduce them to the fun of woodworking and power tools as they become competent. They can assemble simple pre-cut projects before the age of 8, but most do not have the coordination and attention span needed to use even simple and relatively safe power tools until at least 8. Some never do, so don't force it on them. If they enjoy it and have the needed abilities, coordination, and attention span, gradually help them learn woodworking. Try to avoid frustrating and difficult parts or do this part for them, but let them do enough to keep them interested. At one point, when my granddaughter was about 9, we were making two laptop desks from mostly 1/2" pine that I had pre-cut. I made her help me sand all of the pieces and then made her do the assembly gluing and clamping, with very little help from me. Two joints were not aligned well, so I made her take them apart before the glue dried and do them over. Then several holes needed to be drilled for the lid hinge pins, and to attach the bottom securely with screws. She did the drilling and countersinking, but I held onto the drill to guide it so we got straight and properly aligned holes. By the time the last hole was drilled, she almost didn't need my help. We did the final sanding and finishing together too. Then I made her pick the one that she liked best of the two finished desks. The other one was sent to my grandson in California (my daughter's son) along with a photo of her working on them. He was also close to her age, 8 months younger (wish I could also teach him, but he's too far away and 17 now). I can only hope that his dad has taught him something that he can use in life. Charley

I use the stretch wrap like they use to wrap pallets for shipping. You can buy 4-8" wide rolls of it from many woodworking and other sources and one roll lasts a long time. I made my own application handle, but they also sell the plastic handle. Plywood is much more stable when several sheets are wrapped or held together and kept in temperature/humidity stable areas. I frequently store bundles of 4 or more 2' square sheets bundled together and standing on edge on a shelf in my shop. I have never had a problem with them warping when stored this way. I also wrap bundles of pre-cut wood boards together in kits to keep all the pieces together when some of these kits will be assembled later on. I also bundle cutting and routing templates together in groups for storage if I don't plan on using them for a while. With a small shop it's important to stay as organized as possible, and doing this helps a great deal. Charley

I almost always sit when scroll sawing. My DeWalt 788 and Delta Q3 saws are both on their factory stands and both are tilted toward me by one hole adjustment above level. I like tilting them further, but things slide off the tables, so I've grown used to the slight tilt with nothing sliding off. My preferred stool is a metal stool with a cushioned seat and back. Sitting on it puts the saw table at about mid chest level on me, which works wellt for my eyesight's focal length. Since most of what I make is cut from blocks of wood that are less than 2" long and 3/4 X 3/4 square, I frequently use a head band type magnifier in addition to my normal eye glasses. You will need to try different stand heights and tilts, as well as different stool heights to find what works best for you. This is supposed to be a fun hobby/business, so find positions that are most comfortable for you, and keep trying to find ways to improve this as you gain more experience in scrolling. What works perfect for me, surely won't work perfectly for you. We are all built slightly different and need to learn what works best for each of us and the kind of scrolling that we do. Charley

Here is a link to the post that I made about improved lighting for my DeWalt 788. http://www.scrollsawvillage.com/topic/17818-improved-lighting-for-my-scroll-saw/?hl=charleyl#entry175181 These lghts are available from Lowes for $17.99 each (last week's price). For those of you not near a Lowes, they have these lights on their website and they will ship them to you. These lights are far superior to the original DeWalt light that many of you are trying to use. The light from them is bright white, similar to a "daylight fluorescent light, but with the many LEDs in each light head spaced apart, there is much less shadowing, so common when using single point light sources. I find that scrolling with the light from these LED lights to be even better than using my scroll saw in bright Sunlight. The bracket to mount these lights is easy to make from 1/16 X 1 1/2 and 1/8 X 1 1/2 or 2" aluminum, also available from Lowes, and a similar design can be adapted to most scroll saws. I bent the U shape in the 1/16 aluminum by holding a (too long) piece across the top of the upper arm of my 788 and bending it down around the arm. This pretty much guarantees a good fit. I then used my vice to bend the two right angle lower bends on this piece about 1/8" above the bottom of the upper saw arm, so the screws can pull it tight to the lower piece and saw arm.. Then I cut off the excess aluminum, leaving square tabs about 1" long. The lower piece of 1/8" aluminum that the lights attach to is easier to make, since it is just cut to size, the corners sanded round, and holes drilled in it. The soft aluminum can be cut on any wood saw and can be worked with just about any tool designed for woodworking. I used a ROS to put a kind of swirl texture to the base piece, because it was heavily scratched when I got it. The ROS sanding with 150 grit got rid of these scratches and put an even swirl pattern on the whole piece. It took me less than an hour to make both pieces of the bracket, and then about another hour to dis-assemble the lights from the spring clamps and mount them on this new bracket. I used some anti skid step tread strips, cut to size, and attached inside the bracket where it will press against the upper arm of the saw, to keep it from slipping. This tape probably isn't needed, if the bracket will tighten on the upper arm of the saw. After attaching the lights and bracket to my saw, I used black tie wraps to route the light wires along the left side of the upper arm of the saw, and double sided carpet tape on the back side of both power switches plus tie wraps to attach the switches to the left rear casting of my 788. Placing the lamp heads slightly toward you of the saw blade and angled down at about 45 degrees toward the blade from each side of the saw, removes all of the blade shadows. The bright white light from the LEDs is very even over the whole cutting area, making it very easy to follow the lines of your pattern without the blade shadows that sometimes cause you to follow the shadow instead of a pattern line. It's amazing how much better I can follow the pattern now that I can see it so clearly. Charley

Good even lighting over your saw to minimize blade shadows and make it easy to see and follow the pattern lines makes a huge difference in the quality of your work. I have two goose neck type LED lights attached to my DeWalt 788 saw, one attached to each side of the upper blade arm, that I position off to each side of the blade, that completely eliminates the blade shadow and brightly illuminates the work area. Charley

If it's a square cap, push it in and off to one side, then release it. If it doesn't pop out the first time, do the same, but off to the side in a different direction. This will work for one of the four directions. There is usually a tiny arrow or mark on the cap to indicate the right direction, but with old eyes in dark places, just trying it in each direction until you find the one that works is usually easiest. When replacing the fuse and cap, you have to put it back in the same way that it came out, but with a sideways shift in the opposite direction from the way that it came out. There is a little hook on one side that has to be engaged and disengaged. Charley

Read the label on the can for the solvent required, but you should get yourself a box of those disposable gloves from the pharmacy and use them. When the spraying is complete, just peel them off and toss them. This also avoids the need to use dangerous solvents on your skin. Charley

Melanie, If the noises just started, all they likely need is grease. It's quite simple to identify each of these small bearings, remove the one bolt through it and then the sleeve insert, apply a small bit of synthetic grease to the sides of the bearing hole with a tooth pick (I like the ones with one end flattened - makes a great grease shovel), and then replace the sleeve and rotate it a couple of times before replacing the bolt. Use a small bit of Blue Locktite on the bolt threads near the end of the bolt and screw it back in. Tighten it with about the same force needed to remove it. Then go on to the next tiny bearing and repeat the steps. In less than 1/2 hour, all of the little bearings will have been greased. Before putting the cover back on, rotate the motor a few revolutions using a screwdriver to turn the back end of the shaft while watching the pieces move inside the saw. It will be easy to see where to add a tiny bit of Tri Flow or similar light machine oil (places where movement occurs between parts but don't have bearings). Also watch the larger pieces with the larger bearings back near the motor to see if you can locate any problems with those bearings, or that critical bolt through the connecting rod and rocker arm. If you do, you need to fix or replace these parts and/or bearings. Any unusual side to side or up and down movement between the inner and outer race of these bearings indicates a bad bearing that must be replaced. They will usually begin to make noise long before you see any unusual movement in them, but not always. This is a good time to check the motor brushes too. Carefully remove the little black caps on the front and back side of the motor. There is a spring underneath, so be careful to hold onto the cap as you unscrew it. With the cap off, pull the spring out, and on the other end of the spring is a square black piece. This is the actual motor brush. Note that the end of this brush is curved. You want to put it back in with this curve in the same orientation, because it rubs on a curved part inside the motor. The new brushes come with the springs attached. New brushes don't have the curved end, but will wear to this shape as they are used. A new brush can be put in in any orientation, so long as the brush goes in first, followed by the spring and cap. You have to buy the little caps separately if you loose one. I keep a set of brushes and brush caps in my scroll saw tool box. I also keep replacement fuses and at least one cap for the fuse holder. If I'm at a show or class session I don't want to be without any of these. As the brushes wear, the black pressed carbon piece gets gradually shorter. You don't want to ever let this get so short that the spring touches without a brush piece on the end of it or the motor will be history. I replace my brushes when they get about 1/4 - 3/8" long, which is several years of safety factor under normal use, but checking them frequently can save the need for a motor replacement. New brushes are cheap. A new motor isn't. Todays USA price for the motor from www.ereplacementparts.com is $282.68 plus shipping. You can frequently find a really good condition used 788 saw for that or less. How fast do you run your saw ? Running very fast will do nothing except give you short blade life and a worn out saw. I run my saw as fast as I can and still have full control of the cut and without overheating the blade and burning the sides of the cut. This almost always means a slow, like a 2-3 setting on the speed dial. If you adjust it for this speed and the blade goes dull it will begin burning the sides of the cut and the blade will get hot, removing the temper of the blade and making it get dull even quicker, so as the blade dulls, you need to slow the saw down even further. Keep your blade from turning blue and you will get the longest life possible from the blade and the saw. I replace my blades when they get dull. I don't break them very often, and my most frequently used blades are #1 and 1/0 reverse tooth Flying Dutchman blades. I do a lot of small compound 3D cutting in mostly hard woods. In hard maple, one of these blades will become too dull for me to use in less than about 30" of cut. You may get more. You may get less. It will depend a lot on what you are cutting and how fast you are trying to cut it. At about $0.20 per blade I don't worry about the cost and strive for the best quality of cut that I can get, and I expect to have to change the blade often to get this quality. When I take a blade out of the saw, I never save it, even if it was used only a very short time. It's too easy to loose track of this imperfect blade's size, type, and sharpness. I would rather just install a new blade of known size and sharpness. Charley

Yes, you can use socket wrench sockets of the right size to press bearings, but be careful to only press against the outer race of the bearing with something just slightly smaller than the bearing diameter, or you might discover that you now have installed the socket wrench socket into where the bearing should be, or if too small you have damaged the side cover of the bearing. There are specially designed sets of bearing pushers like this one https://www.amazon.com/Sunex-3920-Seal-Bearing-Driver/dp/B001A4986W/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1479208189&sr=8-4&keywords=wheel+bearing+tool+set. I'm not recommending this set, but it shows what they look like. I don't own a set myself. I usually just look around to find something the right size, or modify something to make it the right size, and then use it. I usually just use the new bearing to push out the old one, while at the same time pushing in the new one. This is usually the best, and safest way. The only thing critical is that you push it straight in, so it doesn't bind or crack the part you are installing the bearing into. When I've used my floor standing drill press, I use an old engine valve with the valve stem chucked into the drill press This gives me a very flat bottom surface to push against the bearing to push it straight in. You also need a way to support the piece receiving the bearing closely around the bearing from below, but just slightly larger than the bearing diameter, so you don't install the old bearing into it. It needs a cavity to catch the old bearing or a hole to let it drop through as it's pushed out though. Finding the right wrench socket to use for this is usually much easier than finding the right one to use above to push the old bearing out or the new bearing in. In most cases the automotive valve's flat surface can be used to push directly against the new bearing, and you don't need any kind of adapter. However, you won't be able to push in a bearing this way if the bearing design includes a center race that is taller than the outer race when the bearing is laying flat on it's side, or the bearing is located very close to a protrusion in the part's casting. Fortunately, the bearings designed like this are quite rare. There aren't any bearings like this in the DeWalt 788, or in the similar Porter Cable and Delta scroll saws that I know of. If you have problems pressing in the new bearing, put it in the freezer for an hour, and then quickly install it while it's still very cold. The lower temperature will make the bearing temporarily slightly smaller in diameter, so it will press in much easier. The alternative is to slightly heat the piece that the bearing is going into, to make the bearing hole slightly larger in diameter, but freezing the bearing is the safer alternative for both the bearing and you. Tight fit bearings are usually the result of significant overheating during the bearing's life. I doubt that you will ever have this problem in a scroll saw. I haven't run into this problem in any woodworking tool that I've ever replaced bearings in, but have had to perform all kinds of magic and tricks to replace some bearings in automotive vehicles. Charley

Here is a list of the small VXB bearing part numbers for the DeWalt 788 Scroll Saw, and it's likely that the similarly designed Porter Cable and Delta scroll saws also use the same bearings. This is not my list. I managed to loose the good complete list that I made along with my invoice from the bearing store where I bought them, so this is a re-post of someone else's list. Here are the VXB Bearing part numbers These bearings can be sourced from VXB Bearings (800) 928-4430 , but most bearing stores also stock these or can get them for you. They will cost less through other sources than buying them from DeWalt or ereplacementparts.com as spare parts. http://www.vxb.com/p...earings/PROD... Kit8616 (HK0609 Needle Bearing 6x10x9) qty needed 12 Kit7492 (HK0810 Needle Bearing 8x12x10) qty needed 2 Kit7189 (HK1412 Needle Bearing 14x20x12) qty needed 2 When I bought the full set of bearings for my DeWalt I asked the counter man at the bearing store if he had any higher quality bearings for any on my list and he said "Oh yea" and then filled my list from them. Many bearings are made by different manufacturers and some are better quality than others. All have identical part numbers, but sometimes with different suffix letters after the part numbers. These guys know who makes the better quality, tighter tolerance bearings and will give you better ones if you ask, but it may cost slightly more than the cheapest ones. Unfortunately, I don't have the invoice so I can't tell you what I ended up with, but my saw was much quieter than the new DeWalt saw of a friend's after I replaced them all. The larger sealed bearings that are located near the motor (the ones in the connecting rod and rocker arm) "must" be pressed out to be replaced. DeWalt sells these assemblies complete with the bearings already pressed in. The www.ereplacementparts.com numbers for these are Rocker Arm Asm 286268-00 present USA price $63.83 Connecting Rod Asm 286280-00 present USA price $28.82 But if you have an arbor press like this one from Harbor Freight http://www.harborfreight.com/1-ton-arbor-press-3552.htmlor a larger drill press, you can press out the old bearings and press in the new ones and save considerable money. When I replace bearings in my shop tools, my lawn mower, cars, etc. I use my bearing press frequently. So for me, this bearing press paid for itself very quickly. In the two assemblies above, I don't think there is $20 worth of bearings in them, so you can see how quickly this press can pay for itself if you have a frequent need. Bearings are very hard to keep straight while pressing them in and out without using one of these presses, and it's easy to crack aluminum castings if you should get a bearing crooked while pressing it in or out. I usually press the old bearing out, while at the same time pressing in the new one. You may also find that a bearing press will help sometimes with the smaller bearings too, especially if you don't have much or any experience changing bearings. When I need DeWalt replacement parts, I usually buy from www.ereplacementparts.com because they have always been good to me. Sorry, since I lost my bearing list, I don't have the bearing numbers for the larger bearings any more. You will need to get them from the bearings in your DeWalt saw or wait until I or someone else performs maintenance on our saws again and posts these numbers. They are etched into the side of these bearings (very small - you will need magnification). The list above are the bearings that will likely wear out more frequently anyway. Every bearing that rocks back and forth constantly without making a full revolution (all except for the bearing at the motor shaft end of the connecting rod) will have it's lubricant gradually driven out of the load areas by this rocking motion. Once the lubrication is gone from these load areas, the bearing balls or needles and the bearing races (inner and outer ring) begin to wear. Fortunately, the little HK bearings used in the 788 have a removable center race (sleeve), so this sleeve can be removed and a tiny bit of synthetic instrument grease added (I use a tooth pick as an applicator) to the inside of the bearings through the center hole (wipe the grease onto the needles in the sides of the bearing hole, and then the sleeve (which is the inside bearing race) can be replaced. When you do this, spin the sleeve a few revolutions to distribute and mix this new grease with the original grease before replacing and securing the bolt. I use Blue Locktite to secure bolts (absolutely do not use Red or Orange) Also try to position the sleeve so it is not in the exact same orientation as it was before you removed it. Then replace the bolt or pin through the center of the bearing and secure it. In bearings that rotate 360 deg, the lubricant is pushed ahead of the balls or needles inside it, and is constantly being redistributed around the entire inside of the bearing. They will last much longer without any attention than the ones receiving a repeating motion of less than one revolution. Unfortunately, by the design of a scroll saw, only the bearing in the motor end of the connecting rod assembly receives a continuous 360 deg motion. All of the rest of the bearings receive the partial back and forth motion, the motion that is so hard on bearings. All that we can do to prevent them from wearing out too quickly is to add some light synthetic grease to their insides during scheduled maintenance. Only remove one side cover from your saw at a time. Removing both side covers at the same time will cause your saw to fall apart. There is no internal frame in the DeWalt or similarly designed Porter Cable and Delta Scroll Saws. The saw will fall apart if you remove both covers at the same time. Also, dis-assemble only one small assembly of the saw at a time to be certain that you can put it back together the same way before moving to the next assembly. With a cell phone or small camera, pictures can be taken before dis-assembly, to make putting it back together the same way much easier on your memory and the saw. In addition to doing the bearings for general maintenance, check the condition of the bolt that connects the vertical rocker piece and connecting rod, back near the motor. This bolt receives a lot of force and can loosen or break. I replaced my bolt the last time that I had my saw apart. Some have reported that their bolt loosened, bent, or broke. So check it's condition carefully and replace it if necessary. It's a metric M5 cap screw that can be found in the better hardware stores, Lowes, and Home Depot, and it isn't expensive. Buy one the exact same length. These are available as stainless bolts too. Either black or stainless cap screw should work very well. While your saw is apart, look around for other moving parts beside the bearings and put a little oil on them. The shaft through the center of the Rocker Arm has a sleeve that could stand a little oil. Again, use a high quality light weight oil for this. I use Tri Flow. There are other places for this oil, but I don't have them memorized. Charley

That's how I first used my Dust Deputy, with a 5 gal plastic bucket under it and hooked to my shop vac and operated when I used my scroll saw foot pedal. It worked extremely well, but it was noisy. I then routed an exhaust hose from the shop vac out the shop window and sealed around the hose and window opening with some rigid styro foam insulation. That put much of the noise outside and scroll sawing in my shop was much more bearable, although my neighbors may not have appreciated it. An old house vacuum has a much lower noise level than a shop vac, so you might consider buying the wife a new vacuum so you can have the old one for your scrolling, or pick one up at a consignment shop, etc. You don't need much vacuum or air flow to collect sawdust from scrolling. Just telling you the rest of my vacuum story below, in case some of my ideas might help you. I decided to put my Dust Deputy on the inlet to a second hand "whole house vacuum" unit that I had recently acquired, and mount the whole thing up in my shop attic. This made it so quiet in my shop that I needed a light on the shop ceiling to tell me when the vacuum was on. Within the first minute of use, the central vacuum imploded the 5 gal bucket under the Dust Deputy, when I accidentally plugged the vacuum hose just briefly. (My shop vac never did that). I needed a stronger bucket, but couldn't find one. Then I got the bright idea to stack three buckets together and put the Dust Deputy on the top one. Doing this tripled the thickness of the bucket walls, and since the top third of each bucket had ribs on the outside for strength, I now had ribs all the way down the top bucket, and I never imploded a bucket again. Later on my son brought me a 20 gallon metal grease barrel (clean inside because the grease comes in a plastic bag inside it). I moved the Dust Deputy to a lid made for this barrel out of two layers of 3/4 cabinet birch ply and used the O ring seals from two of the plastic bucket lids on it (same diameter). If just collecting scrolling sawdust, I could probably go 3 or 4 years before it needs emptying, but I clean the shop floor and my cars and trucks with it too, so I'm planning to dump this barrel every year. When I installed the vacuum in the attic, I ran the piping and put inlet ports in my shop, shop attic, and one outside near the passage door, to vacuum my cars and trucks. I also vented this vacuum out through the soffit of my shop, so even the micro fine dust that might be getting past the Dust Deputy and vacuum filter never gets back into my shop. The Dust Deputy works so well that I have never found anything inside the vacuum.or the vacuum's filter. It all ends up in the barrel under the Dust Deputy. My shop is small, so I don't have a big shop dust collector. It would be over kill for most of what I do anyway. I do my planning outside, and shovel out my Unisaw about twice a year when the sawdust builds up inside it. Charley

I'm quite a bit West of you, so Scott's offer should be better for you. I haven't had enough spare time to even use my scroll saw lately. Charley

There are several large bearings that are sealed bearings, and greasing them does no good. They need to be replaced when bad. The smaller bearings have an insert sleeve in them and they are easy to grease. Just remove the bolt from the center, remove the sleeve that the bolt was going through, put a tiny amount of synthetic instrument grease on a tooth pick and coat the inside of the hole in the bearing. Then replace the sleeve and the bolt, installing the sleeve rotated about 1/2 turn from where it was when you took it out. Tighten the bolt, then move to the next little bearing and repeat the process. DON'T use automotive grease. Find a small container/tube of synthetic instrument grease to use for this. A small tube will last you through several lubrications of the saw. The bearing store sells it if you can't find it anywhere else. My first container came from a better hardware store. Pay special attention to the bearing in the arm on the end of the motor shaft. Also the long bolt in the center of the vertical rocking arm, and the bearings at the top and bottom end of this arm. They are sealed bearings and will need to be replaced if they are bad. If you can make the center of the bearing move side to side without the outer part of the bearing moving, even just a tiny bit, the bearing is bad. You just need to inspect them closely to be sure there is no play in them, and make certain that the long bolt through the center of this vertical arm is not loose. It needs to be snug, but not tight. If it's loose, or broken, it could be the noise that you are hearing, but worn bearings can make the noise too. Only remove one side cover of the saw at a time. The saw will fall apart if you remove both sides at the same time. The covers are a kind of exoskeleton for the saw. There is no internal frame to hold the saw together. Just put one cover back on and tighten the bolts before removing the other side. There are tiny numbers etched in the side of every bearing. If you need to replace one, this is the number that you need. There is a bearing specialty store in every major city in the country. Go there if you need new bearings and you will save a lot of money. If you buy them from DeWalt, you will pay about 3X as much for them. The little bearings and the sleeves in them are separate part numbers and they need to be purchased separately. Some online sites also sell bearings at good prices, but you can't look them over before buying them. Watch the Youtube videos if you run into any problems. They are long, but very thorough. The saw isn't really that complicated. Once you can see how the pieces move inside, it's easy to understand. With a cover off of the saw, turn the motor shaft with a screwdriver and watch the parts in the saw move. A few revolutions of the motor and you will understand how it all works. Good luck, Charley

When doing intricate work, and especially when doing relief carving, I like to use Applique Film for my patterns. It comes in 8 1/2 X 11 sheets and is a peel and stick design with an adhesive that does not seem to transfer to the wood. In fact, I can peel the pattern off and re-position it several times before it looses it's stickiness. A laser printer or photo copier can be used to print the pattern directly on it. An ink jet printer works, but not as well (you need to use a foil projection setting). This Applique Film is available through art and stationery supply stores, but you may need to order it, because there doesn't seem to be enough demand to keep it in stock at all locations. The product is "Chartpak DAFR8 for copiers".. Although a bit expensive at about $0.80 / sheet to be used for every day use, I prefer it for relief carving and intricate scroll saw projects where the paper patterns always seem to lift off before finishing the cuts. This film stays on to the last cut, but peels off easily with no glue left behind. Here is a link with good information about it, although I have never ordered from this website. My last box came from a local artist supply store. A box of 100 sheets lasts me several years, but I'm always careful to put as many patterns on a sheet as possible, using Photoshop to position them on the sheet, before printing them. After printing, I just cut each pattern free of the sheet using scissors, then peel off the backing, and place the pattern on the wood. If I don't get it positioned right, it peels off easily and I can re-position it several times before it no longer sticks to the wood well enough to use. http://www.officespecialties.com/chartpak_dafr8_applique_drafting_film_34690_prd1.htm Charley

This is what I mostly use for stack cutting. http://www.ptreeusa.com/rtr_jigs_double_sided_tape.htm. I've tried many other methods and brands of tape and have not been happy with the results. A few small pieces of this tape placed carefully in the areas that will not receive tiny intricate cuts, works fine for me. My next best alternative is to use a pneumatic pin nailer and an anvil like Rolf does. Cutting from the center out toward the edges, and placing the tape or pins near the edges is what I prefer to do. If you should get tape in the actual pattern area, but near the edges, the layers held together with this tape can be easily separated using a thin putty knife after you have completed the cutting. The tape mentioned above, almost always comes off without leaving any residue, but MS removes any that does remain. Charley

Food coloring makes a good stain. Mix, bland several colors to get whatever you want, or just use the basic red, yellow, green, blue, etc. Charley

It amazes me how many of you keep buying new DeWalt 788 scroll saws every two years, when all that usually wears out in them is the bearings, and with an annual re-lubrication or replacement of the bearings (all of the bearings cannot be re-lubricated) will get you a new or better than new saw again for a just few hours work and less than $30 for the bearings that cannot be re-lubricated. Another part of the saw that is kind of a weak point is the bolt through the pivot of the rocking arm back near the motor. To reduce the chances of having trouble with it, I now just replace this bolt at a cost of less than $2 each time that my saw is re-lubricated. I went through and replaced all of the bearings shortly after buying my Type 1 saw used, but have just done the annual re-grease and change the non grease-able sealed bearings since then. The rocking action that rotates the bearings less than a full rotation is very hard on bearings, because the action drives the grease away from the side of the bearing receiving the load. If the bearing rotated a full 360 degrees the grease would be constantly re-distributed around the inside of the bearing. When the grease moves away, that part of the bearing begins wearing out. Even just rotating the sleeve in the bearing 1/3 of a turn without even adding grease will prolong the bearing's life. I'm willing to bet that I can do my annual service of 788 faster than most of you can to go to buy another scroll saw. Nothing in these saws usually goes bad except the bearings, and that one bolt. There are several Youtube videos available to show you how to do the bearing replacements. The videos are rather long, but very well made. My only complaint with the 788 is that there is no frame to hold the saw together when you take a covers off to do this greasing, so you have to work with only one side cover off at a time. It would have been much easier to service these saws if DeWalt had designed them with a frame to hold them together when you took the covers off. Still, it's not that hard to work around this. It's just not as easy as it could be. Does anyone within a couple of hour's drive of me want to sell me one of their old (worn out) DeWalt 788 saws? I could use a spare, and I'll likely have it running perfectly the following day. I might even go further (to Georgia) if the price is right, but the saw has to be in running condition, and just worn out and noisy. Charley

Yes, the tip of the blade tightening screw (wing screw) needs to rotate and the opposing set screw should not move, once set correctly, but be careful when adjusting the set screw, asthese are there to set a fine vertical position of your blade. Put some blue Loctite on both the upper and lower set screws, but not on the Wing Bolts. Then carefully adjust the position of these set screws so the blade runs truly vertical. Any miss adjustment of these can cause the top or bottom end of the blade to not follow a true 90 degree motion with the table. Run the saw and carefully inspect the blade as it moves up and down. If there is any error it will show up as a slight blur of the blade image at the top or bottom end of the blade stroke. Those of us who cut tiny details with our saws find that just a difference of 1/2 the thickness of a blade between the upper and lower blade clamps makes a big difference in how well our work comes out. A machinist square placed on the table and against the blade will show a varying gap between them when you manually move the blade up and down. Don't run it while doing this. Just turn the motor shaft with a screwdriver while closely watching the gap between the blade and the square. If it doesn't remain the same, the upper or lower adjustments are not right. The same is true if the blade is not perfectly square to the table in the front to back direction. For me, it needs to be exact, and there is a slight design error in the DW788 saws that causes a slight error in the blade front to back squareness to the table. Those of us who need the blade perfectly square to the table have elongated the four upper blade arm mounting holes in the end of the upper yellow blade arm about 1/32" so we can move the blade arm mechanism back a tiny bit. Most 788 owners don't even realize that this error exists, because they don't do the fine compound cut detail work that I do. A small machinist square sitting on the table and against the back edge of the blade will show this. I also place a flashlight behind the square so I can check for even light showing through the gap between the blade and the square. There shouldn't be be much light getting through and it should be the same the whole length of the blade and square. Check with the blade and arms all the way up and again with the blade arms all the way down. There will be a small repeating forward/backward shift of the blade as it travels up and down. This cannot be corrected in any scroll saw that uses arms to move the blade up and down because of the arm.movement arc. They all have it, except for an Eclipse saw, and it's the only scroll saw that I know of that does not have this motion. Unfortunately, these are no longer available since the creator only made them one at a time in his shop, never sold the rights, and took the design and patents to his grave. Charley

These are what I use. https://www.lowes.com/pd/Style-Selections-15-in-Adjustable-Brushed-Steel-LED-Clip-On-Desk-Lamp-with-Metal-Shade/3394398 They seem to be the perfect solution for use on a DW788 and probably other saws too. The other identical looking model of these lights, but with the weighted base has a different end on the goose neck and is not as easy to modify for attaching to the scroll saw, so only buy this one if you plan on making a mounting bracket for them like I did. DAMHIKT I have two of these lights, one on each side of the cutting area on my saw, angled down at about a 45 deg angle toward the blade cutting area. They totally eliminate blade shadows, which for me was a major problem affecting my cutting accuracy. I made a simple 2 piece aluminum bracket (2nd photo) that wraps around the upper arm of my DW788 with a tab on each side of the saw arm, drilled to mount the goose neck of the light without the clamps that come with them. The light from these lights is bright white and using them this way makes the cutting area completely free of shadows, which greatly improved my cutting accuracy, and making the bracket eliminated the problem of binding good places to attach the clamps to the saw. No place worked well for me. I tried a couple of magnifying lights like you are talking about in this thread, but the out of focus edges of the lenses quickly gave me headaches. I now only use a 3X headband magnifier and my standard reading glasses. With the lenses moving when I move my head, I don't get headaches. You can also use an old cell phone camera or Ipad type notebook that has a back side camera, if you attach a flexible mount to it to connect it to your scroll saw. I've tried doing this with great success, but I don't want to give up my working cell phone for this, at least not yet. The ultimate would be using a 5 X 7" or so large screen (mine is smaller) with a back camera built in to it. This is definitely the way to go, and I will be switching to one (my present cell phone) as soon as I upgrade my cell phone again. Then my old cell phone will be getting mounted on my scroll saw (unless someone offers me something better before then. Attached are a few photos of my lighting setup. The last photo shows the two included power switches for the lights, attached to the side of the rear casting of the saw with tie wraps and double sided tape. The U shaped aluminum piece is 1/16 thick 1 1/2" wide aluminum and the flat base piece is 1/8" thick by 2" wide aluminum from Lowes. I formed the U shape by just bending it over the upper arm of my DW788 saw and then just bending the right angles about 1/8" short of the saw arm height. I positioned the bend so that there would be more than enough material on each end to bend the table, and then just cut off the excess after the bends had been formed. The lower 1/8" thick piece was just made long enough to provide mounting points for the goose necks of the lamps. I then marked and drilled for the two bolts that hold the pieces together, and the two holes to attach the goose necks. I added a piece of anti skid tape, like is sometimes applied to step treads, to the inside of the U shape to make it stay in place around the upper saw arm. You have to dis-assemble the lamp heads and remove the wires from the PC boards. There is a thin line painted on the side of one of the wires. Make certain that the wires go back in the correct places using this line as an identifier. If you cut the wires free when removing them, leaving about 1/2" of the wire still soldered to the PC board, it helps to get the wires back in the correct places and with the line marked wire where it belongs. You can then pull the wires out of the goose neck and remove the nut on the base end to remove the spring clamp. (These spring clamps are handy for holding things together in the shop, so don't throw them away). Now bolt the goose necks to each end of the bracket and then feed the wires up through the goose necks. Then carefully un-solder the wire stub from the PC board (one at a time) and solder attach the correct wire to the place where you removed it's matching stub. Then do the same with the second wire. These are 12 volt lights, so it's safe to test them at this point as there is no high voltage in the lamp itself. If it works OK, then re-assemble the lamp. Use only "electronic solder" and a 40 watt or so electric soldering iron. If you aren't experienced with soldering, find someone to do this part for you. Don't try doing it with plumbers tools and solder. It's a technique that needs experience to learn. Don't try learning here. The power for these lights are from little power supply brick/plugs on the ends of the wires. I have a power strip attached to the left side of the rear leg of my saw. I plug this power strip into the wall, then plug my foot switch into it with the saw plugged into the foot switch. There are outlets left that the two power bricks from the lights plug into. The included in line switches in the light wires are positioned just about right so when the wires are run back along the upper arm of the saw, the switches end up next to the rear casting of the saw, so I just attached them there. Double sided tape alone wasn't enough, so I added the tie wraps to hold them in place. Nothing on the saw needed any modification to add these lights, except for the holes in the leg to mount the power strip. NC Scroller (Scott) also has a dual LED light installation like this. Perhaps he will join in to give his experiences with it. To me, shadow free light and a good magnifying system make all the difference when trying to accurately scroll, especially when cutting small patterns. In photo 1 I have a compound cut reindeer in the clamps, ready to cut out. Some of my compound cut reindeer are only 3/4" tall, cut from hard maple. I make Christmas earrings from them. The one in the clamps in the photo is about 2 1/2" tall, but the same technique is used. Charley

I usually run 3-4 on the tension and when inserting a new blade, I always push down slightly on the upper arm to be certain that all of the play is out of it. This way I'm assured that the tension is very nearly the same all the time. Charley