CharleyL

Kevin, Have you ever watched any Izzy Swan videos on Youtube? He has made a very clever jig for making round legs with tapers on his table saw, and a smaller version of it might work for you. He has also made a round bowl and hollowed out the inside of it with his table saw. I think a smaller version of this jig would do what you need. For a longer taper than the blade curve will give you, just raise or lower the tail end stock pin. He has built many other similar jigs, so if this one doesn't work for you, look at some of his other jigs. He lives in Columbia, SC so he's almost a neighbor of yours too. Charley

Here is what I did with those Lowes LED lights. http://www.scrollsawvillage.com/topic/17818-improved-lighting-for-my-scroll-saw/ I'm extremely pleased with how much shadow free light that a pair of them provide. No more blade shadows. Charley

You will likely find the best prices at an Industrial Supply Co. They even carry longer lengths, as well as American made and Asian made. I buy from WT Tool in Charlotte, NC http://www.wttool.com/ but I'm close enough to their Charlotte Store that I usually just pick up what I need when I'm in the Charlotte area. Charley

Don, The club that I belong to www.ncwoodworker.net does Outreach Training to introduce prospective new woodworkers to the fun of creating with wood. We have a trailer full of tools that we take to Wounded Warriors, Scout Troops, Church Groups, Police and Fire Department groups, etc. to get people introduced to woodworking, and we never charge for this training or the materials used. The trailer has 2 DeWalt 788 saws, 3 Nova Midi lathes, a 10" band saw, a table drill press, and all the hand tools necessary, plus two folding work benches. Very few of our students have ever done any woodworking before. The two Steve Goode patterns that I've been using lately are the Pot Duckies and the Oven Rack Handle (the simple version). They are both extremely simple to make for us, but have proven to be a significant challenge for someone who has never used a scroll saw before or possibly never made anything of wood before. I prepare kits to make these; 1/2" hardwood pieces large enough for the pattern, complete copies of Steve Goode's plans, double sided tape for the pot duckies so 2 at a time can be made, and I put these together in zip lock bags, so each bag contains all the materials needed to make the included pattern. This packaging makes it easy to keep track of how many kits I have and it assures me that every student will have all of the materials that they need for the project. I bring along a small rag, a roll of paper towels and a bottle of mineral oil so they can apply the first coat of food safe finish, and the zip lock bag lets them carry home these oily projects without getting the oil on their clothing., I also bring many spare #2 blades. They are hard on blades. When one gets broken I replace it. If they break more than one I make them replace the next one. I begin with an explanation of the scroll saw, how it works, the blades and styles with their uses, and then give them a demonstration by cutting something out to show them how to do it. Then I show them how to cut out and attach the pattern of their project to the wood. As they are cutting, the rest of the students are told to watch them and learn from their work and mistakes. I have a foot pedal attached to the saw for me to use as a safety shut off if they begin doing something unsafe. If two saws are being used, another teaching club member works to instruct the students on that second saw. Hand placement is usually the main safety problem. In cutting these out I could not believe how many of the students would turn the wood the wrong way when trying to make a curved cut, and the more off of the pattern line they got, the farther away from the line they would steer to the point of almost going in tight circles. I stop them when it's obvious they are lost, help them get back on the line, and then let them cut again, usually only to have them do the same thing again the next time they started around a curve. No matter how many times I told some of them not to force the wood into the blade and to just let the blade do the cutting, as soon as they cut an inch or two they would begin applying all kinds of forward feed pressure to the wood again. I make frequent use of the foot pedal, stopping the saw and explaining what they are doing wrong or unsafe, get them to make the hand or other corrections, and then let them cut again. . Make a clamp from two 3/4 X 1" strips of birch plywood several inches longer than the project, with cross holes drilled through at each ends to allow 8" long pieces of 10-32 all thread to slide through with nuts applied on both sides of one piece and just wing nuts on the other end to adjust the position of the other piece of wood. These form a clamp to hold the piece being cut, which increases the distance between the student's fingers and the blade, and they have proven to be a very big safety improvement when teaching people to use a scroll saw for the first time. Also, for first time students we make them use the safety hold down on the saw. Holding the wood down by the guard is one less problem for them to deal with. Every one of my students have completed their project without drawing blood, so far. Some of these projects looked very good and some of the pot duckies had some ruffled feathers along their backs when the line wasn't followed well, but all of my students have been happy with what they made. Most of my students have been teen girls or adult women. If some of the students will be men, consider finding a simple man's style pattern for them to make. Good luck with your class. Don't hesitate to ask me questions if I've missed something. Charley

One of the big problems that Delta had with their scroll saws about 15-18 years ago with the blade clamps was caused by the bolts that they used in the clamp. These bolts were too soft and would stretch and bend with use. As they bent, the clamps gradually reached the point where they wouldn't hold the blade end for any time at all. Examine the cross bolts in your blade clamps. If they have a curved shape and/or stretched threads replace them. A better harder bolt of the same size cures this blade clamping problem. My 1990's Delta Q3 40-650 saw had this problem and I talked to Delta about it shortly after buying the saw. Without hesitation they sent me new harder bolts and those new bolts are still in use in those blade clamps today. Replacing the bolts immediately cured the blade clamping problem. If you are having problems with your Delta saw blade clamps and your saw was made in the late 1990-2005 period, try replacing the clamp bolts. I'm certain that your blade clamping problems will be cured for a cost of less than $1. Charley

I agree with Scott, I use a synthetic grease as well, but you can't just wipe the grease on the outside of the bearings in the DeWalt and expect the bearing to see any of the grease. You have to remove the sleeve from the center of the bearing and then wipe the inside of the bearing hole with the grease. I use a Q-tip or similar to apply it. Then replace the sleeve and bolt and go to the next bearing and do the same. Charley

#10 gauge wire is not going to fit well under the screws on the outlets, and the outlets are not designed to be legally connected to a 30 amp circuit. You can only connect the standard 120 volt duplex outlets to 15 or 20 amp circuits legally. They aren't rated for 30 amps. If you have already bought and cut the #10 gauge wire, you can cut short pieces of #12 gauge wire to connect to the outlets and then splice these short #12 gauge pig tails to the #10 gauge wire with wire nuts. Then the most current that you can connect these circuits to is 20 amps and NOT 30 amps.You would be much better off using #12 gauge wire and splitting your outlets into several circuits of 15 or 20 amps each. If you have to plug these new outlet circuits into existing wall outlets because you can't connect them direct to circuit breakers in the panel, then use a length of type SJO rubber covered 3 conductor #12 gauge cable for the run between your last outlet box and the plug that you plug into the existing wall outlet. Where this wire goes into the end outlet box you need to use a rubber insert connector of the right size for the cable to protect the cable and provide strain relief. Yes, you have made a multi-outlet strip if making it this way, and it's legal, but it would be better if you could run the conduit to the breaker panel and connect the single strand of wiring direct to the circuit breaker, neutral, and ground in the panel. I'm an electrical engineer and have an electrician's license, but not in Florida. License or not, I know the right way to do this. Charley

Amazing!! But now we want a description of how you did it so we can try it too. Charley

I have been bottom feeding for over 25 years. When you scroll saw with one of those old saws that have the pull up spring to raise the blade you pretty much have to bottom feed. I can top feed, and I do it on projects where it seems to work best, but I seem to prefer bottom feeding, even on my newer saws. If I have any trouble seeing the holes when bottom feeding I have an old convex 3" diameter mirror, that was originally a wide angle mirror add-on for a truck side mirror, that I put on the saw table. It enlarges the view of the holes and makes blade threading much easier. A light sanding of the bottom of the work removes any chipping than might obscure holes, but I also keep a pin vise with a small drill bit handy for clearing any hole that I have difficulty with. Charley

Wow, with 16' height you could put a second floor in there! Only one light bulb? How are you going to replace it? Maybe it would be easier to put a few 2X4s across at an 8' or 10' level and fasten some lights to them. Are there outlets on the walls, or do you have to install them too? A few days of organizing should get you back to woodworking. Congratulations on the new shop space. It will be great, once you get everything organized and off the floor. Charley

Dave, When putting a new blade in my Dewalt 788 I have developed the habit of installing the bottom end of the blade first. Then I apply several pounds of downward pressure with my fingers on the upper blade clamp to remove any play in the upper blade mechanism, and then tighten the upper blade clamp to the blade. I then pull the tension adjust handle, usually to 3 1/2 or 4, and I'm ready to begin cutting. By applying the downward pressure to the upper blade clamp before tightening the blade clamp I've found that the blade tension setting becomes very repeatable. This is just free a suggestion and you may have already learned it, but it took me a while of using my 788 before I learned to do it. Charley

I wax my saw tops before I start working every day that I'm in my shop. Johnsons Paste wax is my choice. I used Butchers paste wax for years, until the can that I had been given, ran out. I switched to Johnsons after getting sticker shock from the Butchers wax price. There doesn't seem to be any difference between them, except for the price, when used for waxing machinery. I even lubricate the gears, slides, and trunnion ways in my tools with it, applying it with an old tooth brush. The surface of the wax dries so sawdust doesn't stick to it like other lubricants do. Whatever wax choice you make, AVOID USING SILICONE BASED WAXES. Once silicone gets on wood you will never be able to get a finish to stick to where the silicone has landed. If the silicone product is sprayed in your shop you will get fish eyes in your finish everywhere the droplets of silicone have landed. I have banned anything containing silicone from my shop after making this mistake in my last shop. I don't worry about the Johnsons or Butchers waxes because a light wipe down of my projects with mineral spirits before finishing removes them easily. Getting silicone completely off of anything is nearly impossible. Charley

I have no idea who the author is, but you might be able to find out through the website in the link that I posted. Charley

You shouldn't have any problem if it's for yourself or immediate family, but don't make them for sale. You can do almost anything you want for yourself. If you begin trying to sell them you will likely get a visit from a lawyer. Charley

They're Great !! Some really nice ornaments for this coming Christmas. Charley

When I do that I'm always trying to make the joints as flat as possible and as invisible as possible. Next time I'm playing with dry wall mud, maybe I'll have to try that. Thanks for the post, Dick Charley

I've made them using 1/4" Tempered MDF. I slightly rounded the edges with a palm sander, and then put 2 coats of polyurethane on them. That was about 15 years ago and they are still holding up well. But if they want to be able to see through them, Plexi or Lexan are better choices. Actually, for toughness, the Lexan would likely last longer than either of the other choices. They make bullet proof windows from it (although they use much thicker Lexan for bullet proof windows). Charley

My last shop was in the basement of my former house, and sawdust in the house was a constant problem. When We moved here I did without a shop for 2 years and then built my own shop building across the driveway from the house and all of my woodworking is done out there (unless remodeling the house). My sawdust in the house problem is solved. I blow myself off before coming back to the house and it all stays out there. Having a separate building provides many benefits and I wouldn't even think of moving one of my scroll saws into the house, even if she told me that I could. Charley

Edward, Nah, you will just be slowed down a bit, until you figure out how to scroll saw with one hand. It isn't easy, but I've had to do it. A foot switch is a good beginning. A forked "hold down" handle helps too. Frequent stops to re-position the hold down, some frequent use of the foot switch, and an hour or two to get used to doing it this way are all that's needed. Replacing the blade will likely be the most difficult, but even that can be done one handed with some practice and a piece of masking tape or blue tape. Down time from physical disabilities is when I seem to get the most scroll sawing done. They want you to sit and not do anything, but watching daytime TV is the pits. The last time (last Summer) that they told me to sit and not do anything for a week, I lasted about 1/2 hour in front of the TV, then went out to the shop and sat in front of my scroll saw for the whole week. I tell everyone that I'm bionic now, because I've had so many repairs and replacements. Three heart surgeries, numerous broken bones, two knee replacements, and I've survived cancer 2 times. I'm still going, but I'm not quite as fast as I once was. Getting old is hell, but I don't like the alternative. Hang in there. You'll figure out how to saw with just one hand if the alternative for you is watching daytime TV. Actually, watching night time TV isn't much better any more, so I usually watch very little TV, just the news and the Weather. It gives me more time to work in the shop. I have always figured out a "work around" whenever some part of my body needed a rest and you can too. Charley

Helmut, I believe that one of these is what you are looking for. https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=face%20tree%20drawing Most probably the first one, which is what lawson56 posted. Attached is a higher resolution version of it. Charley

Here is the lifter that is on my DeWalt http://www.jimdandy.com/products.html It's a spring counterweight system. With it in place and adjusted you can lift the arm to almost any position and it will stay there. I'm not saying that this one is any better than the others, just putting it out here for you to make your own choice, but this one works pretty good for me. Charley

If you take those quantities and numbers with you to a bearing store and tell them that you want better quality tighter tolerance bearings for each of them it will cost you a few bucks more, but your saw will perform better than it did when new. I did this the last time that I rebuilt my DeWalt 788 type 1 and it made a huge difference in saw performance at a cost of only about $18 more total for all of the bearings. Any play at all in the back and forth movements produces noise and vibration. Tighter tolerance bearings significantly reduces these noises and vibrations. Look for a bearing or power transmission parts supplier in a larger city near you in the yellow pages. You will get replacement parts for less money or better parts for just slightly more if you buy from them instead of the saw parts supplier. Even Fastenal usually has better prices on bearings than the saw parts suppliers, but you may not be able to get the tighter tolerance bearings from them. Charley

For scrolling, most any household canister vacuum or shop vac will work OK, but you will need to clean or change the filter bag often. Get a Dust Deputy and connect it inline with a 5 gallon bucket under it to collect the saw dust. It will catch 99%+ of all of your scrolling saw dust, and the vacuum filter will stay clean. You won't loose suction any more either. When running one scroll saw 5 days per week it will take you 2-3 months before the 5 gallon bucket will need to be dumped. For better dust filtering, connect a hose to the outlet of the vacuum and run it out through a window, or pipe it through the wall to the outdoors. Then nothing, not even the micro fine saw dust will ever get back into your shop air. I installed a re-purposed and rebuilt household central vacuum in my shop for collecting sanding saw dust, scroll saw dust, drill press dust, and for vacuuming the shop floor with a Dust Deputy connected in the line ahead of it. It's so quiet that I have to turn off the radio and machines in the shop to hear it running. The suction is so great that I've had to stack three buckets together to keep them from imploding. I can go about 3 months before I need to dump the 5 gal bucket, and I work in my shop 3-4 days per week, mostly using my scroll saws and vacuuming the floor with it. There is never anything visible in the central vacuum filter or canister. It's always all in the 5 gallon bucket. The vacuum and Dust Deputy is installed in the attic of my shop and PVC vacuum pipes were run in my shop walls with inlets in the shop, attic, and one in the outside wall of the shop near where I park, so I can take the hose outside and clean the cars and my truck with it. Inside the shop I installed large hooks across the ceiling, so that I can route the hose to wherever it's needed without it running across the floor. On the scroll saws, I put the end of the hose near the lower blade arm and tie it in place with a tie wrap. It collects all of the saw dust from below the table, but isn't very effective for collecting the saw dust from above the table. I haven't come up with a way to do this yet, but I'm working on it. Attached is a photo of my DeWalt 788 showing the present vacuum hose location on the saw. It's end is just tie wrapped to the stationary blade guard. The suction pulls all of the saw dust sideways from the blade into the end of the hose. Charley

I don't see an advantage to cutting wider lines. Could you better explain why you need to do this and post a few example photos to show what you are doing? When I use a scroll saw I'm always looking to make my cuts with small blades so I can easily make very tight turns. Charley

If you count using a coping saw, I started in 1958. I didn't have a powered scroll saw until 1966. It was an old Dunlap saw with pinned blades and was very unreliable. I've scrolled on and off since then, and I'm now using my 6th scroll saw. My more serious scroll sawing began in 1997 and it has gradually become a major part of my woodworking since then. I presently own a Delta 40-650 Q3 type 1 saw and a DeWalt 788 type 1 saw. About 8 years ago I began making 3D slotted ornaments and then tried compound cutting. I don't think I've done very much flat pattern scroll sawing since then. I love doing compound cutting and my favorite pattern designer is Diana Thompson, but I've begun designing some of my own compound cut patterns as well. I've also combined scroll sawing and power carving on some pieces. I now teach woodworking to Wounded Warriors, Scout Troops, Church Groups, Fire and Police Groups in an Outreach Program of www.ncwoodworker.net, a virtual woodworking club, to help the members of these groups get started in woodworking. I also demonstrate scroll sawing at Klingspore Woodworking Shows and their Woodworking Stores and I design and build exhibits for the NC Science Museums. Charley