CharleyL

It's difficult to get everything in just a few photos, and It's not really related to scroll sawing (It's a photo/video studio), but I have taken quite a few cell phone quality photos in different directions in here. Rather than post them publicly here on a woodworking forum, please PM your email address and I'll send some to you. I'm considering making a video, but haven't done this yet. Attached is a photo of my assistant, taken in my photo studio last year. Linda has been a great help when getting the lights adjusted. Her sisters help occasionally too. Charley

That is known as a "Draftsman Stool", but since draftsmen all work at computers now, there isn't much need for these now. Watch the used furniture stores, Habitat, and Good Will. I bought 2 all black ones from Good Will 2 years ago for $10 each. I don't think mine had been used for draftsmen though, more likely for home hair dressing, since I keep vacuuming hair out of the seat cushions. Great stools at a great price though. Charley

Well John B, my main computers are Windows 10, but I also have a Linux Laptop, and a Windows XP Desktop for similar reasons. Not everything plays nice together for me either. So we do what we must, when everything we like to use doesn't work on all OS. I'm a bit surrounded with what I have and use, and I will be adding yet another computer soon, mostly to support my video work in my photo/video studio (another out-of-control hobby, beside woodworking). Terabytes of storage and high speed computing are needed for video work. For instance, I recently needed to digitize some large movie theater coming attraction posters (remember them?) for a friend. Scanning them in pieces on my 8 X 14" scanner and re-assembling them in Photoshop was just too time consuming, so I hung my tripod and one of my cameras upside down from my studio ceiling, put blue tape on the floor for repeated corner alignment, and made digital photos of all 42 posters in one afternoon. Of course, it took me much of the morning to figure out how I was going to do what was needed (thinking outside the box). I had built a steel grid from 1 X 1 X 1/4" steel angle on my studio ceiling, so I could hang much of my lighting from it to get as many light stands and power cables off the studio floor as possible. The camera tripod was just attached to this lighting grid using an electrician's beam clamp, something like a C-clamp, with several 1/4-20 threaded holes in it. The base of the mast in the center of the tripod has a 1/4-20 stud sticking out of it, so the beam clamp was attached to the tripod there and then attached the beam clamp to one cross member of the grid. I then extended the tripod legs up against the ceiling to stabilize the camera, but I also used a Bluetooth remote control for the camera shutter, again to keep the camera stable during the shoot. The second photo gives you some idea of the main reason for this ceiling lighting grid. What shows in the photo are 4 of the 8 LED Light Panels hanging from this lighting grid that I use for most video work. Each one of these light panels has 480 LEDs in it, for a total of 3,840 LEDs. Can you imagine all of these panels spaced this close together, each on it's own floor stand? There would be no safe place to walk. Each light panel is separately controlled for on-off, brightness, and color via a cell phone App, so again, no wires on the floor. I have Wiremold power strips on the ceiling running down each side of this 10' wide ceiling light grid with an electric outlet every 6" their full length, so the longest power cable for any light in any location hung on the grid is about 5' from center out to an outlet, and all of the lights and power wiring are above head level on the ceiling. Charley

You can do this with a word processor program like MS Word, Apache Open Office, etc., or a photo editing program like Photoshop, Paint, etc. If a word processing program, you can change the Font (style of letters) and size. Then just type the words and spacings as you want. If there is a way to select paper size, you may want to set a custom size of 10" X 8 1/2" so the sign is wider than tall. For a Photo Processor, you also set the image size and font, then select the lettering tool. Then just type your message. Using a photo program you then get to position your typed line where you want by selecting the Move Tool. The letters are on a kind-of invisible layer above the background, something like clear plastic in function, so the Move Tool will let you move your typed line of letters around the background to place it wherever you want. If you add another line of text, it too will be added as an invisible layer and can be moved to position in the same way. If you need to again move the first line of text, you will need to select the first layer again (layers menu) so you can again move it. Each can be selected via the layer that it is on. When you have selected the desired layer you can edit or do anything without affecting the other layers. Each layer is saved separately when you save the file, unless you choose "Flatten Layers". When you select this, all of the created layers get combined with the first Background Layer and you can't separately edit them any more, but it does reduce the file size. Whenever I want to place many small patterns on a sheet of paper, I use this Layers Feature to copy and drag duplicates of the first image, each on a new layer, and placing as many as possible on the page. This creates a whole stack of layers with one duplicate pattern on each layer. Each can then be moved or modified by selecting the layer that the image is on that I want to modify or edit. I always save the file with all of the layers, so that I can go back and edit anything on any layer. The file will print out showing what you see, with all of the images and edits as you see them on the computer screen since the many layers themselves are invisible. Only the image on each layer will show in the printing, so the end result is one page with many images on it. This is a bit tough to comprehend for someone new to this, so picture in your mind a sheet of paper lying on your work surface. Now print or draw many duplicate images, each on a clear sheet of plastic (layer). Place one of these sheets of plastic on top of your sheet of paper and move it around to put the image where you want it on your sheet of paper. Now repeat the process using another sheet of plastic with the same image on it, placing it on top of your previous plastic and background paper. Again, move it around until it is adjacent to the image on the plastic below it. Continue adding sheets of plastic, moving the image on it adjacent to the images on the plastic sheets below. You can continue this until you have as many above the sheet of paper as you would like. Then imagine being able to glue all of these layers of plastic in these positions so you can run the whole stack through a copier. The copier won't see the plastic sheets, but will see all of the images and their positions, so the printed sheet will have all of the images laid out on it in the positions that you placed them. In the photo processing program you are doing exactly this, but the sheets of plastic are electronic and completely invisible, except for the image that you place on it. Each can be positioned or edited separately with no affect at all on the rest. When printed, they all show up on the paper as you placed them. Charley

5000K is good. F18 tells me that the lights are sure bright enough, and then some. I usually try to shoot at F6-9 and adjust my lights to get that on my light meter at a point where the light is hitting the object being photographed. Most room lighting us almost always below F6, so none of it will have any effect on the photos taken. All of the light for the photo is then the result of the lights, which are controllable, and it's still easy to see your way around the room. You should be able to back your lights up several feet from the object and run a lower F-Stop number and get the same result without overheating the object and it's surroundings. Each time you double the distance between the light and object you will cut the light level 50%. It works the opposite way too. It's called the "Inverse square Law". Photographers do their magic when they follow this law of lighting. Many don't know the math, but understand the principle. My only remaining concern is that the light is spread evenly across the object with no center hot spot, typical of non photographic lights. A diffuser panel between the light and object would help eliminate this. A sheet of printer paper would work, if big enough and if it can be placed far enough in front of the light bulb so as not to catch fire, would work to spread the light. A piece of white bed sheet would work too, if it was new or nearly new white. If buying for this, the cheapest bedsheet you can find, will do a better job than the more expensive varieties. Make a frame to keep it flat and add a stand of some design to position it in front of the light bulb. The light center spot should spread and make the light into an even, soft, and surrounding light. Charley

Not being a light intended for photography, I have no idea what the color rating is nor how even the light is across it's spread. Do you know? 5600 K to 6300 K would be the most desirable color. Do you have a light meter to measure the light level across the work surface? Charley

Here is another photo, taken of a printed circuit board that is 3/8" wide and 1" long. At this magnification, the depth of field of the focus makes only the center part in focus, but you can see what is possible with ring lighting on the camera. Even light and no shadows. The orange things are not my fingers. They are the padded jaws of a Jorgenson Spring clamp that's holding the pc board. It's slightly out of focus, but a shot of what I am doing right now (still trying to get things just right but the lighting is good). Charley

Steaming is the way to get rid of wrinkles. I don't iron. A hand held steamer with distilled water is what I use, whether it's 10" X 12" or 10' X 20'. Yes, colored backdrops and walls in close proximity to your object being photographed will cause color changes in your photo (color bleeding). Photoshop, Affinity, Paintshop, or a similar program will let you electronically cut out the desirable part of your image, shot with white surroundings, then added to the background of your choice, with no color bleed problems. You bring up a photo of the desired background and then the clipped image of the object as a layer above the background, position and size it to suit, then combine the background and layer(s) into the completed photo. Think of a layer as a clear piece of plastic that you have attached your object image to. You can see it on the monitor with the background behind it, and you can move it around and make changes to it without moving or affecting the background. When satisfied, you can save them as a single image file. WYSIWIG. (What You See Is What You Get) with no color bleeding. Yes, LED is definitely the way to go for lights, if you can afford them. Most often I use 3 light panels with 480 LEDs in each, one on each side, and one above. You are supposed to move the object being photographed to shoot different views within a light box, but I agree about the front with the camera lens hole being a problem. I too, frequently leave the front door of the light box open when using it. With a purchased light box that has the perimeter of each side made with a spring wire frame, it folds/twists to become a small flat package that fits into a nylon carry bag. If I was keeping mine in a wood shop, I would then keep this in a Zip Lock storage bag zipped up and air tight to keep it's contents clean and the whites truly white. I do this, even in my studio storage when keeping items that must remain clean from getting dirty or age yellowing. Props, garments, backdrops, etc. all get stored this way. For close-up macro shots, like the wedding rings in the flowers photo attached, I usually use a ring flash. It attaches to the end of my camera lens to give me a completely surrounding and shadow free light, as can be seen in the photo attached. Without a light tent, this is a good way to get even and shadow free light. Of course, it won't work for a cell phone, but just about any DSLR or Mirrorless camera can be used with the one that I have. It was made by Godox and sells through Amazon and the larger Camera Stores for about $70. Mine came with camera lens adapters to fit just about any camera. It screws onto the filter threads on the end of the camera lens. Then the light ring slides onto this adapter. The power unit is about the size of a speedlite and attaches to the flash hot shoe of the camera. A coiled cord connects them together, making it easy to install and remove the ring light. The photo is of my grand daughter's wedding rings, taken at her wedding a year ago. Charley

I'm a professional photographer, and now with a complete digital photo/video studio. I have been taking photos and videos for many years (since high school, and I'm 79 now). It's already been said that lighting is what's most important, and I fully agree. In fact, it's more important to have good lighting than a good camera. For scroll saw projects, you need to have soft lighting with minimum or no glare, and in most cases, minimum to no shadows. For small scroll saw sized work pieces, I use a 24" cube folding light box (shooting tent) and LED light panels lighting the top and both sides of the box. The diffusion fabric of the light box diffuses and spreads the light to eliminate shadows and glare on small projects that I place inside to photograph. The front side of this box is the access panel, and is held closed with Velcro Dots at the top corners. It has a hole in the center for the camera lens. It comes with several colors of back/floor covers, also Velcro attached so it's easy to pick a background/floor color that looks good with your project. With good lighting and one of these folding light boxes, you can set up and take scroll saw project photos almost anywhere, even on the top of your table saw or workbench. The light diffusion of this fabric reduces the need for high quality lighting so most any 3 bright light sources that you can place around and above the light box will do. The LED panels that I use work great, but the aluminum reflector with spring clamp attachment lights and 100 watt light bulbs from the big box stores will work too. Just keep them far enough away to light the full side of the box and also far enough away to keep the heat from the bulbs from damaging the light box. Move them farther away if too bright and closer if not bright enough, but be careful not to overheat the side of the light box from being too close. These light boxes have spring wire frames, so fold down to a 24" X 2" round pancake when not being used, like the kids toys, so storage is very easy. If the cost of one of these light boxes is too much, you can build a wood frame from dowels and corner blocks that you can assemble without glue and pull apart to collapse for storage (think Tinker Toy style). Low priced (New - the cheapest you can find, actually works best) white/white bed sheet material works good for light diffusion fabric, so you can cut up a sheet to make the sides, top, and bottom of the light box from it. White Velcro Dots make it easy to assemble this temporarily and disassemble it for storage too. Small pieces of colored materials can be used to cover the back and floor of this light box to act as a backdrop and floor to display the work. Velcro Dots on the back wall of the box with the mating Velcro Dots on the backdrop fabric panels will make it easy to install and remove these backdrops. I f you, or some family member can sew, have them sew this box to fit your wood frame. Leave the front side attached at the bottom and Velcro attached with Velcro Dots to the top to allow opening and closing this front side of the box. Cutting a hole in the center of the front allows for the camera lens, but I frequently shoot with the whole front of my purchased light box left open. The key is to keep it dark behind you, so only the light coming through the sides and top are lighting the inside of the box. For large items that won't fit in one of these light boxes (like furniture), you will need a suitable backdrop, and larger diffusion of the lights. Photography umbrellas and lights designed for use with them, plus light stands and something to hold the backdrop is going to be needed. New, budget priced bed sheets make acceptable backdrops and light diffusers. The same reflector/spring clamp lights can be used. Clipping a sheet of white typing paper to the top and bottom of the reflector, so the paper forms a U shape will spread the light well and keep the paper far enough away from the bulb to keep it from burning. Since you can't adjust the light brightness, moving the light closer and farther away will work well to adjust the brightness. If you can afford real photo lights, light stands, backdrops, etc. there are complete budget priced and up packages. available from Amazon. If you have little to no experience in photography, one of these with included constant lights will probably be best for you. This one is more than enough, if just getting started and on a tight budget. amazon.com/Photography-Portrait-Umbrella-Continuous-LimoStudio/dp/B005FHZ2SI/ref=sr_1_3?crid=15OAK2X0721L0&keywords=portrait+lighting+kit+for+photography&qid=1637511738&qsid=142-0037546-4020453&sprefix=portrait+light%2Caps%2C184&sr=8-3&sres=B005FHZ2SI%2CB08DFMFQJ6%2CB0833X7CZJ%2CB07C27QB1G%2CB07JNDVKK8%2CB094HSCB8F%2CB08RDHC5JG%2CB085VXPW1Q%2CB089SYH1PY%2CB07G3423NQ%2CB019GTCNXC%2CB07FNMHPBJ%2CB018KE5XUO%2CB07L6B667Q%2CB08DG2DDKC%2CB07NBP6D98 You get a lot for $65, but you need space to set it up. Small scroll saw items do better in just a light box with external lights.. With constant lighting, what you see is what you should get in the photo, so you can move the lights to minimize the shadows or adjust them to your liking. Adequate LED lights are still very expensive and not for tight budgets, yet. The spiral fluorescent lights are very good and not very expensive. The white umbrellas become the diffusion material to spread the light source and make it more even with softer edge shadows. You point the top of the white umbrella at your object being photographed and the light shines through it. The black umbrellas with reflective inside require pointing the light toward the inside of the umbrella where it reflects, so the underside of the black umbrellas point to the object being photographed. I can provide more help if anyone needs it, but I think I have already provided more than most can handle for starters.. Charley

I believe that it's one of the manually powered scroll saws and, like pedaling a bicycle, you pedal faster or slower as you need. No motor, just human powered. I watched some of the video, and then parts of it all the way to the end. It's a shame that he didn't show the saw at all throughout the video. It looks like an interesting project. I wish I knew Spanish. Charley

The "smell" of Propane is Methyl Mercaptan (Sp) and not Propane, and it really stinks, even in very small quantities. There is no significant Propane smell without it. They add the Methyl Mercaptan to the Propane so a leak is easier to detect even with just your nose. Unfortunately, it doesn't vaporize at the same rate as the Propane, so smelling it or not may not give you a good reliable clue as to the presence of Propane. I'm hoping that whoever is making these decorations is either using manufacturing reject tanks that were never used for Propane, or they have some sophisticated means of rendering them safe before cutting into them. Pulling a vacuum on them to 29 or more inches of vacuum will remove the propane and the Methyl Mercaptan quite well. Filling one with water and draining it twice is a good method too. Removing the valve and then opening up the top area around the valve hole with a non heat/spark method will make them quite safe. If it does ignite, the large opening will prevent the explosion, but maybe not a small quick fire. They might be filling them with water and opening the top while the water is in it. If there is anything in it that will burn, the remaining volume above the water will eliminate a chance of explosion. You get an explosion when the fire suddenly expands the vapors and air within at a rate that exceeds the ability of the vent hole to release it. The pressure inside builds until the container ruptures. A large hole prevents the internal pressures from rupturing the tank. My #2 son and I are certified refrigeration technicians. Some of the new refrigerators and freezers are being made using unscented Propane as the refrigerant gas. It's still very flammable, but sealed inside the pipes, coils, and the compressor of the unit, at least until a leak occurs. Then, it has been determined that the leak of this small amount will likely be so small that it will not be a hazard. However, a sudden opening and rapid release can cause a hazard, if there is an ignition point nearby. You only need 7% Propane mixed into the air for it to be ignitable, but it has a 270 to 1 expansion ratio when going from liquid to gas. Less than 7% of the Propane gas in the air will not ignite. Many new refrigerants are being tried in an effort to replace Freon, which was discontinued 20+ years ago, because of it's hazard to the Ozone layer above the Earth. Even some of the replacements, which were temporary fixes until new refrigerants could be developed, are now being discontinued. Propane has always been a very good refrigerant, as was Ammonia, and Sulphur Dioxide, but we have been avoiding using them since it was felt that the Freon was so much safer to humans. Safer to us, yes, but not to the Ozone layer in the atmosphere. Ammonia, even in low percentages, is lethal, but commercial frozen food manufacturers and distribution centers are switching back to it because of the Freon problems and because Ammonia is so much more efficient and cheap. Sulphur Dioxide is toxic even in very small quantities, so just not a good alternative. Refrigerators made in the 1920's and 30's mostly used Sulphur Dioxide. My son is certified for Ammonia, and is maintaining the refrigeration systems at a 3.2 million sq ft frozen food warehouse, but he hates working with it because of the dangers. Household Ammonia is only a few % Ammonia. The rest is water. Refrigeration Ammonia has no water in it at all, so much more dangerous to living things like us.

Carving old propane tanks is very risky business, if you don't take proper precautions to assure that there is absolutely no propane in them. I am a welder and also a retired fire marshal. Don't do this until after the valve has been removed and the tank filled with water, and dumped twice, then let dry upside down before attempting to cut them. A plasma cutter is fastest, but full body protection is required. Charley

I use a small screw eye in the center, even if in the recess. If it's difficult to determine the center of gravity, I push a straight pin in with a hook bent in the head end. If it doesn't hang right, I move the pin and try again. Pin holes disappear with finish. When the proper place for the screw eye has been determined, I remove the pin, open up the hole if necessary, and insert the screw eye. Charley

Long ago I began using the 5.5" pill bottles from my local drug store. The Pharmacist at the Walmart near me will give them to me in 10 at a time quantity for free. When I need more, I get them, but I wait a few weeks between so I don't affect their supply noticeably. They don't use this size often anyway. The tops are combination locking and no lock depending on whether the cap is installed right side up or upside down. This is very convenient. I keep them in the upright locking orientation, except for the one that I am using and I invert the cap on that one, mostly to be able to find it easily. I built a large hinged box that holds many of these bottles and each bottle will hold about 5 gross easily, or with 3 gross or less in it, there is room for one of my fat fingers to reach in and extract just one blade from the bundle that I have opened. I use round paper sticky labels on the tops and write the blade contents on it. I also drop the label that comes with the blades into the bottle, so if the cap doesn't get put on and gets mixed with another, that I can figure out the error and get the proper cap back on the correct bottle. I never re-use a previously used blade. They go into a waste recycle bottle when I remove them from the saw. At about $0.25 a blade, they just aren't worth trying to keep them and somehow keep from mixing them, since I switch blade sizes and styles quite often. Even if I remove a blade after just 10 minutes of cutting, it goes into the recycle bottle. The enjoyment of my scroll saw hobby depends on the quality of my cuts. Only new blades will ever be used on my saw, and if I don't like how a blade is cutting it might reach the recycle bottle in less than 1" of cutting. . I have been known to throw away a whole bundle if I find several bad blades in it. The only exception to this is the spiral blade that I use frequently for cleaning out tight places in the patterns. I have a rare earth magnet glued to the upper arm of my saw that this spiral blade lives on when it's not in use. When it gets dull, it goes in the same recycle bottle with the other used blades. So I have a big box that I store most of my blades in, and then a smaller box that is divided in half. One side is for the hand tools and other things that I frequently use when cutting on my scroll saw. The other half of the box contains up to 9 pill bottles that I expect to use in my scrolling session. These get traded out from the larger box as my needs change. The smaller box is always next to my scroll saw when I'm cutting, and it went with me to any shows, training classes, or demonstrations when I was doing them. Now, it just sits on top of an inverted soda crate next to my scroll saw. Charley

You can print small patterns on it too, but unless you print many copies, it just isn't worth the wasted paper. I actually have two of these that I obtained as partial payment for repairing a 5 color offset printing press (about the size of a semi trailer). I have plans to restore one of these to be able to print large signs and life size stand-up photos like they do of race car drivers, etc. that you see in stores, usually next to the beer fridges. I will be adding one to my photo studio to add this capability. I don't have a plan or space for two of them, so the second is surplus. If someone wants to come with a trailer to get it, I will make you a fabulous deal. Charley

I have owned several small planers and continually wanted a better planer. I ended up getting a DeWalt 735 because you can put pieces as short as 12" through it, and snipe is almost non-existent, if you keep the work level both in and out of the planer. I now waste much less wood using this small planer (small? It weighs 95 pounds, but has handles). It also has a built-in blower, so a shop dust collector is not needed, but it does require a chip collector bag or barrel. The first board that I ran through it was a scrap of 2X4 with no dust collection hooked up. The chips hit the shop wall 14' away at almost the same level as the planer. I have a plastic 60 gallon drum and DeWalt's accessory barrel cover and attachment hose to keep the chips out of my neighbor's pool and I always use my 735 outside the shop in the driveway. It's just too hard to clean the shop when the collection system develops a problem, like the cover coming off the barrel, or a leak develops. My shop is small and I don't have a large dust collector, but probably wouldn't use it for this planer anyway, because I can nearly fill that 60 gallon drum with chips in about an hour of planning. Snipe problems were my main reason for buying the DeWalt 735, because it was always a major issue with the other planers, and they didn't work well with short boards either. I had some tricks for minimizing the snipe back then, but even with those tricks, snipe was a problem. Snipe occurs when the feed rollers tip the cutter head as they ride up onto and off of the board. This causes the cutter head to tilt and take a deeper bite (snipe). It can ruin the first and last 6-8" of a board, and when you are planning a board of 1-2' in length, you can have nothing good left to work with. You can frequently find the DeWalt 735 on sale for in the mid $500 range, but they usually sell for over $600 and they are sometimes coming up used for as low as $200. I almost never buy used because of a lack of warranty, and who knows what the previous owner has done to the tool. Charley

I have an HP 5500 wide format inkjet printer/plotter that's been in storage a couple of years. It will print 4' wide by the length of the roll (about 125') and then automatically flip the page over and print the other side, if you want it to. It's about 9' long and 3' deep and on a stand so it's about 4.5' high stand and all. Anybody want it? It's going to take some service and probably new ink cartridges to get it printing again, but I'm certain that we can make a great deal out of it. You will need to come here, 20 miles NE of Charlotte, NC to get it though. I am not shipping it to you. You probably couldn't afford the shipping for it anyway. Get it working and there will be no limit to how big your scroll saw projects can be. Want to own the biggest printer on your block? Charley

Here is the Google link to it. Probably more than most want to know, but with many pictures. Charley https://www.google.com/search?q=mabry's+mill+virginia&rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS814US814&sxsrf=AOaemvIINGXULrGMUZBuQj9oiRKSRojjQw:1632186319534&tbm=isch&source=iu&ictx=1&fir=VfScapSoipfWoM%2C1QXajqL3IEyMMM%2C%2Fm%2F067j7w&vet=1&usg=AI4_-kSFARAWbGX2KFcuRvGqPJFzo-Wo5w&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiyg6Hu747zAhU4FVkFHbIoAHMQ_B16BAhREAE#imgrc=VfScapSoipfWoM

I thought he was looking for a table with lights in it to make it easy to trace / transfer a pattern onto another sheet. That's what I call a light box. They make small ones about 8 1/2 X 11 and all the way up to huge. Then there are shadow boxes, and the night lights with patterns on the outside. Charley

"Work from the center out" is my best advice when working on delicate patterns. You can't always do this, but keeping the outer areas solid until the end helps with handling and moving the piece with as little damage as possible. But always remember that once the pattern has been removed, only you will see the little errors. Everyone else looks at the whole project at once and never sees the little errors. Charley

Many small printing shops are now going digital, and no longer use their nice large light tables. If you have the room for a 4' square or larger, you might find a great deal on one if you ask around. Charley

Finding air line adapters to fit air brush hoses can be a challenge locally. Sometimes, places that sell air brushes and supplies may have them, but online is usually best. Look in the air brush section as well as the plumbing sections. Before internet, I had all kinds of trouble finding what I needed. I believe a 1/4 female to 1/8" male adapter is what I ended up with, but don't remember where I found it. They are very hard to find. You may end up with two adapters stacked together to get the size change needed. Good luck. Charley

Are you still buying lumber from Lowes and Home Depot? You will save in price and increased quality by going to a local hardwood source. A local sawyer or a hardwood lumber yard will give you much better quality wood, probably at a much better price too. I think we had this conversation before. Charley

Do you have a drill press? Not a Harbor Freight, but a good sturdy drill press like a Delta or Powermatic, etc. makes a good arbor press. Then you need the bearing press collars so as to only put pressure on the outer race of the bearings. These are available from local auto parts stores. For the side to side movement of the blade as the blade moves up and down, have you tried adjusting the set screws on the opposite side of the arms from the blade lock knobs? You can loosen the blade lock knob and then turn the set screw in or out a bit, then retighten the blade lock knob and check the blade side to side movement again. The blade should be close to the center of the table hole and not shift side to side as it moves up and down. A few tries and testing of these set screw positions may be needed to get the blade centered and running straight up and down. Blue Loctite on the set screw threads will keep this adjustment from changing, yet not lock the threads so tight that the set screw cannot be adjusted again at a later date. DO NOT use any other color of Loctite, or you will likely never be able to change the set screw positions again. If the blade moves forward and back as you move it up and down, the blade arm assemblies can be moved slightly forward and back by loosening the screws unn the ends of the upper and lower arms and then moving the short arm mechanisms slightly forward or back. The screw slots in the yellow arms may not allow enough adjustment. I had to use a round jeweler's file to increase the front to back slots in my lower arm to get perfectly straight up and down blade movement. Getting this right reduces the aggressiveness of the cut, but also helps get straight cuts in thick work. I test my blade angle and movement using a 1 3/4" block of hardwood that has been cut with perfectly straight sides, but machinists 1,2,3 blocks can work well for this too, or anything that you can place on the table with a perfect 90 deg side to table reference will work too. A small machinists square is another possibility. The edge of these can be placed on the table and near the blade to check that the blade is 90 degrees to the table in both side to side as well as front to back, and also give you a good reference line to see any angled blade movement as it is moved up and down by hand (best way is turning the motor shaft manually with no power by using a screwdriver). Charley

You don't need to spend that much on bearings, if you buy them through a bearing and power transmission distributor. DeWalt and the replacement parts dealers buy them there, and then double or triple the price before selling them to you. If you know the bearing numbers, just do a yellow page lookup for a bearing and power transmission store near you. There is one in almost every major city in the USA. They will give you a much better price for the bearings that you need. Even an online search for each bearing number will get you better prices for them. The guy at the counter may even know of better quality bearings than the originals. It may cost a few dollars more than the original brands, but when I asked he replied "oh yeah" and then gave me the better quality bearings. I think I paid about 10% more by following his selection, but it's been years since I rebuilt my DeWalt saw. I bought 2 sets, so still have a spare set. My saw is beginning to tell me that it wants more attention again, so I'll likely be going through it before my Christmas cutting. Good bearings and a good synthetic grease job make all the difference in the World. Charley