CharleyL

With a blade clamped in the saw, and the motor shaft rotated by a screwdriver to the high or low point (without running the saw), try lifting and pushing down on the top blade clamp. If it moves easily up and down a short distance, you have worn bearings or something else is loose somewhere. Your mission then is to repeat this test with the left side cover removed and you watching closely what moves and what doesn't. Worn bearings get gradually bad and it doesn't take more than a few thousandths of an inch or play in a bearing or the connection point of moving parts to cause the noise that you are experiencing. Charley

Most knocking problems in the DeWalt type saws comes from the connecting rod between the motor cam and the rocking beam and the rocking beam bearings, all back near the motor. The bolt that the rocking beam pivots on can also become loose or break (mine has blue Locktite on it now and it has been replaced once). Removing the left side cover will let you access this area easily. These are larger bearings and can be bought locally or on the internet by searching for the numbers etched in the bearing. The DeWalt connecting rod and bearings are now offered by DeWalt as a single assembly, because this aluminum part can stretch, either from use or by improper removal and installation of the bearings. If you don't own a bearing press and collars, it would be best to just buy this assembly from DeWalt. Any wear at all in any of these bearings or the rocker beam center bolt loosening problem will cause knocking when the saw is run. The videos by Gwinnet Woodworkers are great videos, but long and slow to watch, so very difficult for most to watch in their entirety. NEVER remove both side covers at the same time, because there is no frame to hold everything together. The covers are the exoskeleton that holds the saw together. One side can be removed at a time, as long as all of the bolts attaching the other side cover are in place, and are tight. Charley

Out there, yes. The humidity is low, so adding some more moisture to the air is a good thing. We, our wood furniture, and our tools are quite comfortable working in 30-60% moisture, but it is "relative humidity". As the air temperature changes, the amount of moisture that the air can hold changes, even if you aren't adding moisture to it. This 30-60% is right when the temperature is around 70 degrees F. Cool this same air and it can hold less moisture, so this same air will have a higher relative humidity reading of likely 70% and higher as the temperature goes lower. Go low enough and this same air will begin to condense water droplets on your metal tools. As the air outdoors heats up during the day it can hold more moisture, and will collect it off evaporating lakes, trees, grass, etc. Then as the Sun goes down and the air cools, this air temperature to moisture content ratio will reverse, and the cooler that the air gets, the less moisture the air can hold. What it collected during the warm day is now too much for the cooler air. Dew falling and collecting on surfaces as the air cools is this excess moisture that the air can no longer hold. 100% relative humidity is the dew point. Keeping the relative humidity in your shop well below 100% will prevent this moisture from rusting your tools. Dehumidifiers and AC units cool the air enough to get the moisture out of the air by lowering the air temperature and getting this moisture to collect on the cold coils inside. Then the air passes through the warm coils (in a dehumidifier) and is warmed back up. An AC unit condenses this excess moisture out, but also cools the air by moving the heat from the inside of the shop and releasing it outdoors. It does not do much cooling until it can remove much of the humidity in the shop, but then can become quite effective at cooling the shop once the moisture has been removed. If you can learn that there is a relationship between air temperature and the moisture that this air can hold is relative to each other, and that cooler air cannot hold as much moisture as warmer air, all this becomes easier to understand. 100% relative humidity is the maximum that the air can hold at any given temperature. Cool this air and the moisture in it can no longer fit in it, so it will become dew and fall or condense on things. This 100% humidity is also called the "Dew Point" - the point at which dew (excess moisture) begins to form as the air cools. Keep this dew point relationship well below 100% and both you and your tooling will be happy, with 50-60% being the most comfortable levels. This is also why your shop and home have lower humidity in them during the Winter. The air outside is cold, so it has very little moisture in it, even though it's relative humidity may be 80-90%, but when this same air comes inside and is warmed up to 70 degrees or so, the relative humidity becomes very low and you become uncomfortable because it's too dry for you at 15-25%. Cool this inside air back down to the outside air temperature and the relative humidity of this same air will increase back to what it was when the air temperature again matches what it was outdoors. When the relative humidity of the air increases above 100% at any temperature, it's going to rain or condense on the cold surfaces because some of it no longer fits inside the air. This is a bit long, but I hope it gives you all a better understanding of why your tools rust in an unheated shop as the shop air temperature falls, why it rains at the beginning of a Cold Front moving in, and what dehumidifiers and AC units can do to help us and our tools remain rust free and comfortable. Don't open your shop overhead door to the outside when it's raining or very warm and humid outside. Charley

If you live in a humid area, buy an air conditioner. Do not buy one of those coolers that blow air through trickling water on a filter. It will raise the humidity, rust your tools, and make things worse than they are now. You want to remove humidity from the air, not add to it. Those work well in the desert South West, but not in the South East, US, even though they try to sell them here. An AC unit will remove the humidity and then cool the air. It is not as effective at cooling until it gets the humidity of the air lower, so don't try to use it with a window or door open and letting in more humidity. Keep the area closed up and the humidity low in there and you will get the best cooling possible from the AC unit. If a window AC unit and it just can't seem to keep up on those brutally hot days, a garden hose spraying a very fine mist on the outside coils of the window AC unit using very little water will help the AC unit remove the heat and it will work better to cool the inside. Only do this if you aren't paying high rates for your water though. Us with our own well water supply will benefit most from this. The plants and grass below the AC unit will appreciate the drink too. Charley

I wouldn't bother for the low cost of the blades, but attaching a 3/4 or 1" thick piece of wood to your saw table, with a hole in it for the blade to pass through, should let you use a higher portion of the blade. It's your decision if going to this trouble is worth doing. If you do, make certain that you don't suddenly decide to cut something thicker (like a stack cut) that exceeds the stroke length that is left to work with or you will likely damage your saw. No thanks, I'll keep using my blades without worrying about the unused teeth of the blades and just keep replacing them when they go dull or break at less than $0.25/blade. Charley

Congratulations, but now you are going to discover that you are busier than you ever were before, but the stress levels will be way down now. I think I've retired 5 times, so far, each time saying to my self "That's it, I can now take it easy for the rest of my life". But staying active has always been my way of life. I just can't stop for very long, but now I try to only accept work that pays very well and is short or part time or is just something that I really want to do. Driving the train in my Avatar for the town park was one of them that I really wanted to do. I'm now almost finished building my first very own pro photo/video studio. Again, mostly to stay active. It's not intended to be a business, since it's planned to be just for friends and family, but it's keeping me busy. Covid has put a significant delay in my progress though. Charley

I have several air brushes and frequently use them for stain on small projects like scroll sawn projects. The oil stains can usually be used right out of the can if mixed well. The latex finishes and stains tend to need a slight thinning to work well. I use turkey basters and large syringes when mixing to get just the right amount of finish and thinner (water in this case) out of larger containers. They minimize the mess and aren't expensive. Being diabetic, I have an unlimited supply of small syringes. Much of what I make is too small to use rattle cans for, so the air brushes have been ideal for what I do. I usually just use compressed air from my 18 cfm shop air system for air brushing and power carving through an additional regulator, but I have a 4 cfm pancake style air compressor that I use when out of the shop. It's made by Junn-Air and makes about as much noise as a small refrigerator when it's running. The first time that I turned it on, the light on it lit, but I didn't hear anything of the motor running, because I was in a large area with other machines running. I was about to unplug it, but my hand went past the tank drain and I realized that air was coming out of it. When I closed the valve, the tank gauge started rising. It was running !! It only took about 2 minutes to reach full pressure and shut off. I still grin whenever I run it, still amazed of how quiet it is. An air brush only needs about 4 cfm, and only at about 40 psi, so most any small air compressor will provide enough air for one. My small power carver uses about the same volume and air pressure. It is a modified dentist drill that uses the same 1/16" diameter bits as the dentists use, so my dentist sterilizes and saves me some of the bits that I like to use, since he discards the bits after using them on a patient. I can buy them for $2 each, but what he gives me saves money and he can't wear out a bit when using it on only one patient. For additional hygienic safety, I also soak any bits that he gives me in a small bottle of alcohol for a while before putting them in my carving kit. I have an air powered die grinder that I use for my heavy power carving work, that uses the same bits as the Dremel and other brands of similar tools, but the air power allows for a smaller, higher speed, and more powerful carver. It uses about 7 cfm at up to 100 psi, so it only works on air from my shop system. Attached is a cross that I have made 16 of over the last 20 years or so. This is the first that I made and it's hanging on my dining room wall. I used my scroll saw to cut it out, but then carved the vines and leaves to provide some shape and texture, as well as some relief back below the cross to give it a more 3D look. Each of these has taken me almost 12 hours to make and finish. The finish is Rub N Buff Antique Green for the leaves, then satin poly on the whole cross. The wood in this one is a single piece of mahogany. I have used other woods for many of them, but like the mahogany because it carves easily. My extended family has consumed every one of these that I have made so far, except for one, that I gave to a very special minister friend who gave me the strength to get through my heart surgeries (7 so far) when I was convinced that I was not going to survive. Charley

I also have the Triton spindle/belt sander. I've had it for about 2 years and have had no problems at all with it. I mostly use it as a spindle sander. I think I've only used the belt accessory for it once so far. I use my repurposed whole house central vacuum unit and Dust Deputy with it and it does a great job of keeping both me and the shop air clean, and it's much quieter than my shop vac/dust deputy. In fact, I had to add a light on the shop ceiling to tell me when the central vacuum was on, since it's located in the shop attic and I had left it on a few times. The orange light bulb on the shop ceiling has worked well to keep me from forgetting to turn the vacuum off. It isn't a true shop dust collector, but it works well for my fine saw dust producers like sanders and scroll saws. Before the Triton I had a Ryobi spindle sander. It kept having hiccups (did not go up and down smoothly). I complained to Ryobi and they sent me a new parts package for the transmission free, which I installed, and it still had hiccups. I continued to use it until I fell in love with the Triton and bought it. My son-in-law now has the Ryobi. He didn't have a spindle sander, so the Ryobi is slightly better than nothing. Charley

Were the replacement fuse size numbers exactly the same as the original fuse? Please compare them (both original and replacement) and post those numbers for me to see. Can the motor be rotated by hand without applying power? Does it turn freely? Delta 50-450 does not show up as a scroll saw, so I can't locate a manual for it to look at. If I could, maybe it would help me see other things to try so we can diagnose your saw's problem. Please check your saw's model number again and post the correct number. I'm a retired Automation Engineer (EE) with lots of experience diagnosing and fixing machine problems. Charley

If your AC doesn't quite keep up in that plastic building, consider buying some of that 1/2" thick foam paneling with a foil coating one one side. Attach it to your ceiling with tha foil facing out/up using screws just long enough to penetrate the plastic ribbing and not go through the roof, and washers to keep the screw heads from pulling through the foam. If it still isn't enough insulation, do the same on the side walls, at least those that face the Sun. The double layer of the plastic panels do provide insulation, but not as good as the foam panels. A friend did this to his little plastic building and it made a huge difference. Cooler air settles, so putting the AC high up like that is best, but you should make a way to block those vents while trying to heat or cool the building, but keep them open when you aren't there, so humidity build-up won't be as severe in there when you aren't in there. Charley

For what you want to do, you need a front view and a side view, NOT a left and right view. Both views must be the same height and with a common fold line between them so the two views remain positioned correctly with respect to each other. I do a lot of 3D cutting, mostly reindeer, but frequently other patterns too. I have posted many examples of the reindeer, and even many views of the steps involved in cutting a reindeer along with a full description of how to do it. Do a search for my posts and you will find about everything that you will need. The soft cover book that I've attached a cover photo for will give you plenty of 3D patterns to try. Dianna Thompson's patterns all cut very well and she has published several similar books on the subject. The pattern for my reindeer came from www.woodgears. com, but I cleaned up the pattern shape a little, and resized for making several sizes of reindeer. The one in the photo is the next size up from the smallest that I've made (yes there is a smaller size). This pictured size usually becomes ear rings. Larger sizes are for necklaces or just to put on a shelf or hang from the Christmas Tree. Charley

The drill guide that you originally posted will not do what you need, nor will the 2 or 3 others on the market of similar design. A small drill press with a special smaller drill chuck in the larger chuck will hold the very small sizes of drill bits. Tilting the drill press table to the desired angle and building a wooden stop to hold your work piece in the needed position on the drill press table will be needed. Then you will have the difficulty of keeping the small drill bit from walking off position as you attempt to start it into the work. Only very slow feeding and care will get your drilled hole in the correct place without the drill bit walking, unless you buy a very small center drill to use first to make a starting hole for the drill bit to give the drill bit an accurate location to begin drilling the desired hole, will completely avoid the drill bit walking problem. It's easy to drill a hole at 90 deg to your work surface, but considerably more difficult to drill a hole when the work piece must be drilled at an angle. Centering drill bits can be purchased in many sizes and lengths from industrial suppliers like Grainger, Johnstone Supply, McMaster Supply, W. T. Tool, Etc. They will have the smaller drill chucks to adapt your drill press chuck to the smaller drill bits too. Charley

Maybe Travis could automate a method of labeling "inactive" members who haven't logged in, in a year, month, or whatever and add this to their record. That would at least make it easier to know who is active and who is not. Then a list count of "active members" would be easy. A woodworking site that I am also a member of does this, and you loose your ability to "PM" or post "For Sale" items if you haven't logged in for a defined period. Once back and logged in several times over a short period (month), you get all your restrictions opened up again. I'm not logged in every day, but I do try to get here at least once a week. I get overwhelmed with work occasionally and have no free time at the computer to visit my favorite forums, of which this is one of them. I try hard to be here at least once a week, even during these high workload periods and sometimes I'm not posting, but at least reading other's posts. I really enjoy it here. Charley

Yeah, avoid car waxes because they contain Silicone. When silicone gets on your wood, it will prevent the wood from accepting finishes. The result will be what is commonly called "Fish Eyes" because they are usually round with a small dot in the center. The silicone drop prevents stains and varnishes from bonding with the wood. Anything that contains silicone has been banned from my wood shop because it is so hard to detect before finishing. I destroyed a lot of good wood that got silicone on it years ago. I never want to go through that again. Johnson's Paste Wax is the easiest to find and about the cheapest good wax available. I had a partial can of Butcher's Paste wax given to me once, and it worked great, but when I went to buy more, the sticker shock made me try Johnson's, and the result was about the same. Most any clear wax that does not contain silicone will work fine for this need. Charley

I buy from Richards Craft Woods in Clemmons, NC. https://www.richardscraftwood.com/ Thin and sanded soft and hard woods. They mill most of it themselves. You will be very impressed with the quality and service. Charley

Looks like they are going to be all be Virtual Shows this year, so no worries about bumping into tipsy people, unless you and someone with you are. Charley

I have a 20+ year old Delta Q3 40-650 saw that cuts a little more aggressively than the DeWalt, New Delta, Pegus, Seyco and similar design saws that are now available, and I would still use it now if I was doing any kind of production cutting today. It has a C frame design with the blade ends connected across the gap to the ends of the C. When running, the C frame rocks back and forth, so the blade cutting angle is varying slightly forward and back as it moves up and down. This speeds the sawdust clearing from the cut and increases the cutting rate possible at a given saw speed, much like when you hand saw a board and change the blade cutting angle as you make each stroke. What it doesn't do is make a perfectly vertical cut as you reach and need to turn a tight corner, unless you pause at the corner long enough for a couple of complete blade strokes before making the turn and continuing the cutting. So this Q3 saw cuts a little faster, but it isn't quite as precise as these newer saws. It's a trade-off of speed for accuracy. It will depend a lot on what you are cutting as to which saw is better for the purpose. Experiment more with different blades and manufacturers to find the blade that does the job faster for your project, and you will find that for some projects you may want to switch the blade type several times during the project, as some blades work better for very tight turns where others do better for the longer and more gradual turn cutting. Spiral blades do great for clearing tiny areas, but following pattern lines is much more difficult when using them. Larger blades cut faster, but leave rougher edges that require sanding later. Skip tooth blades tend to work better for finer work where clearing the sawdust from the cut becomes a problem. Learn what works best for each area of your project and don't hesitate to switch to the best blade for cutting each area. I have a magnet on the side of the upper arm of my saw where I temporarily park blades that are in use, but dull blades never get put away. Any remaining used blades at the end of a project get trashed. At approx. $0.20 per blade I'm not going to risk the quality of my next project because I used a dull blade on it. Significantly increasing the speed of the saw may increase the cutting speed, but the blade will overheat, turn blue, and loose it's sharpness quickly. It will break sooner as well. It also burns the edges of the cut, making the project look more like it was cut with a laser. There is an optimum trade-off speed for each blade, where it cuts well and yet doesn't over heat, so it continues to cut well for a longer time. I frequently lubricate my blades by cutting into an old candle or block of paraffin or just by rubbing the wax candle or block against the sides of the blade as it's running. This keeps the blade cooler and the cuts cleaner as well. You should set your saw speed to just below where the blade heats and burns the wood. Watch the blade color for signs of it turning from black to blue. Gray is Ok, but not blue. Lubricate the blade with wax often, and once set at this ideal speed it will make the fastest and cleanest cuts possible. The blades have very tiny teeth, so they can only remove as much wood as their teeth gullets will allow with each blade stroke, so pushing the work harder to cut faster will not work very well. As the blade dulls, and you begin to see any burn marks, it will be necessary to slightly reduce the saw speed, or replace the blade to continue making clean cuts as fast and accurately as possible, regardless of what saw that you use. Scroll sawing is more of a journey and achieving precision, than it is a destination. It is nothing like any other kind of woodworking. Slow down, strive for precision, and you will enjoy the process much better. Let the laser cutter guys do production and burn their way through their work, making nasty looking, burned edge, but fast production work. Strive for precision, but at the ideal speed for what you are cutting. You will enjoy the journey much better, and your work will sell faster, because it will look much nicer. A tip for even more precision and speed is to feed and steer your project as your cutting it by using your fingers, with your wrists and palms resting on the front of the saw table or that area of your project. Feeding the work with your elbow muscles isn't nearly as accurate, but is the way that most people try to do it. You will be able to follow the lines, especially in those tight close work areas, much better. If you haven't been working this way, the elbow feeding habit takes some time to break, but it's very worth the effort. When I teach scroll sawing, I try to get my students to work this way from the beginning. Those who have scroll sawn before my class find it more difficult to switch, but everyone has agreed that doing it this way has helped them considerably. Charley

One important thing to remember when using any single phase induction motor powered tool is not to significantly slow the motor down. If you slow it to the point that the centrifugal switch kicks in the start winding, the motor will overheat and trip the protector or burn up very quickly. Never significantly slow the speed of a single phase induction motor more than about 20% of it's rated running speed. A blade with a larger tooth set or wider carbide will have less difficulty making the cut. The blade should be designed for the intended purpose as well. Don't cross cut with a ripping blade and don't rip with a cross cut blade. Combination blades are for those too lazy to switch blades, as they don't do either as well as the proper blade. Charley

Why did the saw overheat? Were you overloading it, or is a bearing or two going bad? Without power, can you spin the blade easily by hand? It may be time for new bearings. Charley

Before you go into panic mode and spend a lot of money on a table saw, what is wrong with your Jet Contractor's saw. Maybe I can help you fix it. Can you describe the problem, and maybe post some pictures? Many times it's possible to fix old contractors table saws without spending much, or any money. Charley

I made 4 urns a couple of years ago, sized to fit the plastic egg that cat cremation remains come back in, so the sides are 5" X 5" outside and about 1/2" thick. The top and bottom are slightly larger to allow for the molding cut around the edges. These were made from mahogany with mitered corners and cross grained splines inserted in each corner top to bottom. I used 4 #6 stainless screws pocket holed from the inside to attach the top, one screw in the center of each side. The bottom is also attached with the same screws, but counterbored up from the bottom. Two of these (on opposite sides) are off center to make the bottom only fit on one way. I made two inserts with center holes the diameter needed to keep the bottom and top of the plastic egg container centered in the urn after the egg had been installed. Two of these urns were intended for my last two cats, who were both very special, but when making something, I frequently make extras to assure that I can get the quantity that I want without errors or last step finishing nightmares. After completion I had decided to give the remaining two away. One went to my neighbor who had a cat that survived 26 years. The remaining spare urn has just sat in my shop for the last two years. Last week I donated this last urn for a very close friend, who had contracted COVID-19 a few days before Christmas, became ill on January 4 with severe breathing problems and ended up in the hospital. He seemed to be doing well for about a week, but then he got progressively worse and died on January 16 at the age of 68. He had played Santa Claus for the local park every year for the last 6 years, and he was the best Santa, both in his manor and appearance, that I've ever seen in my lifetime. He had the hair and beard for it too. His girl friend played Mrs. Santa and the two worked together very well. His family has decided to divide his remains and they have purchased two full size urns from the Funeral Home. His girl friend has has been offered some of his remains, so a cat urn should be large enough for her share, and she has gratefully accepted this last urn from me. It couldn't have gone for a better purpose. I will be printing a small photo of him in his Santa outfit, along with some text being decided by his girl friend, sized to fit on the face side of this urn. This photo will be plastic laminated and then attached to the face side of the urn some time later. The train in the photo is located in our town park, and I met Keith while I was driving this train 4 years ago. He was not only Santa there, but the train and carousel maintenance man and bus driver too. Charley

My original use for a scroll saw was to use up some of my scrap wood left over from building larger projects. Now, by the time that I consider the pieces too small to be anything but scrap, my son complains that they don't even make good fire starter for his wood stove, because they burn up too quickly. I know he'll keep using my scrap though, because he's too cheap to buy any fire starter wood. He keeps complaining, but then he keeps coming back every year for more of it. Charley

On a DeWalt 788, and quite likely many other similar design scroll saws made since the 788 was released, you don't want to grind the end of the blade holding set screws flat. That is opposite of what is needed. Look closely at the end of one of these set screws as they come from DeWalt, or haven't already been ground flat, by using a magnifying glass. You will see a conical shaped ridge (kind of like a miniature dead volcano) with a dimple in it's center. This circular ridge point is what holds the blades from slipping. Grind or file it off flat and you loose the benefit of it completely. Set screws, even stainless set screws are cheap. Don't file or grind them. Turn them slightly or replace them with the same style set screw. Even at the big box store you can replace both the upper and lower blade set screws for less than $1.00. Get yourself some Blue Locktite to hold their settings, and you will be good for another 5+ years of cutting with no blade slips. The thumb screw opposite the set screw does have a flat end, and it's a swivel, so it doesn't turn at the tip, as you tighten it. This thumb screw and it's opposing set screw, are the keys to getting a good grip on the blade. Don't sharpen them or grind them flat or modify them in any way. Something else that these set screws do besides holding the blade - Changing the set screw position of only one set screw will move that end of the saw blade left or right a tiny bit. Run your saw very slow and get your face down close to the table and look straight at the teeth of the blade. Vary the blade speed while watching it. If you notice that the blade is moving slightly sideways during it's stroke, or you see a blurring of the blade in your vision of it, you need to adjust the upper or lower set screw to make the blade move straight up and down with no sideways shift to it. If you can vary the speed from it's slowest speed gradually up and it doesn't shift sideways as it moves, you are good to go. If you can see a side to side blur at any lower speed setting, these set screws are not positioned correctly. The saw will do a much better job when it is set and adjusted correctly. You can also adjust both of these set screws the same amount if you find that the blade is not positioned in the center of the table hole. Now do this next test without the saw running, but while looking at the side of the blade. In this case there are no actual blade adjustments available, but there should be. Using a small machinist square positioned behind or in front of the blade and against the blade and looking from either side, there should be no increasing gap between the blade and edge of the square. For cutting really intricate work, like my 1" high 3D reindeer, the blade needs to travel as vertically as possible. I elongated the screw holes in the lower yellow blade arm of my saw, so the silver colored blade arm and mechanism could be moved about 1/32" further than the factory position. This corrected the problem. The blade is now perfectly vertical with respect to the table. Your saw blade might tilt slightly forward or back. Make your decision on which of the arm screw holes to elongate based on which end of the blade needs to move. I can't say that all of these saws are the same. You must check and adjust depending on your blade squareness test. It may require a different amount of hole elongation or you may need to do it to the upper arm instead of the lower. An alternate fix that is not as easy to do it to raise the rear pivot of the table. This would likely require a different rear table mount/pivot. After studying this, I opted to elongate the holes in the lower yellow blade arm, but either way will correct the problem. A perfectly square to the table blade will not make as aggressive a cut, but it will allow much finer scroll sawing, and this was my goal for doing this. Charley

Jason, I'm also a pro photographer with a digital photo/video studio. Can you send me the photo? A Private Message with your photo attached would be best. Keep in mind that not every photo can produce a good scroll saw pattern, but I'll do what I can for you. Charley

I never used the drill press lasers either, until I calibrated the one that came on my Delta floor standing drill press. Once calibrated, I began to like it, so I bought the Wixey units for my two smaller drill presses. The Wixey units project a pretty fine laser line, so once calibrated, they are quite handy when drilling many blade through holes for scroll saw work, or similar projects, or for quickly positioning a piece of stock that needs many small holes drilled in it. The little ice pick or center punch dimples kind-of glow when the laser lines hit them. It definitely isn't for most drilling chores, but I feel that it does have benefits for some of my drilling chores. I guess it's a personal thing, but I do like and use mine. Just not for every drilling chore. Charley