Rolf

This is where I differ a bit. I have too many hobbies and projects and not enough time. So I just need my tools to work so new it is for me. I have had to spend too much of my time fixing and repairing things in the past. I do love fixing things but for the most part my projects are more fun. Fortunately for the first time in my life I have the resources, a lot of which was generated by my Hawk G4 26, to buy what I want.

WOW WOW WOW! so many exception gifts. Frank you really have been busy. What a variety and I like what you did with Steve Good's Gnomes. Dman that is one of the nicest ribbon boxes I have seen. I always love how people react to these as they can't figure out how you bent the wood for the ribbon.

This is an interesting discussion. I grew up around tools my father was a German tool and die machinist. If he didn't have it he made it. We never had the resources to buy a new machine. Most of us have been in the position that we bought or buy the best tool that we can afford. I started that journey in 1980. I then bought mostly by word of mouth and the experience of others. Now with the internet and forums like this we have the ability to do serious homework before buying anything. I still have my Delta Unisaw, 14" bandsaw with riser, and just sold my Delta 16" floor model drill press. My focus on tools has changed as I am more and more a techno junkie, that is why I now own the Nova DVR drill press and lath. Function, reliability and sensible engineering are critical. Example the EX style of saw having the table stay level is brilliant in my opinion. Pegas did one better by replacing the EX clamps. So for me the best saw for all around functionality hands down is the Pegas. Most important I want to make stuff with a minimum of frustration and fuss. That means reliable tools. Any tool will require maintenance and that is on us. In 2004 my wife bought me a Delta SS350 16 inch scroll saw, A huge step up from the very frustrating and poorly engineered Craftsman that I had. That Delta had the best clamps ever but from day one vibrated and just sounded off. I took it apart and discovered that the links inside were just simple steel with holes no bearings. I put heavy duty grease everywhere and it just purred after that. A year later I bought the Hawk G4 26. Sold the Delta last year. Sorry for the rambling I have not snorted any sawdust yet today.

Rockytime, the TVR is on its second wife LOL. back on topic If I had space I would look for a vintage pedal scrollsaw. Jut for show and tell at the shows.

Three cars. 1970 TVR (48 years), 2005 Sebring Hardtop convertible, my wife's car and My 2016 Grand Cherokee (27K only miles) To haul stuff. and a 1968 Triumph Tiger 100 motorcycle in boxes.

Absolutely love the Truck.

Rocky time , what are you making with it? I use it for shims and sanding shims. Not for any projects. For my backers I use 1/8 BB.

I seem to be in the minority here I ONLY have two scroll saws. My Hawk G4-26 with the Delta speed clamp modification. That saw has, for the most part, paid for the rest of my tool acquisitions since 2005. My shop is in the basement and getting that Hawk beast out for our annual woodworking show was killing me. So I now have a much more portable EX 16 with Pegas clamps. (bought used) The hawk is more powerful and has a huge throat, and very fast blade changes for fretwork. The EX has the tilting blade so I now have the best of both worlds. Regarding clamps I don't have enough. I have 5 or maybe more. But I have a new router table that came with a router that takes 1/2 and 1/4 shank bits. and for portable I use the Colt trim router. I will probably sell or give away the rest.

Without question get the Pegas replacement clamps.!!! I have been a Hawk G4 user since 2005 needed a smaller "travel " saw so I bought a used EX 16" that already had the Pegas clamps installed. Since then I rebuilt an old EX 21 for a friend, it had a broken rod. I had her order the Pegas clamps. tore the entire saw down checking every bearing ALL were dry. She loves the saw now with these clamps. My suggestion to anyone that is repairing or replacing clamps on one of the EX styles of saw to Check all of the bearings. I have no idea why her saw even started without blowing a fuse as the main pitman arm bearings were about frozen. Yes that is rust in the bearing. Ignore the allen wrench in the Pegas clamp I was adjusting the blade centering.

I am also very sensitive to smells. I also have no patience, Some times I dip my ornaments in a mixture of Zinser sanding sealer and alcohol. This does raise the grain a bit but a quick kiss with my mac mop takes care of that. Or I will use the Zinser Shellac spray can, very fast drying and no residual smell. The dip is obviously better for getting into all of the nooks and crannies.

Every year we make and send out an ornament card for a select group of family and friends. Thirty cards this year, we have been doing this now for 15 years. The highest number was 40. The ornaments are stack cut 1.5mm ply and mounted in photo cards with removable adhesive. My wife writes the sentiment. This one is from 2006. The second ornament is a laser engraving. My dental hygienist knew that I made ornaments and asked if I could do an image of her parents dog that recently died. I was going to try and design a cutting but I just did not have the time and I have never really done a fretwork design. Intarsia yes fretwork no. I found this pencil drawing that looks just like their dog, then engraved it with my little engraver on birch plywood. This was also my first attempt at something like this. I am very pleased and in return I accepted a box of exceptional homemade cookies. I look forward to hearing from her after Christmas, I suspect that there will be tears.

The Polar blades are my go to for acrylic. The only other FD blades I use are the puzzle blade and the #1 "new spiral" when cutting one of Charles Hand's projects.

Kevin I do fire the pin with the stack on the anvil, it still comes out just enough to scratch the table. Just enough so that I can feel it. With my stack size there is usually a bit of a tail sticking up. that gets snipped and tapped down to protect my delicate fingers.

Bill, no need to file, if there is a lot sticking up you can nip it off with a side cutter. But if you have an anvil, my vise has a big flat area. I just turn the wood over and hit the bottom of the pin with a small hammer. that peens the the top and sets the bottom just a tad bellow the surface so that it doesn't drag or scratch my SS table. I always sand the bottom of my stack after drilling the entry holes anyway. It keeps the bottom flat. I use a Sandflee.

I have the Porter Cable I thought the smallest pins were 1/2 but I guess that they are 5/8, I stack 6, 1.5mm(1/16) layers when I make my Christmas ornaments. It saves me huge amounts of time to put in a pin in each corner. I then flip the stack on an anvil and tap each pin with a small hammer so that the bottom of the stack is smooth.

I use a pin nailer for all of my stack cutting with rare exception. I use 5/8 inch pins. in the waste areas. For ornaments I have the four corners as waste. I don't do portraits but I do delicate fretwork scenes with the wood cut to size like what you do frank. There are always a few waste areas that are big enough for a pin throughout the designs. Any large project needs more than just the edges or corners held tightly together. I cut those pieces out last and maybe tape the edges before cutting the last two. I never use double sided tape, too risky prying delicate layers apart.

I pre-sand all of my wood before cutting. I also use the Sandflee, but mostly I use a MAC MOP 240 grit. Yes even on my delicate ornaments. I just support the ornament on a piece of wood, It removes the majority of any fuzzies that I have.

Can't help regarding a reasonable and accurate benchtop drill press. since I just went nuts with my floor model. Actually with all of its bells and whistles I am surprised it did not have one. Not sure about a need for the laser. I am a gadget junkie but when you drill a precise hole location you are still depending on you vision, If the laser line is not crisp you will be off. Maybe if you are doing production work. But I still prefer feeling the drill drop into a dimple. My biggest concern is having a chuck that runs true. I always us a sharp awl to mark my hole location and have lots of light so that I can see it. When I first installed the chuck it did not run true, several thousandths of an inch out, I replaced it with one of the Jacobs chucks that have for my metal lathe. Surprisingly they were not any better. So I very meticulously cleaned the inside of the spindle taper and the original chuck. It now runs true.

I think that will get the job done! you may need to anchor yourself to the floor. Regarding the canister filters vs bag the bad stuff is the fine stuff! so if you are going to the trouble putting in a centralized system, in my opinion, a canister filter is a must.

Which Jet did you order? I have a Jet Vortex with the pleated filter I ran 4" PVC ducts. I have the unit in a different part of the basement than the majority of my shop to reduce the noise impact upstairs. The end of the furthest run is ~30 ft. and that has a reducer to 2" for my Router table and I still have plenty of airflow. The critical fine dust generators like my pneumatic drum sander (intarsia) all have 4" drops. I use a handheld remote. I did not glue any of the joints because I am not sure if my layout is permanent as it is now. If need be I use the metallic AC duct tape not the other crap that always leaves a residue. My ceilings are low so the gates are easy to reach. The pdf file is a rough layout of my current setup. My table saw, drill press, Supermax drum sander and a small metal lathe are in the same room as my DC they are not in the drawing. basement workshop-Model r2.pdf

Frank, very clever !!

The propane bullet heaters are just as dangerous when it comes to CO and an enclosed space.

I used a kerosene heater for on year in the old cottage I was renting at the time. I also used one while in the service over in Englend. Cant stand the smell and the risk of CO poisoning is too great.

As usual your work is stunning. We have many Osprey nests in our area. And we have also had a resurgence of Bald Eagles locally.

I wish I had room for an old Bridgeport.