Rolf

I started out with the thin wall plastic tubes, they all cracked over time. So bought these from Spangler science a few years ago. Pricey? $11 for fifteen is only .73 cents ea.

How thick is the wood? If you use one layer of 1/8 the reverse teeth may be coming up above you wood causing the tear out. I very rarely get any tear out or fiber lifting with either the blue tape or the contact paper.

Baby soda bottles, they are bullet proof. https://www.homesciencetools.com/product/giant-test-tubes-15-pack/?gclid=Cj0KCQjwqYfWBRDPARIsABjQRYzlBsJqpOYgd1er8Z9FBDDdyQkRfG9EMXCoGhfrmN5OBaTsFssLh1YaAhyFEALw_wcB

Ray you explained it perfectly. I did not glue any of the joints they are all nice and snug and I may change things as I go along. Regarding the union it was unscrewing just a bit every time I swung the tube out of the way, the screw is just tight enough to prevent that. The union also has an O ring in it. One change I may make is to bring the bottom collector tube around to the right side, as it is now it may interfere with the left side down table tilt. I have not tilted the table with this system yet. This potential issue was pointed out on the SSWWC forum.

Our club has a raffle at our meetings, I won one of the mag switches and bought the second. I used the little guys at only $21.

Sycamore you are correct. Just curious how do you connect the manometer to your collector system? so that you don't just suck out the fluid? I have been wanting to use some system to monitor my collector and see how it degrades as the filters load up. I only use my shop vac for shop cleanup, cant stand the noise, I did not add this dust collection to my Hawk until after I bought the Festool Middi , which is pretty much useless for shop cleanup with the small hose. It is meant for connection to sanders etc. The bigger Festool vacs use a 2" hose. Rocky time I used a couple of Mag switches to hold the system to my Hawk. If you are not familiar with them they are a switchable magnet, so no bolts or clamps to hold it in place.

Ray this is the size that fit the pipe I used https://www.lowes.com/pd/Homewerks-Worldwide-3-4-in-dia-PVC-Sch-40-Union/50160563

I used 3/4, just don't glue the all of the joints, I have had stuff get stuck in the elbows. Regarding the trap I used 3" pvc and drilled holes in the sides for the fittings. On a wood lath I turned the bottom plug and the lid. But you could just use the regular endcaps for that size pipe. I put a piece of screen inside to catch the bits. If I had thought about it a bit more I would have made a mini cyclone. You can see all of the stuff that got caught in it.

I put this system on my Hawk last July and use a Festool Midi vacuum. Like you said Danny I should have done this years ago. I used a couple of Mag switches to hold it to my Hawk table. I also added a trap to catch the small pieces that I did not want to get sucked up. The only thing I was not happy with was that the upper tube was a pain to move out of my way and then back again as the flex tubes are a bit stiff (as they should be). A few weeks ago I added this coupling using it as a swivel. I snugged it down just enough so I have no leak but still easy to swing out of the way. I drilled and tapped a hole in the ring for a screw to keep setting from changing when I swing the nozzle. The large picture was before I added the trap and swivel.

The plywood looks like luan

I drill a recess so that the magnet is just slightly proud then use "thick" CA glue.

We never grow up! Nor do I want to. Much to the chagrin of my wife.

One of the few free pleasures left!

Brad, I have a lot of respect for truckers, besides the skills, the level patience with us idiots out there, being away from family for days at a time. I can't be easy.

Sorry for going a bit astray from the topic. Ray if I won the lottery I would have a big shop and several garages for a car collection. The shop would have an assortment of scroll saws where people could try them before purchasing one. Now with the variety of saws owned by our club members we offer new people to come and try them out. I hope my tongue in cheek comments did not offend anyone.

New2woodwork good luck with your new saw. I hope it gives you tons of fun and of course we want to see pictures of what you create with it. As the others have said they all need maintenance at some point if you want then to survive. I still have my Old Delta SS350, that truly was a great entry level saw. I switched to a new Hawk G4-26 in 2005 that has treated me very well! I always find the discussion about having to get permission to buy a tool very humorous, does the wife ask permission to buy shoes, or pocket book (sorry that is a bit sexist) as long as the bills are paid and we are not spending the grocery money it should never be an issue. JMO. I will admit that my wife does spoil me with some amazing toys for my birthday and Christmas. We do talk about all large ticket item that go into the house but unless it is a really big purchase like a new Jeep or it impacts both of us like a big screen TV we both do what we want. I am truly blessed.

I have not been on the site for some time, thought I would check in and see what was going on. Scrollsaw703 , wow I see you have been having way too much fun. Glad to see you are improving. All kidding aside you are most certainly in our prayers.

Thank you for all for the help!. A very generous friend on the SSWWC forum is sending me a couple. Our new club member is very excited about getting back to scrolling.

Had a new member join our club the other night and he has an Old Delta Model # 40-150, any leads would be greatly appreciated. I always keep my eyes open at yard sales for old saws, if for no other reason but for parts especialy the Old delta's

That is a tough challenge Travis, I have done most everything that can be done with a scroll saw. I have also done a design or two. What I would like to do this year is a kinetic sculpture. Like one of Clayton Boyers designs. When you say shelf paper I hope you mean the clear plastic not the paper. The plastic peals off very easily.

I think I may do a preemptive strike on those bearings or at least have them on hand. They are the originals since May 2005 an a few thousand hours on them.

One thing with those arm bearings in the hawk their range of motion is very small so the wear is in the exact same place all of the time. Kevin did you get them from Hawk?

Kevin I do like the spring loaded upper arm. I still remember a blade breaking on an older saw and it seemed like the the broken end was trying to stitch my finger. before I got to the switch. I think having a variable speed foot pedal would end up giving you cramps trying to hold a steady speed. I used the an eclipse at the first ever Scroll saw event I went to @ Fox Chapel maybe 2008? It was a very quiet smooth saw with an absolutely vertical stroke. But it was a very complex saw. I wonder what happened to all of the parts that were left.

timer I have one of these( a dumpster rescue) but an analog plug in clock works also. I have an outlet strip plugged into my foot switch. the saw and the timer is plugged into it. I also have a timer that keeps track of my total saw hours for maintenance reasons. This timer is easy to reset, but it is a bit pricey.

There has been a great deal of discussion regarding saw performance , reliability, etc. We kind of dragged Iggy's post of in weird directions when all he was trying to do was give us some thoughts on what he is discovering with his saws. Thank you Iggy, I really appreciate your input. Now back to the subject, and please lets not turn this into a saw bashing thing but instead really think about what you really would like to have in a saw. My List. In no particular order 1. Mechanically Simple, minimum of moving parts Reliable 2. Removable tool less clamps, not part of the structure, inexpensive to replace. or clamps like the Old Delta lever clamps. 3. Variable blade stroke, not as fancy as the current Hawks but it could be a simple notch where one position is as vertical as possible the other aggressive. 4 .A good sized very flat table 5. Must be capable of top and bottom feeding! 6. Low vibration across a broad speed range. 7. Easy fast blade change and tensioning. 8. Easy lower clamp access! If I did a lot of bevel cutting I would like a tilting head like the EX's but it complicates the saw design. I have used a fair number of saws but not all, there are things I like and don't like with each that I have used. But it seems I have described my Old G4 Hawk. I would love to see an entry level saw with decent clamps,easy tensioning just like the Old Delta SS350 ($180 with stand) it didn't top feed but blade changes were a snap.