Blaughn

Installed a "grimes meter" meter on my Ex. Time flies while scrolling but I had no idea how true that is. Now I do. Very easy install. This one (Searon Digital Inductive Engine Hour Meter) is on Amazon for 29.99.

Welcome to the Village, Dave. No Toto jokes. Bruce - Minneapolis

Welcome to the Village, Matt. Bruce - Minneapolis MN

Hi Travis: I feel your pain. Before I retired I ran my own internet-based small business. Before that experience I entertained the fallacy that Computers were labor saving devices. No More!!! Good to have the Village back. Good luck with the server change. Bruce

I use 1/4" BB which also helps pull any cup out of the 3/8 cherry I have been using. I mask the BB to keep the surface free of paint where I will be applying Titebond. I use an extra copy of the pattern to help this step. Then I spray with whatever color I want to use (usually flat black). After the paint is dry, I remove the masking tape and apply a thin coat of Titebond to the BB and a small bead to the back of the cherry. I then clamp and let it dry. Since the cherry is subject to movement with moisture, I also like to drive three brass flat head screws that are short enough to ensure they will not go all the way through. These are overkill but they would keep the scrolled piece in place if the glue failed.

This is also a good reason to take periodic breaks to sweep and vacuum the shop. Without that trying to find the "wayward dropout" is even more daunting than gluing it invisibly. Not that this has ever happened to me............

I think you may be right. I will post this project when done. It is very ambitious (for me at least) with 119 letters/punctuation cut in 3/8" cherry.

I agree with Paul. This is a great solution. Where did you get the laser?

Welcome to the Villiage, Robert! Bruce - Minneapolis

Welcome to the Village, Don! Bruce - Minneapolis

The lines on the table is a great idea. I will try that. Like I said, for small pieces I have no problem but with a large one the challenge increases. Thanks!

I moved from a bottom feeder (Hawk) to an Ex21. Working with small pieces, top feeding is easy. Working with a 12 x 18 piece I am having difficulties. I am scrolling script letters that are relatively small with a FD UR #1 with a number 65 drill pilot holes. I am lifting the wood to feed the blade through and then trying to hit the main hole in the table as I lower the arm and workpiece aiming to hit the main hole in the table. With the size of the piece that has not been an easy target to hit. For you top feeders, how do you approach this? Thanks Bruce

Welcome to the Village, from Minneapolis, MN. Bruce

Welcome to the Village from Minneapolis! Bruce

The late great Michael Collins - noted photographer - talked about working with a corporate art director to produce a magazine ad. Michael was shooting 8" x 10" Polaroid proofs (at around $10.00 each shutter drop.) After 4 hours he was shooting the fifth proof with lighting change and setup. The art director wanted to go back to the original setup. Michael looked at the art director and said "Ahhhh, you're confusing me." The art director started telling Michael what he wanted and Michael repeated "Ahhhh, your confusing me." With his voice dripping with sarcasm the art director said "What? The famous Michael Collins can't follow simple directions?"!!! Michael smiled and said: "No, that's not the problem. You are confusing me with someone who needs your business. You may leave now."

Hi CJ from UP. Welcome to the Village. I used to go to Michigan Tech as a college recruiter in the winter months. You UPers sure know how to gather snow!! Again, welcome to the village. Bruce

Welcome to the Village, Christian. Nice piece of work on the Crappie!! Bruce

Welcome to the Village, Raul! Bruce

Welcome to the Village, Travis!!

Three thoughts for you Kevin: A gentle word turns away wrath. Prov 15:1 For as much as it depends upon you be at peace with all men. Rom 12:8 And the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Phil 4:7 Have a blessed Easter, Kevin. He is Risen!

Welcome to the Village, Gary. When I was working for Graco (fluid handling company - not baby furnature!), I spent time in Livonia with our automotive painting and robotics division. Bruce

Old Scrollers become brittle and cause problems as they get older too............

I worked in an industry where knock-offs happened routinely. If you want to protect your product, you need to patent it. The patent must be filed within 12 months of the product's first public showing. Plan on a Minimum cost of $15,000 to file for a patent and there is no guarantee it will be granted. Defending a patent can run hundreds of thousands of dollars at a minimum with costs soaring into the millions. If you have no patented technology - there is nothing to prevent someone from copying your design exactly and marketing it under a different name. (Your brand name cannot be used because that constitutes a counterfeit.) If you want to discourage knock-offs your strategies are: 1. Continuous incremental product improvements (listen to your customers). 2. Out-of-the-box excellent quality. 3. Drive down manufacturing costs via quality control (quality at point of manufacture - not through inspection). Eliminate scrap and rework!!!! 4. Outstanding customer service. It is easier to keep your customers than it is to get new ones. 5. Constantly and clearly express your Features and Benefits so even if you are most expensive customers understand you are the best value choice. Understand that costs to bring an exact knock-off to market are extremely high. These include molds, tools, fixtures, never-ending material sourcing and face-to-face quality control and presence at the manufacturing facility you are using. Even then if you miss something you are faced with a massive investment that will not meet your expectations and my kill your brand with the first release. If you follow the big 5 steps, your potential competitors will look for easier, less risky knock-offs.

Love it! Nice work! Bruce

That is actually too pretty to use!!!! Nice job!! Bruce