JOE_M

The heart is African Mahogany (looks/cuts like Luan, but at twice the price???) The box part is 1.75" deep. The butterfly is cherry with a eucalyptus lid, the box part of that one is 1" deep. Both patterns from a book (Custom Wooden Boxes on the Scrollsaw). It's a good book, but those were the only two patterns that I felt like making. The christmas stocking (my pattern) is Bubinga with a little bit of maple on top. The box part is 1.75" deep. It will hold a lot of candy canes during the holidays and then will be used to store some fretwork ornaments I made last year.

Is that issue on newsstands yet, or just early delivery to subscribers?

I don't sign, but then I don't sell. I do have a branding iron that say "handcrafted by Joe" - got it as a gift years ago and I use it occasionally on much larger items. You can get one made with tiny initials. If you've got the steady hands, the colored fine-line sharpies write very cleanly on a finished surface and you can choose a color that blends in as much or little as you want.

http://www.sheilalandrydesigns.com/

My last "colored" pieces used a few different methods. Some were acrylic paint, with the brush dipped in water first to thin. It sucked. The grain still showed, which was nice, but it was a PIA making sure paint didn't drip into the crevasses and dry as big ugly clumps. I also used milk paint, thinned. Milk paint stinks - it smells disgusting and dries flat so it needed a clear-coat which was even more of a PIA. I'll only use it again if I make some period piece that requires it. I used some "wood dyes" from Hobby Lobby. They went on like regular stains would but with colors like "navy blue" and "barn red" instead of "dark mahogany" or "Colonial maple". Of the 3, this was the easiest but it still needed a clear coat to shine. I've used aniline dyes in the past - I've got Transfast on the shelf, they're a powder and they make some nice very vivid colors. But they have to be mixed with HOT water, they do raise the grain, and if you don't follow the instructions for mixing it you will end up with some ugly splotching. They also color your fingers quite nicely if you don't wear gloves. It's a nice option if you've got time to pre-raise/re-sand the grain.

It's a nice idea but if they're for sale you might consider a different style screw - something that sits flush like a panhead or round. Or maybe put a chamfer around the edge of the hole in the metal belt part, if it's thick enough, so that the taper-head sits flush.

Sounds like great reasoning. I'll bet there are just as many people who don't know how to do a simple car tune-up. Let's cut the auto manufacturers some slack and let them ship cars that are "almost" ready to go, just need fitted to the driver. After we drive that brand new car off the lot we can spend the next day with a Chilton's manual re-gapping spark plugs, tightening the belt, adjusting toe-in/out on the alignment. Sure that maintenance shouldn't need done for another 60-100K miles, but if we learn how to do it now...

If it's worse, then just remove the washers and push the bottom of the blade bracket back to wherever it was when you started. You haven't made any changes that can't be undone.I didn't have to raise the back of the table to square it, I had to raise the front and it only took 1 thick regular washer on each side.

I used a small machinist square behind the blade and adjusted until front/back motion relative to the table was almost un-noticeable.

What kind of blade are you using?

If it's not too late, check out this video I just stumbled on while looking for box ideas myself. I think the flat boxes that show up around the 4:30 mark would work great, all you need to do is adjust the size to fit your pictures. 1/8" wood and butt joints and they look great. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bC5nfZqkcc0

Thanks. I resaw down to 1/4" for small boxes, the bigger one might be a bit closer to 5/16 - whatever feels right.

Ray, I think that's the video. You found it before I woke up this morning.

My mom sent a large box of books/photos with a request for jigsaw puzzles, some for her and some for her to give to a friend. I've just started scratching the surface, but here are 10 Amish puzzles from a photo book by Bill Coleman. Four of them in individual boxes made from Chakte Viga, and the other six are in double-boxes made from oak/walnut, leopardwood, and purple heart/eucalyptus. You'll have to use your imagination, as I am not going to reassemble the puzzles just to take a pic. The other box (tan oak) with four compartments holds a set of 8 flower-themed puzzles from, I think, Manet paintings. They are smaller, so I chose two puzzles with similar colors/backgrounds for each compartment to be assembled together. Not pictured are four Normal Rockwells and a set of 3 small Amish puzzles, and something with a cat that I will be building boxes for once I decide on a box style - I don't want to just build the same box over and over.

Yes, I watched that video a while back and did it, it's a nice improvement. After I did it though it was still a bit more aggressive than I, as a newbie, was comfortable with. So I took off the two bolts that hold the table down, and put a washer on each one as a spacer - in effect lifting the front to make the table more square to the blade - and that made it even better.

What's your air filtration system (I don't see a box in the pics)? I ran the wires to a ceiling spot 10 years ago and still haven't bothered to install one. Now that I've got the computer for the CNC sitting right under where it would go I should probably go ahead and put one in.

That's just funky no matter how you look at it. I don't think I ever saw anything like that even back when I was buying the $5 yard-sale scrollsaws. Hopefully you'll get a saw, whatever brand, that does what you need it to do.

Looks nice. I wonder if it would work to stack-cut two different woods, maybe walnut and mahogany, and then when done swap the logs so the beaver and log don't blend in as much.

I know, they really suck. Sure my 18V drill/saw combo that I used to build my workshop with in 2007 are still on the original batteries and running strong but my god - the paint on the chuck has faded so much it really clashes with the yellow of the body and I even had to replace the circular saw blade once! And the DW735 planer I have is just terrible. I just had to replace the 3 cutters after just a year of running nothing but exotic softwoods like purple heart, bocote, and ipe. That's ridiculous isn't it?

That takes me back about 40 years.

It's not a question of fixing it, it's a question of why it needs fixing after just 2-3 years of hobby use. I just sold a 70 year old metal lathe with spindle bearings as smooth as the day it was made. My 20 year old lathe is still good. I just replaced the bearings on an 11 year old bandsaw because they were starting to get noisy. The bearings on a scrollsaw have zero load compared to a bandsaw, there's no reason for them to wear out that quick, and there's no reason the operator should have to dig it apart to do that level of repair after two years. I guess I'm just a grumpy old man, but I also think it's asinine that I'm expected to tear apart a machine to oil certain parts that should be properly lubed and preloaded at the factory. And I'm certainly not throwing money at it to replace parts that wear out that early. A properly installed sealed bearing in a scrollsaw should outlast me and not be considered a disposable item.

Loud as in it rattles/shakes at different speeds. I took it apart to check the nut that everyone seemed to be blaming it on, but there was nothing loose about it and nothing else seemed out of place. Yes, I know all the cool kids are just pulling their saws apart and oiling things or replacing bearings on a monthly basis, but I'm not one of them. I still like the saw, it's just not as quiet as when I bought it. I'll use it until I can't and then I'll find one that's better made.

Yea, watched all those videos months ago, took the saw apart and wasted many an hour playing with it. It's still loud.

I haven't tried the site so I just know what I read about them from other places. I'll drop these two links here for anyone who wants to do their homework first: https://www.sitejabber.com/reviews/www.scribd.com https://www.muckrock.com/news/archives/2013/oct/10/infringe-violate-defame-scribd-does-it-all/

I'm guessing you've already gone through all those boxes of puzzles, looked in the rolled up awning, checked under all the seats in the car, looked in that book you were reading last etc...