BadBob

Here is what I do on my EX-21/Pegas saws. This might not work for a DeWalt saw.

• Insert the blade into the top clamp as close to vertical as I can get and tighten the clamp.
• Insert the blade into the bottom clamp and tighten.
• Flip the lever to tension the blade.
• Release the tension.
• Release the lower clamp and retighten.
• Retention and now the blade is vertical.

On 5/3/2025 at 12:32 PM, kmmcrafts said:

That's the way to do it.. put a high price on things you don't care to make for others.. 

 

I did this once with a custom order on my Etsy shop. I really didn't want to make it, but the customer didn't hesitate and paid what I asked. I thought maybe this wasn't a fluke, so I made a made-to-order listing on Etsy and got more orders. Every time I got an order, I raised the price and got another order. I finally stopped renewing the listing because I hated making that toy.

It's not Valentine's Day, but the heart-shaped shelves are still selling. I changed the shipping profile to Priority Mail only, which increased the cost by 25-30%. I shipped them priority mail because that was the only box I had that I could fit them into. They are still selling. I have two in stock out of about twenty.

This guy makes nice stuff from pallets. I learned a lot from watching him work.

https://www.youtube.com/@EpicUpCycling

I have made many things from pallets. When I first began scrolling, that was the only thing I had access to.

These are all made from pallets:

The body of this toy airplane is made from an oak pallet.

Great idea.

I have one of the plastic ones. When it is loaded with many brushes, like mine, it is very easy to tip over. A weighted bottom would be a good thing to consider.

2 hours ago, Fab4 said:

Ray:
The simplest way to do it is behind the scenes
Ask if anyone is available to help with your request
then the 2 of you can P.M. or email each other.
Fab4
 

I was going to suggest the same.

I have both an EX-21 and a Pegas saw. I don't care if I have to rebuild them once a year. The speed and simplicity of the blade changes and tensoning (set once and forget it) wins for me. It is why I purchased the EX-21.

14 hours ago, OCtoolguy said:

Our local store doesn't stock it.

I don't think it is stoced anywhere. You have to order it.

Apparently, no one bothers to read Steve's blog:

"A fair number of my readers either sell scroll saw craft items or would like to make some sales. I decided to do some research and try to determine the popular and profitable items sold over the last 5 years. I used Genspark AI to gather the data. It used sources like Etsy and other social media sites. It is a comprehensive analysis and gives a lot of detail, but there is also more to making sales than the numbers. From presentation to location, it all makes a difference. 

I have used the maple 1/4-inch panels. I like them. They have many options.

57 minutes ago, kmmcrafts said:

They're a handy tool to compliment other projects and all around can be fun to make things with.. but that said in my case now days currently only running the laser is actually quite boring if you have nothing else to do in the shop.. After getting the 3 machines up and running I got quite bored just sitting there feeding each machine about every 17 minutes, LOL.. BUT, if I were to be able to run these while doing a little scroll work or something I could see time going by faster and making more product and money.. Yesterday I ended up working on the car doing rear brakes,and sway bar links while I was also running the lasers, so I was able to get a lot of things done while making some money.. The hard part of this was making sure to remember to remove my greasy gloves so I didn't get grease on the cutting boards.  I managed to remember but right at the last minute so there was no ruined boards but came close a couple times, LOL.  I can see this being quite boring too if there is nothing to do but run the laser. I'll bet I'll end up having the cleanest shop around though once I really get into lasering if there is nothing to do, I'll end up cleaning or something, LOL. 

I can think of many things to do while I wait, not the least of which is to catch up on my reading list.

If I had space for it, I would buy one today.

You are making me lust after a laser.

Sand-O-Flex seems to be used a lot by wood carvers.

I finally got around to replacing the spring in my drill press. It would have been easy if I had not installed the spring backward.

10 hours ago, Jim McDonald said:

A few years back, I laminated some scraps of various thickness and species to do some birdhouses. They turned out different but neat.

I did that with a pile of random narrow pieces of wood I had collected. I now have a pile of 1.5-inch squares ready for me to find time to cut them into birdhouses.

I have a MacMop and a sanding mop, both from Klingspor. What I would like to see is someone who has the Sand-o-Flex and a MacMop and/or sanding mop and can compare them.

I keep these on hand just in case I have a problem.

Is anyone using one of these?

I hang mine from the edge of a wire shelf or off the fence rail on my Shopsmith. I use copper wire for the hanger, which I cut from a piece of heavy grounding strap.

. 

13 hours ago, kmmcrafts said:

The way Hawk and Hegners are set up you shouldn't ever have to mess with tension unless changing blade sizes but when running the Pegas you need to check it with every blade.. 

I use Pegas blades almost exclusively and never check it unless I am having an issue. The way the clamp works, it does not matter if the length changes a bit.

As for the notch, the last time this came up, I went through my stash of blades, and the blades varied from batch to batch.

13 hours ago, Mike Crosa said:

Thanks for bringing this video, it was very informative and I learned a lot.

 

Nick Engler videos are always good.

I have been curious about hardwax finishes for a couple of years but could not bring myself to pay the high cost to try them out. In this video, Nick Engler explains what they are, how to apply them, and compares them. At the end, he also provides a recipe for two different hard wax finishes you can make yourself.

22 hours ago, kmmcrafts said:

I don't know if they still do this but years ago if you sold on etsy and violated their terms of use they would block your IP address so you couldn't be a buyer either.

Blocking IP addresses could get tricky. If my connection is offline for an extended time (hurricane), when I finally get reconnected, I usually have a different IP. Then, there are always those various VPNs that hide your IP address.