BadBob

Very nice. Keep up the excellent work. I make many toys, and one of my best tools is a set of drill bits in number and letter sizes. Dowels and axle pegs are not always the correct size. When gluing a dowel into a wheel or a peg into a body, there must be enough room for the dowel and glue. These bits allow me to quickly increase the size of a hole by a few thousandths. If the hole is tight when you dry fit, it will be much tighter once it is wet with glue. I have split toy bodies when forcing a peg into a hole, and I once had glue squirt out of the side of a toy. Nowadays, I make the hole larger if I can't fit the dowel or peg into the hole and remove it with my hand.

I have two 6x48-inch belt sanders. Currently, I only use one, but if I ever clear enough space, I will set up the other one with different grits to rapidly change grits. I have two bandsaws, one configured for scroll cutting and the other only used for resaw. I have two drill presses, one configured for drilling smaller holes and one for large fastener bits and sanding mops. Belt drive drilpresses are a pain to change speeds on. If I had the money to spare, I would buy one of the new variable feed drill presses and get rid of these two. I really have three since I have a Shopsmith that I can use if needed. I use it for horizontal boring and use the lathe function for drilling center holes in dowels. I also have a Dremel drill press that is not used except when I need to drill tiny holes, which does not happen much.

I never thought of that. I have two because I make made-to-order items to sell, and I can't afford to have the scroll saw down. There are ways to work around not having most of my other tools, but there is no substitute for a scroll saw.

They have one at my local Harbor Freight. The next time I am out and about, I may stop and take a look.

My first scroll saw was an AMT. This same saw was sold with several brands on it. I purchased it in the mid-1980s. It came as a pin blade saw. It only took me a week or so to figure out that pin blades didn't hack out for me, and I bought an upgrade that allowed me to use pinless blades. The saw cut very well. In some woods, the cut was smooth glass. Thin lumber was not available in my location, but I had access to all the pallets I could haul, and that is what I cut most of my project from pallet wood. I made many toys, fretwork shelves, and compound-cut chess pieces. I never got a full set because my kids thought they were excellent and kept running off with them. I bought a used RBI Hawk for $100, refurbished it, and used it for a few years. Then I saw a video about how easy blade changes were on an EX-21, and I had to have one. I found a used EX-21 for sale locally. It wasn't long before the EX-21 was the only saw I used. Now, I had three scroll saws. While I had them all setup side by side, I did a test. The AMT cut smoother than and had less vibration than the other two. Heavy cast iron can dampen vibration a lot. I had to get rid of one and gave the AMT away. For me, ease of blade changes was more important than anything. After a few years, my EX-21 finally had a problem, and I used the RBI while troubleshooting and ordering parts. I decided I really did not like the RBI saw. The blade changes again, and it was hard on the smaller blades. So now I am shopping for another scroll saw. I found a never used Pegas and drove about 700 miles to get it. I sold the RBI for $100.

Not my problem.

The buyer requested a custom size and color. They looked much better than I had anticipated. These trucks are what I was making when I did the blade test I posted elsewhere. When I do custom work, I always make extras in case something happens. There were no discards this time, so I have extras to sell or give away. My granddaughter has already claimed one. The six-inch-long trucks are cut from 2x4 construction lumber. I use 2x4 for this size because it is lightweight and is already the correct size. The bodies are brush-painted with satin acrylic, and the wheels are finished with clear shellac.

My first saws were single-speed; that was all I knew for years. When I got my first variable-speed saw, I ran it at full speed because that was what I was used to. I only slowed the saw when I started cutting projects from thin wood. That was an eye-opener. I had much better control when cutting at low speed. Now, I start cutting with the speed adjusted for the lowest vibration and tweak it up or down if needed. On my saws, vibration is not much of an issue. At the high end, the blower tube starts bouncing. I find this annoying and distracting, so I tend to cut at a lower speed if I can.

Don't buy anything that uses pinned blades. It is not too hard to find a good quality used saw.

Now I get it. I have been throwing these away. Thank you.

Do you have a photo? I can't wrap my brain around this.

Something I left out: Each truck body was cut with a different blade, with the exception of the last two, both of which I cut with the #12MGT. Yesterday, I cut the windows all with a 12MGT.

It looks like I need to give the Pegas Super Skip blades a try.

I just finished cutting the windows on the trucks using the #12MGT blades. The cuts were smooth enough that no sanding would be required except for the little bump I almost always get when I start the cut. The cutting is not fast, but it is faster than the Olson thick blade. Possibly because the Olson blade is cutting a much wider kerf. For my purposes, getting a smooth cut is more important than speed; otherwise, I would use a bandsaw for these.

I am working on a custom order for a batch of toy trucks that I cut from 2x construction lumber. I usually only make things from construction lumber one at a time. Still, this time, I am making twelve trucks all the same, and this was an excellent opportunity to experiment. If you have ever cut 2x construction lumber on a scroll saw, you know this stuff can be a pain to work with. Hard and soft grain, hidden knots, pitch pockets, and other defects are common. It is a challenging wood to scroll. I could use a band saw for this, but I prefer to cut slower and get a smoother cut. Less sanding is the goal. I have been scrolling for years and acquired a considerable collection of blades, including Olson, Flying Dutchman, Pagas, and several others whose sources I no longer know are in my blade collection. I used a variety of these blades in the test. I started with Pegas #3MGT because that was already in the saw. I tried #5, #7, and #12 blades from each of the brands I have on hand and included one Olson Thick Wood Hook Tooth blade designed for cutting thick wood. Some blades had reverse teeth, and some didn't. All of the blades worked, but the difference between cutting 2x construction lumber was dramatic. Olson, Flying Dutchman, and the unknown blades cut poorly and were only suitable for cutting one truck body before they were dull. There was considerable jumping, which I assume is caused by the blade failing to clear the sawdust well. Each time there was a jump, a mark was left on the wood that must be sanded out. A couple of the blades left some burn marks on the not-so-sharp turns. The Pegas blades dramatically outperformed the others, so much so that it was not even a contest. The used Pegas #3MGT cut slowly, but there was no burning or jumping, and the cuts were smooth and square. I cut the last two trucks with a Pegas #12MGT. The results were surprising: not only did it cut very well, but it cut even faster than the Olsen Thick Wood blades. There was no burning, no jumping, and after cutting two truck bodies, it was still cutting well enough to cut one or two more trucks. The difference was so dramatic that when I left the shop, I thought that I should get rid of all my non-Pegas blades. Only one of the blades broke: the Olson Thick Wood Hook Tooth blade broke while cutting one of the straight sections. This seems a little odd since it is by far the largest blade I have, larger than 1/16 inch.

There are many different brands and types of glue sticks. Some work better than others.

I keep all of my nozzles in a jar of solvent. I also keep a collection of old nozzles.

There is an inverse square law. In short, double the distance will reduce the sound level by half. That is why I tried to make my measurements where my head would be when using the tool.

The EX-21 was 14dbA. It is an older black scroll saw made in Taiwan that I bought used several years ago. It has been completely rebuilt with Seyco parts.

You are right; there are many variables. My saw is tuned to the least aggressive setting, and the speed is adjusted for the slightest vibration. I have owned four scroll saws, none of which made any appreciable noise unless something was wrong. AMT, RBI Hawk, EX-21, and Pegas. All of them were on metal stands with wheels. If I were going to try to reduce noise, I would look at something else. I wear ear muffs when cutting—not for the saw but for the vacuum I use for dust collection. This got me curious, and I made some measurements in my shop. Ambient Noise: 4dbA Drill press with Sanding Mop 35dbA Shopsmith Belt Sander on Power Stand 40dbA Delta 1-inch belt sander 40dbA 12-inch Hitachi Miter Saw 65dbA Shopsmith Bandsaw On Shopsmith 38dbA Harbor Freight Bauer Orbital Sander Mounted in a vise 55dbA Vacuum w/muffler and separator attached 44.5dbA Delta dust collector 40dbA Drill Press Grizzly With bit installed 28dbA Dremel In Drill press stand. 35dbA Bosh Battery Powered Drill 35dbA The 14dbA generated by my scroll saw isn't loud enough to be a factor.

83db is two times as loud as 80db. It is a logarithmic scale. Using the Android app opeNoise (recommended) positioned where my head would be when cutting, my old Taiwan-made EX-21 runs at 14dbA. Sitting in front of my computer doing nothing is 4dbA, and typing is about 10dbA. I think that you would have a hard time finding a scroll saw that would be quieter than this. It would be interesting to have others do this test and see what they get for their saw.

I see several differences between the two saws. One thing that no one else has pointed out yet is that one saw has one wrench slot, and the other has two. I'm not sure what you call these slots, but when I had my Hawk, that is what I used them for.

You can set up automated searches on Craigslist, eBay, and Facebook that will notify you when something new is posted. If you are patient and careful, the used scroll saw market offers some great buys. However, depending on where you live, you may need to be willing to drive a bit. I bought a Pegas that had never been used from a Facebook ad. I had to drive from Tallahassee, Florida to North Georgia to get it. I have owned four scroll saws and only one was purchased new.

I have both the BabeBot and GlueBots from FastCap. They have replaceable tips. However, I use a condiment bottle I bought at Walmart for $0.75. FastCap replaced both of my bottles because they broke, and I never returned to using them. The best tip I have ever seen on a glue bottle is the one on the Elmer's Glue All bottle. It has a twist-lock cap that clears and plugs the hole when you close it. It isn't good for spreading lots of glue, but it is excellent for adding little drops.

You can buy meters that give you a particulate count. In some cases, the outside air may have more dust in the air outdoors than you have in your shop.