BadBob

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.

I always keep one of each grit on hand for hand sanding or making sanding tools. Sanding belts are long-lasting, so I never run out of pieces. Harbor freight 6x48 belts now come in singles or five packs, 80 or 120 grit. If you want to try different grits, this assortment has one of each.

I love my belt sanders; I have four, not including hand-held tools. Never buy more belts than you need, or you will waste a lot of them when the seam fails. I tend to use up the finer grits before they break. I broke two last week: one while I was sanding and another while aligning and tensioning it. I buy most of my belts from Harbor Freight simply because they have them in stock at my local store, and no one else does. If I am working on a custom order and need a belt, I need it now, not next week. So, local availability wins. I have the same 1x42 sander, but mine is a Delta brand. In my experience, any grit higher than 220 will likely burn the wood. Even with 220, you must be careful and have a light touch. I have had my 1x423 sander since the early 80s and purchased belts from several sources. None of them were better than the others. If the belt I want is unavailable locally, I would buy it from Amazon. Don't buy assortments! There will be belts in an assortment that you will never use.

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.

Amazon has them.

A made in Taiwan EX-21 looks almost unused. If it were closer I would get it. https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/467994126114283/

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

I'm not a fan of Bearwoods and will not do business with them unless there is no other option.

I don't have a local hardwood dealer. I use what they have in the big box stores or order it. It's a 250-mile round trip to where I can buy baltic birch plywood. So, figure out where you are going to get your materials from before you start.

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.

The merchant center imports my listings from Mosaic. The only thing I have to do is fix the things that don't work. I've had many listings that the shipping info didn't import, and their image importing leaves much to be desired. You could go ahead and set it up and just let the import do its thing.

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.

They do work. The free listings' hits appear in GA4 as "Shopping Free Listings" in Traffic acquisition: Session source, Session Campaign. Note you can't use this unless you own your domain and website. Mosaic qualifies.

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.