BadBob

I buy most of my wheels in large lots if I use as many as 1000 at a time. Some of my toys use 18 wheels and it doesn't take long to go through a 1000 wheels. At one time, I made all of my wheels. Now, I only make them when I am going for a particular look or commercially made wheels are not available for the project. I usually batch them out when I make wheels, making many more than I need. I am very picky when making wheels; having them all perfectly round and exactly the same size is important to me. I have an extensive collection of hole saws I purchased explicitly for cutting wheels. I rarely use the hole saws anymore, finding cutting them with the scroll saw to be more convenient, versatile, and faster. When I purchase wheels I buy them from Craft Parts/Woodworks Ltd.

My wife decorates our tree with mostly handmade ornaments. I made my first one when her tree topper got broken. Now there are mini birdhouses and several scroll-sawn ornaments on the tree.

Drill all the holes before cutting. I turned several toys into kindling before I learned this.

I recently had major issues with my Excalibur EX21. One of the symptoms was excessive breakage of #2 blades. I wanted to test to see if the blade breakage problem was fixed, and I wanted to practice/learn to cut thin stock. I had some 6mm reclaimed plywood I could use for this. Most of it was luan, plus a couple of pieces of mystery plywood. I knew going in that most of it would not pass QA inspection due to splintering, veneer peeling, and voids, but this did not matter since. Much to my surprise, some of the pieces were good. Less than 20% of the ornaments made it past my QA Inspection, and a few didn't pass once the photos were made. I cut 36 pieces. Yes, I know I can stack cut ornaments, but in my shop, I often need a single small part cut from thin material, and I do not want the extras to be kept from hanging around, taking up storage space. Besides, I need help finding the extras when I need them later. These are the ones I considered keepers. Not perfect but under normal room lighting I can't see the defects.

I made an OCR version: ==================== What is the difference between Scrollsawing and CNC/Laser Cutting? Every cut done on a scrollsaw is unique. It's impossible to cut something exactly the same on a scrollsaw. Scrollsawers are craftsman. Scrollsawing is like painting a picture. It takes years to lean the craft of scrollsawing, many hours of teaching your body the hand to eye co-ordination to push the timber through the blade to get exactly the cut that is required, hours of frustration, and moments of joy when you see the completed piece you have made. Each and every piece made by a scrollsaw craftsman has a little piece of their soul in it. CNC or Laser cutting is like printing a picture. CNC or Laser Cutting is a carbon copy... over and over again. It may look perfect - but it doesn't have a soul. CNC or Laser cut pieces are not handmade. The machines are 'working' the wood and the person is working a computer. Just because you print a picture of the Mona Lisa from your computer it doesn't make you DaVinci. When you buy something produced by CNC or Laser Cutter operator you are buying a mass produced item that only requires a basic knowledge of computer programming to make - the same as any item you may have purchased from IKEA. If you want to purchase a truly unique piece of artwork made by a true craftsman - buy something that has been created by a Scrollsaw Artist.

For hanging most things, I use two small nails inserted in the wall an appropriate distance apart and positioned vertically with a level. The heads of the nails are left protruding slightly and catch on the lip of the frame. The thin heads will dig into the frame slightly, keeping it from sliding off. For lighter items, I have used straight pins. They never need to be adjusted, and they never fall off. It is cheap, and you never need to adjust. I have been hanging framed items using this method for about 40 years.

That would be the conventional way to do it, but this method has advantages. No tape, glue, or nails are needed. You can cut in any order without concern for the layers of the stack coming loose. Cut the outside first if you like. It is easy, fast, may save some wood, and produces good results with less work in my shop.

If you set this up right, the last pass will shave off the pattern.

I resaw toy parts a lot, so this might also work for an ornament. I cut these three from a piece of pine and resawed it into three pieces. I sanded the saw marks off using my Shopsmith belt sander. Important: I cut slowly and carefully. It worked like a charm. I don't know if I would try this with a round ornament, but if I could figure out a way to keep it from spinning, I might try it. To be clear, I did not use my hands to push this through.

I'm sure it does. I used a little castiron scroll saw sold by AMT for years and made many projects with it. Changing blades was a pain, but I didn't know that until I saw a video demonstrating the EX21.

@Denny KnappenWhat you you use to hold the pieces when you are dipping them?

Note the humidity. It is at 99% shortly after it gets dark and doesn't come down below 90% until afternoon. It's like that most of the year. I don't think it is cold until the water starts freezing.

I found a manual for the saw. The tension is adjusted with a knob on the rear of the saw. It has an ac motor, and the speed is changed by moving the drive belt on a pair of step pulleys. The clamps are pretty crude and require a tool to tighten. Not something I would want to use, and I certainly don't need it. I decided to pass. Interestingly, the clamps for EX21 might work. If I had taken it, I certainly would have tried. The manual is pretty bad, and it looks like you had to provide the motor. I did not see it mentioned anywhere in the manual. Excalibur II Scroll Saw Manual.pdf

Eyes can be tricky. You have to get them in just the right place and size for them to look right. I rely heavily on my Quality Assurance staff (wife and grandson) for this. I agree with your grain direction, but I am making these from designer kindling most of the time, and the pattern has to go the way it fits.

Would a Pegas chuck fit this. @Denny Knappen

I have been offered this scroll saw for free. Can any one tell me any thing about it. I asked for a photo of the label.

Over the years, I have made 100s of animal cutouts, maybe thousands. Kids love them, and it is an excellent way to use up those bits of wood left from other projects. I recently started adding the eyes by request. I use Inkscape to add the eyes to the pattern so I can move them around and resize them to look right. The kittens are my latest cutouts. I cut these from poplar, pine, oak, and mystery wood.

I finally remembered that I had one of those gadgets that you can magnetize a screw drive with. It helped a lot.

The motor came yesterday. It is installed and running fine. I cut an ornament with it last night. The hardest part of swapping the motor was reconnecting the ground wires. I kept dropping the screws and them crawling around on the floor with a flashlight, looking for them. When I first started it, there was a terrible knocking sound. After talking to someone at Seyco and reviewing the parts diagram, I removed the motor and reassembled it without the shims (washers) on the old motor shaft. These are not on the parts listed in the manual. I'm waiting for a call from Ray to see if these are necessary. The saw works fine without them, and the knocking stopped after I removed them. I ran great now, but the arm would not raise. I knew I should have kept the tools out. After more disassembly and poking around, I figured out the problem. I had the wrong screws in the motor mount, and one was just long enough to hit the back of the arm and stop it from moving. The screws on the access panel are the same, but the motor crews have a stack of washers on each screw to stop them from going too deep. Good for another few years.

Details?

As best I could without disassembling the motor. The truth is that I got tired of messing with it. I may disassemble and repair it once the new motor is here. The failure happened at the worst possible time and is the second time my primary saw fail during the holiday season. I wanted it fixed.

One of the things I have learned about bandsaws: I Never use my resaw to cut curves or it will never track straight again.

I copied this from my ED-21 Manual. It seems to contradict itself. Helpful Hints On Blade Tension Determining correct blade tension is somewhat subjective. It is learned through experience and is somewhat dependent on personal preference. A properly tensioned blade will last longer and be much less likely to break prematurely. If the blade tension is too loose, you will notice that the blade will tend to drift or slip offline when cutting, and you may also experience excessive vibration or unusual noise. A blade that is too tight will break prematurely. Assuming the blade has been properly installed in the blade mounts when the blade tension lever is pushed fully back towards the rear of the saw, the blade should be properly tensioned. Test the blade tension by lightly plucking on the blade, like you would a guitar string, with your finger. If the blade is tight and tensioned correctly, you will get a clear and even note. If so, you are ready to proceed to operating and cutting with the saw. If not, for some cases after double checking that the blade is properly installed in the blade mounts, further blade tension fine tuning can be made by adjusting the rear knob to raise the upper arm slightly. Note: this is not the main function of the adjustment knob (see the following paragraph) and using this knob as the primary blade tensioner will cause premature wear and damage to the machine. This saw has an adjustment knob K in the rear that can raise the blade mount up to 1” (25 mm). This allows you to fine-tune blade tension when needed, as well as to reposition the saw blade at a point where you can use a different part of the blade in the cutting area. This also allows you to use a piece of band saw blade, cut to a length of 5”- 6” (127-150 mm) in your saw, and gives you up to 3 inch cutting capacity when needed.Note: Do not over tension the knob as this can cause premature wear and damage to the machine.

Sharp quality blades can make a huge difference as can choosing the correct blade for the job at hand. Assuming the bandsaw is aligned properly.

That method would work and the saw is simple enough. Using that method I would start with the cheapest part and work my way up which is kind of what I did. The real problem with trouble shooting these is that there are no specs available for the motor or the controller board.