OPi

No way would I wear short pants. My legs are too white.

One word: INSULATION My dear sweet wife and I built a separate workshop inside our garage. Measures 8' X 12'. The garage is not heated. The temperature inside the shop was at about 68 degrees yesterday evening when I shut it down. Outside temp this morning was 23 degrees. Temperature inside the garage was 38 degrees. Temp inside the shop this morning - no heater running - was 51 degrees. (This is central Texas - low tonight is forecast to be a record setting 16 degrees - where is global warming when you need it?) I have a small, plug into 120 volt, heater with a high (1500 watts) and low (750) setting. On low setting, it raised the temp from 51 up to 61 degrees in about 30 minutes. It is very well insulated. I think the expression is "Heat it with a candle, cool it with an ice cube."

Got er done. All parts replaced and nothing left over. Runs like a spotted-a$$ ape and smooth as a baby's butt. It's like I got a brand new saw. Didn't find any Excalibur repair videos but did find some for DeWalt. Enough similarities, they helped some. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNt2Y0ajDwk&index=1&list=PLllYT4pSgyVExtK0syqLHW1fq_HMhtjqb This is a link to the first - there are four. Thanks for all your suggestions. Weather is getting nasty tonight, be that way for a few days - dear sweet wife is with her parents so I'm home alone. Going to be some serious sawdust making happening here.

I have googled and searched youtube to find a video that shows how to replace the drive link assembly and the front rocker arms on my EX_21. My searching skills are lacking and I will blame that on achieving geezerhood more years ago than I care to remember or even can remember. (I've been getting free drinks at Wataburger and Taco Bell for over 10 years now.) I do have printed instructions somewhere if I can find them, but videos are much easier for me to understand. Does anyone out there have any suggestions? They will be greatly appreciated.

I have seen a number of patterns in the WTB catalog that are Sheila Landry or Sue Mey designs. My suggestion: Check their websites first, search for whatever pattern you are considering, and if they offer it ........ that's all i need to say about that. http://www.sheilalandrydesigns.com/ https://www.scrollsawartist.com/ I love these ladies!! (And I am not unfond of Keith.)

two words: spiral blades

This is a Sue Mey pattern - http://www.scrollsawartist.com/pointy-cross-with-hummingbird.html as is the Jesus Saves cross - http://www.scrollsawartist.com/jesus-saves-cross-2.html

So, I'm running a little behind - not speaking anatomically, of course. Here is my Christmas list. The bighorn sheep is cut from baltic birch for my grandson, born in the year of the sheep (his dad is Chinese). The bighorn sheep cut from padauk is for his Chinese grandmother who was also born in the year of the sheep. The hummingbird cross, also cut from padauk, was a gift to my dear sweet wife to add to her cross wall. I cut two of the next cross, which I call the Trinity Cross (padauk) , for my two daughters. Also cut two of the JesusSaves cross (cherry), one for mother and the other for mother-in-law. The JESUS IS WITH ME cross (cherry) is a hold on to cross for a dear cousin who had many challenges this past year.

You're probably right, that is not the primary intended purpose of that knob, just like the primary intended purpose of a baseball bat is not to beat the hell out of that possum stealing my chicken eggs, but it works, so I go with it. Appreciate your input.

My story almost exactly - 5 years instead of 7, and I can count on one finger on my left hand my number of broken blades. Also have an EX 21, I make sure when I put in a new blade, clamp bottom first and get it as vertical as possible. Then I loosen the tension knob in the back about a quarter turn. I'm a bottom feeder, so I insert the blade into whatever hole is available, clamp the blade in the top, tighten the tension knob about a quarter turn, flip the tension lever, and away I go. I loosen and then tighten the rear knob every time I start another cut-out. Turning the tension knob before flipping the lever reduces wear on the tension knob. I cut at a higher tension, but have had no issues. Use FD blades, mainly because they are crimped so that I don't have to figure out which way is up. Merry CHRISTmas, ya'll.

First project with cherry, will not be the last. I like the way it cuts. Now what? If it were you, what type of finish would you use? I am cutting a second one - one for my mother and the other for my mother-in-law. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Link to the pattern book on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Bookmarks-Patterns-Marcus-Clemons-Jr/dp/1507546793/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1511658422&sr=8-5&keywords=pattern+book+for+bookmarks#customerReviews

Just curious, what is the number on the price tag?

Back in the day when I was still young and stupid – I got over being young, still working on the other – I had a tendency to push the blade past its limit and ruined more than a few projects. Now I use a timer set to 20 minutes for most wood and 15 for the hard stuff. I have gone as low as 10 a few times. When the timer goes off, I change the blade no matter what. Then I make a tally mark somewhere on the pattern – helps me keep track of how long I spend on a project which helps me determine what I should charge if I ever decide to sell my handiwork. If I use a blade for just a few minutes, I stick it back in the bag and pretend it's new. That’s my two cents worth (actually I think it’s worth at least a nickel).

Achieving "geezerhood" don't come easy - an occasional slip of the mind is to be expected. And those geezer discounts, I earned those. And I just now remembered about that free taco at Taco Bell - it ended about 5 minutes ago. Of all the things i ever lost, I miss my mind the most. (But they do give free geezer drinks.)

Did not know about vecteezy. Thanks. They have more than I can say grace over.

Chinese Zodiac Patterns I’ll start with the background story. It started in the 80’s with our three children – the oldest has very blond hair, the second has brown hair and the youngest has red hair. (genetics, not postman) We received comments from many people and my flippant answer was “we were going to try for one with black hair, but I read that every fourth child born in the world is Chinese, so we decided to stop at three.” Fast forward about 20 years to our daughter’s wedding. The young man she married has very black hair. And here is the part that proves to me that there is a God and that He has a sense of humor. The young man is Chinese. I am searching for patterns of the animals of the Chinese Zodiac to give as gifts for my son-in-law’s family in China. The animals are: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, Pig. I have found suitable patterns for the dragon and the goat. There are also many tiger patterns out there, but most of the rest are eluding me. Any and all suggestions will be appreciated.

We have a canopy that looks almost identical to yours, but with a little wind it wants to move around. How do you anchor it?

Clockwise?? Counterclockwie??? My clock is digital!!! As I sit facing the saw, I almost always keep my project to the left and the waste to the right. The way most blades are milled, they have a tendency to cut more to the right side so if my blade drifts, it goes toward the waste side. Also, if the blade is cutting more on the right, it seems to me that there would be more tooth marks on the right side and so the left side would be smoother. But, truth be told, I really can't tell any difference. That's my two cents worth, but in this case, it is probably worth a nickel. There is a fine line between awe-some and aw-ful, especially when scrollsawing.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think that the movable parts of the EX and the Seyco are interchangeable.