rash_powder

Made ornaments for friends and relatives again this year. this is a Steve Good pattern that didn’t show up on his site but a web search gets it. 20 ornaments. A keen eye will see two are reversed from the rest, as well as a few missed detail cuts on a few. Nothing anyone can notice unless they are side by side; I’ve just got to work on double checking parts before the Final Cut.

I'm not sure if MetroVac says this in their instructions, but those vac motors have carbon brushes in them and they do wear out. I can't imagine they are more than $20 a set and not terrible difficult to replace once the motor is exposed.

I didn't see a post addressing the shape of the stand. Rectangle or parallelogram does not matter. Its just how you want it to match your saw's foot print. Rectangle is much easier. 3 legs are naturally self leveling, 4 aren't quite as tippy when moving. If you have an absolute dead level floor 4 legs would be fine; if not use 3. 4 legs will rock somewhere between slightly and a lot. My four castor stand turns into a 3 leg stand by wedging a piece of 2x4 under the front or back; super simple fix. I would add that when building your stand consider the weight and rigidity of it. By their nature, scroll saws oscillate rapidly up and down and its surprising what that small weight moving up and down will bounce around. Hegner advises bolting the stand to a concrete floor! Make it heavy and you will be fine. Also keep in mind that all that up and down motion will make things flex like a leaf spring. This causes all sorts of weird amplifications and deadenings of the vibrations your saw makes. I haven't any picks of my stand, but the top is 2x4'x laminated together; about 16"x24". The cabinet beneath is framed from 2x4 and skinned in 1/4" ply. Not terrible fancy, but its heavy, doesn't flex, and it works.

Weight and flex in your stand are the two things I have found that are critical to keeping the saw running smooth. The first stand I built flexed, though you couldn't see it. This caused the saw to have spots where it ran glass smooth and others that were unbearably rough. Increasing the weight on the stand helped some, but the flex remained. The new bench is 2x4's laminated together and bolted to a cabinet that is framed from 2x4's. It is HEAVY, and I don't think anything will ever cause the laminated 2x4s to flex. My saw now runs smooth at all speeds. If no one has mentioned it, one huge tip is to have 3 points on the floor. 3 legs/feet naturally find level on their own. Unless your floor is laser flat 4 legs will always have a wee bit of wobble. My stand has 4 casters, but I prop the back up on a 2x4 stood on edge. 4 legs to 3. Dead solid and the little bit of extra angle is nice (my saw is already angled but the extra was a nice bonus).

I have a 16" Craftsman scrollsaw from 10ish years ago. Its what I started out with; and I have to say that for the things I have been cutting it worked quite well. I currently use my Hegner for all my work, but the Craftsman would absolutely do it just as well as the Hegner. Personally, I believe that using the lesser quality tools isn't a bad thing. You learn to work around and accomodate their inadequacies, which when you get better equipment makes your work that much easier and better since you have learned 'tricks'. I also must add that on account of I cannot afford higher-end modern tools I use a lot of 'classic' tools, like braces and bench planes. Tinkering and fiddling is a necessity with this older stuff and I enjoy it so it all works for me. I've had to replace the brushes on the Craftsman motor as the originals were not installed correctly; and the speed control potentiometer on the Hegner as it had gotten dirty internally. Everything will need maintenance. Regardless of which of those saws you choose they will serve you well. Have fun!

So sometime in the last day I remembered that I cut 2 wall decorations from 1/2" poplar stacked last Christmas. A #3 or #5 was used, I don't recall. Now I know I've done it, I just need to do it again. But more. Thanks again!

I hadn’t considered drill bit length. I don’t trust the square of my drill press for anything this small so I use a dremel with a plunge base. It spins those wee little bits plenty fast. It is sounding like a #1 is the winner. I will find some and give them a go. Thanks all! Just for a size idea, the ornaments come 6 to a 8.5x11 paper. I printed them on 11x17 paper with the ‘fit to paper’ option. They are about the size of my hand - I wear an xl glove - 6’ and a 2x shirt. If that helps.

I once saw instructions how to take shavings from a bench plane, trim them to shape, and hot glue them to form a rose. It’s a bit fiddly, but doable. Getting the plane sharp and setup was a lot of learning too.

I purchased some filigree ornament patterns from Sheila Landry Designs and would like to stack cut them to try and get a better bang for my time. her instructions recommend a #2 blade, but I have to enlarge them slightly and am not sure that a 2 will cut 2 or 3 layers of 1/4” poplar. My go to blade for ornaments last year was a 5, Pegas MG I believe. I really need to keep notes. Those ornaments were all single 1/4” poplar. These are going to be the most detailed projects I’ve ever done. I’d like to hopefully start off without struggling for blade choice. thanks!!

A rack is a phenomenal idea! I just drove nails every couple inches right above the trim on the inside and outside of our doors on the upstairs floor of the house. Each door can dry about a dozen and a half Christmas ornaments. You just have to duck to get in and out. I’ve actually been thinking on a spray booth. A cardboard box with a small fan and a furnace filter to vent indoors or a small duct to vent outdoors. That has evolved into a medium sized plywood box that is collapsable with a furnace filter and a duct to vent outdoors. I’ve just to build it.

I've not tried this, but I think it would help get to a good start for a pattern. Lay the piece on a copy machine and photo copy it. Like i said, it should work as a crude start.

As mentioned it is likely the rheostat. Sometimes they get a bad spot in them from being used in the same spot always. Turning it back and forth sometimes help, but it will likely need blown/cleaned out or replaced. Digikey is a good place to source parts like that.

I think you may need a small spray booth. A cardboard box would work, I would opt for a small crate if one could be sourced. A filter and a fan in the top/side/back/bottom to control overspray and its done. Nearly everything could be sourced from a junk pile or spring cleanup week if desired.

My current DIY dust collector runs off of a whole-home central vac motor. Its connected to a treadmill controller so its variable speed DC rather than single speed AC. Aside from its a bit loud as its a universal type motor, but it works great. My next will be based on a DIY impeller and washing machine motor - hopefully I can salvage a 3 speed; this will be MUCH quieter. Look up some of Matthias Wandel's youtube vids. He has made many DIY dust collectors. They take a bit of work but can be customized to the exact application.

Check with a local truck broker or shipper that isn't a commercial name (UPS, FEDEX, etc.). Locally we have Midnight Motor Express or MME. They haul stuff, but aren't a UPS type outfit. Truck broker's are the people who work out the logistics to get things from here to there and know whos going where when. Its worth a shot.

I *think* I am done cutting Christmas ornaments for this year. My wife was going to paint them but has since decided we will stain them. I've got 21 ornaments and 2 wall scrolls to stain; all the same color. Has anyone suggestions for a good bulk stain process? I've 1 1/4 of the small cans of Minwax stain, so I don't think dipping will work. Thanks!

I've seen the old draw knives used for debarking. It goes pretty quick and can leave a reasonable straight, flatish side to start work from.

I have watched some youtubes and read a bit about milling lumber, and most seem to agree 1 year per inch of board thickness for air drying. Many stickers between boards and weights on top.

I've been using 1/4" poplar for the ornaments. I have found that running about 1100 strokes/min (by my adjuster) and approx 1/2 turn on my tension rod (Hegner says 1 turn max) has been working best. I was running nearly wide open, so this is wicked slow by comparison. I am pretty sure I'm not side-loading the blade as I do check myself on that quite often; also I have been trying to check and re-set tension often since it seems to loosen on me. Cutting with the grain is sssssllllllooooooowwwwww going! I have to slow the strokes down and I know I am prob pushing to hard, but it seems like I can't cut with the grain otherwise. Since I changed my cutting speed and feed rates I haven't broken a blade in the last 10ish blades, so thats good. Will just keep going and change one thing at a time and sooner or later I will figure it out. Thanks!

Maybe try a zero clearance table. The near 0 opening for the blade will offer much more support for the material being cut. I made one from 1/8" hard board and carpet taped it to my saws table. Make as small a hole as you can for the blade. I had to cut the table, measure and make the hole, install a blade through the table and the new table for alignment, tape new table down. I hope that makes sense.

I have been cutting a boat load of Christmas ornaments the last few weeks and have found that some blades of the same size/model/brand work much better than others with the exact same setup; as best I can tell. What I mean is an Olson Mach Speed 3R will cut roughly half to 3/4 of an ornament, and when it gets replaced, the very next might only be good for 4". I've found this with the Pegas #3 skip tooth reverse also, though I've only been through about 4 of them. The first was bad, and the next couple good. Is this bad setup or blade quality?

I would try to remove as much bark as possible due to all the dirt and grit that accumulates in bark - I would think that will wear the blade faster. That being said I have dabbled in attempting to make my own boards and cut through the bark. Cheap Olson blades were used though.

Try a local machine shop. They will likely have a large amount of the numbered drill bits. Where I live is an Acme Tools; they have many in stock at the store.

I use an add-on chuck from the local big box store. It goes to 0, and clamps into the existing chuck with the hex shape that all the screwdriver bits use. They are about $7 and work well enough. Drill press chucks are replaceable, but as mentioned watch that you get the right taper on both ends. Also, if you have a Harbor Freight press; your tapers may be metric or whatever they use and are not easy to source components for. If a hand drill, you've got what you got. When you change your chuck, be sure to keep that taper safe and clean. A little bit of dirt, a nick, or a bit of skin oil or machine oil and it won't fit right or slip.

+1 on the Pets Package! My wife loves them! I just need to find time to make for 6 cats, 2 dogs, and 2 passed dogs. If there was a passed dogs and cats that would be great; i wish i possessed the skill to draw these things. Thanks!!