rash_powder

Oh I know I am. Just gotta do it though.

When I built my stand I was having all kinds of vibration issues. The cause was lack of weight and (mostly I think) the old stand was flexing too much. My new table top is a few inches bigger than the saw footprint in all directions and made of 2x4's laminated together to form a roughly 3" thick butcher block. I cut the narrow edges off to get rid of the round-overs and sanded it smooth. The cabinet is framed from 2x4's using 1/2 lap joints that are glued and screwed. The whole lot is bolted together and skinned with 1/4" ply and rolls on casters. I've a drawer installed with many more holes than I have tubes for blades. Its very heavy, rolls very nicely, and absolutely cannot flex. The only time it shakes is when one of the casters does not contact the floor - I used 4 and my basement floor wasn't poured very level. Its not 100% what I wanted but it works. I have some improvements to make and some finishing to do yet someday.

I have been suffering a lot of blade breakage lately on my Hegner also. Most seem about 1/8" below the top clamp, the bulk of the rest about 1 1/4" up from the bottom clamp. Upon reviewing the manual I found that I was over-tensioning the blades - Hegner says no more than 1 turn of the tensioner from no slack and I was going 1 1/2 or more. Less tension has helped some, but I fear my current favorite blade has gone down in quality too, though I can't say for certain as I don't date the bundles of blades I have. I do tend to push the cutting life too as they feel sharp even when broken. Struggling is my thing, as is over thinking which is where I am at with it now. I'm trying to work out how to set the tension to approx 15000 psi as that is give or take where a bandsaw runs and a scroll saw blade is in a very similar situation. I tried tunining to 'C', but all the guitar tuning apps show it going from B flat straight to D sharp so that idea is a no go. If I ever figure something sciency and repeatable and measureable out I will post. I'm not too keen on the do it by feel thing.

I'm not sure the habits of many; but several years ago I heard that amongst hunting men deer season was THE time of year to discover heart problems. Seems the increased cardiac load of walking/trudging miles, staying warm, and moving harvested critters causes many people troubles. And the stress of the holiday season too....... Stay safe and take care of yourselves! Condolences to Brad's friends and family.

Any motor could be controlled via a foot pedal quite easily. DC or AC, doesn't matter; AC controllers can get quite expensive but be it a knob, lever or pedal its just a variable resistor. The biggest problem that I, personally, see in a foot speed controller is consistency. I know that with my current bench and stool setup I do not think that I could hold my foot in just the right position for long periods. The throw on the foot pedal is too short also for consistent fine control. That is a hell of a saw though in that brochure; not really meant for most garage shops though as its kinda big.

I've put some thought into stack cutting, but the two troubles I keep hitting are aligning the stickers on already cut pieces, and everyone's name is a different length so I wouldn't know if I'm cutting a Karen or a Nicholas. So its one at a time for me. 45 minutes per ornament and I would think I was flying!

I’d like to stack these but they all have a diff name and lining things up - especially stickers - is not my strong point. my wife is going to paint them so little detail mistakes are no worry as the business of all the decorations will mask them. Also, I’ve found I see the mistakes until I pull the pattern and then they are much harder to see.

I've been cutting a bunch of the Christmas ornaments for friends from 1/4" poplar. They are the ones Travis sells that you can customize. I started cutting them with Olson Mach Speed 5R blades, and actually bought more just in case I run out. Yesterday, just for giggles, I tried a Mach Speed 3R. WOW! These blades just rip through the wood like mad! I've had to completely re-learn what I'm doing to keep them in control. They cut so fast I had to slow my blade speed down to avoid making mistakes. According to Olson, they have the exact same tooth counts; which I find odd. The only thing I can figure is that the narrower blade width lets it go faster. On a side note, it takes me about 1.5 hours to cut one ornament. How long do you guys take? I kinda feel like I'm going too slow. Laters!

Ive been using Loctite General Purpose spray adhesive over the clear shelf paper. Its been working well enough for my needs. All said, I wouldn't be surprised at all if it was all the same stuff, just in different cans and labels. OEM suppliers and brand names are sneaky that way. y

I made reindeers from a 2x4 of cedar on my 14" Delta bandsaw. Just mount up the smallest blade you can find, I think I used a 1/8" blade. There is a guide from Clark, I believe, that helps make tight turns a bit easier. I have one, but the product name eludes me at the moment.

That maquetry machine...... It looks very similar to the 1950's craftsman scrollsaw I have. The Craftsman was meant to use a shop motor or whatever you had handy, but that Marquetry machine, the first thing I thought with the wheel and foot speed control was a sewing machine. If a scrollsaw and a sewing machine were to mate; I feel that saw would be the outcome.

That looks like a solid start on a circle cutting jig! Similar devices are made for bandsaws to enable near perfect circles to be cut. This may help me with some of the projects I do!

1760 rpm's at the motor shaft is what first comes to mind. Any pully's involved may change this faster or slower. If you want variable speeds, a Variable Frequency Drive is needed for the type of motor used; they can be spendy and aren't easy to DIY. One could have a small stack of pulleys to swap in and out to change the speed. Even at a single speed, that $40 saw is a steal!! I wish stuff would pop up like that around here.......

How are the mini cyclones working for you? I have a dust deputy (I think thats what it is called) attached to a 1/2 gallon jar. The 3-stage central vac motor I have it hooked up to will suck the dust from the bottom of the jar if I turn the power up too high. I prob just need a bigger jar, but the small size is nice.

there are silicon collapsible dog bowls that might work. I just removed mine and mounted a dust extraction system.

I just watched a video where they recommended using transfer tape as a way to prevent some of the burn staining from occurring. I've not had much problems with my Ortur LM2, but I also don't use it very much.

Absolutely go for it. If you do score it, bolt that stand to the floor if at all possible. Mine had some weird probs caused by my stand flexing and being too light. My situation doesn't allow it to be bolted to the floor so I made a butcher block table top and a 2x4 cabinet to mount it on in order to create a non-flexing heavy stand. It absolutely is all of that.

I don't know if it counts, but I would love a loaded Glowforge. It might not be able to cut as thick as a scroll saw in one go, but it can cut and engrave quite a variety of materials. I'd have to say that. Otherwise I really like my Hegner. Just wish someone with a bit more skill than I built the stand it is on.

I'm not sure the size of the community you live in, but if its big enough to support a welding and machine shop, they will most likely have them. I can source tiny drill bits at ACME tools or Fastenall where I am. Model rail road folks use tiny drills too I think. You'll not likely find a store supporting that hobby anymore though.

The bronze sleeves in the arms are very similar to the bearings in an engine on the rods and crank shaft - the main bearings and such. I've always heard them called plain bearings or bushings. The ones on the pitman are ball bearings. Again, thats just what I've always seen and heard them called. It's likely I'm totally wrong.

Gotcha. If the needle bearings are giving you repeated troubles, maybe try a plain bearing like what the Hegners use. Thats if the shaft it rides on will allow it. Its odd that they would choose a not common size bearing for a product that has a niche market and likely limited sales potential (by which I mean not the market potential as a car, table saw, ratchet set, etc). Spec'ing a more common size would make more sense in that regard. I guess it could be argued that the odd size forces parts sales to you, but it also gives a negative when word gets out that you can only find a critical part in one place. Anyway, best of luck!

That seems a little shady that the bearing isn't replaceable. A large majority of what humans put together can be taken apart again. I couldn't find a drawing, but from the parts listing it seems you have to replace the arm to replace the bearing? I've pressed things apart in a bench vise with carefully chosen sockets to act as a ram and spacer. And being aluminum and steel expand at different rates one could bake the arm to, say, 180ish degrees F and the bearing may come in and out a bit easier. To me thats an expensive tool to give up on. I would have to fix it. But that is me. Best of luck!!

I was having horrible vibration problems on my Hegner until I figured out it was my bench. In my attempts to fix the vibrations, I tried stick-on tire weights from Harbor Freight on the saws upper arm, to the rear of the pivot. I don't recall how many I used anymore, but it was in my belief a lot. It did not help at all, but oddly did not worsen things either. I talked with some of the engineers at work, and they said that the static balance is completely different than the dynamic balance. They said that it was some pretty complex math. My problems were caused by flex in the bench. Once I built a new, heavier, super rigid bench, it runs like glass. Maybe make sure that whatever you have it attached to is not teetering on three of four legs, and the table/bench top is not flexing. Maybe stack weights on the bench too - I had over 100lbs extra piled on to try and fix mine. Also be sure the fasteners are snugged up good and not loose. Another option may be to put a piece of rubber mat under the saw to absorb some vibration. Last ditch would be to bolt the entire bench to the floor; but I would guess for most that is unfeaseable/unacceptable. Best of luck!

I saw a fella do this on YouTube quite some time ago with a wooden apparatus he made to turn and feed. It was hand powered.

The Bearings I speak of are the bearings/bushings in the pivots of the arms. They are very similar to plain bearings or con-rod bearings in a car. That moly 60 paste is thicker than peanut butter; I cleaned them up as best I could and put just enough on them to see that the color changed - kinda streaky black. I haven't had to service them since, but I don't use my saw nearly as much as you guys do. I can tell you that this stuff is literally the only stuff to lube the final drive of a shaft drive motorcycle with. Any other grease lets that wear out; that final drive hub and parts are HUGE $$$. Its prob overkill for our application, but I feel its the best option for the bearings. I would pack a ball or roller bearing with the stuff if I felt that it was an application that warranted it.