new2woodwrk

FYI - I also am an Amazon Prime member - have been since they started that feature. I've been a member on Amazon since they opened Day 1 - I used to buy all my tech books from them at really good prices! The Delta will be here Friday (2 day free shipping) - very excited to try out some cuts.

I do this as well - it really helps to make getting the blade in the hole much easier.

I'm testing out several home made "lightbox" methods and in doing so I've made a "Eureka" discovery. The setup: I'm using the same product piece to test the outcomes - the plate I made a few weeks ago: First picture of the product - background is brown paper I use for covering my benches: I built the first lightbox this morning out of a cardboard box and a white sheet. This is the product placed in the first lightbox - background white sheet: Here is my "Eurka" moment - while doing research for building a lightbox, I found this website: fotofuze.com. It's free to sign up, and they have a "pro" version you can pay for - but I'm cheap and I like free! I uploaded the photo from the first lightbox, followed their instructions (which took all of about 10 seconds or less) and here is the result: I think I'm liking this a lot! Thoughts? Thanks in advance for reading and offering your comments.

Thanks JT Unfortunately, there are no stores near me that carry ANY scroll saws - Lowes/HD neither have anything in stock to even look at :( The nearest big city to me is 2 hours away, and even then there are very few that have anything in stock. That being said, I think I agree with you - I'm pricing the mid range saws and if they are all so similar, which I think they are IMO. The high end machines are too far out of financial reach. in addition, being so new to all this I'm not prepared to make that kind of investment yet. No worries Lew - I bought the Delta simply because of price and a video I watched of someone cutting out a hummingbird pattern I liked how she was able to raise the arm out of the way, insert the piece in a new fret hole, reattach the blade and keep going - it seemed so seamless and easy I also have the Wen 3920 which I think was a great choice for a starter saw. I will decide if I want to keep it or sell it - right now I'm thinking I might keep it as a 2nd for silhouette cutting and sanding which it does both very well! Oh and to get the wife to let you buy one... Get her involved - my wife likes cutting and painting the work pieces - it was easy to get her interested and willing to upgrade

It seems there is a price war happening on new saws. I notice on HD the EX 16 is priced at a reasonable $579 and the EX 21 is now at $799, the Dewalt is now at $489 and the Delta 40-694 is now at $399 So, advice is welcome - here are my final thoughts (I'm tired of waiting for a used saw to come for sale) So I have my choice of NEW saws narrowed down to those 3: Delta 40-694 - Priced 399$ - I have a Delta TS and I really like working with my TS and the Price is perfect for a new one Dewalt 788 - Priced $489 - everyone says this is the go to machine - $100 more than the Delta, but supposedly very similar in both usage and maintenance Excalibur 16 - Priced $579 - this is just outside my reach for a new saw but I could stretch it if I plead with the wife a few more weeks. The 21 is just too far out of reach at the moment I'm actually now leaning more towards the Delta after reading a bunch of reviews and watching a few videos of people using them. I really like the way the whole arm raises and it looks like it's very easy to change blades and thread blades for fretwork Thoughts? As always, thanks in advance for your advice.

I'm looking at various saws trying to decide which I'll spend my money on and one of the things that concerns me is feeding and tensioning the blade. I've read several reviews talking about top feeders and bottom feeds (not catfish LOL), and not sure exactly what is meant. For instance: On my Wen, I attach the blade to the bottom adapter and feed it up through the table and then through work piece - does that mean I am bottom feeding? Would top feeding then mean you attach the blade to the top head then feed it down through the work piece and table and attach it at the bottom? Most of the videos I've seen seem to be the way I am doing it - if I am a bottom feeder - that is such a weird tern to use on myself LOL Thanks in advance for clarification

Nah, those Humming birds are incredible!

Very clever!

I check daily the following sites for "Scroll Saw" CPOoutlet Craigslist.org Ebay Letgo and periodically FB Marketplace Often, I'll see both a jig saw and a band saw advertised as a scroll saw - the one that always cracks me up is "Radio" Saw (Radial saw) as a table saw. I'll add any other suggested sites as well

Very cool - did you put a real flag behind the eagle or did you draw that? Nice

could you be sleeping in an odd position? I know I get stiff necks and back pains sometimes when I sleep weird. Just a thought

Yah, I've been checking every day and nothing - I've no doubt my next saw will be a new one

Very nice projects - thanks for shairng

Crude? LMAO - you want to see crude look at my posts LOL Very nice cuts - thanks for sharing

I'm passing on this saw - still holding out But, see what I mean about CL in my area? All priced as if their items were new - it's insane!

Yah thanks - I thought it looks rusty and abused :( Don't care bout the sander myself - just the saw

Says he wants 350 for the saw and 90 for the sander - saw doesn't look worth 350 to me. https://okaloosa.craigslist.org/tls/d/scroll-saw-dewalt-and-spindle/6528180299.html Thoughts? Not to mention 400 for both or 440 individually LOL

That's very cool - thanks for shairng

I agree about the Pegas - It really helped me get movement on cutting - when I used the Olsens, they were fine, but I was having such a hard time staying close to the line. The FD were a bit better for me, but still straight lines were a real issue. Then someone here mentioned the Pegas - I bought a sampler package at first and OMG what a difference! So much so I bought a gross of the #3 and #5 reverse skips - incredible blades. I've got a few projects coming up that I believe need to have a different blade so I'll be reaching into my sample pack LOL

Oh? how do you get the marble out?

Hope it works out favorably!

Thanks for that - also allows me to see how to load any blade in the King - much easier than my Wen Is that tension issue for all blades or just the jeweler blades ? Doesn't the blade break because of the extra bend you put in it before tightening?

Very nice - that peace really stands out well!

Hi Bob, My shop is similar - everything needs to be on wheels, attached to something else or hung on the wall! I have a few tool carts I made that are multi-purposed - drill/bench sander, bandsaw/grinder etc. 3 of my workbenches are also on wheels I have a separate bench for painting, but I do use it for can spraying, spray lacquering, brush finishes etc. as well.

So, I've been in and out of the shop all week with various tasks. First I made a humongous down draft table (pallet wood so no cost). Then I realized I had no place to put it. So I cut it in half LOL. I already had the handle, the pvc for the dust connector and the peg board I removed when I put up my French cleat system. Then I made a drip box, attached it to one of my workbenches, and finally got to add legs from the Rockler brackets I ordered Also, learned a valuable lesson about cutting letters - Which you can read in my blog if you're interested. I finished a bunch of cuts, the wife painted a bunch and I started spray lacquer on them Also cut up a bunch of patterns, and set up for the weeks cutting (this is 1 of 8 panels prepared) Lots to do next week... hopefully Oh, and we finished our taxes as well LOL!