davidg

Thank you all for your comments. I did initially wear a dust mask, but as I'm only using the saw for short periods at the moment, and have an efficient cyclone extractor drawing dust from behind the blade, as well as a modified extraction chamber around the blade area below the table, rightly or wrongly, I feel safe enough to go without a mask at the moment. Having said that, if I were to cut mdf (not likely) or exotic woods, or cut regularly for extended periods, I would wear a mask as an added precaution. I also have a digital air quality meter positioned near the scroll saw, which reads well in the safe zone when using the saw. I always wear ear defenders and safety specs however, although the frame over ears gives some discomfort over time as the ear defenders compress the ears into the spectacle frames. Re. the magnifier, yes, my face is fairly close to the lens, so I could look into a different magnification/vocal length in the future.

I thought I'd share this tip which I discovered today. Using a glass magnifier with integral LED illumination as an aid to more accurate cutting on the scroll saw, I often have the problem of moisture from my breath condensing onto the cold glass surface of the magnifier lens, which severely restricts visibility to the point of being unusable. Whilst cutting today, I had the idea of using the bellows blower nozzle on the Hegner to keep the magnifier lens clear of mist whilst cutting. By positioning the blower nozzle to one side of the magnifier, so that air is blown across the upper surface of lens, it worked the same way as interior windscreen de-misting vents on a vehicle. As I already have a separate extraction nozzle to the rear of the blade, I found that I didn't really need my original bellows tube to blow dust from the front of the blade at the same time. I would imagine that an aquarium air pump setup would also work to prevent the magnifier lens from misting.

Ray asked a question about using a foot switch in conjunction with a high chair/stool (some examples shown in the original thread). For forum search purposes, I thought I'd start a dedicated thread for this important topic and share with you my own idea. Basically, the height of my single pedestal saw table meant that I had to use an elevated stool for a seated work position, which also meant that I could not locate the foot switch pedal directly at floor level, as my foot wouldn't then reach. For added comfort whilst seated, I built a plywood box footstool, instead of using the footrest rail on the stool itself. I was then going to place the foot pedal on top of the stool, but the physical size of it seemed cumbersome. I then had a very simple idea of remotely operating the pedal, effectively using a much smaller pedal, which could be in any size/shape I wanted, with the original pedal being mounted below. The concept utilises a short length of aluminium tubing (sawn from an old curtain pole) with in this case, a rubber walking stick end cap at one end to act as the foot actuator/pedal extension. Whist designing this, I decided to use a side to side rocking foot action instead of the normal front to back rocking movement, so a hole was made in the foot stool top, with an alignment biased towards the ball of my right foot, more inline with my big toe. The right edge of my foot will now rest directly on the foot stool and the switch will be activated by moving my knee from right to left (with foot following). Adequate space was given to the right of the pedal extension, so that my right foot can comfortably rest at the same height as my left, without any possibility of pedal actuation when needed. The original foot pedal was mounted below the hole made for the tubing, such that the back (non-hinged section) of the lower pedal footplate aligned centrally with the aluminium pole. A small piece of wood was screwed to a large washer, which would fit inside the aluminium tubing and subsequently glued in position onto the original pedal so that the tubing couldn't move around when actuated from above. Apart from getting the most ergonomic position for the upper pedal extension, care was needed to ensure the correct length of tubing, allowing sufficient hole clearance so as to operate freely, as well as ensuring the weight of the pedal extension tube did not actuate the pedal under its own weight. In practice, I'm finding the ergonomics of the foot pedal modification far more comfortable than using the original pedal as is, with the added benefit of being able to modify the new pedal foot plate still further if desired.

On my variable speed Hegner, there is an attached plate giving recommended cutting speeds for various materials and thicknesses; 1300 - 1400 for wood 1000 - 1200 for aluminium, soft brass and soft copper 600 - 700 for steel, hard brass and hard copper 1200 - 1300 for plastics I suggest that the recommendations are only general guidelines, as there are many variables. For plastic, I would have thought a lower speed than recommended would be more suitable in order to reduce blade overheating and subsequent re-welding behind the blade, but trial and error will find the optimum speed and feed rate for the material you are cutting with your specific blade. The main point is that with a variable speed machine you can obtain an optimum setting. You may also discover that certain speed settings give rise to a higher level of vibration of the saw, and increasing/decreasing the speed just a little will improve the situation. An issue for me on the Hegner was the location of the speed control box/dial, placed out of direct line of site under the cutting table. I think the manual recommends setting the required speed first, before switching on the saw, but in any event it is not ideal crouching down or feeling for the control knob under the table. Fortunately, I came across a low cost digital tachometer on Amazon, which allowed me to mount a small magnet under the lower arm of the scroll saw, which in turn actuates a sensor mounted underneath. This sends on/off pulses (based on the proximity distance from magnet to sensor head as the arm raises and lowers) to a wall mounted digital meter, equating to a strokes per minute readout. It still means feeling for the knob to change speed, but at least I now have an independent visual indication of strokes per minute, which is close enough to the actual dial settings when compared. I'm hoping the sensor will also be of help if I experience issues with the speed controller in the future.

Thank you for the info. and modification ideas. I have been struggling to achieve a quick and easy method to accurately align a blade using the Hegner clamping jig and have come up with a solution which works for me. The modification I have come up with (based on ideas mentioned in this forum) is to use two small, right angled corner brackets (originally purchased as part of a mixed bag of brackets from Lidl in the UK). The left hand bracket is attached to the front of the original Hegner clamping jig via an M4 bolt after drilling and tapping. A spring washer was used with the securing nut to allow for a small degree of rotation so that I can accommodate different depths of blade by rotating the left bracket in an arc until the blade centres in the blade clamp slot. The bracket on the left had to be filed in order to fit under the table of the scroll saw. An identical corner bracket was used on the right hand side and as per Scrappile's suggestion, a nut and bolt incorporating a spring was used to clamp the two brackets together. The spring can be tensioned by adjusting the acting length of the bolt by tightening/loosening the nut. The new 'clamping jaws' are opened by pushing the head of the clamping bolt against the spring and bracket on the left, with the spring compression holding the blade in place between the jaws. At first, I just had the left hand bracket and manually held the blade against the bracket side by squeezing the two between a finger and thumb. Adding the second spring loaded bracket works even better.

I have a smaller diameter magnifier with a ring of LEDs around the edge. I would have preferred it a little further away from the top arm of the saw, but the insert area on the Hegner almost fills the lens at a good magnification for detailed work. I thought about experimenting using periscope reading/TV glassed in combination with the magnifier, so that I wouldn't need to look downwards whilst sawing, just straight ahead. The workpiece view would be at 90 degrees to the line of sight, but I don't know if that idea would work, or be practical (the top saw arm may obscure the view somewhat). I've noticed that some engravers are using microscopes at a similar 90 degree to the eyepiece configuration, but for scrolling, I think that would be overkill, with the microscope probably and mounting bracket costing more than a high end saw. If I was scrolling for long periods of time, I may experiment with a head brace support. Something on the lines of a cushioned curved headrest, mounted above and in front of the saw. As the head tips forward to look downwards on the workpiece, the curved, fixed position support makes contact with the forehead, thus receiving tension on the neck muscles.

These are lovely, Barb. A very happy/hoppy Easter to you and all who celebrate. David

I have just received a reply back from Fiona Kingdon re. the use of her patterns. This is her reply; "Hi David, thanks for your enquiry. It is my intention that my patterns are made available to folks so that they can cut them for personal use, not for commercial purposes. i.e not for sale. My work remains my copyright and in theory I get to dictate the terms of its use." Fiona also accepts that in reality, folks will do as they please. David

Thank for the info. re. dust extraction, Kevin. Your thoughts and observations reflect my views exactly of what I would like to see as the work is being cut. Perhaps some people struggle for technical reasons to get a good position for the camera, whilst also being able to see the workpiece properly as they are cutting, which probably explains why some cutting videos are less successful than others. With the sound, you could possibly record without, then add voice commentary later, but then we are in the realms of video editing, extra work and time, which all come at a cost. I would be interested to see a still shot which shows the camera setup in action and any practical tips you can give re. scrolling and videoing simultaneously.

I was a little confused about this as well, but her copyright notice refers specifically to the actual pattern and not the finished article cut from it. At least that is my interpretation, but I think I will contact Fiona to clarify. Basically, we need to know if items made from Fiona's patterns can be sold and if so, whether or not the seller is required to issue a copyright notice with the finished product.

Although I've had my saw a long time, I have done very little cutting so far, so videos are very helpful to me (particularly the way you have shot yours, so that people are seeing pretty much your own view of the workpiece whilst cutting). You seem to have hardly any dust visible. Is this all being drawn through the small holes in the table, or do you have a separate blower or extraction tubing as well, which is out of view in the video? Re. viewing videos (presumably through the forum's native player), I seem to get just an occasional image flicker of usually the first frame only. However, if I change my browser from Safari to Chrome (both on Apple Mac), the videos play fine. So my tip for anyone having viewing issues is to try with a different browser if possible.

I help run a community allotment and one of our volunteers has just cut down a load of bramble and left it in heaps for someone else to clear away. Your 'Game of Thorns' sign would be most appropriate to award him.

My saw was purchased in 1998, so it's definitely out of warranty. I remember seeing a YouTube video once, where someone made an alteration to their Hegner in order to be able to cut thicker material by further increasing the upper arm distance to the table.

Thank you for showing me this –much more elegant than my 'bundle of tubes' version. Do you find that the addition changes/improves the 'jet engine' noise which the unmodified Locline nozzles seem to produce when hooked up to a vacuum? I volunteer at a charity shop, and am always on the lookout for potentially useful bits and pieces which I recycle from any donated but broken items. I made a repair to our washing machine with nothing more than a recycled piece of plastic a few weeks ago.