teachnlearn

I have several of those padded. One of the uses is for folks like us that use manual wheel chairs. After a while the pushing of the wheels tears up the hands. There are a whole group of variations on the handicap supply sites. RJF

Think shop space, that that much each way, but some. Think is it possible you would ever go to larger projects. The large one will cut small crafts, can't reverse it. If you have kept to small crafts for years and never intend to go larger projects, easy decision. My theory of tools and machines is to get the best and that largest I can afford to fit into the shop. I'm 62 and still work with tools that I bought when I was 16. I invest in lifetime tools. Getting harder to do, unless I shop industrial equipment i always do a lot of research and think of what i will with the equipment now and in the future. I see you have done the research. Its one style of buying. I design and over build. Don't like cheap throw away equipment or anything. I would rather repair then throw out. From boards like this and other reviews, you can get an idea of scroll saw flaws and how long its lasted for scrolllers. RJF.

Odd timing of this thread. SDGOOD just posted a trivet pattern and wrote it would scorch if a very hot pot is put on it. He wrote, " Cutting trivets from Corian is an option that can look nice. Corian can be difficult to find and it is not cheap but it looks nice when cut. Some guys have had success looking for countertop installers and getting their scraps. " Gee, wonder where I can find some? RJF From Steves blog; http://scrollsawworkshop.blogspot.com/2019/12/16-six-inch-trivets-scroll-saw-patterns.html

Between Corian and the multiple competitors should find a source. RJF https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corian#Product_lines

Use child safe stain or paint on the back, The back will be against the floor or table and the natural wood train will be up. RJF

When we were 'hurt' we looked for something for extra money and found sharpening can be done sitting down in a chair or in a wheelchair. Since we lived in an apartment I did it mobile and will probably start the company again after our move.I've seen aggressive cutting applied to reciprocating saws, which not only have a up and down motion, but also have a forward motion. Applying aggressive to a blade 'to me' seems vague since blades have thickness, number of teeth and angle of teeth, reverse teeth and the pitch or angle out. When term like aggressive is applied, it seems to be more sales pitch or description. If you expanded this term to other cutting tools, you'll end up with aggressive circular plywood blades, aggressive chain saws, aggressive blades for grinders and aggressive grinding wheels that are more often called course, medium fine or grit. Cutting action is going to be based on the speed of the machine, the number of teeth per inch the material being cut and the pressure applied to push the material through. Take the right scroll blade and cut 1/16th veneer, cuts like butter and fast too. Now take the right metal blade and cut a 1/2 inch steel bar. Does that then make the veneer blade more aggressive cause it cuts faster? This seems similar from the sharpening field for sharpening a second 'micro-bevel' in contrast to aggressive. One group wrote micro-bevel should be used on everything cause of this great advantage of making it 'sharper' and faster to sharpen next time. Fine, I'll sharpen a $10.00 walmart chefs knife and put a micro-bevel on it and sharpen a $400.00 chefs knife and put a micro-bevel on that. Both knives could be called 'SHARPER' for a week, but the guy with walmart knife is going to be back that next week cause the metal is soft and the edge is gone. Both aggressive and sharp have more factors and companies will use the vagueness of these words to advertise. Remember the knife that stays sharp after sawing a hammer head? Then it cuts a tomato. I want to know how many hammer heads it can cut, cause then I can keep a knife in the shop and not buy the machinery. RJF

These folks have great experience with scroll sawing and a lot of topics here have a wood variation. I would check machinist, jewelry and sculpture forums and ask around. You have a very special field and great talent. Probably a lot of the scroll saws will do a project with a metal blade. Before you sink your money into any equipment, check with folks in your field and fields close to it like areas of metal working. They may very well be using the same scroll saws that wood scrollers' use, and I think there maybe a few on the board that cut other then wood. Once variation is cutting money. One running thread with every craftsman, hobbyist and professional, they ALL have their favorite brands, techniques and experiences with different equipment. Amazon has one through five stars for the same product. When I looked up various keywords on sculpture, jewelry, scroll saw, I found many college art departments listing sculpture work shops. Check out your area or online for colleges with sculpture programs. Find the professors that teach it and call, email, go talk to them. I spent years in college and professors always had open door office hours to talk to anyone that walked in. If you go, bring a piece of your work. They will have all kinds of info for you and probably help you walk through what works and what doesn't. Richard Friese https://art.ku.edu/sculpture-facilities-and-equipment

I have copd and one lung. If electric goes down, I need AC, which a whole house pulls a lot, so I'm planning on a whole house automated also. My wife is disabled also. When the humidity goes up or heat goes up, we thought of selling tickets to watch people wheezzing and gasping for air. RJF

I spent time in the Navy and was hurt. I was released disabled and didn't keep up on the Association. I remember getting the information for years and think I was part of it, but never attended a convention or had any involvement. I've been, semi retired since being released from the Navy. I don't have the energy or strength to be a consistent employee, so I design on my own with no state lic. RJF

One problem with the grid is everything is getting old and demanding money. Highways, bridges, school buildings, trains, and the Infrastructure Bill sits. People need health care, there are still people including vets that are homeless, more unemployed and less money for food from the government. Every year the needs out weight the money and drive to get things done. So the electrical grid gets older and older year by year and put off for another year. IF nothing is done, eventually there will be power failures, like an old car that rusts a bit more every year. Not intended to bring just bad news. I see these articles surface every year, its commonly known in the power industry. There is always those out their working every day to paste it together, there just isn't a major push to put in newer better material. There are many dedicated power company people working round the clock trying to keep it together. The present projections is if it continues to have nothing done, better have different power sources for more frequent power outages. This just didn't happen now, its been written about for at least 15 years that I have read of it. RJF

Get a treandle scroll saw and hook a bicycle to it. Then advertise free bike rides to the neighborhood kids. RJF

Battery cars are going to be a problem for the grid. The power companies and 'use to be the government scientist', monitors power usage, then between engineers, accountants for cost projections and math folks for statistics they project future demand. How many electric cars sold? What is there cost, if its high, few will buy. Selling lower power lighting reduces some of that demand. Expansion of industry usage or decrease of industry use also has to be figured. Even climate change has to be figured in. Areas colder, more heat use, areas warmer, more air conditioning. The grid is stressed now with lower voltage 'brown outs', surges 'over voltage' and old equipment blowing out leaving the power out. Its a design problem that means more money put in. Build more regional power plants? Build more high tension power lines to move more electricity across the country? Put windmills in the ocean? Put wave generators in the ocean? Those two are being used by other countries. I have to state engineering has specialties. Electrical engineers, Civil, Structural...It goes on and with in each specialty are more specialties.Electrical Engineering has people just designing antennas and even more special of microwave antennas. Electrical Engineers handle areas of the power grid. All engineers get a group of basics in college, then branch. I decided to go in as a Electronics Engineer and went on to specialize with automation and artificial intelligence, which has varied from designs on large arms putting cars together to putting small electronic parts in circuit boards by using 'arms' and video cameras. Also design robotics for the military and medical for surgery and have done free design to automate for disability. Right now everything is in storage. I subscribe to electronic engineering magazines and their 'lists' have added me on the a whole group of science magazines. With the grid being stressed, I've received many articles on what it is now and what may happen in the future. As a Electronics Engineer I have to not only design not only the equipment, but what the power will do to it. Say a TV is designed, if the designer only has circuits that are powered for exactly 120 volts and the voltage goes up or down either the picture fades and brightens, the volume barely works and the remote sometimes works. Everyone is unhappy cause they bought a lemon TV. The designers have to add in more cost for circuits that will keep the TV going when the voltage is bouncing. If the voltage goes too high even for the circuits, one fried TV. Engineering articles try to project what problems are coming up and possible solutions. I design as both a end user of the power grid and a semi involved member being asked, 'Is there anything that a Electronics Engineer can do to design lower power devices, or better control circuits for the power grid?" My engineering knowledge is by no means complete on the power grid. RJF

I thought Homer Simpson said DOH!!! RJF

You roll out a bit to the size of your shelf, trim to fit, pull the backing and apply it to the shelf. RJF

What a clever idea, give a desk a name. I usually create the piece for the name of the person I'm gifting. Very novel! RJF

The plates remind me of museum pictures. They always put a plate below with the description and artist. I like to draw, and some schools of thought are to go to a museum and study what they have done. Just drop the plate below and its a museum piece. My life has been a mix of interests that branch as I find things I would like to do. From some of my 'art', that I don't even show, foreground will bring your eyes to it faster and then scan to the background. Your plate draws immediate attention to it. Its your work, if you want the title noticed first, you did that. Scrollsawing to me is taking art and creating a wood picture. I have an opinion, but my wife doesn't listen. Just do what she says. RJF

With the power of lighting I will agree a surge protector isn't going to stop it. One guy does a sample calculation of how powerful lighting and figure is powering houses. With that kind of power, I doubt any little box has a chance. I'll leave the actual figure a mystery and let everyone scroll through the webpage. RJF https://www.windpowerengineering.com/how-much-power-in-a-bolt-of-lightning/

Absolutely. This goes back to screw in fuse in houses and someone putting a penny in the socket rather than a fuse. I design electronic automation. The wires and components all have a rating of the amount of amps they will carry. In houses and commercial buildings the max amp a fuse can be rated is for the size wire, electronic engineers do take into account number of outlets, electronics or single appliance on a circuit. There are charts on line with the size wire, and length and how many amps it will carry. As the current goes up the wire gets hot, just like a electric coil on a stove. Running light weight extension cord under a rug and adding adapters to plug umpteen plugs leads to a very unhappy year with a burnt down house. When extensive computers and electronic devices are fused, they are trying to protect the components themselves. I grew up learning to troubleshoot the little components on boards. Manufactures have decided its cheaper to sell the whole board at high markup price, so when you over fuse and there is a surge in the electronics, there goes the cost of a whole new board. After the military messed me up, I can't work a whole day, so I tinker at home and still receive the electronic engineering mags. Its a common repeated article of our country's old, overloaded power grid. Companies don't want to invest in the grid, so they pull the profit and leave it age. Our country is hungry for power with every electronic gadget we buy, the is no increase in the power grid. Unless there is a major overhaul expect more power outage and fluctuation of voltage. I don't buy anything electronic and pricey without a surge protector bar. Anything pricey in your house or shop,, buy top quality surge protector and use them. Get a high rating. Think of them like having a batch of extension cords around. When you plug in a expensive electronics, have a surge protector on hand and plug it in before. I have read enough articles I am saving for a whole house generator. Unless there is a major rehab of the grid, there will be more and longer power outages. across the country. RJF

Is there a PayPal for a group think payment for fixing a blown fuse? Whats the going rate for each, cup of coffee or a beer? RJF

Would be a worry if the fuse keeps blowing. Combination of what the voltage was, since its really not stable, mgr of fuse, they crank these out its not a hand crafted item. Even the motor and blade hanging for a split second and blowing the fuse. Worth keeping a few around for any equipment. Unless you have a electronic supply, your project stops, for waiting for a fuse to be mailed. We have two old microwaves that are 25 years old, Once a year they blow a fuse. Its one of the replacements on the list along with other things to update. I still use a flip phone. RJF

If the shop is too cold, get help and drag it inside. Not a time to be cold and shaking and messing with electricity. If its the fuse, it could be ohmed or a audio beep if you meter does that. Hopefully you will be looking at a glass fuse and see its shot. RJF

He did write he did tv servicing. He has to know voltage and amps even it was from the vac tube days. If the fuse isn't visable, he going to have to pull the cover panels. I mentioned looking at fused cords. If its not there then its covered or soldered in line. Basic circuit tracing, follow the power. Most aren't going to trace discrete components. My background was designing electronics and consulting. I don't expect him to troubleshoot the board, but if it has power in and no power out, that greatly narrows whats wrong. RJF

Probably worth digging into, its always the first time of taking it apart to see how it ticks. Its backwards design not to put in an accessible fuse holder. Most of the Radio Shacks have died, but it would be cheap for the manufacture to mail a fues. Its not like they go in one direction. RJF

Once you hit a transformer the winding is going to take it down to at least 48 vac If not much lower. Keep your meter setting high and drop down. The speed control dial is going to be a variable resistor, can be checked using ohm scale and watching it vary. Voltage out of a board would more than likely be DC. Keep the scale high and drop down. Jumpering across the motor is going to give you if its getting voltage. If there is voltage there and you can vary it, then the motor is getting the voltage. I started my electronics with vacuum tubes and a VOM, it you still have one of those they are durable, use to get SAMS circuits in the STATES. Fixed a lot of tvs that the neighborhood sent the kid. Never figured out what my parents got when the tvs and stereos were returned fixed. Someone maybe able to give you the voltage off of their scrollsaw. I've got a Craftsman, or I would do it for you. RJF

With your background shouldn't be a problem to trace the voltage from the plug though to the motor with a volt meter. I'm not familiar with the Excaliber if it stays 120 v or coverts to DC for a control circuit. With the board out should see the parts like a transformer, could check the before and after speed control or what I would call a variable resistor, ie rheostat. Should show voltage to the variable resistor and varied out after. Right up to the motor. If you have nothing left in your shop from the repair days they sell cheap portable volt meters to use. Trick will be getting the parts, though it seem some here have bought parts somewhere. RJF