Zoot Fenster

LOML decided the little crosses were too plain, so she blinged them up.

meflick: here are some pictures. I thought it easiest to remove the table, attach the port and replumb the dust collection system. I did have to grind two washers a little.

This custom duct collection port from BigRiverWares / Etsy fit the Pegas saw exactly and greatly improved dust collection. Well worth $20.

Looks cool! Lots of fun whacking things!

I have tried a number of spray can finishes. I like flat sheen. YMMV. The polyurethanes took too long to dry, but the best was the Deft exterior semi-gloss. Spray lacquers tried much faster. Mohawk exterior flat is the current favorite and quite affordable. "Dead flat" is too flat, even for me.

I did a couple things to improve the Pegas slippage. Wet a paper towel with mineral spirits and clean the upper / lower chuck faces. Two, the ends of each blade are pulled through 400 grit sandpaper. That seems to remove to lubrication from the ends.

You will like the Dewalt planer. Mine has lasted 10-12 years and many hours of use. I finally installed a carbide helical head bought in 2007. It took that long to use up the straight knives. The helical head is much quieter, but leaves more snipe. Would I do it again? Probably not. Avoid knot holes. I broke the fan housing when a piece flew off and cracked the casing. It also chips the knives.

I'm surprised the DFW stores don't carry it. Couple months back, the Rockler Austin store had large piles of it for a special buy.

Those acrylic tubes also work well to store different color dyes. I label them as "yellow - x drops in 15 ml (?)" so I can recreate the dye color as needed. I do not remember the actual volume. Doesn't really matter.

Use it or burn it. Unlike money, wood grows on trees.

Outstanding work! To keep BB from surface chipping / delaminating, I sand the blank lightly with 180G, wipe with water, sand lightly with 320 grit to remove raised grain, spray or wipe on shellac, sand back with 400 grit. The shellac bonds the surface fibers and sands glass smooth. It works on drawers and boxes. I have not tried it on scroll saw patterns.

Once upon a time, I used 50/50 BLO/Mineral spirits in a spray bottle. Fifteen years later, I am still scraping small hard droplets off the back of power tools that were in the way of the overspray. A clean mustard bottle and paper towels work best for me. Safety note: BLO polymerizes in air, creating heat and potentially a fire. Lay those towels and rags flat until the BLO dries.

Very cool! Truly a work of art. Thanks for the lesson.

Stunning! I have to ask, how did you cut a 30" long board on a scroll saw?

Earmuffs are your friend. Nice, comfortable noise cancelling earmuffs with bluetooth music capability. I have burned out two Fein shop vacs and currently run a Festool for the spindle sander and scroll saw. They are quieter than the Fein or Shopvac, but they aren't that quiet. And the air flow from the big cyclone dust collector still whistles, even though the cyclone is located in a closet and vents through the wall. I have been through 3-4 dust collection setups and none of them are quiet or collect all the dust. Lots of wasted money. If I wanted a quiet woodworking hobby, I should have learned to use chisels and hand saws.

Metal duct is great, although it can get a little pricey. The thin wall sewer and drain pipe (SDR35) is available from plumbing supply houses or large irrigation supply companies. Moore Supply is the one in my area. I have not found it at the big box stores. I have some templates to cut holes in walls for 6" S&D pipe if you need them. You are not that far from me (as Texas distances go).

I never use the higher speed on the 735. It is all I can do to push boards in one end and take them out the other end at slow speed. Is that the only difference between the two? I don't know. In the back of my head, I seem to recall that the 734 was more prone to snipe than the 735. It has been too long ago to remember. The infeed/outfeed tables are essential to avoid snipe.

I will give a thumbs up to the Dewalt 735 planer. After ten years and thousands of passes, it still runs strong (and loud). With new blades, the surface is glass smooth. The Dewalt blades dull pretty quickly. Infinity blades are better, but still dull. I change the planer blades yearly (whether they need it or not). Light passes and a good sander are your friend. While I have a jointer, I would also argue that one is not needed for scroll saw work. Put the wood on an MDF sled and run it through the planer will create one flat side. Flip it and thickness the other side. It is difficult for long boards, but easy for short intarsia work.

Thought I would provide an actual review of the Pegas bandsaw. I owned a Grizzly 19" bandsaw for years, fully intending to resaw veneer and never did. It was typical Grizzly quality level, worked okay, but not great. The wife and kids have all the furniture that they want for a while, so I recently started working my way through JGR Beginning Intarsia book. I have never used a scroll saw before, but it is kind of fun. Very happy with the Pegas scroll saw, so I sold the Grizzly and bought the little Pegas bandsaw. It has been some time since I fell in love with a tool. This BS is built fine. The fit and finish is superb. Table is flat. Support arm is beefy. Wheels are balanced and coplanar. Every hole and bolt fit exactly like it should. Well engineered, well made machine. Setup was intuitive. Within a couple hours, I cut a 4.5" thick curly maple blank into my first bandsaw box. This saw makes BS boxes easy. Machine negatives: Do remove and discard the bearing shields in order to adjust the bearings. Assembly is better with two people due to weight, but I managed by myself. Dust collection is average at best, but that seems typical for bandsaws in general. Small blades mean less dust. Yes, it is expensive. But I am willing to pay for high quality, precision machines. When something messes up, it is user error, not machine tolerances.