Liz Weir

I picked up a "new in the box" 226VS in Dec. It was manufactured in 2000; had been in the original shipping box for 23 years! The foam packing ate some pits into the aluminum table, but that doesn't affect the sawing. I waxed the table good. There is some minor rust on a few parts (the guy who bought it & never even opened it lived on lakefront property, so it was pretty damp). Same sad story, though; he bought it to use after he retired along with a bunch of other woodworking equipment and never made it to retirement.

OBE

She did a beautiful job on that painting! My mom was an artist, she did oil and acrylic, and I can say that your daughter's painting is well above what would be "normal" for her age and experience level!

Sorry I haven't been on much. Things have been a bit crazy with the weather, dealing with bills & belongings that were my mom's, animals, and hubby being down for 2 months with an ear infection. I haven't gotten much scrolling done, but my workshop is progressing. My new drill press is set up with a custom stand, I got a bandsaw a few days ago (and I should have gotten one years ago!!!!), and the dust collector is operational but is going to get a custom build with a Thien baffle and a better filter than that silly bag that came with it. The bandsaw was a deal that almost literally fell in my lap - I decided I needed one and magically () there was a listing on Marketplace for a new, still in the box, Delta 14" 1hp for half of what Home Depot & Amazon sell it for.

I've been experimenting with blades. I got a pack of Pegas MGT7 blades because that's what Woodcraft had in stock. The reverse teeth sure like to grab the wood and pull it out from under my fingers and bounce it up & down. When the blade isn't making the wood jump around, it cuts very nice. The blade I've used that I like best has to be 20+ years old. I got it together with my first Hawk, which is a 1996 226VS Ultra. It's an RBI brand fret blade, #9. I assume that a similar blade is still available. I am using ash, about 1/4" to 1/3" thick. A small mill near me cut this when they were experimenting with their equipment; I got around 12 rough cut "slabs" cheap. I like the way the ash cuts a lot more than the plywoods I've used so far. I need to get a "carrier" slab to glue sections of these thin boards on so I can run them through the planer.

I'm from the Detroit suburbs, definitely a concrete jungle there! But I came to TX 30 years ago; me & "real" winter don't get along too well. I don't love the heat in summer, but it beats those winters!

That's a cool idea! I love the eagles - intarsia is something I definitely want to try when I get more skill on the scroll saw. My mom passed 2 weeks ago and I'm barely starting to go thru the crap... er, stuff she accumulated. In addition to what's in the house, she has a huge storage unit that is so full you can barely get in the door and some of it is stacked to the ceiling! Christmas village houses - dozens and dozens of them. Cookie jars, ditto. And OMG clothes and shoes. She called herself a collector; I think hoarder might be a better word. I have no idea what to do with it all.

Welcome! I'm new to scrolling, too. I've been told the best bass fishing in the US is in this area (Lake Texoma on the TX/OK border). There are a lot of retirees here because of the fishing. I'm kind of retired, but running our ranch keeps me busy.

Welcome! I'm pretty new here, too. I second the recommendation to get the Scroll Saw Workbook - it's a great learning tool. Denny posted the link, I'll quote it here just in case.

Good idea! I'll give that a try.

I was doing some reading about blades & saw the stamped vs machined info mentioned, but the article didn't say who made which types of blades. I'll definitely order some Pegas blades. Thank you!

The largest scan I can do is legal size. For larger designs, I unfold the paper and scan it so there is some overlap. It helps to make a dot or dash at the top & bottom of the overlap area with a pencil (before starting to scan) as a reference when lining them up (I use Corel Photo Paint).

Thanks! I've noticed many similarities. The fact that I have to angle the wood somewhat to get a straight cut is driving me crazy, though - when I'm sewing, a straight feed gives me a straight seam! I've tried several different blades and they all do the same. I also need to learn how much pressure to put on the wood to get it to feed properly; I have a tendency to push too hard and that distorts the blade.

Pinterest is likely, I get a lot of ideas there. I'll cut it someday, but I'm just beginning to scroll so it will be a while before I try. As thin as some of the lines are, this will need to be pretty big.

I don't remember where I downloaded this from, but I think it's pretty unique with the dancers incorporated in the tree.