Timbo2

Thanks for all the replys guys. There is a used Hawk 226VS with stand, caster wheels and foot switch available near me that I'm going to look at this weekend. Looks real clean and might be a bargain at $400. Thanks for the link about Paul Schurch, Rustynail. I might just take one of his 5 day classes next year. I get tired of floundering around for years at a time when I could take an intense class and learn from a master!

Hi there, I would like to learn how to add detailed Marquetry onto furniture pieces much like Silas Koph does. If you haven't seen his work, check out youtube or his website. Fantastic. So I've done a bit of traditional Marquetry on my Chevalet (sometimes known as a Donkey). The attached picture was one of my first pieces from 15 years ago. One can attain great detail if accurate. This tool is designed to cut multiple pieces in a single stacked 'packet' of say 6-10 pieces, with the packet being held vertically (saw blade horizontial). You wind up with 3-5 examples of the same picture, except that each piece will have different pieces (species of wood) making up the same picture. Although the blades are very thin, there's still a kerf between pieces due to vertical cutting, which is dealt with by adding a 'mastic' of sawdust and glue (hide glue in my case) to the back of the piece crammed into the kerfs. In any event, sawing a highly detailed and accurate piece (say 18"x24") on it would be very difficult especially since you can only use one hand to move the workpiece as the other one is used to move the blade back and forth. Hope this isn't too boring. Then I tried a 16" or so Craftsman scroll saw. While OK, it vibrated like a devil for the detailed work I like to do. Then I tried double bevel fret saw hand cutting which was much more satisfying, but might be very difficult in the larger pieces I hope to make. Which leads me to consider: A high quality deep throat scroll saw, like a Hawk 226VS which I have my eye on, but no practical experience. So questions: Is a saw such as this smooth enough to accomplish what I wish to do? I do note that Silas Koph uses an electrical scroll saw. And what blades should I search for to use? I envision perhaps building an 'outflow/overflow' area around the saw table to support the piece while cutting. Good idea? I note that the scroll saws use generally 5" blades. Note the 6 1/2" Chevalet blades in the picture (2 on the right). Could these be used in this type scroll saw without expecting them to break in a few minutes?

I'm Tim from the Central Texas area. I enjoy woodworking in general, hand work in particular, and am hoping to get more into scroll saw work. I have a general question to follow which I'll post in the General scroll saw area. Tim