crupiea

Whenever i get like this with constant blades breaking i look at myself as the problem. Maybe just a tiny bit in a rush or something. I will take a step back and give it a half hour or so and try again. Oddly it usually fixes the problem. Not saying this is your issue but worth a try.

I have used wood glue on painted surfaces with no issues. I clamp it down for at least a day.

I use this if its going to sort of ooze out and you can see it. Like fretwork on a backer. Never had an issue with it. otherwise I use wood glue.

No need to ovethink this issue. Just use less adhesive to attach the pattern to the wood. I barely use any super 77. just a super light spray. Takes a while to figure it out but once you do this problem will no longer be an issue. I just follow the directions on the can for a temporary bond.

What happens many times is the little part you are trying to cut will be unsupported by the whole in the table. Then it breaks out because its not supported. Couple simple ways to address this. 1- a playing card with a hole in the middle of it like the kind you can buy at casinos. Put the blade up through the hole and tape the card to the table. and/ or 2- Put another piece of scrap under the piece you are cutting and cut both at the same time. This will give you more support to stop the breaking out stuff.

I have a fancy glue kit thing with a bunch of adapters which is ok. What I mainly use is a .99 condiment bottle like the kind that you put ketchup in and an old small paint brush.

What if you just used a thin veneer on top of a metal sheet? Not sure it would work but a thought.

I have a little harbor freight $20 spray gun kit and a little compressor. Very handy as you can just use cheap watered down craft acrylic paints. Dries in a very quick time, looks good and you can handle it without getting paint all over yourself in minutes. I do like 6 coats in a couple hours no problem. Looks good too. Also can do it in the house because its just craft paint. Just a thought if you have a compressor already.

I do. The reason is if someone looks at it, in order to hang it on the wall they will need to look at the back. If there is overspray and what not to me it just seems unprofessional. I just usually paint the back the same color as the frame. I make the frames too as they are basically a part of the overall picture. Nothing special but it just makes it more finished in my opinion.

I have a bunch of different sizes. I use 1 or 2 of those sizes for just about everything. The rest are pretty much just displays for me to look at and never use. Once you start getting in to it you will gravitate towards a certain style pretty much and then get blades that work best with that style.

I have thought about this too. Also look at tattoo design flash books. great resource and they have the lines already drawn in so very little adjusting of the patterns required. I have a bunch of books of them I use.

Cant stand the spirals. I keep telling myself its just a practice thing but every time I use them I regret it.

I have a cheap walmart floor lamp with a bright bulb and flexible neck next to my saw. Its not attached to the saw or table so doesnt vibrate or anything. Have a bright white bulb in it that I can see great with.

Great idea!!

I take a picture with my phone and email it to myself.

I use a cheapo aquarium pump. That way even when I am scrolling super slow, it blows the dust all the time. Just taped the hose to the existing hose and put the end of a bic style pen in the end to make it pointy and adjust the direction of the air. Maybe cost me $15 with the pump, tubing and all if that. Works great. not the prettiest thing in the world but I am fine with that,

I have the one posted above with all the lenses you can put in. works almost too powerful at times. Great for projects and such but I feel I have to get my face too close to use it while scrolling. Could just be my eyes though.

Great find!!

Great tip. Another place to look is if you know what guage you want, just look for them on amazon. I use #72 and they are hard to find and pricey but cheap on amazon and work just fine.

just draw the top of the thumb screw into a piece of wood and cut out whatever shape you want. Thats what I did. Little trial and error to get it to fit tight and that was it.

Funny story. I wanted an arm lifting type thing but of course I am too cheap to buy one so figured I would simply figure it out. I moved my saw under the open garage door where there was a big nail in the door. I hooked up a long bungee cord around the top arm of the saw so when I let off tension it would automatically go up. Seemed to work great, that was until I finished sawing one day and got up and just closed the garage door. heard a loud thumping against the door. Opened the door back up and the saw was swinging in the air still connected to the bungee cord. Happily nothing broke but I wouldnt recommend this method.

I started out with fretwork like most of us did. One day I was working on a piece and couldnt really tell what I was lookin at so I put the pieces I had cut out back in to sort of get some prespective. Then it hit me thats what I want to do. Cut the pieces out, paint them and put them back in. Created a learning curve of course like what to do with the holes and such but it was simple enough to figure out. After that I can now basically just find any old picture, print it out and thats my pattern. no longer need to worry about bridges and the like because basically, all of the pieces are going to become detached. The hardest part is saving the tiny pieces, labelling as to not only the color but where they go back in. I came up with my own coding system for that with just some lines and x's and such. Now I can do ones with hundreds of tiny pieces but of course it took my some time to work up to that. Fun process though and always more challenging. Flowers are one of my favorites, that and military type plaques and signs.

Used to use it religiously but one day took it off and never looked back. Funny that I was cleaning out some stuff the other day and found it and it took me a few minutes to figure out what it was.

Dont know itf it will reactivate the watercolors. if it does you can try a fixative. Mainly people use it over pastels so they dont smear. Makes a sort if transparent top coat that can be used for more paint or pastels or whatever. In a pinch good old aqua net hair spray works just fine. Then shellac over top of that coat.

I have a bunch of the wet finer grit stuff and it works great for the price.