Topics

1

Ask Steve a question. / 3D keychain Program

« on: December 01, 2020, 03:56:08 pm »

Hello,

I would like to make some 3D keychains for gifts. Your patterns are  exactly what I am looking for. I have two years worth of your patterns on a memory stick, but no matter what I type in, nothing shows up. Is there a program you have published that will let you cut these keychains? The only thing I have found is one for a PC, I am using a MAC. And when I load the plans on a PC, it won't let it work for some reason.


Thank you in advance,

Dr. JEff Popa

2

General Scroll Saw Talk / Top feed hole finder....

« on: April 23, 2018, 10:41:12 am »

Hello one and all...

After watching Steve's really neat laser hole finder, I started to wonder if perhaps I needed one, since I am a total top feeder.

After a moments thought, it came to me that I never seem to have a problem finding the blade hole in my Excalibur, not matter how small my pilot hole in the workpiece is. I thought about it, and realized that the hole in the saw table is directly under the top clamp. If the blade is in the clamp and vertical, all you have to do is let the arm down and the blade will point to the hole. I went to the saw and tried it, and sure enough, every time I lowered the blade, it went right into the table hole. Now, once in a while the blade will not be vertical, but it is a simple matter to look at the blade, envision where vertical would be, and guide the blade to that position.

Since seeing his video, I have made a dozen or more of his great patterns, and as long as I have the blade vertical, or can visualize vertical, the blade goes right where it's supposed to be, no problem. I think the hole finder may have a place if you have problem even seeing the hole or some other distraction, but if your blade is mounted in the top clamp in a vertical position, there should never be a problem finding the hole in the table.

Just my thoughts, and Steve, great job on the videos, patterns and information. You are a leader in keeping the scroll saw hobby growing. Thank you...

Dr. Jeff Popa

3

Get togethers, shows and swap meets / Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio Scroll Saw show.... May 18,19 2018

« on: January 16, 2018, 09:04:43 am »

I just received an email about a Scroll Saw show in NorthEast Ohio. I received my information from scroller_at_heart@hotmail.com. There will be seminars, a judged contest, and a dinner. That's all the info I have for now. Hope that helps and see ya'll there. Oh, it will be May 18 and 19.

4

The Coffee Shop / Off Topic

« on: January 15, 2018, 10:08:54 am »

I know this probably isn't the place, but regarding your pattern of January 15....... I honestly wish his "dream" would come true. There would be no need to hire someone because the government wants equality, only by ability. Affirmative action would be eliminated and a non-minority applicant scoring 100% on an ability test would actually be hired ahead of someone scoring 70% who is a minority. By the way, thank you for putting the quote to "Martin Luther King". Since he plagiarized his entire doctoral thesis, the university was going to remove his doctorate, but to avoid rioting by the illiterate majority, they quietly stopped calling him "Dr.". That is a slur to those of us who actually earned our doctorate.

Thanks    Dr. J P

5

General Scroll Saw Talk / ReSizer?

« on: November 06, 2017, 04:57:01 pm »

Has anyone attempted to use the "free" resizer software that Steve put on here years ago? I tried today and found that now I have to purchase software in order to use it, even with Steve's patterns. Is it me, or is now a purchase only option???

6

General Scroll Saw Talk / Seyco Saw

« on: February 23, 2017, 10:04:35 am »

Well, another delay. Another two month wait for the new Seyco saw.... I'm going through withdrawal so it's off to Lowe's and a new DeWalt for me. I'm sure Ray will have a great saw, when, it comes out, but I've waited too many months already. So, guess a lost sale but a new saw for me......

7

Brag Forum / Rose for You

« on: February 18, 2017, 09:34:50 am »

Hello all,

I used one of Steve's great patterns to make a sign for my wife for Valentine's Day. It turned out really nice. Instead of using a backer board, I used a very sparkly sheet of poster paper from Michael's. IT really sets off the sign.I may start trying different colors on different patterns, such as Blue on fish scenes, Green on basic signs, and so on. There are lots of colors to choose from. You can't really see it in the photo, but when the light hits the sign, it sparkles...

I bought several sheets of Red from Michael's. These were about $1.90 a sheet 12x12. While walking through Walmart, I found some similar paper so I bough a package for $.98 for two 12x12 sheets. Once I got home, I noticed that the Walmart sheets were very dull compared to the Michaels papers. They really didn't do the sign justice so I used the Michael's sheets. Guess you get what you pay for.

8

Ask Steve a question. / Picture in Post

« on: February 15, 2017, 09:30:49 am »

Hi Steve,

I am trying to include a picture in a posting. It is about 100KB in size. I go to the attachment link, pick the file but then it doesn't show up when I preview the post. I went to your "adding picture" to message link and it just brought up an intro to the Blog, nothing about adding a photo. Sooooo, how do I include a photo in my post??? Thanks again, Jeff

9

The Coffee Shop / Shipping??? I mean, Really????

« on: February 03, 2017, 04:01:48 pm »

Steve, I just wanted to thank you again for making all of your wonderful patterns free and downloadable. It never fails to amaze me what we are charged for sending pieces of paper through the mail.

I understand that companies have to make money, it stands to reason. BUT, let's not get carried away.  I ordered four 8x10 patterns from The Winfield Collection. The plans were reasonable at $4.95 each. HOWEVER, they charged $6.95 to MAIL them. Not ship, not special delivery, just to MAIL them. Now, if they use the excuse that someone has to put them in an envelope, okay. But unless you bring them in for EACH individual mailing, there is absolutely no reason MAILING should cost $6.95. And if you pay them for the mailing, this person would be making over $100 an hour at that rate. I knew ahead of time about the extreme cost of mailing, but didn't think for a moment that it would be that outrageous. The cost to put a piece of paper in a paper envelope and have the post office pick it up surely can't be as expensive as the time it took to design the pattern. This is like buying on EBAY were the part is $2.00 and shipping is $45 from China. But, it's done, I have the four patterns, and I can guarantee you I will not be buying from The Winfield Collection again.....

10

General Scroll Saw Talk / Woodimals.....

« on: February 02, 2017, 04:34:38 pm »

I recently purchased the Woodimals puzzle pattern book and in the back, there is a listing for about 375 additional puzzle patterns. I went to the website "www.woodimals.com" and it turns out, FoxChapel Publishing now owns the rights to these patterns. That, in itself, is not a problem. The problem begins when I attempt to purchase a few of the patterns. I push all the proper buttons, and up come about 18 patterns, out of the 375 listed. Also listed are four DVD pattern discs. I really don't want to spend $30 on a DVD that may or may not have the patterns I want ( there is not way of knowing which fish patterns are on the "FISH" disc, no table of contents) nor do I wish to spend $145 for a collection of "all or most" of the patterns listed (again, no table of contents). I called FoxChapel Publishing and was told that they no longer offer individual patterns, but the DVD's SHOULD contain the patterns I want and the Expensive DVD PROBABLY contains all of the patterns listed. Is it just me, or is this how companies do business now days?

Anyhow, getting to the heart of the matter, does anyone know where I can get puzzle patterns for game fish such as Bass, Walleye, Bluegill, Crappie, Musky, and so on? Thanks for the help,  Jeff

11

The Coffee Shop / Craft Shows

« on: January 31, 2017, 04:12:31 pm »

Does anyone know of a reliable site that lists craft shows by location? I know there are a million and one during the Holiday season, but I'm thinking more of shows during the summer months. And since I will be traveling by RV, it would be nice to list by location so I could see what was going on in whatever locale I happen to be visiting at the time....
I know there is a listing on this site (thank you Steve), I am looking for something where you can just type in a general location and a list will magically appear showing local events.....

Thanks,  Jeff

12

General Scroll Saw Talk / Jet Scroll Saw

« on: January 31, 2017, 09:36:46 am »

Hello all,

I just returned from Hartville Hardware and a Jet Scroll Saw Demo.... this is a "heads up" to all scrollers thinking about the Jet. The demonstrator (?) attempted to clamp a saw blade into the upper holder, but it would not hold. After several tries, he removed the clamp and found that it had broken at the top of the blade cut-out. He apologized and went to the back room taking the clamp from another new machine. Inserting it into the demo saw, he again attempted to clamp the blade. This one did not hold either. Taking it apart, it too had broken in almost the same place. This happened again, in the same place, with a third clamp.

It seems that if you apply too much pressure to the cam tensioner, or do not have the set screws that actually hold the blade properly adjusted, the pot metal (at least it looked  porous like pot metal at the break) clamp will break with little additional force. So, like Steve says, make sure you read the manual and it might not be a bad idea to order a spare clamp, just in case.

After the demo (or whatever you want to call it) I went up to play with the saw. It is NOT a tool less change on the bottom clamp and as a "top feeder" it is too cumbersome to use, for me. I guess I'll wait to see what Ray's new saw looks like.

This is not a condemnation of the Jet saw, but simply a heads up as a possible weak link in the saw. I am sure with proper adjustment it will work just fine.

Dr. Jeff Popa

13

General Scroll Saw Talk / Replacement parts for Excalibur

« on: January 27, 2017, 11:52:47 pm »

Hello all,

I sent Ray at Seyco an email concerning ordering spare parts for my EX-21 since they are no longer being manufactured. This was mainly the clamping assemblies top and bottom and brushes for the motor....... his comment, in addition to sending along the pricing info, was that even though the Excalibur will not be made any longer, the new Seyco saw using most of the same parts and spares for the Excalibur saws will not be a problem. Just in case anyone else was concerned about spare parts down the road.....

14

Ask Steve a question. / Excalibur Adjustment

« on: January 26, 2017, 09:54:12 pm »

Steve,

On Page 13 of the Excalibur, it states that by turning the black knob at the rear of the saw, you can raise the blade by up to 1", allowing you to use another portion of the saw blade. Have you ever tried this? I just adjusted the lower arm to parallel, and was wondering if this is a viable option to get more use out of the blade.

Thanks for the help,

Dr. Jeff Popa

15

Ask Steve a question. / Modified Excalibur

« on: January 25, 2017, 05:42:23 pm »

HI Steve...

I don't doubt you've already been asked this, or perhaps thought about it in your testing, but, since the new Jet saw looks so very similar to the Excalibur, is there a possibility that you could order replacement parts and change out the thumb screw blade mount on the Excalibur and convert it to the new style on the Jet? I think this would be the best of both worlds, quick tensioning and top feeding as well. I did notice that you mentioned top feeding in your review, but some of my projects (using your patterns and the Resizer App) can reach 2 foot by 2 foot and that is a little large to be lifting to feed the blade through the bottom, especially complex shapes.
So, what do you think? Is it possible for a reasonable cost? Thanks for all the help,

Dr. Jeff Popa