Messages

31

General Scroll Saw Talk / Re: Blades

« on: July 16, 2017, 05:42:38 am »

its kinda odd in a way maybe, but, I was sittin' at the saw yesterday, & this thread came to mind. I was cuttin' out some places that had a fair amount of detail, & was using a #5 skip tooth. the project is in 1/2" oak. I don't normally use that aggressive of a  blade, but the places I was cuttin' had room to turn & I could get thru the project a little quicker. Then I got into some spots where the skip tooth wouldn't dance the dance, so I went to a #5 polar blade. And it does exactly what I need it to do, makes the curves ok. So far the project looks great!

I got to thinkin' a little bit about this thread some more as I kept cuttin'. I think, or feel like this is where alot of scrollers get in a bind. Maybe I'm wrong, but especially the newbies tryin' to learn this hobby. You can use say a #5 skip tooth blade on your project, but you're just not gettin' the results you want. Or you're not able to make the turns w/the skip tooth. The reason I found is the the kerf is to wide on the skip tooth blade, & if you don't have the ability to make adjustments to the saw so it will cut a sharper turn, what next?

You can still make those sharp turns, but use a smaller kerf blade, & slow your blade speed down a little. If you take a look at the #5 skip tooth & the #5 polar blade, you'll notice a difference in the width of the blade. That's the size of kerf it will cut. With a polar blade of any size, you can turn sharper & cleaner, & make a more thorough cut in your project.

Every blade has it's place, don't misunderstand, but if you're dealin' with alot of detail, & you're not havin' much luck w/a skip tooth, try a polar blade of the same size on the detail. A polar blade is a good choice for that situation. Just somethin' I was thinkin' about. Most experienced scrollers know this, but newbies don't, & sometimes a little clarification, for what it's worth, helps out. Just a thought. brad.

32

General Scroll Saw Talk / Re: Blades

« on: July 02, 2017, 08:30:25 am »

that's the right thing to do, toneman. Let the blade do the work.

When I was a newbie, 25+ years ago, patience was NOT in my vocabulary. I had my Father to contend w/as a dispatcher & he owned the trucks, we had 10 trucks on the road, 3 of us knew how to count above 10.(the # of gears in the other trucks) drivers who were english, but couldn't follow written instructions in english, couldn't read a map, be on time, had mad farmers barkin' at us constantly! Stress was HIGH, home time was short, & my attitude sucked! i came in off the truck one saturday evening, & my loving bride proceeded to tell me how i looked like hell after just walkin' in the door. Yea, I missed her, too. She loaded me in the pick up & hauled me to the ER. The Sawbones looked me over, he told me if I didn't quit eatin', sleepin', thinkin', & drinkin' trucks, they were goin' to drop me in a deep hole, & damn soon! About that time, my bride jumps up & says "you need a hobby!" The look on my face must've been to die for because they all looked at me and laughed!

The next weekend I was home, my bride had things lined out to go look at wood working tools. And, a single speed scroll saw, ras, & a few other things is what I started with. I cannot begin to tell ya how many books i read on the scroll saw, ras, & router. I was determined to show my bride I could bring light to her act of brilliance. I made who knows how many semi loads of customized firewood before I actually attempted my first project. But the point of all this is that the saw taught me to slow down, relax, & focus, which I'd never done before!!! Slow done in our business was goin' against the grain of things, which created huge waves!

By the time I wore out that single speed Craftsman, I was learning different blades, different woods, & doin' projects. PATIENCE is the key to scrollin', toneman. I still have that ol' saw in the basement, plus five more I've added to the shop since. It is in pieces on account of I'm not able to locate parts for it. But in the last 25+ years, I've perfected the scroll saw, sell my products all over the country. But it taught me a hard lesson not only with the saw, but with life, too. The more you try to push & rush thru a project, you'll just break blades, screw up the project, & say words what ain't proper around womenfolk. It also taught me to slow down enough to think things thru before I start any project. Look it over & study it. Think about the different size blades you're goin' to need in various places in the project, & have them at ready when you get to that point. Just slow down & let the blade & saw do it's job, brother! You'll feel better.

my apologies for the lengthy "rant," but sometimes it takes me awhile to get at what I'm tryin' to say. keep makin' sawdust, & enjoy the time you've got with your saw. Brad.

33

General Scroll Saw Talk / Re: Need help on pricing!

« on: June 26, 2017, 07:54:57 pm »

figure out your expenses first. Wood, blades, electricity, time to cut the project, etc., taking into consideration detail of the project. Also when you're figuring a price, take into consideration the economy around you. Don't over price yourself out of work, but don't lower your prices so you aren't able to afford to do it, either. Then figure out what you want to make. Set your price, & stick by it.

34

General Scroll Saw Talk / Re: Blades

« on: June 21, 2017, 11:14:06 pm »

thats a fact, Mr. Jim. Not only that, but, the blade has a tendency to trail the wood grain, & makes it even more difficult to cut straight lines. Usually the end result is crooked lines, broken blades, frustration, & new words added to the vocabulary.

35

General Scroll Saw Talk / Re: Blades

« on: June 19, 2017, 08:14:20 pm »

you're very welcome, Sir. Anything I can do to help you, pm me anytime. keep makin' sawdust, brother!

36

General Scroll Saw Talk / Re: Blades

« on: June 02, 2017, 04:28:56 pm »

there shouldn't have been any reason why a #7 plain end blade took any difference in cutting time than a pin end. Especially in pine. A #5  would have been more than enough blade to handle that.

What type of saw are you using? Did you have enough tension on the blade? Was your blade in your blade holders correctly? Were you using a new blade? Some more info on your saw will help answer your questions. These questions are the first that come to mind.

37

General Scroll Saw Talk / Re: First Show of 2017

« on: June 01, 2017, 09:35:38 pm »

best of luck toneman!!! hope ya make pockets full of $$$$!

38

Introduce Yourself. / Re: Hello from Kansas

« on: May 21, 2017, 09:14:16 pm »

hello kelly, & welcome to the forum. whereabouts in Kansas are ya located? I live in St. francis, ks. As far up in the NW corner as you can go. What type of scrollin' ya interested in? What type of saw do ya own? You'll find the folks here helpful & friendly. Don't be shy about askin' questions. That's how we learn. Happy scrollin'!

39

General Scroll Saw Talk / Re: Bent DeWalt Scroll saw arm

« on: May 08, 2017, 12:14:16 am »

ya don't mind me askin' Mr. Carl, how long have ya had the saw, where did ya purchase it? Sometimes if its within the warranty time, the seller may replace the saw with a new one & be done with it. Be worth a try.

40

General Scroll Saw Talk / Re: Blade Change RBI Hawk 226M

« on: April 20, 2017, 08:43:50 pm »

the bottom blade holder is held in place by two "fingers". One on each side of the blade holder. they bend very easily, break easily too. Just bend those two holders down a little, and your blade holder should come out easily. If not, there may be a tool needed to remove the blade holder. My new one works like that. And then when you put the blade holder back in place, the pin should line up in the slot in the lower arm, bend the holder back up against the pins to hold it in place. Clear as mud? hope I helped.

41

General Scroll Saw Talk / Re: Blade Help Needed

« on: April 06, 2017, 09:06:15 pm »

i think we've all done that one a time or two, too, Mr. Bill

42

The Coffee Shop / Re: Holiday Drinking, Driving

« on: March 29, 2017, 09:45:43 pm »

I spent 35 years drivin' OTR. Some of the accidents I've seen, & helped folks with, were horrible, some were life takers. Trust me when I tell ya, there's nothing worse than draggin' children's bodies out of a demolished vehicle because of a drunk driver. Adults are bad enough. And if the drunk driver survived the wreck, about all they have to say is "I don't know where that other car came from."

It's sad to see somethin' like that, & you never forget it. I've seen it all over the country.

5 years ago last month I had a nephew killed in a drunk driving accident. I made an 8' x 3' cross out of cedar for the crash sight with his name & picture on it cut with the scroll saw. I also made some other things he liked. His favorite football team, the Ford emblem w/ford cut out just like the emblem. And a few other things. He'd been 19 for 3 weeks when he was killed. I also made a cross for his grave sight. I was on the road when my sister & My Mom called me about him. Needless to say, it was a damn rough trip home.

43

General Scroll Saw Talk / Re: 10 things I learned on the scroll saw this past weekend

« on: March 28, 2017, 02:41:14 pm »

Well, now that your head is full of knowledge, concentrate on the things you ain't so good at. Try different sizes of blades w/those issues. You'll soon figure out the best way to make them work for you at different speeds. Learn to use the back of the blade as a stop & turn brake, if you will. Your tighter turns will be easier to make, & smoother looking. When you come to a turn, run the turn to the end of the cut & back up a little then make your square turn.

Removing patterns is a matter of preference. I use naphtha to remove patterns. It dissolves the glue faster, & makes it easier to remove from breakable parts. I use a sponge brush & soak the pattern & painters tape a couple times, let it set about 30 minutes, then peel off the pattern.

If you're getting blue behind the blade, you're not running your blade speed fast enough, & not getting air to the work area. As mentioned, if you go with the aquarium pump, get the biggest you can to move air. jmo.

44

General Scroll Saw Talk / Re: Just ordered a new DeWalt saw!

« on: March 09, 2017, 02:17:25 pm »

Miss Nancy, might I ask, why don't ya consider scrolling an addiction? If you own 6 saws & spend most of your day in the shop, sounds like feedin' your addiction to me.

I own 5, & a shop full of other toys, but spend most of my time at the scroll saw. I'd admit to bein' addicted! And proudly! I figure it beats other addictions that are less productive, & dissolve the mind. Used to be, my addiction was trucking. My health took care of that one, so now all I have is my shop. And that was my brides' idea, mind ya! If not for that, & my acquired addiction to the saw & woodworking, she'd of had me in a sanitarium a LONG time ago.

45

General Scroll Saw Talk / Re: Woodtek MS-26 scroll saw chuck/blade holding issue

« on: March 07, 2017, 04:08:54 pm »

Not knowing anything about your saw w/out some research, from the looks of your picture of the blade holder, it uses plain end blades. And takes a hex wrench to install the blade. Just by looking.

First off, your blade isn't centered in the blade holder. That is a must. If the blade isn't centered in the blade holders, they'll never stay in it. Your holding power is in the center of the blade holder. Next, take the hex screw out of the blade holder & have a look see at the end of it. If it's smooth, as I suspect it is, rub the end of the hex screw on a piece of 100 grit sandpaper to rough it up. This will help hold the blade. Do this to both ends.

Next thing is blade tension. Adjust your tension until you get high pitched "ping" from your blade. Then take a business card & check your blade to see if it's square with the table. If its square, & your blade holders are in good shape, you should be good to go.

In the meantime, I'll do some research to see if I can be of more assistance to you, Sir.