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General Category => Introduce Yourself. => Topic started by: Wheelchair@53 on October 22, 2013, 11:11:58 am
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Hi everyone, John Graven here from North Carolina. Three years ago I was in a car accident and as a result became a paraplegic restricted to a wheelchair. Looking for a new hobby I have started using a scroll saw. I am still making modifications to tables trying to get a good fit in order to use the scroll saw in a safe manner. I am wondering if there is anybody else in this forum dealing with the same situation. Any advise is welcome. Thanks Steve for such a great site.
John
(wheelchair@53)
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hi
John and welcome, sorry to hear your situation, although not in a wheel chair I do struggle to stand and walk most of the time.I've had to get myself a really high bar stool to sit at and have the saw very high up so that I dont have to bend my legs whilst sawing.not sure what to suggest in your case as whell chairs are usually quite low, and as you note quite restrictive to tables. I'm sure someone on here will have the answer though.
regards
Dave
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Welcome to the forum John! I'm Dustin from Ohio, glad to have you with us. Very sorry to hear about your handicap. I'm not sure what to suggest to make scrolling more easy and comfortable for you, maybe someone else will have a suggestion that will work for you. My best wishes to you. Looking forward to seeing some work you make.
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This is a great hobby. I'm sure you'll get a lot out of it.
Probably the 1st consideration is that all controls for your saw are at the blade end (close to you). Some models require you to reach to the back of the saw to set blade tension.
A solid table high enough to get the chair under but low enough to see your work. A heavy table, with the saw bolted to it, will keep the vibration down. I'd avoid an overhung table since it may vibrate too much. Better to be 4 legs but wide enough so the front legs don't interfere with your chair handles.
A good light and, if needed, a magnifier. I use an LED light from Lowe's w/o a magnifier:
http://stevedgood.com/community/index.php?topic=12849.0 (http://stevedgood.com/community/index.php?topic=12849.0)
Since you will be close to the cutting blade, use goggles and look for a saw with a vacuum fitting and get a vacuum to fit it. A lot of the woods we use are bad for your health. See this table of wood toxicity:
http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/wis30.pdf (http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/wis30.pdf)
I'll be looking for your project postings.
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Hi John welcome to the forum. I'm Marg from Australia. I think one think you may have to do is tilt your scroll saw at a slight angle to help you see where to cut the pattern that you are working on, but make sure everything is bolted down securely.
Marg
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Hi John and welcome to the forum. I'm Julie from Texas. Glad to have you. Ray and Marg got it right on. A sturdy table that is comfortable to you. Elevate the rear of the saw for better visibility. Some means of keeping it cleaned up. Magnifier and light. Happy scrolling.
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Greetings John, from South Dakota. Welcome to the madness and the addiction. No really good ideas to put forth, just a reminder to keep the saw from moving and pay attention to the dust generated.
Welcome again, and let us have a look at some of your work.
Al
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Glad you found us. Hi I'm Russ from Florida your local moderator. Welcome to the Scrollsaw Forum. :)
Sorry to hear about your accident. We have a member on the forum (crusty59) Chris that uses a scroll saw from a wheelchair. He also has a website http://www.woodcraftsbychris.com (http://www.woodcraftsbychris.com). He is a real nice guy and very talented, you should read his story. I am sure if you reach out to him he could help you and answer some of your questions. :)
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Thanks to all who have replied to this post. Your comments have been encouraging and helpful. I am in the planning stages of building a table for my scroll saw and I like the ideal of tilting the saw.
more posts to come......
John
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Welcome To the Site glad to have you here with us. My name is Travis A.K.A TDPainter From NL Canada.
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Welcome to this forum. I'm looking forward to seeing some of your work.
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John
You might look at the following web sites for any additional ideas they may give you as you work on your shop and woodworking:
http://wheelchairwoodworker.net/
http://theartfactory.com/Product.asp?id=209
http://www.pswood.com/wheelchair-accessible-stand/
I expect with googling you can find even more places for ideas.
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Thanks Doug, Great info.............
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Hi John, I know we met on facebook. I forgot to tell you that my power wheelchair is capable of elevating up and down about 12 inches. So I built all my benches at the same height. But tilting the saw helps me alot. Let me know if I can help in any way.
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Hi Chris, I have a pwr chair but don't use it and hopefully I ever use it. I was looking your website.... very nice work. I just finished my second piece.... don't laugh, still learning. BTW, looking at your prices..... do you sell many pieces at those prices?