Messages

106

General Scroll Saw Talk / Re: olsen or flying dutchman?

« on: November 15, 2011, 01:06:08 pm »

I use both, but primarily Olson. 

Mike's customer service is legendary among scrollers but I've never had any complaints about the service I've gotten from Sloan's. 

107

Brag Forum / Re: Some New Ornaments I designed

« on: November 14, 2011, 11:48:52 am »

Sheila,

I really like those ornaments.  I've visited your site and am impressed with your patterns.  You do excellent work!

108

The Coffee Shop / Re: Christmas Tree Tax

« on: November 10, 2011, 02:14:07 pm »

And you Americans - how do you want to keep things together when you're already arguing about additional 15cent for a once-in-a-year Christmas tree??

It's not the money.  It's the principal and it is most worthy of argument, at least it should be.  I think our Founding Fathers would agree.  The bigger question here is why does our federal government think it's necessary and appropriate to get involved in what should be strictly private enterprise?  The constitution of our country states that only Congress can create new taxes, but other agencies of government get around that by calling them "fees" instead of taxes.  This is just another example of politicians trying to appease one special interest group and in turn increase the size of the federal bureaucracy.  Fortunately, by the looks of things, they've come to their senses and backed off the proposal. 

109

General Scroll Saw Talk / Re: Aleens tacky glue

« on: November 09, 2011, 08:31:25 am »

Aleene's Tacky Glue is good stuff!  As Dan said, it isn't for every woodworking application, but it's advantages make it ideal for many general craft type projects where the glue bonds aren't subjected to a lot of stress as in cabinetry or furniture making joints.

I also occasionally use a gel CA glue in situations where I need an instant bond and have limited surface area to apply glue.  Again, no substitute for a good woodworking glue, such as Titebond, for general use, but these specialty glues have their place and can make life a lot easier.

110

General Scroll Saw Talk / Re: baltic birch plywood dulling the blades

« on: November 08, 2011, 03:58:40 pm »

In general, plywood dulls blades faster than most solid woods, due to the adhesives used to bond the plys together. 

111

General Scroll Saw Talk / Re: Need Help to select a new planer

« on: November 07, 2011, 12:59:00 pm »

I like to use an auxiliary planer bed with my lunchbox planer.  Mine are sections of melamine covered particle board, shelf material.  They have a smooth, durable surface and are just about the same width as the planer capacity.  I like my planer bed to be long enough that the infeed & outfeed sections are as long as or longer than the stock I am planing.  This provides good, level support of the stock as it passes the whole way through the planer and helps minimize snipe. 

For the longest one, I have to put legs under the ends to support them, but most of the stuff I plane is less than 3' long, so I use one of the shorter ones.  I keep them waxed, with a paste wax, so they are nice & smooth.  The only drawback is that the scale on the depth gage will be off by the thickness of the auxiliary bed, but I always measure my stock with calipers anyway, so I don't count on the gage.

112

General Scroll Saw Talk / Re: Age to start on scroll saw?

« on: November 07, 2011, 12:44:33 pm »

I don't think there is a specific age as much as it is dependent on the individual kid.  Some kids are able to operate farm machinery at 10 and others shouldn't be behind the wheel of a car at 16.

IMHO, scrollsaws are probably the safest power tool there is.  It's tough to get hurt very seriously on one, compared to other woodworking machinery.  That said, safety is nothing to take lightly, so of course caution is required, especially with young kids. 

Given the description you gave of the young man, it sounds to me like he should be capable, with proper supervision and safety instruction, of making some sawdust with a scroll saw.  Check with his Dad for permission and to see what he thinks.  I think scrolling is the perfect introduction to woodworking & power tools for kids, simply because it is reasonably safe and pretty fun.

113

Tutorials, Techniques and Tips / Re: I can cut 5 pieces as symmetrical?

« on: November 07, 2011, 08:23:34 am »

There is some pretty good information in this previous thread, that should help.

  http://stevedgood.com/community/index.php?topic=7746.0

114

General Scroll Saw Talk / Re: I NEED HELP!!!

« on: November 06, 2011, 04:16:05 pm »

My saw does have a set of clamps that came with it to take pinless blades. I haven't bought any yet because I didn't want to keep sinking money into something if I didn't know I can do it yet.

Jeremy

Aside from the saw itself, proper blades are the single most important factor that will determine whether or not you want to go further with this hobby.  A dozen good blades from any number of sources on the internet will set  you back about $3.00 and will make a world of difference in your scrolling.  Do yourself a favor and order some Flying Dutchman or Olson blades.  You will be glad you did and will be well on your way to getting hooked on this hobby.   

115

Brag Forum / Re: First stack cut..

« on: November 04, 2011, 04:08:00 pm »

Those turned out great. 

Old ceiling fan blades, huh?  Never heard of that one before.  Good idea!

116

Tutorials, Techniques and Tips / Re: Stack cutting tips desired..

« on: November 02, 2011, 03:34:58 pm »

Hi Jon,

As far as building the stack, my approach is very similar to Dan's.  I really like the hot glue method.

A couple other tips; Make all your blanks in the stack the same size.  This makes lining them all up a lot easier.  Once I have them lined up, I take spring clamps and place them around the edges to make sure the stack stays in place and that the layers are nice & tight together.  Then I apply the hot glue.  You don't need to completely cover the whole edge surface.  I usually run several strips of glue across the layers.  Just enough to hold it all together.  If the edge of the stack is also a finished edge, I use a little less, so I don't have as much to remove after I'm finished cutting.

Other methods of holding stacks together include using small brads in the waste area.  You will have to be careful that the points don't stick out the bottom, or you will scratch your table up.  I saw a tip someplace, where a fellow was using round toothpicks to hold the stack together.  He drilled holes to provide a nice tight fit with the toothpicks.  Then all he had to so was snip each end off flush with the surface. No worries about scratching or hitting a nail with the blade.  I thought it was clever, but I haven't tried it myself.

117

Introduce Yourself. / Re: New guy from Steeler country

« on: October 31, 2011, 04:25:23 pm »

Thanks all for the welcome.  I've been hanging around a little and also looking at the rest of the website.  I must say, this looks to be a rather impressive resource.

118

General Scroll Saw Talk / Re: Polyurethane or Lacquer

« on: October 31, 2011, 12:02:56 pm »

Most of my scrollwork gets finished with shellac.  Depending on the wood, I may apply a coat of boiled linseed oil first, to pop the grain, and then spray on the shellac as a topcoat.  For decorative scrolled items, it's become my "go-to" finish.  Most of the scrollwork I do doesn't require a heavy and durable finish like a piece of furniture would.

I spray it with a gravity fed, HVLP spray gun.  The reason I like it is that it dries so fast and cleans up so easily.  For fretwork, the fast drying provides the benefit of being able to hit the piece from multiple angles, to get in all the inside cuts.  If applied lightly, I have no problems with too much build up from the multiple coats and I can get complete coverage and be done in no time. It The fumes dissipate pretty quickly, although if I'm doing a lot of heavy spraying, I always try to do it outside. Denatured alcohol is flammable in high enough concentrations, but as someone else said, I think it's a little friendlier than lacquer thinner.


For other woodworking items, such as furniture, I will use whatever the project dictates, based on the type of wood and the function of the piece.  I mostly prefer an oil varnish instead of a polyurethane.  Sometimes I mix it with boiled linseed oil and mineral spirits to make my own version of a Danish oil.  I've recently used a waterborne, oil modified polyurethane, which did a pretty good job.  Waterborne finishes are fast becoming the standard as VOC regulations are making it harder & harder for manufactures to ship solvent based finishes and meet EPA standards.

119

General Scroll Saw Talk / Re: Spiral Blades

« on: October 31, 2011, 07:52:44 am »

My problem with the spirals is that they spiral all the way from top to bottom, then I have trouble either keeping them locked in or I have them locked in too tight and they break.

Marg

Hi Marg,

Some blade manufacturers offer a flat end spiral.  I'm pretty sure Flying Dutchman is one of them.  The twists don't go all the way to the end, making it easier to fit them in the blade clamps.

You can also take pliers and untwist the ends a couple turns to get them flat as well, but that can be a little tedious.  I've had mixed results doing this, but I don't use a lot of spiral blades.

120

Brag Forum / Re: Painted some of those ornaments

« on: October 29, 2011, 02:44:19 pm »

Those are really cool, David.  I'm always on the lookout for unique ornaments.  Would you mind telling a newcomer where the patterns are from?

Thanks

Hi Bill, The designs are by our very own Scrollgirl from Sheila Landry Designs. You will find more great ornaments on her site. Good description and excellent service. Check it out I would say. Look for scrollgirl under memebers and then click on her website and you can see all the nice things she designs.

David

Thanks for link David.  Sheila has some beautiful patterns and her site is very well laid out.