Messages

136

Ask Steve a question. / Re: Intarsia lettering

« on: September 09, 2015, 10:54:16 am »

Go to Tutorials, Techniques and Tips. Go to page 2 and the seventh post down "How to cut fonts on wood" by agoodday 88 will show you how I do it....with pictures too! 
You can use spacers, (shims) as Brian suggested, for the raised effect if you want too....or not. 

Rog

137

General Scroll Saw Talk / Re: 1" thck scroll saw wood

« on: September 09, 2015, 10:28:18 am »

Please don't get me wrong.   
I didn't mean to imply that a planer or band saw is a MUST have for your shop. If all you re doing is scroll saw work, they are probably not worth the money. 
Most scroll work uses fairly small amounts of wood for most projects and a small (short) piece of wood will not work in a planer very well any way. Planers are meant for running longer material (5 foot or more) for larger furniture type wood working and the like.
A band saw is another "nice" tool to have for bigger projects but, for scrolling, the ability to re-saw is the only advantage. The scroll saw will work for most other purposes.
If you are planning on expanding your horizons in wood working as far as larger projects (book cases, end tables and rocking chairs etc.) then go for it!    As long as you have the shop space and the desire to do wood working as a hobby for a long period of time you will get good use out of them. 

Rog

Rog

138

Brag Forum / Re: Christmas gifts

« on: September 08, 2015, 11:26:56 am »

Thank you for all the nice replies everyone.
I suddenly woke up last night with a terrible thought!...... HOW THE HECK DO YOU WRAP SUCH AN AKWARD GIFT!?
Back to head scratching.
Guess I'll just put them in a bag or sack and hope for the best.   

Rog

P.S. I usually wrap all my Christmas gifts in old newspaper pages. It is cheaper than gift wrap and EVERYONE knows that that gift is from Papa just by looking at it.     

139

General Scroll Saw Talk / Re: 1" thck scroll saw wood

« on: September 08, 2015, 11:13:42 am »

If you have a planer, You can buy most woods in 6/4 thickness (1-1/2") and plane it down to any thickness.
It seems like a waste I know but, it will be more readily available and maybe even cheaper than having some wood custom cut.
If you have a band saw and can re-saw thicker material, You may be able to come up with some even thicker material and get two 1" thick boards out of one piece.
A lot depends on how much 1" thick material you need as well as available wood working tools also.

Rog

140

Brag Forum / Christmas gifts

« on: September 01, 2015, 03:48:22 pm »

I don't often post in the brag section and, I'm not really bragging right now except that I GOT THE CHRISTMAS GIFTS FOR THE GRANDKIDS DONE ALLREADY! 
A few weeks ago, Steve posted a pattern for a cordless reading lamp and I had just started to think about Christmas gifts SOOO, the  trains did meet this time! 
I have 5 grandchildren (male and female) between the ages of 7 and 15 and they are all in school and have some reading to do from time to time and I'm sure could use a reading lamp in their rooms.
I made a few slight changes to the pattern that Steve posted (as I always do with other people's patterns) and it was a fairly simple, straight forward pattern but, making SIX of them got a bit boring and labor intensive with all the sanding.
Since the LED lights come in packages of three, it only made sense to go ahead and make six lamps. (I could always use one for myself  )
I used my signature "Old Growth Plywood" again! 




 

Y'all better get crackin, Santa time is only FOUR MONTHS AWAY! 

Rog

141

Ask Steve a question. / Re: Golfball in a cage

« on: August 30, 2015, 10:13:50 pm »

You can use almost any soft wood such as bass, pine and probably poplar and a few other open pore woods. I doubt that a hard wood a walnut or maple or cherry would work very well BUT, any of it is worth a try! 
The idea here is to boil the wood in water to force out the air in all the pores and replace it with water. then you can squeeze (or stretch) the wood which squeezes out the water and allows the wood to hold the shape it is squeezed into for a short time. Then you re-boil it again (to refill the pores with water and take back it's original shape) and let it air dry in the "relaxed" original shape and you are done. It is a lot like steam bending that is used in building furniture.
It is fun to try a few times. I made several of these "Nail in a Tubafur" things just for fun and had two or three crack but, was successful with eight or ten of them and they are real conversation starters.    



Rog

PS If I remember right, I had to boil this white pine 2 x 4 about 15 or 20 minutes to get all the air out. But, I was squeezing one leg down in a vice to about 1/2 it's normal width so I could drill the hole and install the nail. Then re-boiled it another 15 minutes and watched it go back into more or less original shape and then after letting it air dry for a day or so you could not tell that I'd ever done anything to it at all. 

Rog

142

General Scroll Saw Talk / Re: Blade size recommendation

« on: August 28, 2015, 12:34:16 pm »

It depends on what kind of puzzle you are making.
For a jigsaw puzzle, FD has special (really thin) blades just for that purpose.
If it is a 3D type puzzle (which if you are using 3/4" material it probably is) Your favorite 3/4" cutting blade will do just fine.
If you are making a simple child's jigsaw puzzle you can use a thicker blade for a wider kef for ease of assembly for smaller folks.
No, the wood won't burn at slower speeds and yes, it does make it easier to follow the pattern lines at slower speeds. Burning comes from heat generated by faster speed of the blade AND build up of saw dust in the cut AND of course a dull blade gets hotter too.
Yes the packing tape will help lubricate the blade and reduce heat as you are cutting so, it is generally recommended for almost any type of cutting by most folks.
I will add that slower speed of course increases the time it takes to cut a pattern. As you gain experience you will find that you want to go to a faster speed. You will also find that sometimes when making a long straight or curved cut it is easier to follow the line by going faster.
Another thing I will add just for information. If you do get off line as you are cutting, DONT PANIC just ease back to the line and keep going. After you remove the pattern you will never know where you may have gotten off line and neither will anyone else. Sometimes if you get off line and stop and try to correct too fast, it will be more noticeable than if you had just continued the cut.
HAVE FUN AND KEEP MAKING SAWDUST!

Rog
   

143

The Coffee Shop / Re: Can I convert a 2 speed saw to a multi-speed with a footswitch?

« on: August 24, 2015, 05:45:29 pm »

No!

Rog

144

General Scroll Saw Talk / Re: DW788 owners or knowledge of please

« on: August 21, 2015, 05:26:09 pm »

Well, I don't think it is the saw causing that. It looks to me like the blade was in upside down.
But that being said, I don't cut particle board either.
Maybe the upper and lower arms are not in alignment and you are cutting at an angle and dragging on the up stroke. But in that case your cuts would be beveled too. 

Rog

145

General Scroll Saw Talk / Re: Hot Blade and Hot Wood

« on: August 21, 2015, 05:19:16 pm »

Well Sawdust 703, I'll tell you all about it and show a picture of why. 
I was making some boxes for my granddaughters (3 of them) and I used a full 2" thick piece of cherry wood for them.
When you are cutting the center out and separating the inner wall from the outer wall on something like this, you can't very well stop and change blades in mid cut.    Not to mention that cherry wood is very prone to burning.  So, I just had to slow down every so often (when it started smoking)  and let things cool down, back up and try to get rid of the sawdust and go back at it. It took a new blade (#10 7 TPI) for each cut but, I made it. 
It is NOT something that I would recommend nor would I do it again but, it is what it is (or was what it was).
There was a bunch of clean up on the wood from all the burning too. 




Yea, and I'm cheap too but, that wasn't the reason I ruined nine blades and did something that seems so foolish now.

Rog

146

General Scroll Saw Talk / Re: Hot Blade and Hot Wood

« on: August 18, 2015, 11:19:05 am »

I have cut thick wood so long and hard that I've seen smoke coming from the cut! 
Have you ever literally burnt a blade until it turned black? 
It doesn't help the wood either. 
But, I've never seen sparks.....YET! 

Rog

147

General Scroll Saw Talk / Re: Is it me??

« on: August 18, 2015, 11:12:44 am »

I have a TV that gets the music channels now! 
It is constant '60s ROCK AND ROLL for me. Elvis, the Beatles, Dwayne Eddy etc. etc.

Rog

148

The Coffee Shop / Re: Wood shop in a suitcase! Check it out!!

« on: August 17, 2015, 10:45:25 am »

The one I saw must have been made by Festol, it was closer to $6000.00.
But, even at $550.00 I would expect to get TWO batteries and I agree that most of the tools probably will not stand up to very heavy use.
I guess if you have nothing to work wood with it is better than nothing and to get that many cordless tools would cost a lot more individually.
It reminds me of the old Shop Smith that was deemed so great back in the '50s and '60s. It was all the rage and every man wanted one. My uncle had a Shop Smith and my dad was SO envious! They are considered scrap these days but, there are still a few around and are generally set up to do ONE specific job.

Rog

149

The Coffee Shop / Re: Wood shop in a suitcase! Check it out!!

« on: August 16, 2015, 06:00:06 pm »

Did you price it?    Your jaw will drop again! 
I saw the add on another site and I think that I'll get along just fine as I am for now. 

Rog

150

General Scroll Saw Talk / Re: Adventures with a new saw!

« on: August 13, 2015, 10:38:38 am »

I'm a bit late to the party and it is all too late anyway but......
I would have to think long and hard about it before I would cut holes in the floor to get the proper table height.   
I would have considered building a small platform to stand or sit on and adjust ME to the saw instead of adjusting the SAW by lowering the floor to me! 
Just my dos centavos worth. 

Rog