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General Scroll Saw Talk / Merry Christmas!
« on: December 25, 2020, 11:44:54 am »
Merry Christmas / Happy Holidays to all!
News: Had a couple issues with the forum today. 1/19/2017. I believe I have them corrected now. Let me know if you have any trouble. Thanks.
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17
General Scroll Saw Talk / Re: Picture Puzzles
« on: December 16, 2020, 08:02:40 am »
KCSteve - thanks for the process description!
Where do you source your laminate? My first though would be Amazon, but it sounds like you have a setup that would have also gotten you some actually suppliers rather than retail.
Where do you source your laminate? My first though would be Amazon, but it sounds like you have a setup that would have also gotten you some actually suppliers rather than retail.
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General Scroll Saw Talk / Re: Picture Puzzles
« on: December 09, 2020, 07:26:18 am »Me, for my puzzle making I'm using archival inkjet prints hot-mounted to 1/4" with a protective laminate over the top but that's a different kind of set up than doing a cool card for a friend or two.Not trying to get you to give away state secrets, but can you speak a bit more about the "protective laminate" you mention? What is this?
Jigsaw puzzles are something I have been meaning to try, once I get caught up on everything else. Trouble is, life seems more than capable of finding other stuff that needs doing faster than I can catch up!
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General Scroll Saw Talk / Re: jet 18 inch scroll saw
« on: November 28, 2020, 10:35:05 am »I too have the excalibur 16 inch saw, which I am selling as of now. I also find the jet easier to change blades. once you get the hang of putting the blade in the lower holder you don't even have to look.I would assume you are a bottom feeder? (I hate that term!)
I am a top feeder. With my Excalibur EX-21, I find it very easy, same as you I don't have to look to put the blade into the lower chuck.
Perhaps that is the difference - bottom feeders will find the Jet best to work with, while top feeders will find the Excalibur-type saws equally easy.
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Tutorials, Techniques and Tips / Re: Accent lines
« on: November 27, 2020, 04:19:18 pm »
Accent lines are cut through. They can be considered to be dead end cuts that don't remove a piece of the wood.
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General Scroll Saw Talk / Re: Baltic birch finishes
« on: November 27, 2020, 04:16:33 pm »
Just used Polycrylic on a 3/4" piece of baltic birch. Looks good! Two coats, sanding between.
Even though I sanded with 400 grit, it did not come out as smooth as I might have liked.
Used a 3/8" round over bit on the plywood all edges both sides. That part looks very nice as well with the Polycrylic!
Even though I sanded with 400 grit, it did not come out as smooth as I might have liked.
Used a 3/8" round over bit on the plywood all edges both sides. That part looks very nice as well with the Polycrylic!
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General Scroll Saw Talk / Re: Arpop
« on: November 18, 2020, 10:44:14 am »
It does seem to default to your gmail account - I have no idea how it got mine when I tried your link.
On the line showing my email account, there is a link to "sign in with a different account". Would that work for you?
On the line showing my email account, there is a link to "sign in with a different account". Would that work for you?
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General Scroll Saw Talk / Re: Pegas 21" Scroll saw
« on: November 15, 2020, 11:46:45 am »
My Excalibur EX-21 came with a stand. Because I have a small one car garage as a shop, I disassembled the stand and put it away. The saw sits on a mobile cabinet instead, with drawers for storage. Lives against the back wall of the garage when not in use. Two other mobile cabinets have to be moved to bring it out, but with the right castors, all that is very easy.
The cabinets are made with 2x4's, with 1/2" plywood sides and 3/4" plywood top and bottom. The tools are bolted onto the tops very solid. All the drawers are just pine. Game me a huge increase in storage! Plus the items stored are related to the tool on top - cutting tools in the bandsaw cabinet, drilling tools and bits in the drill press cabinet, grinding and sanding in the grinder/sander cabinet, etc.
Too bad you are not closer - you could have the stand from my EX-21.
As to setup - I understand that the Pegas 21" is based on the same design as my Excalibur EX-21. One thing there seems to be confusion about with this style of scroll saw is how to tension blades.
Some people refer to the knob that raises and lowers the arm as setting the tension. In fact, the tension is set by the springs in the chuck lever. You use the knob to ensure the upper arm is parallel to the lower arm. Since the lower arm should be parallel to the table, you set the upper arm parallel to the table. I do this with a gauge that is a piece of wood cut to the right length - just shy of 2 3/4" on my saw. The correct length for the gauge is found when the distance from the upper arm to the table is the same at the front and at the back.
I put two magnets into the wood so that is lives on the side of the upper arm, ready for use. You use the gauge each time before starting a scroll saw session.
My EX-21 is a few years old. I replaced the upper and lower chucks with the Pegas units. Very nice!
The cabinets are made with 2x4's, with 1/2" plywood sides and 3/4" plywood top and bottom. The tools are bolted onto the tops very solid. All the drawers are just pine. Game me a huge increase in storage! Plus the items stored are related to the tool on top - cutting tools in the bandsaw cabinet, drilling tools and bits in the drill press cabinet, grinding and sanding in the grinder/sander cabinet, etc.
Too bad you are not closer - you could have the stand from my EX-21.
As to setup - I understand that the Pegas 21" is based on the same design as my Excalibur EX-21. One thing there seems to be confusion about with this style of scroll saw is how to tension blades.
Some people refer to the knob that raises and lowers the arm as setting the tension. In fact, the tension is set by the springs in the chuck lever. You use the knob to ensure the upper arm is parallel to the lower arm. Since the lower arm should be parallel to the table, you set the upper arm parallel to the table. I do this with a gauge that is a piece of wood cut to the right length - just shy of 2 3/4" on my saw. The correct length for the gauge is found when the distance from the upper arm to the table is the same at the front and at the back.
I put two magnets into the wood so that is lives on the side of the upper arm, ready for use. You use the gauge each time before starting a scroll saw session.
My EX-21 is a few years old. I replaced the upper and lower chucks with the Pegas units. Very nice!
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General Scroll Saw Talk / Re: Inconsistent Blades
« on: November 08, 2020, 10:53:52 am »I get them at the Windfield collectionVery nice box!
There are several blade patterns. Which ones do you prefer?
Checked the Windfield website, and I can't order directly from them because I am in Canada. I would have to call them to get a quote for shipping.
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General Scroll Saw Talk / Re: Inconsistent Blades
« on: November 07, 2020, 01:11:20 pm »I use Excalibur and Jet scroll saws and found the blades best for me with those machines are FD [flying dutchman] and SharktoothI have not heard of Sharktooth. Where do you get them?
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General Scroll Saw Talk / Re: Parts
« on: November 07, 2020, 01:09:53 pm »Let us know if the shipping is reasonable.The part, with shipping and exchange, came to just shy of $70.00CDN.
It has been ordered. No expected delivery date, or tracking number, were provided, so all I can do is wait.
The challenge will be taking the saw apart. I have not found anything on the internet about disassembling an Excalibur, either text or video or service manual. The exploded drawings in the manual I have will help, but they break the drawings down in such a way that you can't see the relationship between the case and the control board.
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General Scroll Saw Talk / Re: Inconsistent Blades
« on: November 02, 2020, 07:08:15 am »They kept breaking in two about an inch from the bottom clamp. The upper clamp didn't want to hang on to them, either.Breaking number 3 blades? Wow, those are much thicker than the 2/0R blades I was having trouble with. Agreed, maybe a bad batch?
The 5 R's worked fine...no issues on same project, so I was thinking it was a bad batch of 3's.
When the 2/0 blades were breaking on me, they would break in several locations - just above the lower clamp, in the middle, just below the upper clamp. Not consistent. So far, the Flying Dutchman 2/0R have been just fine, but have not done much with them. Had to set the scroll saw aside for another project that will take me (hopefully just) a week.
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General Scroll Saw Talk / Re: Inconsistent Blades
« on: October 31, 2020, 11:01:41 am »Nope, not this time-went through about half a dozen blades in about an hour.What do you mean "went through"? What happened to the blades?
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General Scroll Saw Talk / Re: Inconsistent Blades
« on: October 30, 2020, 04:42:01 pm »I know that there was some complaints on other web sites about Pegas blades. I think there was a a bad batch. Not sure the size the problem.I purchased one package of 12 to test them. When they worked, they worked very well.
Contact who you bought them from to see it they will replace them.
Had the last one in the saw today. It has been used, cut fine. Flipped the tension lever, and after a few seconds it snapped. On its own, never applied power to the saw at all.
I also have some Flying Dutchman 2/0R. Just started using one of them. They feel a little heavier - have not measured them yet. Big test will be if they can go through the hole from a number 70 bit. Used it a bit, and had trouble getting used to how it cuts, but it pretty normal.
Not going to worry about getting a replacement, all the broken blades just went into the garbage.
I also have some Pegas 2/0 Modified Geometry blades. I am a bit concerned about how well they will stand up.
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General Scroll Saw Talk / Inconsistent Blades
« on: October 30, 2020, 07:34:00 am »
Just worked through a 12 pack of Pegas 2/0R blades.
They sure break easy! Had a couple of brand new blades break a second or two after applying tension, without even starting the saw. Since no settings were changes for the new blades, I figure it has to be the blades. I am using an Excalibur EX-21, and no changes were made to the arm height.
Some of the blades cut differently than others in the pack. Needed a different angle to cut a straight line, which made following curves a challenge.
Has anyone else encountered inconsistent blades in a single 12 pack?
They sure break easy! Had a couple of brand new blades break a second or two after applying tension, without even starting the saw. Since no settings were changes for the new blades, I figure it has to be the blades. I am using an Excalibur EX-21, and no changes were made to the arm height.
Some of the blades cut differently than others in the pack. Needed a different angle to cut a straight line, which made following curves a challenge.
Has anyone else encountered inconsistent blades in a single 12 pack?
