Messages

391

Tutorials, Techniques and Tips / Re: Excaliber question

« on: September 03, 2012, 06:58:51 am »

Jim, your saw may need to be adjusted to cut properly.  You may find a solution at Rick's scrollsaw site http://www.scrollsaws.com/.  Look for the Excalibur tuneup link on the left side of the page.  In the menu, there are other links to squaring the blade to the table and hints on cutting techniques - all worth reading for beginners like us.

I hope this can get you started.  Steve Good http://scrollsawworkshop.blogspot.ca/ and Sheila Landry http://lumberjocks.com/scrollgirl/blog/24198 have tutorials on scroll sawing.

This forum has lots of good advice on various topics.  When I joined the forum, I spent a lot of time reading old posts and learned much - but I'm still trying to put what I learned into practice.   

Best of luck with you new hobby, it is addictive.
Jim

392

The Coffee Shop / Re: Criticism needed

« on: August 22, 2012, 01:29:48 pm »

Crusty, I hesitate to make these comments, even though you asked, as I don't want to be seen as attacking your web site.  Believe me, I'm not.  I've also been in the position of requesting comments on a site.  Having said that, these are criticisms, just suggestions..

You did a lot of work to showcase your work, and it deserves to be shown.  It is very impressive.  I do have some comments on your site - some are rather technical and some are style.  (Take the style with a grain of salt as my wife says I have no sense of style.)

I agree that the text should have more contrast with the background and that there should be a "Back", and perhaps a "Home" button on each page.

The navigation images on each page are inventive, especially a cruise ship for the shipping link.  Even so, I would make the word Shipping, etc., visible without having to mouse over the link.  It tells people that the image is a link and they don't have to try each one to see where they are going.

The pictures on your projects page could be optimized to load faster.  Kepy is right, the project page loads very slowly, mainly because there are many images and the images are scaled by the browser.  For example, the first thumbnail is downloaded at 238px x 276px and is scaled to 75x75 by the browser.  If you make it actually 75x75, it will require only 8% of the bandwidth required for the 238x276 image.  Applying this to all the thumbnails will definitely decrease download time.

On the contacts and shipping pages, I would consider removing the mouse-over images  If you happen to mouse over them, the contact or shipping info is obscured.

Crusty, these comments are made with the best of intentions and are not meant to be a personal attack.  You did a great job on the website but sometimes an outsider sees things that the creator doesn't see.

Keep up the good work,
Jim

393

Pattern Requests. / Re: Downloading Inkscape....

« on: August 21, 2012, 09:07:22 pm »

Danny, you are more than welcome.  Glad I could help.

Jim

394

Pattern Requests. / Re: Downloading Inkscape....

« on: August 21, 2012, 06:38:06 pm »

Danny, Inkscape's home page is at http://inkscape.org/.  The download link is in the upper right corner of the page.

Good luck,
Jim

395

General Scroll Saw Talk / Re: New and Improved key chain program 1.6 by Steve Good

« on: August 17, 2012, 09:46:56 pm »

It is a good memory aid, thank you.

One thing to add, it only works with the "mychain" font.

Jim

396

General Scroll Saw Talk / Re: The Dewalt scoll saw DW788 Defected

« on: August 15, 2012, 09:13:48 pm »

Mainewoods, I was afraid that the Delta type 1 was the Dewalt type 2 in different paint.

Oh well, I had to ask.

Thanks,
Jim

397

The Coffee Shop / Re: Super/Industrial Size

« on: August 15, 2012, 08:38:10 am »

I would guess they are heading for Quebec.  We need something to fix our crumbing infrastructure.   

Jim

398

General Scroll Saw Talk / Re: The Dewalt scoll saw DW788 Defected

« on: August 15, 2012, 08:33:06 am »

Mainewoods, I also have a Delta 40-690 and would be interested in your fix for that saw.  Even if it is a long post, it might be worthwhile for the 40-690 users to post it here.

On another note, my 40-690 is marked as type 1, even though it is only a couple of years old.  Does anyone know if that means it is like the Type 1 DW788?

Thanks,
Jim

399

The Coffee Shop / Re: scroll saw withdrawal

« on: August 08, 2012, 10:19:32 pm »

Sorry to hear the bad news, Judy.  Withdrawal can be tough, especially if the alternative is house cleaning.  Maybe the repair guy will take pity on you and slide your machine to the head of the line.

Did he tell you why the 40-695 isn't available? 

Best of luck,
Jim

400

General Scroll Saw Talk / Re: broken bit

« on: August 08, 2012, 07:59:42 pm »

Well Judy, you seem to have jinxed me as well.      I broke a bit today so I drilled another hole.  Still not sure why the bit broke

The cut-out was so small I couldn't cut past the broken piece of drill bit without making the hole much larger than it was supposed to be.  Fortunately it was a test piece to see if I could make the tiny cut-outs so it wasn't a large problem.

I also learned that the a scroll saw blade can't cut a drill bit, broken or otherwise, and after you try to cut the bit, you can't then cut wood.


Live and learn.

401

Tutorials, Techniques and Tips / Re: Dust collector problem

« on: August 06, 2012, 08:56:00 am »

Rapid Roger was right.  I have been shaking the bag while it was on the DC and thought it was "clean".  When it came off, it was caked with a layer of fine dust.  Getting it off made quite a mess in the yard but, after blowing it with compressed air, the bag was again white on the inside and the DC is back to normal.

dgman, your suggestion was to be the next step, but fortunately doesn't seem to be needed.  Still it was a good idea.

Thanks to both of you.
Jim

402

Tutorials, Techniques and Tips / Dust collector problem

« on: August 04, 2012, 03:28:35 pm »

My 1 hp DC has the cloth bag on top and a plastic bag on the bottom.  It was working well as I was mostly cutting on the table saw and doing some routing but lately it has been blowing dust out of the top of the bottom bag.  I'm doing mostly sanding and scrolling so there is much finer dust being generated and some of it leaks between the bag and the metal ring of the DC.

It really blows out when I shake the upper bag to dislodge the dust that has collected on the inside of the bag.  

The lower bag is slightly larger than the metal ring so there are a few wrinkles where it is clamped to the ring.  The dust seems to come mostly at the wrinkles.  I've tried to pull out all the wrinkles but even where I neatly fold over the plastic to take up the slack, the dust blows out.

I've thought about duct taping the bag to the metal ring but the residue left by the tape would be messy.

Has anyone run into this problem and how did you solve it? Or, do you have any suggestions?

Thanks,
Jim

403

Computer questions / Re: Puter cleanup

« on: August 03, 2012, 05:23:35 pm »

Edward, in the Periform web site http://www.piriform.com/, CCleaner and Defraggler are free but you have to select the "For Home" tab.  Selecting the "For Business" tab will get you a program you have to purchase.

I have both CCleaner and Defraggler and have run them on my computer, and I didn't pay for them.

Don't know if the programs from MajorGeeks are free.

Hope this helps,
Jim

404

Ask Steve a question. / Re: Copyright question

« on: July 25, 2012, 09:47:04 am »

Mainewoods, that's about what I thought but wanted to avoid Steve getting a letter from the lawyers.

Thanks,
Jim

405

Computer questions / Re: Enlarging patterns

« on: July 22, 2012, 12:20:27 pm »

Thanks for the comments, I'll keep all the suggestions in mind.  I installed Inkscape and so far it enlarges as I need.

When I work on a pattern, I do a bit on Gimp, open it in Inkscape, make some more changes, then it goes back to Gimp and so on.  Each has its strengths so I go back and forth.  Complicated and there are probably easier ways to do it but it works for me.

Thanks again,
Jim