Messages

1

General Scroll Saw Talk / Usable Sanding hack for Fretwork and extreemly fine or delicate cuts

« on: February 05, 2021, 03:44:22 pm »

Not sure if this is going to help anyone or not, but for a long time I have looked for any resource to file and sand inside cuts on very small cutouts. 
    I have tried mini files, dental files, hand held scroll saw blades, and even cutting down fingernail files. 
    I am working on a very intense piece with hundreds of very small cut outs. The smallest needle file at any store will not come close to getting in the areas I need to reach.   I do realize that a perfect cut the first time is ideal, but few of us make perfect  cuts every time.
    Now for a long time I have used the opposite side of the scroll blade to "shave" down a slight bow or irregular area. It does work well but when you have say many hundreds of cuts on a single piece, you know you will have irregularities.  I just don't like them, so I have looked for a long time for a solution.   
    Sandpaper on a scroll saw blade on the saw?  Yes I do that too. Self adhesive works well and is smaller than commercial solutions.
But I needed very very delicate control over the sanding blade.
    Perhaps ten years ago I bought a very used exacto knife set. The blades are now rusted and dull. But in the case there were Three mountable exacto knives in the set in good condition.
     The kind that you screw open and slide the blade into the top of the knife and tighten it down.  So who says an exacto knife blade has to go in there? See the pics
    I took two sizes of blades from 1/0 to 3/0.  400 grit
     The blades fit perfectly into the knife ends and tighten down nicely.   I use used blades:   Clean them and mount the sand paper.
The blades are cut in half with a fine cable cutter so as to add stability.  They are sturdy enough to do extreme fine sanding with. 
    And you can even use the knives to put a scroll blade into and "feather" a vein. Now I can sand the wider areas on my scroll saw, and the most delicate of parts by hand. Sandpaper on only one side of the blade makes it even thinner....
      Not sure if I explained this very well but if you experiment with an exacto you will no longer need to hold onto that tiny blade. Now you will have a handle and more control over your work. Try cutting the blades in half
  Two knives in pics with 400 grit. One with the Exactoblade in it.
 
   NOTE:  Scroll Saw blade edges are stamped left or right, and.... This can break through the paper and damage the work piece. 
     Solution; Simply quick file the full edge of the blade to smooth using a grinder or file. 

Exacto knives can be found on the cheap at Walmart.  Say three bucks?

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General Scroll Saw Talk / Re: Circle Cutters for the Scroll Saw

« on: February 01, 2021, 09:34:06 am »

Regular blades face either forward or backward. They do not face left or right when mounted. The Jig Steve made and I use puts the edge of the jig at the blade edge. It turns to the right or left.  Regular blades have no teeth on the right or left.  As the work piece turns it stays in alignment with the blade sideways.  Spiral blades have teeth in a full axis around the blade rather than forward or backward only and Spirals can cut sideways.   So Spiral blades will cut in any direction including around the circle Jig.  Just go a little slower and you will have a near perfect circle with steves Jig.  Link is in previous post.  Simply said. 
       Will try to post a pic of a work in progress. If it works behind the front of the board is a second board stained in barn red to show through the clock. Tolerances had to be extremely close for the edge not to show on the backer board. The Jig helped me do this.  A small Flying Dutchman spiral blade did the cut.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AaldbryZX9Q

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General Scroll Saw Talk / Re: Scroll Saw Dust Capture

« on: January 30, 2021, 07:17:41 pm »

For doing it on the cheap a box fan with a filter taped to the front can trap a lot of dust that floats in the air.

This is a pretty awesome idea. I have large Delta that removes the debris and fine dust particles, but still some gets into the shop.  I needed a simple solution that would fit in the shop and was mobile  and I do believe if I put a furnace filter on the front and back of my box fan it will pretty much do the trick. So thanks for the heads up. Nice idea. What my Delta misses I suspect the fan filters will pick up.

4

General Scroll Saw Talk / Re: Circle Cutters for the Scroll Saw

« on: January 30, 2021, 07:12:25 pm »

Hi:  I do a lot of very detailed fret work and cutting circles on the Scroll Saw with a jig definitely saves me time. I can't say I did it all myself.Well, I did make it myself but the pattern is from Steve G.
Yep...good ole' Steve G  ..much thanks for his youtube videos.
   I made this jig from Steves videos.  Simply put...it worked.
I have used it more than once on circles 13 inches wide from edge to edge.   I had to do some slight adapting, but it works fine. 
   a word of caution:  You must of course use spiral cut blades and advancing to quickly, even with the smallest of those blades will damage the edges of nearly any kind of layered wood.  Using solid woods are better that way.  Still if you use spiral blades advancing carefully and slowly around the edge you will get a very good cut.
    I noticed some said they couldn't find that video on youtube so since it is in my favorites, here it is.  I made it and it worked fine.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AaldbryZX9Q
This will work with my Jet 22 and the vac tube attachments do not interfere with clamping

5

General Scroll Saw Talk / Re: question about blades

« on: January 10, 2021, 03:41:49 pm »

     I am a little late getting here but blade talk is my thing. I have more than twenty different size styles, and makes of blades. I do very small cut outs in large works. Wolf mini clock.
     I seldom use spiral blades, but they do have their purpose. In fact every blade in my arsenal has its purpose although I only have two or three that are mainstays. It really depends on the wood you will use, the project, and whether you are stack cutting etc.  I looked at those wolf patterns you mentioned. If I were cutting the clock of Steve's I would indeed use spiral for a lot of it. But not all.
     I would use the smallest shark tooth I could find [3/0] depending on your wood and thickness. Perhaps an FD 2/0 Superior puzzle blade for parts of it.
    So I would indeed go with a spiral blade.  But I do think we all have our own preferences in cuts since many blades would work for much of what we do. We just like certain things certain ways. Spiral sounds good for that wolf. 

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General Scroll Saw Talk / Re: Inconsistent Blades

« on: November 08, 2020, 10:02:24 am »

Sorry I meant to tell you that the smallest Sharktooths are  somewhat Aggressive blades so I run the saw on slower speeds for delicate cut outs. 

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General Scroll Saw Talk / Re: Inconsistent Blades

« on: November 08, 2020, 09:58:16 am »

Sorry it took so long to reply:
    Sharktooth as I understand it is a subsidiary of Olson.  I don't much care for Olson blades but the Sharktooth cut like a dream.  Won the Illinois state fair in the Woodworking division/Scrolling   last year with these blades  here is a link  I get them at the Windfield collection
https://www.thewinfieldcollection.com/category/Scroll_Saw_Blades
an imiage of the dutch box I cut out with them will be attached

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General Scroll Saw Talk / Knobs to replace the cheap plastic ones

« on: November 07, 2020, 12:09:27 pm »

A while back I saw Steve has a video of larger knobs for the blade chucks.
They were knurled metal knobs.  I did find a video and pattern he made for
the wood ones.  I made them and they do work well for my Jet and Excalibur,
but I was wondering where he got the metal ones from some time ago?
Did he pull that video?  I know he made a post about possibility of weight changes damaging the arms on the Saw.   If the knobs were Aluminum seems to me the weight wouldn't be too much .   Just wondering.

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General Scroll Saw Talk / Re: Just checking on the lies my computer tells me.

« on: November 07, 2020, 12:04:58 pm »

Yea I have been busy sawing too. It is Christmas ornament time.  Made more than 50 and some for family, but most for a friend to sell.  At Christmas time beer bottles with the bottoms removed for wind chimes.  I use a glass cutter to score the bottle and pop off the bottoms, grind them down and chain them up with wind catches below as Christmas ornaments.  Just made a case of them for a friend to sell.   Also I am in Illinois and pretty much stuck at home due to Covid so I have been sawing a lot.

10

General Scroll Saw Talk / Re: Parts

« on: November 07, 2020, 11:59:09 am »

It depends on the part:   I have an Excalibur {General International}
It developed a crack right after purchase in the lower arm.  That part was Oh so hard to find...and GI is in Canada!...Trouble right there.  It took a couple of months but General International sent me an email telling me I had to order through a distributor in the US..uggh...from there I finally found a company in Michigan I believe it was...that was willing to order the part.   I did get the part but it was like pulling teeth.   So Seyco does have some parts but if it is not what they offer..if you need an actual arm part or bearings etc you will have some problems getting them.  You have to start by emailing GI with your issue. They will get back to you.  Perhaps now it has changed. This was several months ago

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General Scroll Saw Talk / Re: Inconsistent Blades

« on: November 07, 2020, 11:51:22 am »

I have had a problem with Pegas breakage or the blades not lasting as long as some other brands.   But I have bought other brands in bulk and found they  also are not consistent.  I use Excalibur and Jet scroll saws and found the blades best for me with those machines are FD [flying dutchman]  and Sharktooth

12

General Scroll Saw Talk / Re: jet 18 inch scroll saw

« on: November 07, 2020, 11:46:07 am »

I own both the new Jet 22 and Excalibur 16"
   I have used both of these saw extensively and found the Jet to be totally easier
to work with considering blades. I have several holders pre set up in the jet and simply
just pull one out and load the next until all blades spent.
    As far as quality?  I found the Excalibur had a bit more noise but was just as smooth as the Jet. But you refer to blades.
    So I set up one saw with one type of blade and the other another type.
Further I make my own sanding solution for scroll work and finishing.
    Here is where the Excalibur shines.  Since I use a heavy blade and use adhesive sandpaper folded over the blade to sand with I found the Jet will not work well for that.
In other words the Excalibur I use for sanding and the Jet for cutting. 
   FYI as I know someone may ask:   Sanding:   I take a heavier blade such as a no 4 with less teeth.  Touch grind that blade so the teeth do not extend out.[teeth always protrude to the left or right and must be leveled off]  I take a small piece of self adhesive sandpaper and fold it over the blade so it adheres to itself.   Trim it and use it to sand rough edges etc.  Thats what I use my Excalibur for mainly.
but I do not find the Jet difficult to blade change at all, and since I have a pretty good case of arthritis in my hands the Jet helps me out quite a lot....I also took one of steves free patterns and made oversize knobs for both of my saws and they work great   Hope this all helps...

13

General Scroll Saw Talk / Releasing Tension on Saw when not in use

« on: July 23, 2020, 12:06:04 pm »

In Steve's scroll saw workshop he mentions releasing tension on the saw will help
to protect bearings and other parts of the saw.  Of course that is totally true.
   Also though is the damage to the blade.   Yea I know they cost very little each,
but over time this can result in increase cost.  First the blade is tightened top and bottom
to hold it under tension.  That pressure over time is not good on the blade. And..
metal does fatigue.  Even hardened blades. So first you will get damage to parts, especially
bearings of the saw, but also you will fatigue the blade.  Save your blades and your saw!
O yea I almost forgot....do you forget too?   to release the tension?  Just put a small reminder above or below the light switch to your workshop or somewhere you will see it.  Stop and release:

14

General Scroll Saw Talk / Re: Magnifying lamp

« on: July 23, 2020, 11:55:59 am »

I have two saws side by side, one the Jet and the other a newer Excalibur EX16 and inbetween them
my light is the Ottlite LED with round Leds around the magnifier. I am 70 now and vision is imperative since I do a lot of detail work. Bought one on ebay at huge discount    hope this helps

15

General Scroll Saw Talk / Re: wen 3922

« on: July 01, 2020, 09:21:17 am »

I looked at the saw on Amazon (only a few dollars more) and it looks okay.  Regarding the pin less capacity it appears you have attachment blocks which hook onto the metal blade holders.  I would think the lower attachment may fall off when changing blades.  That's just what I see in the User's Guide available on the Amazon listing.

The ability to change the direction of the blade is an interesting feature.

Here is Steve's look at the saw in Dec. 2019 if you haven't seen it:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HjJTt1qpL8

And here is his Blog post:  http://scrollsawworkshop.blogspot.com/2019/12/fretwork-bird-scroll-saw-pattern-merry.html

Karl

   To KarlB:
   Thanks for the heads up on the Wen. I assumed it would be the same as the Ryobi which actually proved nearly impossible to use pinless blades for any length of time. Didn't know Steve had a video on the Wen but your link to it was very helpful for me.  I do not want to use home built pinless sanders with my Jet, and I do not wish to damage my blade holders on my Ex16 so I may get the Wen since it will take pinless and it does appear I can insert my homemade sanding blades in it.  So thank you again for the heads up and link  harpolemond