Napkin Holder

[Artie]

I’m only starting this post because we LIKE pictures. I tried another project,making a napkin holder for the future D-I-L. Again, lots of time on the strip sander, and every time I look at it I see more that needs to be done. I DETEST changing blades on the saw. I apparently tightened too much the first day I used it, because I had to file the end of the blade holding screw, it kept pulling out. I’m tone deaf so that high C thing, yeah that ain’t working for me. I did the last piece after not tightening the blade so much, and there weren’t too many issues.  I was thinking about staining it, but didn’t notice I had cut myself, and bled on it. I am gonna try to use the under table router feature of my Shopsmith (shout out to Gene!), and bevel the base piece. I am hoping that they are at least recognizable as dogs.   Truth be told, they look better in the pictures here, than they do in person. 

[lew]

I don't think I've ever made a project that didn't have a little of my DNA left behind!

[Grandpadave52]

54 minutes ago, Artie said:

 I was thinking about staining it, but didn’t notice I had cut myself, and bled on it.

Well guess you did stain it Artie Probably should find a better way to sign it

Wonder if Hydrogen Peroxide would remove the blood stain + scrubbing with an old tooth brush; works on clothing (VOE). Not sure what it will do to the ply aside from raising the grain some.

I have used HP to clean finished wood with good results. That tip came from @Stick486

 

Aside from the blood letting, the project is very nice. I not only think you're getting the hang of scrolling, but you might be getting a scroll addition too.

Thanks for sharing and the pictures too!

[Al B]

1 hour ago, Grandpadave52 said:

 

1 hour ago, Grandpadave52 said:

 

I have used HP to clean finished wood with good results. 

 

 

I'm guessing HP would be Hydrogen Peroxide.  

[Grandpadave52]

Just now, It Was Al B said:

I'm guessing HP would be Hydrogen Peroxide.  

Sorry...yes Al...I was just plain lazy to type it again...guess I could have C&P (copy&paste) 

[Al B]

4 minutes ago, Grandpadave52 said:

Sorry...yes Al...I was just plain lazy to type it again...guess I could have C&P (copy&paste) 

You have to remember, some of us older folks can't remember what we had just read in clear print. 

[RustyFN]

Looks good Artie.

[Smallpatch]

Artie does your scroll saw have a tension knob kinda like the dewalt, one you twist to give it more tension. Reason I ask ,I have never heard of anyone ever plucking the blade to see what kind of a sound I get...Once I learned how to put the blade in with no extra slack before I started to tighten it up, I just remember the number it is always set on...Seems like a person could get all kinds of sounds depending on what a person used to hit the blade with.

 I actually learned to operate my saw before I got a computer and now after hearing all these tales or stories it might be good I didn't have one. I read the other day someone told you don't forget to sand the back side of the blade for it you didn't one side of the wood  would be ruff...This is something I have never done. So I went out to the scroll saw and I used all the different blades I use and cut soft woods and a few hardwoods and after I cut through the wood I had stacked there I could not tell which side was ruffer than the other side..Both sides were very smooth...And thinking back when cutting out letters and numbers I might be cutting one direction then when I go into a deep V, I swing around and probably am going the other direction with the blade so if that was true I  should end up with half my cut areas should be ruff and half be smooth,,,,, but they are all smooth.. So I think you are getting some hear say instead of actual experience......

   I forgot to mention your work is looking good...I would even say you might have been doing this for some time before you bought the new saw..

Edited March 27, 2018 by Smallpatch

[Wichman3]

Artie, Nice looking work, thumbs up.

As for the sound I use a fingernail and as long as it is a sharp plink and not a dull plunk I'm happy. I've never sanded or filed the back of a blade either, never had to "rough up" the ends as well.

[Artie]

Small patch, most of my (alleged) scroll saw knowledge is off the net. At the front of the saw, on top, there is a lever. If you flip it all the way over it locks the tension. When it is unflipped, you can rotate it clockwise to tighten, and CCW to loosen. As I’m not competent yet at installing blades, I’m sure that sometimes they are installed with a bit more/less play than other times, so just flipping the lever doesn’t always equate to the same amount of tension (I hope I’m explaining this so it’s understandable). Since the only saws I have experience with are the Porter-Cable, and the old Craftsman the friend at work just gave me, I have no idea how easy or difficult blade changing on other saws can be, (but I gotta think an easier way can be designed.) The saw has what I would call a decent amount of vibration, but I have yet to put a shelf on the bottom stand cross bracing, and throw a 50 pound bag of sand on it for dampening purposes. Again, a bit of advice I got off the net. I also can’t seem to find a way to adjust the blade from traveling left to right as it goes up and down. Not sure it affects following the lines, but it does make starting the cut a bit of guesswork. Bottom line,  I am having fun, though I avoid the Missus for at least 15 minutes after changing a bladed, cause I don’t want her thinking how replaceable I could be LOL. 

[Gene Howe]

That napkin holder is very nice, Artie. It's the cat's meow. 

[Fred W. Hargis Jr]

Nicely done. Dave pointed this out, use the peroxide. I keep a bottle in the shop just for that purpose.

[Artie]

Ok, hopefully I’ve calmed down enough that I don’t come across as whiny, bitchy, petulant, self centered, as I was feeling earlier. With tomorrow being Easter, I thought I would make a Cross for each of two people that would appreciate it. At each of the 4 ends of the Cross, there were 3 small circles. I drilled out the 24 circles with a Forster bit, and apparently did a horrible job with the backing because I got a lot of tear-out. The Cross got cut out with my normal amateurish end results. Second Cross did not survive the attempt to cut it out. (Kinda had me a hissy fit, and smashed the board on the floor, after I realized there was no saving it. Did feel good). I couldn’t keep the blade on the line, going around the circle, once it cut too close to the inside of the circle, DOA. I’m reading Patrick Spielmans book, he recommends a much higher speed than I’m using, and using the feed rate to adjust for quality. Also got no idea what blades to use, got several Flying Dutchman sizes, and a couple of Olsen Blade sizes, and some Pegas blades (From one of the sponsors on Steve Good’s site). Biggest issue seems to be trying to make corners, I keep winding up where I DON’T want to be. The Porter-Cable has  movement left to right as the blade goes up and down, not sure if that is part of my problem. I’m thinking of trying one project with the Shopsmith scroll saw, and one with the Craftsman one my friend at work gave me, see if there’s any difference/improvement. It was bad enough today that I got pretty discouraged, made going to work seem like a better option  There is a Woodcraft store that has a scroller club, the Scrollahs, and they meet regularly, not too far away, thinking I may have to go down there and see if some in person mentoring can help (sure can’t hurt). On the positive side, used the over table router feature of the Shopsmith for the first time today, put a bevel on the edge of the napkin holder, managed to do that and be pleased with it. Also cleaned out the upstairs bathroom sink drain, so it only seems to be scroll work I’m mystified by. Happy Easter to all, and remember that tomorrow is also April Fools Day, before you go hunting for Easter eggs that may not actually be there.

[Artie]

Ok, hopefully I’ve calmed down enough that I don’t come across as whiny, bitchy, petulant, self centered, as I was feeling earlier. With tomorrow being Easter, I thought I would make a Cross for each of two people that would appreciate it. At each of the 4 ends of the Cross, there were 3 small circles. I drilled out the 24 circles with a Forster bit, and apparently did a horrible job with the backing because I got a lot of tear-out. The Cross got cut out with my normal amateurish end results. Second Cross did not survive the attempt to cut it out. (Kinda had me a hissy fit, and smashed the board on the floor, after I realized there was no saving it. Did feel good). I couldn’t keep the blade on the line, going around the circle, once it cut too close to the inside of the circle, DOA. I’m reading Patrick Spielmans book, he recommends a much higher speed than I’m using, and using the feed rate to adjust for quality. Also got no idea what blades to use, got several Flying Dutchman sizes, and a couple of Olsen Blade sizes, and some Pegas blades (From one of the sponsors on Steve Good’s site). Biggest issue seems to be trying to make corners, I keep winding up where I DON’T want to be. The Porter-Cable has  movement left to right as the blade goes up and down, not sure if that is part of my problem. I’m thinking of trying one project with the Shopsmith scroll saw, and one with the Craftsman one my friend at work gave me, see if there’s any difference/improvement. It was bad enough today that I got pretty discouraged, made going to work seem like a better option  There is a Woodcraft store that has a scroller club, the Scrollahs, and they meet regularly, not too far away, thinking I may have to go down there and see if some in person mentoring can help (sure can’t hurt). On the positive side, used the over table router feature of the Shopsmith for the first time today, put a bevel on the edge of the napkin holder, managed to do that and be pleased with it. Also cleaned out the upstairs bathroom sink drain, so it only seems to be scroll work I’m mystified by. Happy Easter to all, and remember that tomorrow is also April Fools Day, before you go hunting for Easter eggs that may not actually be there.

[Dadio]

Artie, those look OK with me. You sure picked a difficult design to start with. Keep at it you are progressing fine.

Herb

[schnewj]

You're doing great, Artie. Remember, PRACTICE! Like all things it is trial and error. Find what works for you and experiment with the rest until you get your system down. Don't worry about the middle C thing I mentioned, I'm tone deaf, also. It was just meant to get you in a ball park (if you were musically inclined). @Smallpatch You should get out more, Jess! There are several YouTube videos that show how to do this, or...

 

http://scrollsawworkshop.blogspot.com/2010/01/scroll-saw-blade-tension-software.html

 

Bottom line, just find the sweet spot when you're tensioning the blade...be Goldilocks...

[Grandpadave52]

Hang in there Artie. Don't put unrealistic expectations on yourself and get frustrated...VOE. I have great visions of what my finished product should look like, then seeing the pile of sawdust on the floor I realize the only thing I made was $$ for the lumber yard guys. I'm not a scroller so I can't help you much there, well except how to make piles of chips and dust. We've got some gifted people here with the expertise to answer your questions.

 

I really like the cross design. Don't give up on it or your work. Sometimes Monday comes early.

 

BTW. Blessed Easter to you and your family as well!!

[Wichman3]

Artie, Let not your heart be troubled. You are doing fine. A couple of points;

1. Back in the day, when I started scrolling, I was using a Sears "hobby saw" , 3 " pinned blades, spring loaded, no tension adjustment. I was working on a project of my own device; small boxes made by using a patterns from one of Spielmans books, hearts, teddy bears, butterflys, etc. I would take 3/4 pine and sandwich it between two pieces of 1/8 plywood ( so a 1/8 ply, 3/4 pine, 1/8 ply), cut the outside shape, remove the plywood pieces, trace the same shape on the inside of the 3/4 pine, cut it out, then trace the design cut on another piece of 1/8 ply, cut it out. Then glue the smaller piece to the "top" plywood and the bottom plywood to the 3/4 pine. At the end I would have a small box shaped like a heart, teddy bears, etc. To finish I would paint it a flat color and then tole paint the face of the box.

   Then I decided to get fancy. I was cutting butterflys and had the box walls less than 1/16" thick; broke three in a row getting them out of the saw; as soon as I removed the center waste piece I crushed then with the lightest finger pressure I could apply. I had to quit scrolling for several months or I felt I would have taken a maul to the saw.

   Lesson: Know when to say when. Keep it fun. Don't put yourself under time constraints until you have a better understanding of how long it will take you to complete a project. Pushing yourself because " I HAVE to have it done by X" rarely ends well.

2. turning square corners.

   a. When you get to a corner, back the blade up slightly (1/32") turn the piece 90 * and match up to the line (if the corner isn't square, come back after the waste is removed and clean up the corner by cutting 180 * from the original cut.

   b. When starting the cut drill the hole close to one of the corners, cut to the corner keeping close to but not on one of the sides. Back the blade to the starter hole, turn the piece 180*  and back the blade up to the corner, then start cutting the pattern. If you need I can have my son either take some pictures or a short video of the technique.

[Smallpatch]

Artie I hope I'm not saying things to make your blood pressure go up. 

 You are way above what my first projects were when I first started.. Don't get discouraged. Your perfect circles are showing off the outsides and hey this is not CNC work, humans have a right to do their own thing.  This CNC work in my way of thinking looks like some one stamped out a pieces of plastic.

   The only practice I ever did was cut a circle out away from the edge of say a piece of 3/4" wood then return back out the slot you started with then see if the plug can be removed either direction... I do this occasionally to see if I am still keeping the blade straight up and down  and not exerting side pressure....

 

  If the blade seems to be made of rubber while cutting, put just a bit more tension on the blade as you are cutting.. Also if the little round things that go against the blade is held in with a rubber o ring then keep a bit of oil in it so it will always swivel. Cranking down too much will have a tendency to crush the little round thing making is kinda round on the end instead  of flat then you won't be able to keep the blade tight at all. So, too much tension will end up being bad.

   I first started sawing following the line on one side or the other.. Then I switched to going down the exact middle of the line and it improved my accuracy.  I could never keep the same distance from the blade and the line...Also when drawing my own patterns I use the smallest line I can make..

   And when all of a sudden your blade turns into rubber, stop and reinsert your blade. On my saw it is always the bottom that slips first...It is very hard to insert the blade all the way to the back of the holder every time cause its like closing your eyes as you're doing it.. This just takes time till you get that feeling it went in right.. 

 Try not to back up to correct a wrong direction. It will show more than a gradual change. and remember to stay on the right side from center while sitting in the chair.

 Blades, if you use lots of blade I think  you might not ever get to learn what each blade will do in different situations.. The #5 flying dutchman is my blade for almost all regular cutting. Its not as aggressive as the Olson # 5 precision ground blades which I do like to use in thicker wood cause they do last longer. But they are also are quicker to get you to making mistakes, as in harder to control.

  If you can't turn a good tight circle to reverse the cutting direction just back out to waste area where you can turn the blade around then back it down to where you are trying to cut that tight v. 

 
Running a blade with no reverse bottom teeth is easier to control your sawing but if you don't insert the blade as to where the bottom teeth are cutting upside down the bottom of the board will have less snags to remove later you re wasting your money.. so I try to always run a blade using reverse teeth on the bottom..The only exception is when I am sawing very small items and don't want pieces to be knocked off and lost like in very small letters.

  I cut out anything I might want to print out and enlarge to make later. I never use the original picture or pattern. And I always print out at least two pictures, one to glue on to the wood and the other to have something to go by.

On this picture I might give some advise if you haven't made something like this. The first step is to glue up wood the size I will need then attach a piece of Baltic Birch 1/4" plywood to the back of the picture.. A backer for later use to glue all the pieces back in to one picture..I use double sided tape or small brads that can be removed later.. Once the outside is cut out,  take the backer board off before any inside cutting is done...All the pieces will be glued back on to the backer board making a one piece picture again...After all the pieces are cut out with the scroll saw, using the band saw cut the pieces you want to shorten doing away with the top portion leaving the bottoms only . This way all the pieces will still still fit each other. Don't even cut off any of the bottoms and throw them away. Once you get this far you picture will start to take shape....The more different thicknesses you have the better the picture will look. Then round off the sides of all pieces and it will look like you know what you are doing. The last one I made I shortened lots of the flowers and the leaves making it look even better.

A person can always learn from the first of any one thing he builds or else he ain't no woodworker.

 

Without that backer board you got a bunch of pieces and no where to go with them.

[Dadio]

I like that post Patch, I am learning a lot here.

Thanks to Artie asking all these questions I might learn enough to try it sometime.

 

Herb