April 20, 20197 yr 1 minute ago, Artie said: Also not sure how much lung protection is needed during turning. I can only tell you from my own experience which is limited, all the shavings just drop with gravity, nothing gets in the air really. Even while hand sanding a spindle, it's very minimal and most of the dust if not all just drops to the ways and down. But again Artie, my turning is perhaps just a level above yours, so the others are going to have much more wisdom on the subject.
April 20, 20197 yr Author I have one of those, bought new. Bought the stand alone one SS makes, on Craigslist, $250. I find the inability to change speeds, and the multiple button pushing for off/on, and no foot switch, makes the one pictured above less than convenient. Other than that I found it smooth, but too high for me (I be only 67 inches tall). The stand alone one is too tall, with no adjustments to Lower it. I even sent SS an e-mail asking if I could buy the 4 legs, so I could make some shop adjustments to shorten it, but got no reply. I would like the ability to resell it some day, in it’s original configuration. Having said all that, I do love the stand alone one. I have to stand when I use it, but I find blade changing easy, it’s smooth, easy on/off, and speed changing, and if I could rig something for a chair to work, a foot switch could be used with it. The point I was shooting for, was I like to support made here, and the good people in it.
April 20, 20197 yr 2 minutes ago, Artie said: The point I was shooting for, was I like to support made here, and the good people in it. You got that right Artie, and I completely got the point from the beginning.
April 20, 20197 yr 6 minutes ago, Artie said: I find the inability to change speeds, That would be a deal breaker for me too Artie, I did not know they weren't multiple speed. EDIT: Wait a minute, it runs off the motor head which is variable speed, what am I missing? DOUBLE EDIT: For got, you stated standalone, not connected the power plant, I digress.
April 20, 20197 yr 16 minutes ago, Artie said: John, I like the idea of full face protection, but not sure I need to double that up with glasses/goggles. Also not sure how much lung protection is needed during turning. I have found that when I use a ROS and it’s connected to the vac, I don’t need a dust mask, can’t smell anything wood. I wear corrective lens so they are present under the shield. The lenses are polycarbonate so there's that protection but I doubt the frames would stand up to a direct hit. As for dust mask, the tools produce primarily chips/shavings. A dust mask is recommended for turning spalted and toxic materials and always when sanding. I have a dust collector port at the lathe and also use if for sanding.
April 20, 20197 yr Author John, they both are variable speed, on the stand alone you reach down, turn the dial to the speed you want, while it’s running. On the one that attaches to the Pro head, you have to turn the machine off (I believe, I don’t think you can change speeds while it’s running, I haven’t done so yet ). Then the speed is in rpms, which because it’s run off the coupler is a different ratio, so you pretty much have to print out a chart to see what rpm converts to scroll saw speed. Then hit confirm, then hit on. Kinda convoluted. Now I’m new to the SS, and may be missing some shortcuts, but I asked about this on the SS forum, and didn’t get any easier answers. When the SS mounted one is running I found it excellent, just too long a process for on/off, and let’s face it, there’s a lot of on/off when scrollsawing. If I could buy a set of legs for the stand alone, I’d chop them down, so the machine is low enough to use while sitting. I don’t think I would even need the foot pedal, it’s a push down-off, pull up-on, switch, I can find it without looking now. If I could sit while spending long time on this saw, I wouldn’t be looking at a new (at least to me) one.
April 20, 20197 yr Popular Post @John Morris you are fired as safety officer. If you value your lungs yes some dust protection is a must. I use a Trent air shield pro and lots of turners use something similar. Yes turning produces dust that floats , yes floats in the air and yes you will inhale it except for green wood. Try turning in the sunlight and you will see the dust. I do switch to a Ezmask for sanding to save batteries. Ok off my soapbox. Artie if you want to find out if turning is for you or if you have an urge to see something interesting and educational go to a AAW wood turning chapter meeting. There are seven clubs in Massachusetts. You can watch for free sbefore deciding to join and you will learn things you never thought you might need to know. That is advice I give to every turner wiether new or old. Look at https://www.woodturner.org/search/newsearch.asp look at chapters and then Find a Chapter.
April 20, 20197 yr Popular Post 17 minutes ago, Gerald said: @John Morris you are fired as safety officer. Thats it! I'm going to green wood and a spring pole lathe!
April 20, 20197 yr Author Okay, my pants are on fire, cause I'm a liar. Went back to the SS site, and once it is running (I'm referring to the Mark 7, with the Power Pro head) you can change the speed as little as 1 rpm at a time. There is an rpm range of 450-2800 for the scroll saw, I didn't write down the spm range that corelates to. Still kinda cumbersome. It's a very well made machine, I'm gonna hold onto it as a backup.
April 20, 20197 yr Popular Post @Artie, I am no giant either, and the band saw is too high for me. Especially for long stretches of intricate cuts. So, I built a 6" high platform to stand on. It's big enough to set a stool on, though I still stand.
April 20, 20197 yr Author Popular Post Gene, I'm not a giant, and I'm referring to mentally . I thought about making a stage to put a chair on, but then I gotta store it when I'm not scrolling, and truth be told, I know that I'll roll the chair off the stage, while I'm sitting in it, at least once. C'mon everyone reading this, you can picture me doing that, can't you LOL.
April 20, 20197 yr 2 minutes ago, Artie said: Gene, I'm not a giant, and I'm referring to mentally . I thought about making a stage to put a chair on, but then I gotta store it when I'm not scrolling, and truth be told, I know that I'll roll the chair off the stage, while I'm sitting in it, at least once. C'mon everyone reading this, you can picture me doing that, can't you LOL. Precisely why I don't use the stool. My old bones are brittle. Got no broken ones and I wanna keep it that way.
April 20, 20197 yr Author 36 minutes ago, Gerald said: @John Morris you are fired as safety officer. If you value your lungs yes some dust protection is a must. I use a Trent air shield pro and lots of turners use something similar. Yes turning produces dust that floats , yes floats in the air and yes you will inhale it except for green wood. Try turning in the sunlight and you will see the dust. I do switch to a Ezmask for sanding to save batteries. Ok off my soapbox. Artie if you want to find out if turning is for you or if you have an urge to see something interesting and educational go to a AAW wood turning chapter meeting. There are seven clubs in Massachusetts. You can watch for free sbefore deciding to join and you will learn things you never thought you might need to know. That is advice I give to every turner wiether new or old. Look at https://www.woodturner.org/search/newsearch.asp look at chapters and then Find a Chapter. Gerald, that's a great idea, and I found that there is a chapter that meets at the Woodcraft I buy at. Also I checked out Easy Wood Tools website, and it didn't appear that they sell their tools directly. They meet at 7:00 pm, with a meet and learn from 5:30 to 6:30. My place of employment is maybe 7 miles from the store. I could punch out, grab some early supper, go meet some people, learn me something, attend the meeting, be home in bed between 10-11 (That is a late night for me, but the meetings are on Thursdays, so I can always get through a Friday). Now if they'll let me attend a second meeting, I might be on to something LOL. Thank you!
April 20, 20197 yr Author Gene I find the height of the stand alone scrollsaw, to be perfect when I'm standing. I just can't stand at it as long as I would like to. It is very acceptable to me right now. I would prefer to spend any money on the shop elsewhere (like maybe getting into turning). My bandsawing stints have been small in duration, but it is kinda high, workable, but 4 inches lower would be better for me. The SS has it's limitations, but it fits in real good with me, and my shop.
April 20, 20197 yr Author Popular Post This is fun, my job for tomorrow got postponed due to the heavy rains forecast. I made no other plans for tomorrow, my father/husband duties are up to date, SHOPTIME tomorrow! I get to stay up late on the web, sleep in till I decide to get outta bed, eat lunch where and when I wanna, only bummer is the Bruins losing to Toronto tonight. The plastic bag on the DC sprung a leak, so first job is to change it (for the first time). Things have gotten piled up on the workbenches so some organizing is called for, then maybe some attention can be paid to my Crosses project (good thing I didn't say what year's Easter I was shooting for).
April 20, 20197 yr 7 minutes ago, Artie said: (good thing I didn't say what year's Easter I was shooting for). Sounds like my hive project. My mom only said she needed them sometime in spring.......umm it’s texas and we don’t have spring we have mildly cold and who set the world on fire hot. Somewhere in between those two we might get a week or two time span were things grow before they self combust.
April 20, 20197 yr 28 minutes ago, Artie said: The plastic bag on the DC sprung a leak, so first job is to change it Blue painter's tape worked for me
April 20, 20197 yr 46 minutes ago, Artie said: I checked out Easy Wood Tools website, and it didn't appear that they sell their tools directly http://www.easywoodtools.com/buy-here/
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