Raw beginner questions

[sstalker]

Hi all,

Great web site.

I am pretty new to the scroll side of the wood business. I bought a Delta 16" 2-speed about 10 years ago. Have not used it much (did not know what the possibilities were). Not real impressed with the saw btw (you get what you pay for). I went to the Dayton carver show last weekend and was very impressed. Came away with a lot of ideas and inspiration. Trying right now to decide between a Delta P-20, Dewalt 788 and the EX-21. Not a huge difference in price.

Questions:
Ordering blades. I know different blades have different purposes, but what are a few good general purpose blades that I could cut my teeth on (pardon the pun) till I really learn what I am doing?

Is the upper clamp on the P-20 different from the clamp on my current Delta? They look the same. My current upper clamp came apart and is a p.i.t.a.

Thanks for you patience.

Steve - Toledo, OH

[Trout]

my go to blade is...

a #5 skip tooth...I use it to cut all my 3/4 inch wood for intarsa...

Trout

[Carter-Johnson]

Mike at Mikesworkshop.com has helped a lot of peopole get started and has introduced them to varieties of his Flying Dutchman blades. Get ahold of him. Pegas blades are also good. Those two kinds are, I think, the best. A #5 is fine to start, a #2 for thinner cuts (1/4" and less).

I'm a big DeWalt fan. I don;t know how you can do better for the price. Shop around. You should be able to find one for just over $400.

Good luck....Carter

[Daryl185]

Amazon.com has several Dewalt 788s remanufactured from several places I am currently awaiting delivery of mine total proce with shipping is less then 400 dollars and as for blades I just made a post in the tools tread about FD blades and Mike was nice enough to call me less then 30 min later asking me questions about my blade selection and made some good suggestions that I accepted and is even sending me samples

[Minnesota scroller]

There are basically 3 top brands out there and everyone swears what they use are the best. The best thing to do is try a few of each and come to your own conclusions. The 2 mentioned and Olson are the only 3 you need to concern yourself with. A lot has to do with what type of scrolling you are doing and what type and thickness of wood. I've tried all 3 in flat and spiral and for portrait work I've had the best luck with Olson #0 skiptooth. With 1/2" hardwood I've had the best luck with Pegas #3 skiptooth. Like I said, each to his own. For Olson blades, among other things including bits and wood, you can't go wrong with http://www.sloanswoodshop.com/. They typically get orders out within 24 hours and they have great customer service. A good source for Pegas blades is http://bensscrollsaw.com/. Ben is a super guy to deal with too and stands behind everything he sells. He also accepts PayPal for orders. We scrollers have some amazing resources.

Experiment and good luck.

[beemerbob]

Hi all,

Great web site.

I am pretty new to the scroll side of the wood business. Trying right now to decide between a Delta P-20, Dewalt 788 and the EX-21. Not a huge difference in price.

Steve - Toledo, OH

Steve, take a look at what these folks said about the Delta P20.

http://www.scrollsaws.com/SawReviews/P20.html

[Minnesota scroller]

Regarding saws, you'll find happy sawyers with the Dewalt and happy sawyers with the Delta. I recently purchased a used Dewalt off Ebay and can't say anything bad about it. However, I do need to caution you about one thing if you decide to go with the Dewalt. The newer ones, which are labeled type 2, are made in China. Some people are having great luck with them and others have to send them to a service center as soon as they receive them. Some have major flaws. The older ones like mine, the type 1, work great out of the box. These were made in Canada. Daryl has a refurbished one coming from Amazon.com. He shouldn't have much to worry about with this one, considering it's been reconditioned.

What sold me on the Dewalt vs. the Delta was the variable speed. I like to change speeds quite often and I think having to stop the saw everytime you want to change the speed, would be a pia. Also, I prefer tools made on this continent.

Just my 3c worth.

[sstalker]

Thanks to all for your replies. I finally ordered an RBI VS220. I don't know that I have ever bought a 'better' tool and regretted spending the money. I also got a good supply of FD SR blades from Mike. Seven dozen are in the #3 & #5 sizes. I also go a few #1, 7 & 9. By the time I go through them, I will have a pretty good feel for where to go from there.

Saw ships next Monday. Primary interest is fretwork. Will post when I get something worth posting.

Steve - Toledo

[sstalker]

Another newbie question:

When drilling a hole for interior cuts, why use holes that match the blade size? If the area to be cut out is large (let's say 1/4 to 1/2"), why not use a 1/16 or 1/8 bit? I see charts that give the various bit sizes to match blade sizes.

Again, thanks in advance for help with my questions.

Steve - Toledo

[Gill]

Hi Steve

So long as you don't get 'breakout' from the drill bit on the underside which will impact on the areas that you wish to retain, there's no reason why you shouldn't use a large drill bit. The name of the game is getting rid of the material you don't want and leaving the material you need. Nobody's going to ask questions once your project's been finished, so do whatever works for you. I regularly cut lots of large access holes, not only on fretwork but also on compound pieces. It makes projects a lot easier.

Gill

[Minnesota scroller]

Steve, the purpose of matching drill bit sizes to blade size is for those cases where you may be doing veining or have some very thin lines where a larger drill bit will be much larger than the actual width of the cut you wish to make. If you are doing veining and you use a bit that is twice the width of the vein, it will be very noticeable. You don't want people to see the actual entry hole. When I am using a #0 blade, I will first use a larger bit where I have plenty of cutout space, and after those holes are drilled, I will switch to the smaller bit where the lines are extremely thin. When I started scrolling, I would drill all the holes with the smaller that coincided with my blade. I soon learned that was silly. Now I'll use 2 different size bits per project.

[sstalker]

Well, my Hawk finally arrived. My first ever project is a Xmas ornament about 4 inches in diameter. I still have a long way to go, but my 5 y.o. granddaughter loves it.

The Hawk is a far cry from my 10 y.o. Delta that I used for cutting small trim. The whole house knew when I turned that machine on. The Hawk just purrs.

Now to figure out how to combine pyrography with scroll work.

This board has been a blessing for learning "how to".

Steve - Toledo

[SharonW0111]

Hi Steve-- as far as break outs and bits goes I use only a 1/16" they are cheap and last a very long time and fit my Dremel flex shaft and my drill press both. I will advise to use a good piece of scrap board under your project and go all the way through with your bit- this prevents tear outs I use a 2x4 on my press and usually just a old scrap of plywood on my work table for when I use my Dremel ( which I do use most of the time). when the ply gets to many holes to do me much good I chunk it in the burning box and use something else I do like to use a large board on my work table to give stability --
Sharon

[SharonW0111]

If you can get your hands on a couple of issues back our mag had a cute project that incorperated pryograpy with scrolling.
It does add to a piece sometimes I have use it myself on some of my first projects.

[sstalker]

Sharon,

I should be receiving about 13 back issues in the mail (hopefully tomorrow). I only have the current is (Chistmas) of SSW. I would like to get a subscription but don't want to get another current issue I already have. Guess I will have to call them.

Thanks for the reply.

Steve - Toledo