scrollsawing necessities

[mikewix]

a picture frame jig comes in handy to frame your work.

[CharleyL]

Good even lighting over your saw to minimize blade shadows and make it easy to see and follow the pattern lines makes a huge difference in the quality of your work. I have two goose neck type LED lights attached to my DeWalt 788 saw, one attached to each side of the upper blade arm, that I position off to each side of the blade, that completely eliminates the blade shadow and brightly illuminates the work area.  

 

Charley

[Roberta Moreton]

Don't forget the router base for the dremel

[Sparkey]

Mike just reminded my of making picture frames. I also couldn't get by without my frame joiner/ v-nailer and my compound miter saw.

Edited December 12, 2016 by Sparkey

[tonylumps]

Sometime bigger is better.But in our hobby that is not the case.My bandsaw,planer,jointer,are all bench top on seperate wheeled toolstands.

[Rolf]

I am the wrong person to ask about tools. If I don't have one I need it.!

All kidding aside, tool NEED is so project dependent. You have some great advice from all above. If you will be doing lots of thin stuff, then a band saw and planer, if thinner than a 1/4 a drum sander is really nice. A dust collection system!! If Intarsia will be a focus a Big pneumatic drum sander.

 

And most important, a supportive and understanding wife.

[CharleyL]

Here is a link to the post that I made about improved lighting for my DeWalt 788. http://www.scrollsawvillage.com/topic/17818-improved-lighting-for-my-scroll-saw/?hl=charleyl#entry175181

 

These lghts are available from Lowes for $17.99 each (last week's price). For those of you not near a Lowes, they have these lights on their website and they will ship them to you. These lights are far superior to the original DeWalt light that many of you are trying to use. The light from them is bright white, similar to a "daylight fluorescent light, but with the many LEDs in each light head spaced apart, there is much less shadowing, so common when using single point light sources. I find that scrolling with the light from these LED lights to be even better than using my scroll saw in bright Sunlight.

 

The bracket to mount these lights is easy to make from 1/16 X 1 1/2 and 1/8 X  1 1/2 or 2" aluminum, also available from Lowes, and a similar design can be adapted to most scroll saws. I bent the U shape in the 1/16 aluminum by holding a (too long) piece across the top of the upper arm of my 788 and bending it down around the arm. This pretty much guarantees a good fit. I then used my vice to bend the two right angle lower bends on this piece about 1/8" above the bottom of the upper saw arm, so the screws can pull it tight to the lower piece and saw arm.. Then I cut off the excess aluminum, leaving square tabs about 1" long.

 

The lower piece of 1/8" aluminum that the lights attach to is easier to make, since it is just cut to size, the corners sanded round, and holes drilled in it. The soft aluminum can be cut on any wood saw and can be worked with just about any tool designed for woodworking. I used a ROS to put a kind of swirl texture to the base piece, because it was heavily scratched when I got it. The ROS sanding with 150 grit got rid of these scratches and put an even swirl pattern on the whole piece. It took me less than an hour to make both pieces of the bracket, and then about another hour to dis-assemble the lights from the spring clamps and mount them on this new bracket.

 

I used some anti skid step tread strips, cut to size, and attached inside the bracket where it will press against the upper arm of the saw, to keep it from slipping. This tape probably isn't needed, if the bracket will tighten on the upper arm of the saw. After attaching the lights and bracket to my saw, I used black tie wraps to route the light wires along the left side of the upper arm of the saw, and double sided carpet tape on the back side of both power switches plus tie wraps to attach the switches to the left rear casting of my 788.

 

Placing the lamp heads slightly toward you of the saw blade and angled down at about 45 degrees toward the blade from each side of the saw, removes all of the blade shadows. The bright white light from the LEDs is very even over the whole cutting area, making it very easy to follow the lines of your pattern without the blade shadows that sometimes cause you to follow the shadow instead of a pattern line. It's amazing how much better I can follow the pattern now that I can see it so clearly.

 

Charley 

[Rolf]

Wow Sparky Now that is a nailer, I haven't had tool envy in a long time but this I want.