johnnyo Posted June 30, 2017 Author Report Share Posted June 30, 2017 On 6/28/2017 at 6:29 AM, CharleyL said: For a light, my saw came with the light from DeWalt. It was terrible for scrolling because it was more of a spot light than a flood light and got very hot. It also cast blade shadows, making it difficult to find the pattern line through the shadows sometimes. I replaced that light with two Halogen drafting board lights, one on each side of the blade. This mostly solved the shadow problems, but they got very hot and sunburned my hands. I also burned my face on them more than once. I'm now using what I feel is the ultimate solution to lighting for my scroll saw, and they were way cheaper than anything that I had tried before. Lowes carries these and they are less than $20 each. https://www.lowes.com/pd/Style-Selections-13-25-in-Adjustable-Stainless-Steel-LED-Clip-On-Clip-Desk-Lamp-with-Metal-Shade/1000003084 I made a bracket that attaches to the upper arm of my DeWalt 788 that allowed me to mount one of these lights to each side of the upper arm of my saw. These lights don't get hot. They provide a very bright and even white light, and having one on each side of the blade angled down at about 45 degrees completely eliminates the blade and moving upper blade grip shadows, making it much easier to follow the pattern lines. Here is the link to my first post about these lights complete with pictures. The bracket is just two easy to make pieces, made from 1/16 and 1/8" aluminum plus two bolts and nuts,that wraps around the upper arm of the saw. No modifications to the saw are necessary, but you will need to remove the spring clamps on the base of the lamps. The lights will completely remove the blade shadows, provide very bright and even white light, and they don't burn my hands or face, even if I spend the whole day scrolling under them. To me, they have been the perfect solution to lighting on my DeWalt 788 scroll saw. Charley On 6/28/2017 at 6:29 AM, CharleyL said: For a light, my saw came with the light from DeWalt. It was terrible for scrolling because it was more of a spot light than a flood light and got very hot. It also cast blade shadows, making it difficult to find the pattern line through the shadows sometimes. I replaced that light with two Halogen drafting board lights, one on each side of the blade. This mostly solved the shadow problems, but they got very hot and sunburned my hands. I also burned my face on them more than once. I'm now using what I feel is the ultimate solution to lighting for my scroll saw, and they were way cheaper than anything that I had tried before. Lowes carries these and they are less than $20 each. https://www.lowes.com/pd/Style-Selections-13-25-in-Adjustable-Stainless-Steel-LED-Clip-On-Clip-Desk-Lamp-with-Metal-Shade/1000003084 I made a bracket that attaches to the upper arm of my DeWalt 788 that allowed me to mount one of these lights to each side of the upper arm of my saw. These lights don't get hot. They provide a very bright and even white light, and having one on each side of the blade angled down at about 45 degrees completely eliminates the blade and moving upper blade grip shadows, making it much easier to follow the pattern lines. Here is the link to my first post about these lights complete with pictures. The bracket is just two easy to make pieces, made from 1/16 and 1/8" aluminum plus two bolts and nuts,that wraps around the upper arm of the saw. No modifications to the saw are necessary, but you will need to remove the spring clamps on the base of the lamps. The lights will completely remove the blade shadows, provide very bright and even white light, and they don't burn my hands or face, even if I spend the whole day scrolling under them. To me, they have been the perfect solution to lighting on my DeWalt 788 scroll saw. Charley thanks Charley. I've never had a Dewalt so I really appreciate your post before I spend money on a Dewalt light. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnnyo Posted June 30, 2017 Author Report Share Posted June 30, 2017 On 6/26/2017 at 6:09 AM, ike said: I have a dewalt 788 and I bottom feed , some times it is a little tricky getting the blade thru the weed hole . when I drill the hole I turn the wood over and re drill the hole from the oppsite side the top clamp is easier to fit the blade in than the bottom holder . this works best for me. IKE Thanks for the great tip about drilling. I will try doing that once I get my 788 saw home. Really looking forward to using it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CharleyL Posted June 30, 2017 Report Share Posted June 30, 2017 A quick pass over the back side with a random orbit sander and 220 grit sandpaper will clean up all the drill splinters much quicker. Sometimes it leaves a bit of sawdust in the holes, so I blow the project off with compressed air after sanding and it cleans the holes out quickly. Drilling the holes one at a time from the back side takes too long for me. Sanding is much faster. Charley Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roberta Moreton Posted July 27, 2017 Report Share Posted July 27, 2017 Buy the Dewalt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CharleyL Posted July 27, 2017 Report Share Posted July 27, 2017 You can also try placing a small mirror on your saw table and looking at the holes in the bottom side of your project while trying to thread your saw blade up through the hole of choice. It helps my students. Charley Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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