Don

[Insane Dust Maker]

I have a question please, due to knee and back problems I can’t stand and scroll. I made a stand for Marlet Scroll Saw (your Wen, Ryobi, Record and a host of others), so I made a stand that was 20” high it was great but very unstable and it vibrated a bit. I asked Mechanical and Civil Engineer how do I build a solid stand that will reduce the vibration. He told understand the frequency and you can sort out the vibration so he sent me a design I built the stand it is rock solid and a glass of water does not even ripple through the speed process. I choose to build it 28” high and with the saw on top of that I am not feeling comfortable when cutting.

So my question is what height of the stand be, looking at it I think I can reduced the height by at least 4-6”. I would appreciate some expert advice before I tear off and start making changes.

[MrsN]

It depends on what you are sitting on.  Also remember that you probably want to pay attention to the table height which is a few inches higher than the bottom of the saw.

If you are sitting on an office chair, aim for desk height. A stool should be be a bit higher. 

[OCtoolguy]

Exactly what MrsN said. First decide on your seat, chair, stool, whatever. That will determine saw table height. Then determine height of saw above stand. If your wife has a sewing machine, measure the height of its table.

[Dak0ta52]

I use a drafting chair which is taller than a regular desk chair as well as being adjustable. I built my scroll saw stand a little taller than table height (about 4 inches) and I have the chair adjusted to where my elbows rest on the arms of the chair comfortably while my hands are placed on the piece to guide. I can turn around to my finishing table, lower the chair a little and be comfortable working on staining/painting/etc. When I guilt my stand it vibrated pretty bad initially. At the time I the top was only half inch plywood. I removed the top and replaced it with 1 1/2 solid wood and that cured the vibration. Good luck.

[CharleyL]

Most people find that the scroll saw table cutting height is best for them when their forearms and hands are close to level when they are seated and placing their hands on the saw table as if to move the work piece around. Some prefer that the saw is tilted a bit toward them, others prefer it level. A 3 leg table makes this easy by adjusting the rear leg length to tilt the saw forward. Others, with eye problems, common to old age like me, need to be closer to the cutting point in order to easily see the cut, and so may want slightly higher seating, slightly lower saw, or a slightly longer rear saw table leg. Only experimenting with these positions will determine what is best and most comfortable for you. There is no one setting of these that will make everyone happy. Keep trying the adjustments to find the combination that works best for you. This is supposed to be fun, not unbearable pain.

For lighting, I found that two LED lights, one on each side of the upper blade arm and positioned to be slightly forward (toward you) but pointed at the cutting point, eliminates almost all shadows and upper arm flicker to let you easily see the blade cutting point and not a blade shadow. These lights need to be bright and white, like about 56-6300 K color temperature. Mine are attached to a 2 piece DIY aluminum bracket that wraps around the upper arm of my DeWalt saw, with a thicker, stiffer flat piece of aluminum connected to the wrapped piece with an 8-32 X 1/2" bolt to attach the wrapped piece to the flat piece. the flat piece needs to extend out from under the upper saw arm about 2" from each side of the arm to leave ample space for attaching the gooseneck of the light. I'm now on my 4th version of these lights. Although LEDs last nearly forever, the power supply circuits don't. Blinking LEDs and dim LEDs don't make cutting on a scroll saw easy at all.

I use a metal shop stool with a metal back and attached cushion. It came from a factory surplus sale. I have 4 of them that I purchased for $5 each. I'm using my original DeWalt scroll saw stand tilted slightly forward.  This is working well for this 80 year old 5' 8" big belly guy, but I do use a 2.25 X magnifier headband on top of my reading glasses to see the really small work like the reindeer posted here. He is just under 1" tall and resting on my left hand ring and middle finger. Notice the partly plugged hole just under his antlers. I drill this before cutting him out because the flat surface works better for drilling. The hole is cleaned out when inserting a gold or silver 13 mm ring to which the ear pieces get attached. A pair of these reindeer get made into ear rings, to be given to special women, like my sister, cousins, doctor, wives of close friends, certain waitresses at my favorite restaurants, etc. at Christmas. The two larger sizes get given to any woman who helps me in some way during the Christmas Season, like the sales clerk who took the time to help me, etc. I have never, and won't ever sell them. Every Christmas Season I make four sizes  of these and give them away. I've been doing it for 18 years. The two next larger sizes become pins or necklaces. The largest, at about 3 1/2 inches tall is just for sitting on a shelf or for use as a Christmas Tree Ornament with a ribbon tied around his neck to hang him. Each of the size shown in the photo take me about 15 minutes to cut, about 50 minutes to make a pair of ear rings complete from small block of hard maple to placing in the gift box.

I do batches of about 20 of this size at a time, take a break, usually including a meal, and then make a batch of a larger size. Twenty of this size is about all my eyes can handle at a time. I have made smaller, but the good to bad results ratio just isn't worth the time for the few good results. Almost every one this size is a keeper. Those of you who have been on this forum for a while have seen these before, and I have shown many photos and provided long explanations of how to make them. A search of my posts should find all this easily. I do make many other things, usually cut in 3D like these (I'm hooked on 3D). I have a nearly complete pro level cabinet shop including two scroll saws, but all crammed into a 1 car garage size outbuilding, so it's a true one user shop (almost no room for others). 

Charley

 

Edited April 8, 2022 by CharleyL

[Insane Dust Maker]

Hi CharlerlyL,

Thanks for the feed back I realize now that the stand and saw combination is to high, I cut much better when the saw table was exactly 28” from floor level, so I’m going to lower that next week should take me a few hours. Because believe it or not my Marlet (your Wen) is all we can get in South Africa. As I mentioned in my original post there is no vibration what so ever on my saw due to the way the stand was made. I designed a stainless steel pin less adaptor for the saw and it works like a dream. I sit on a adjustable office chair and use a magnifying lamp fitted with high power LED’s.

I have a fully equipped wood working workshop, my work shop area is 403 sq feet, so I’m not pushed for space. For us in SA to import a Seyco or Pegasus with courier fees and our heavy import duties would cost us around $2850.00 this becomes too expensive to consider.

 

 

 

 

[NC Scroller]

I know you do not have a Hawk scroll saw but they make a stand designed for wheelchairs and people who sit.  Here is a link.  Maybe you can design something along these lines.

 

Scroll_Saw_Accessories (hawkwoodworkingtools.com)

[crupiea]

I use an old collapsible work bench thing i bought at sears years ago for the table.  I dont even have the saw bolted to it.  Vibrtated more bolted than unbolted. 

For the seat I use a cheapo folding chair from walmart with a big round pad i bought on the seat. The pad doubles as a pad for my motorcycle seat as its uncomfortable with the factory seat and I am cheap. 

I get the feeling its not so much about a rigid table, like the make earthquake resistant building, its about it being able to absorb the vibtrations.  Dont know for sure but works for my case. 
 

I also dont do think wood on fast speed so there is that too.