Timer setup

[James E. Welch]

I can't take credit for the idea, I saw it on YouTube some time ago. I think it was Jim's fix-it shop or something like that. 

Anyway, I finally set mine up. I know some will find it silly or not at all useful but I think it's neat. It's an analog clock that is attached to my foot switch. When the saw is running the clock is running. I can simply set it to 12 and count how long I've worked on a project. I can take a break, eat a sandwich, take a nap and when I get back and start again the timer goes again. 

I suppose you could use this to price your work, but for me it's more curiosity. I just want to see how long certain projects take. I found the clock on ebay for $10 so to me it was worth it. I will say that there weren't many analog clocks on ebay when I got this one though so it could be hard to source. It has to be analog because digital would reset every time you killed power to it. 

[Wichman]

I've been using a similar setup for years now, I plug the  clock, foot switch, and the light into a power strip. When I start a session I turn on the power strip when I finish a session I turn the power strip off. I use the clock to time maintenance of the saw, how long a project takes, and just personal curiosity.

  

[James E. Welch]

59 minutes ago, Wichman said:

I've been using a similar setup for years now, I plug the  clock, foot switch, and the light into a power strip. When I start a session I turn on the power strip when I finish a session I turn the power strip off. I use the clock to time maintenance of the saw, how long a project takes, and just personal curiosity.

  

This is going to sound crazy but I hooked mine to a spliter on my foot switch. It never even occurred to me that I could have used a power strip.  

Oh well, it works both ways.  

[crupiea]

Very cool and simple idea. I have tried using my phone before but of course always forget to turn it off and on so it never works right.

[Roberta Moreton]

I have my vacuum hooked up with my foot switch. How can I add the clock (that I just ordered)?

[OCtoolguy]

1 hour ago, Roberta Moreton said:

I have my vacuum hooked up with my foot switch. How can I add the clock (that I just ordered)?

Plug everything into a power strip and plug the power strip into your foot switch. When you step on your foot switch it will power the power strip which in turn will power whatever is plugged into it.

[JustLarry]

One could plug the power strip to the foot switch and plug the saw, vac, clock, fan, etc into the power strip.  Just make sure the power strip has an overload breaker in it.

Larry

Looks like Ray and I were thinking the same thing at the same time.

Edited July 3, 2023 by JustLarry

[James E. Welch]

1 hour ago, Roberta Moreton said:

I have my vacuum hooked up with my foot switch. How can I add the clock (that I just ordered)?

I'm glad passing on the idea helped someone.  

I'm with everyone else, plug everything into a power strip that's connected to your foot switch. The clock is going to be pulling very little amperage. You should be fine. 

[kmmcrafts]

12 hours ago, Roberta Moreton said:

I have my vacuum hooked up with my foot switch. How can I add the clock (that I just ordered)?

Three way plug is how I have mine set up.. I have the foot switch plugged into the saw, vacuum, and a hour meter.. Steve Good did a video some years ago on how to wire up a clock and or hour meter and reviewed a couple different hour meters. 

Word of warning, you'll really surprise yourself on how you can spend all day in the shop and only put on a couple actual saw run time hours.. this is why I say people really way undercharge for their work.. There is A LOT of time switching from one hole to the next or just prepping the wood, attaching patterns sanding and finishing that people seem to just overlook because they set at the saw for 6 hours and those other task seem minimal time.. but setting at the saw for doing fretwork you'll find that a 6-8 hour session will only net a couple "saw run time hours if that much" . 

Turning on a power strip is a neat idea..   I would just forget to turn it on or off so maybe wire it up to the shop light switch or better yet just get a time clock if you're wondering how much total time you spend on a project.. I didn't put hour meters on my saws really to keep track of project times.. I was more doing it for saw maintenance but thought it'd help me with project times too but like I said, actual project time is way different than "saw run time"  It is fun at first just keeping track of what's going on with cutting time etc. but a real eye opener when I could be in the shop cutting for 40 - 50 hours a week and only putting 10 - 12 hours on my hour meter, LOL

Edited July 4, 2023 by kmmcrafts

[OCtoolguy]

9 hours ago, kmmcrafts said:

Three way plug is how I have mine set up.. I have the foot switch plugged into the saw, vacuum, and a hour meter.. Steve Good did a video some years ago on how to wire up a clock and or hour meter and reviewed a couple different hour meters. 

Word of warning, you'll really surprise yourself on how you can spend all day in the shop and only put on a couple actual saw run time hours.. this is why I say people really way undercharge for their work.. There is A LOT of time switching from one hole to the next or just prepping the wood, attaching patterns sanding and finishing that people seem to just overlook because they set at the saw for 6 hours and those other task seem minimal time.. but setting at the saw for doing fretwork you'll find that a 6-8 hour session will only net a couple "saw run time hours if that much" . 

Turning on a power strip is a neat idea..   I would just forget to turn it on or off so maybe wire it up to the shop light switch or better yet just get a time clock if you're wondering how much total time you spend on a project.. I didn't put hour meters on my saws really to keep track of project times.. I was more doing it for saw maintenance but thought it'd help me with project times too but like I said, actual project time is way different than "saw run time"  It is fun at first just keeping track of what's going on with cutting time etc. but a real eye opener when I could be in the shop cutting for 40 - 50 hours a week and only putting 10 - 12 hours on my hour meter, LOL

The switch on the power strip would remain in the on position. No need to turn it off.

Edited July 4, 2023 by OCtoolguy

[FrankEV]

Here is what I did back in '21.   

I was wanting to know how long pieces took to cut.  Real saw cutting time.  After a lot of research I found what I wanted from Grainger.  I ordered it a few days ago and it came today and it is now installed on my Pegas saw.  It is an L6 series LCD Resetable Hour meter By ENM of Chicago that reads hours and minutes.  Yes it is a litlle bit pricey at $71.42 + S&T, but I wanted the simple push button reset.  Cheaper models did not have a reset capability which would be fine if you just wanted to know how long the machine was operated for maintenance purposes. 

After cutting a hole in the side of the Pegas (just needed to take out a piece between two of the existing oval holes) I mounted the provided plastic frame that the meter slips in to.  After which I simply cut the black and white wires in the plug wire, stripped them back a short didtance,  twisted them together and inserted the black into pin # 1 and the white into Pin #3, tightening down the screws to hold them in place.  I reniforced the plug wire behind the meterwith some electrical tape and slipped the unit into the mounted frame. 

A quick test run produced a one minute indidation to show on the meter. With a push of the button on the front it returned to 0-00.

Here are pics:   

Yes, I did gouge the adjacent metal with the cut off grinder...me bad.

 

This set up only shows saw run time.  Actual saw sit time can be once or more as much, depending on number of holes.  Threading time is often more that sawing time.  

I'm adding this comment today.    My setup has bee working fine, but I just do not think about reseting it at the beginning of each new project.  When I do look it will have quite a few hours recorded.  It is interesting to see the cutting time, but I think I need to add a second timer to record just how long I sit at the saw on a given project.  

[Dak0ta52]

A good way to monitor the time on your saw to perform maintenance.

[kmmcrafts]

I have this hour meter on my Excalibur.. it has two resettable hour meters and one that isn't so it keeps track of total time. I didn't care for it for the purpose of keeping track of project times because for one, it doesn't show minutes it just has a 1/10 scale.. but 1/10 of an hour is 6 minutes and being digital you can't really tell if it's like half way between numbers or if 10 more seconds might change to the next 1/10.. at least with my analog ones I can see just how far that 1/10 digit is so to get at least a close estimate.. 6 minutes off on that digital one can add up a lot of time if your off at each start or finish of a project. 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/293600942454?epid=18041883585&hash=item445bfad976:g:KSgAAOSw6tte1wrS&amdata=enc%3AAQAIAAAA4L2KGJprcVZhk6M3evug%2FCZbr%2BxeeWEkqaFjRVnLHk4G02%2BiQleIZ9ICtGRrf%2BzOpiWCeLyB4vx%2FdtNiar8Iid8CUzTp3NcrLxDAmJa%2BwXGJaCIyH9pkBNptjIWuI7%2FWmIuq2qp%2F3BhaBJd%2FULWZ5U%2B%2FMcir2cS2txS4Wl%2FnCEMws%2BXE0LEkTfHA%2BD9lRZp4IBJQGXwU%2B81%2FeTWmfKNgEXEpqthaAI%2Buada0FIDfn57W5iXsBDH8NsAm%2B2PuTZxvzl146J0%2FafYGjRhDUl4uLPvQU10vfHaa5gtLoQU7sWnc|tkp%3ABFBMuq7Kt6Ri 

The first time I had issues with bearing noise the saw had 175 hours.. I took it apart and just cleaned and repacked grease in the bearings to buy me some time. I reset the first mode to track how long before I get a problem which was only about 30 hours.. then I rebuilt the entire saw which had just over 200 hours on it at that time.. I reset the 2nd mode for that rebuild. The saw now has just over 500 hours on the meter.. starting to get some slop in those bearings again but not making too much noise yet. I probably should pull it apart and just do a clean and regrease so I don't have to buy a whole link arm assembly again but, I kinda want to push it just to see how many hours I get from it, LOL.. 

The new Hawk I bought has just under 500 hours.. no parts have been needed yet, I oil the spots it tells me to in the manual every 15 - 20 hours and about every other time I take the wedge off and inspect it for wear.. It's getting a slight rounded edge on it but have yet to sand the wedge to make the point nice and true like it was new. 

The Hawk Ultra only has about 130 hours on it.. and that new to me Hegner has 2 hours on it just from playing around with it when I first got it. I stopped using it because I need a dust collection set-up on it because the factory bellows works well but the blower hose is molded into the saws upper arm and aims the dust right toward me.. Not one of their brighter ideas in my mind but the rest of the machine seems well built. Once I get the new system I bought set up on it I'll run it more..

Anyway, I prefer the analog meters.. that digital one also has a battery to make it work.. which is not replaceable so once that battery dies the meter is trash.. no battery to deal with on the analog one so it'll last forever.. Believe the digital one was guaranteed to last 5 years.. I put it on my saw in 2017 when I first got that EX.. actually might have been last 2016.. anyway it is still working well.. 

Edited July 5, 2023 by kmmcrafts

[kmmcrafts]

8 hours ago, OCtoolguy said:

The switch on the power strip would remain in the on position. No need to turn it off.

Okay, I re-read your post and that makes sense.. I thought you was saying to plug the clock and saw etc into the power switch and when done sawing shut off the strip but you're saying to power the strip to the foot switch. Took me a minute to understand that concept for some reason, LOL.. 

[Norm Fengstad]

At age 80 I am not to interested in keeping track of time spent on my scrollsaw and see a timer as just another gadjet to fuss with

[James E. Welch]

Just now, Norm Fengstad said:

At age 80 I am not to interested in keeping track of time spent on my scrollsaw and see a timer as just another gadjet to fuss with

I didn't expect that it would be for everybody. Just something I thought was neat. I guess I'm kind of into gadgets though. 

Glad to hear that at 80 you're still scrolling, I think congratulations are in order for that, so congratulations on that. I sure hope I am still at it in 38 more Years. 

[Scrappile]

What, you shouldn't be scrolling at 80!  I well admit, it is not as easy as it use to be.  My hands don't alway do what I think I am telling them to do.

[James E. Welch]

In case anyone was wondering. Since my post I've wracked up almost 2 hours of cut time. Sure seemed like more. Lol

[Wichman]

I've got more than one clock, so If I need to cut something in the middle of a longer project I can still keep track of the hours

I also started keeping track of times so that hopefully I can start extrapolating how long a project will take based on the inches of cutting in the pattern (inkscape: select the object(s). go to extensions > visualize path > measure path... ), this will show you how many inches of lines are in a pattern. For me, its about 25 seconds an inch, for fretwook and that includes blade changes.

My clocks. Thrift store finds.

[James E. Welch]

7 minutes ago, Wichman said:

I've got more than one clock, so If I need to cut something in the middle of a longer project I can still keep track of the hours

I also started keeping track of times so that hopefully I can start extrapolating how long a project will take based on the inches of cutting in the pattern (inkscape: select the object(s). go to extensions > visualize path > measure path... ), this will show you how many inches of lines are in a pattern. For me, its about 25 seconds an inch, for fretwook and that includes blade changes.

My clocks. Thrift store finds.

I love it. I might need more clocks now too. 

[kmmcrafts]

1 hour ago, James E. Welch said:

I love it. I might need more clocks now too. 

If I did that then this is how my shop walls would look.. many times I start on a project to "restock" a sold item and another order comes in for a sold out item so I have to make the sold out item to get it to the customer quickly.. I change all my sold out items to a "made to order" until I get around to restocking it.. so many times I get a project started and it might take me 3-4 weeks just to get back at it again.. many times I get a order for it before it's done restocked again even though I started it a few weeks prior, LOL.. 

[Sycamore67]

I understand why people who are selling pieces want to know how long something takes, but why do those who scroll for a hobby need to know.

[James E. Welch]

46 minutes ago, Sycamore67 said:

I understand why people who are selling pieces want to know how long something takes, but why do those who scroll for a hobby need to know.

One reason is when I cut out an intricate fretwork project with a ton of separate cuts and show it off to friends and/or family I inevitably get asked "how long did that take?" I know that I could just throw a number out there or say not long or a long time but it'll be neat to say that I know how long it took. 

But the main reason I think is just curiosity for me. Although someone pointed out it could be handy for knowing how long you've been using a blade or knowing when to service you saw. 

I just kind of like tinkering with gadgets too I guess. This isn't for everyone but a few people have liked the idea so it was worth sharing. 

[Wichman]

4 hours ago, Sycamore67 said:

I understand why people who are selling pieces want to know how long something takes, but why do those who scroll for a hobby need to know.

If you are "just a hobbyist" and want to make a special gift, it is nice to know about how long it will take to make the item.

[kmmcrafts]

4 hours ago, Sycamore67 said:

I understand why people who are selling pieces want to know how long something takes, but why do those who scroll for a hobby need to know.

Really just for curiosity sake.. If you're a business and wanting to keep track of time this isn't the the way to do it since actual cutting time vrs. overall time is really minimal.. Like I said, I can set at the saw for 40 hours a week but actual saw run time is likely around 10 -15 hours.. This is really dependant on the type of project at had too of course as fretwork takes more time changing to different holes than just cutting outlines or whatever.. I find that cutting the anilam puzzles actually puts on more hours on the saw than say cutting a portrait or trivet etc.. as there are a lot of just cutting the pieces inches to a puzzle without stopping to switch to the next hole doing fretwork. 

As I said I did it more for saw maintenance, and it's kind of neat to understand approximately how long a mid-range type saw will last before having issues.. My experience for DW and Excalibur type saws it's going to be around 300 ish hours.. Buy a Hawk or Hegner and I'm not sure the hour meter will last that long..