Difficult plywood

[JessL]

16 hours ago, Scrappile said:

That is our world now.. We need to quit expecting excellence, as we use to, in todays world..  To me very sad.  Technology has gotten better, but expectations on what is expectable by us the people is declining..  Delete if necessary.  I am getting old and cranky and do not like the way things are going.

I pretty much feel the same way!

[jimmyG]

1 hour ago, barb.j.enders said:

It looks great.  

I didn't read all the comments about "how long" because it doesn't matter.  I stopped trying to compare my times with others.  I was getting very stressed when I wasn't cutting as fast as other were saying they could get something done.  A fine example is the book "20 minute puzzles".  I still haven't cut one in 20 minutes and I have cut at least 20 of those puzzles.

I have completed a "bunch" of projects over these past five months and have soooo much more to learn.  I know I must be doing something wrong when my arms and shoulders are ending up being sore?  Maybe using that slowest speed for everything forces me to force the wood through the blade.  I just glued a pattern to a scrap of 1/4" BB plywood and drilled some holes.  It's time to test my scrolling at different speeds.  Wouldn't doubt I've been working hard instead of working smart

[barb.j.enders]

21 hours ago, jimmyG said:

I have completed a "bunch" of projects over these past five months and have soooo much more to learn.  I know I must be doing something wrong when my arms and shoulders are ending up being sore?  Maybe using that slowest speed for everything forces me to force the wood through the blade.  I just glued a pattern to a scrap of 1/4" BB plywood and drilled some holes.  It's time to test my scrolling at different speeds.  Wouldn't doubt I've been working hard instead of working smart

I read, somewhere, to rest your wrists on the table.  Kinda forces you to relax the arms.  I will stop to drop my shoulders when I notice them creeping up.  To me, it means I am holding the wood to tight!  

[Bill WIlson]

On 2/4/2024 at 5:50 AM, jimmyG said:

Interesting...  I've only been scrolling five months and enjoy it but I thought getting faster was a gauge of getting better at it. Hmmm,  maybe I need to experiment using different speeds since I've lways use the slowest setting.. 

That's true...to a point.  I've been scrolling for almost 30 years.  I don't consider myself a "fast" scroller.  It simply is a metric that means very little to me, most of the time.

I'll change speeds during a cut.  I'll speed up when I'm cutting a long, smooth line.  I'll slow down when I'm in very delicate and intricate areas of a pattern.  It's more about control than speed.

[Sycamore67]

I find that if I tense up or grip the wood too hard, I have more trouble following the lines.  Okay little attention to my speed and just do what feels right.  

[jimmyG]

4 hours ago, Bill WIlson said:

That's true...to a point.  I've been scrolling for almost 30 years.  I don't consider myself a "fast" scroller.  It simply is a metric that means very little to me, most of the time.

I'll change speeds during a cut.  I'll speed up when I'm cutting a long, smooth line.  I'll slow down when I'm in very delicate and intricate areas of a pattern.  It's more about control than speed.

I was more interested in changing the speed  of the blade not feed rate.  Practiced on a few test pieces and increasing the dewalt a little from the slowest speed was a little easier to follow lines etc.   How some users say they can crank it up half way was mind blowing.

[jimmyG]

8 hours ago, barb.j.enders said:

I read, somewhere, to rest your wrists on the table.  Kinda forces you to relax the arms.  I will stop to drop my shoulders when I notice them creeping up.  To me, it means I am holding the wood to tight!  

Tried resting the wrists and that was helpful, thanks.  Right now it's a little uncomfortably cold in my garage and that cast iron table is a bit frigid

[Norm Fengstad]

Yes the birch plywood we get today tends to be more problematic how ever your lighthouse Cutting cae out fine . 

[barb.j.enders]

15 hours ago, jimmyG said:

Tried resting the wrists and that was helpful, thanks.  Right now it's a little uncomfortably cold in my garage and that cast iron table is a bit frigid

Even in the basement, the cast iron table can be frigid.  I have a pair of fingerless arm "socks" that I was using to keep the wrists and arms warm.  

[Bill WIlson]

15 hours ago, jimmyG said:

I was more interested in changing the speed  of the blade not feed rate.  Practiced on a few test pieces and increasing the dewalt a little from the slowest speed was a little easier to follow lines etc.   How some users say they can crank it up half way was mind blowing.

I was referring to blade speed.  I will sometimes change the blade speed during a cut, so that I don't have to increase the feed rate and possibly lose some control.

[TAIrving]

Scrolling is a hobby for me.  I don't worry about how long it takes to cut a pattern.  In fact, if Icut it too fast, then I have to start another one, and that's ok too.  My metric of importance is how much I enjoyed that project.  

BTW, you should not ache after cutting.  Check your posture while at the saw.  Your saw and stool should be at an ergonomically good height.  

[OCtoolguy]

5 hours ago, barb.j.enders said:

Even in the basement, the cast iron table can be frigid.  I have a pair of fingerless arm "socks" that I was using to keep the wrists and arms warm.  

Men call them long-sleeved shirts.

[Wichman]

Jimmy,

     In regards to cutting time; while it is variable, my speed is usually around 30 seconds an inch. If you can navigate Inkscape there is a way to have the program measure how many inches of lines there are in a pattern, then it's just math.

Inkscape shows that this pattern ( the one page version ) has 321.9 inches of lines. So 321.9 x 30 = 9657 seconds 9657 / 60 = 160.95 minutes     160.95 / 60 = 2.6825  so I would guesstimate 3 hrs for this project. But that is me with a Hegner and 39 yrs experience. The Hegner VS ranges between 350 and 1750 spm, I usually have it set at about 1400.

I started keeping track of the metrics ( how fast I cut ) so I could give a real world estimate of how much a project would cost a customer to make. I'm not trying to set speed records, and at this point in your journey, neither should you. Practice on getting great quality cuttings, and you are, the speed will come with more experience.

 

[jimmyG]

1 hour ago, Wichman said:

Jimmy,

     In regards to cutting time; while it is variable, my speed is usually around 30 seconds an inch. If you can navigate Inkscape there is a way to have the program measure how many inches of lines there are in a pattern, then it's just math.

Inkscape shows that this pattern ( the one page version ) has 321.9 inches of lines. So 321.9 x 30 = 9657 seconds 9657 / 60 = 160.95 minutes     160.95 / 60 = 2.6825  so I would guesstimate 3 hrs for this project. But that is me with a Hegner and 39 yrs experience. The Hegner VS ranges between 350 and 1750 spm, I usually have it set at about 1400.

I started keeping track of the metrics ( how fast I cut ) so I could give a real world estimate of how much a project would cost a customer to make. I'm not trying to set speed records, and at this point in your journey, neither should you. Practice on getting great quality cuttings, and you are, the speed will come with more experience.

 

Can't figure out my free version of that program...

[OCtoolguy]

54 minutes ago, jimmyG said:

Can't figure out my free version of that program...

Don't feel bad. It's just now starting to make sense to me after 8 years of trying.

[kmmcrafts]

I agree with Ray.. and I've been messing with inkscape since around 2008 ish.. Only started getting better at it because having a laser and CNC you can't just print a pattern or modify one by taping several pieces of paper together to create a custom pattern like I used to do back in the day. These machines do whatever the file / drawing shows.. no modifying it as you cut.. LOL so I'm slowly getting better with that program.. BTW.. I've had these machines since 2018 and still barely know that program even though I have to do it and figure it out. 

[JJB]

On 2/4/2024 at 6:37 AM, barb.j.enders said:

It looks great.  

I didn't read all the comments about "how long" because it doesn't matter.  I stopped trying to compare my times with others.  I was getting very stressed when I wasn't cutting as fast as other were saying they could get something done.  A fine example is the book "20 minute puzzles".  I still haven't cut one in 20 minutes and I have cut at least 20 of those puzzles.

Yep, i have cut a few of those as well. 20 minutes turned into about 20 hours with sanding and finishing, but I had a good time and my beloved got some more puzzles for her learning centers in the library.

[Roberta Moreton]

I set my saw speed at about 75%. More than halfway to max. Sometimes more, rarely less.

[NC Scroller]

How fast you can make a project only really matters in two scenarios.

1.  The customer is paying by the hour and you already told them it would take 2 hours.

2. The wife comes into the shop and tells you the Smith’s are coming over tonight and we need to give them a Christmas gift.

BEEN THERE!