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Saw this and had to cut it. Thanks to Pabreu Designs for the pattern. Stack cut three 1/8th BB ply using #3 ultra reverse. As always one got oiled and Jan painted one. Was smiling most of the time I was cutting it and still chuckle when I look at Jan's painted one. Jeff

This is Neptune's pattern, the moment I saw it I knew I would cut it. It's simple, thought provoking and elegant at the same time, at least I think so. This is cut from old flooring, frame in cherry. It's more challenging to cut thank it looks. Thanks Neptune! Brilliant pattern

Cut this one out of an old end table, not sure if the Spieces of wood but it turned out great, it's fragile however until you get it mounted. A large chunk of the face of only held on by like 1/8 of an inch. Framed with cherry from an old entertainment unit. It's about 28" x 20".

Finished this Wine Napkin Holder, pattern is from Sue Mey. edward

For my son's room, all from repurposed wood.

This is a Steve Good pattern that I enlarged by 35%. I used 1/4" Red Oak plywood. The approximate size is 8" in diameter and 2 3/4" high. I used FD UR #3 blades and finished with spray Shellac. This was one fun basket to make. Very easy to cut. Placement of each ring had to be exact to get the spiral effect. Comments welcome.

I was looking for a way to hang things without putting more holes in the walls. I came up with this idea which is new to my. I wanted to use the 3M Command adhesive strips as they don't leave marks and are easy to remove. But how do I make a hanger that is pretty secure yet thin? Here's what I came up with. Cut a piece of 1/8" ply to fit the piece you want to hang. Make sure to it sets in from the sides of your project enough that it doesn't show when hung. This shape doesn't really matter. Tilt the scroll saw table to 30° and cut a rectangle out of that piece. See picture below. I used a #7 blade but a blade with a smaller kerf will work fine. You now have two pieces that fit snug together. The outer piece gets glued to the back of you project. Make sure the bevel faces the project. Attach the Command strip to the beveled face of the smaller "key" piece. Once the glue on the project hanger has had time to set slide the key into the hanger. If it is a bit loose you can add a piece of paper behind the key to sore of wedge it in place, just be sure the key will still slide out. Once the project is oriented as you like just press it to the wall.

For what you do, I'm really surprised you didn't go the EX or Seyco route. If I were in your shoes as a production cutter, and needed the aggression, I would be on the EX/Seyco in a heartbeat as the mechanics are very similar to the 788, except that you can adjust aggression to more or less than what you have on the 788 (while keeping the blade perpendicular), there is already a mechanism to hold the arm up, and they seem to last longer than the 788s. For you puzzles, it looks like the EX 16" would work. For highly intricate stuff, even the minimal blade travel I get on the EX (tuned for minimal aggression) is sometimes more than I like. The Hawk has other challenges for me, but I've set it up as my primary for coin cutting for now to see if I can make it work. But, after my testing, I suspect the EX will remain my coin cutting saw because of how it performs with very small delicate blades, but we shall see. I don't think there is "One" saw that is better than every other saw at everything. I think you have to match the saw to your own needs which are affected by your specific project types, your cutting style, and other requirements specific to your needs. -----Randy

So, now that I've spent a couple of weeks using the Hawk and gotten used to it and it's less aggressive, "slower" cutting speed I decided to perform an official time test. I had 2 DOLPHIN puzzles prepped on boards, they happened to each be on similar sized boards. I pre-drilled the interior cut holes (4 on each) and then starting with the Hawk I started a stopwatch and cut the outline, did the 4 inside cuts, then cut it into it's pieces and stopped the timer. Then I did the exact same thing on my DeWalt. Times: Hawk - 12 minutes 20 seconds - Using Pegas Modified Geometry #5 blade DeWalt - 10 minutes 18 seconds - Using Olson Mach Speed #3 blade I had estimated it took a couple minutes longer to cut each puzzle on the Hawk and I was right. 2 minutes isn't a lot of time difference, but if you look at it percentage wise, it's 20% longer and if you multiply it out by 1600 puzzles that I hope to cut and sell in 2018, that's 3200 minutes or 53 hours and 20 minutes of extra cutting time over the course of the year. On a daily basis it's only 10 minutes a day if I cut my usual 5 puzzles per day. Is it an issue? I don't know, I'll have to ponder it. P.S. I installed a lift arm assembly on my DeWalt today and I highly recommend it for all DeWalt users. It's nice not having to hold the arm up when feeding the blade in from the underside for inside cuts. P.P.S. One of the scrollers who buys patterns from me told me he's using Old English Lemon Oil instead of mineral oil. He says it dries faster and more completely than mineral oil. I bought some Old English today and I dipped a puzzle in it and have it drying beside one I dipped in mineral oil and will report back as to the results of this test once completed.

So Neptune posted this pattern awhile back in the new pattern thread. I loved it the moment I saw it. Here is what l did with it. Asian acacia engineered flooring sample, backed by a babies crib board, framed with a babies crib frame. Love the pattern, also love how this turned out. Thanks Neptune! It's heavy!!!!

My friend is working in a multi million dollar house and the new owner is trashing lots of things.He's telling me about a dark wide grained big shelf unit she wants gone.If no one buys it's going in the trash.He suggests to make her name and say im poor and this is what i do with wood i find.

Done on a prefinished gloss !/4" plywood .The letters were done with a #5 fd scroll reverse and the cat with a spiral ,all donated blades from members.Thank you friends!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

1st order of crosses done for the nursing home where my cousin works ....they give 1 to each family when they lose a loved one.........standard pine board......burned with map gas torch....base is 3.5x3.5 with routed edge...cross is 8”T x 5.5”W.....last year they had 87 deaths......comments please...

Kevin I own a Dewalt 788, a hegner 18" a rbi 220vs and a rbi 226vs I have cut on all of these and many others over the years. I have never set a clock next to cutting but from my experience and again MY EXPERIENCE I see no difference. To make a blanket statement is just plain wrong. I said up and down motion are the same. The angle the blade enters material maybe different with the workings and construction of the arms. As I mentioned the old Delta C arms had a more aggressive cutting motion because of how the blades are fixed in the arms. The Dewalt ,Ex. and jets use a closer to the material and shorter arm but still goes up and down. There are built in options to increase the angle the blade enters the wood such as the bottom clamp. The RBI and others use the longer parallel arm system but still go up and down I believe it is the material you are cutting. Maybe the travel is longer on a RBI to make it slower. Then speed it up. Change blades do whatever to make up 2 minutes if that means the world. You production cutters are in a class by yourself. I have told you this I have been there but never once in my lifetime felt I had to go faster behind a scrollsaw. I too have cut for production but I do not like blanket statements. It is a personal thing as it is with you. You feel you are on a highway doing 25. I got it. get off the highway or get a faster car. As you and Iggy you have to make up your own minds and buy the saw that fits your need. You both now have experience with a couple of them do what makes you happy. I shared my experience and again I do not like blanket statements and he made one. as well as you are. In your mind the RBI is a slower cutting saw. Please leave me out of this for the best of this post. I stepped away because production scrollers are in a class of their own. Have fun and scroll away and stop talking . Get busy time is money orders to be filled. Not sure what else you want me to say. I understood everything he said and I understand everything you are saying. But at least take my opinion into consideration too have been cutting for over 35 years.

JT, in all sincerity, I appreciate your comments and your well wishes. We definitely seem to speak different languages at times, and holy cow it does make for some interesting dialogue. I smile whenever I read what you say and as I type responses. I have no ill feelings towards you in the least. Some things just seem to get lost in translation and in the mass of information. 1. I'm 54 years old 2. I've been scrolling for 2 1/2 years (puzzles for under 2 years) 3. I've burned up 2 DeWalt's in that time frame yet I still love the saws as they cut very well 4. I bought a Hawk for it's durability even after hearing from others that it cuts "slower" (not as aggressive) 5. I simply wanted to post a real test after having used the Hawk for a full month and gotten used to it. 6. I'm reporting MY results and findings because I see questions all the time about what is good, bad, different about various saws. If nobody reports this information, there is nothing to be learned from an open forum. 7. I love cutting my puzzles, I love selling them at the 28 events I've averaged each year the past 2 years 8. I work full time, a sales executive for a software company. I deal with asshole clients and asshole colleagues day in and day out. Scrolling is my stress relief while at the same time balancing spending time with my wife and our daughter and grand-daughter who live 2 blocks away. And I sleep wonderfully 7 1/2 hours a night 9. I enjoy staying active and "busy"... I never dreamed I'd move to the beach and end up starting up two LLC's within 2 months of each other... doing things that I very much enjoy. The ultimate goal is to get the map business up and running in 4-6 beach towns and be able to quit the day job and enjoy making and selling puzzles even more. 10. I greatly appreciate the support and feedback I've received from this site. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I wouldn't have been nearly as successful with the puzzle business if it hadn't been for Scroll Saw Village and members like yourself willing to chime in and answer questions and even try to poke holes in ideas and thoughts. Don't you dare go away, who else is going to unknowingly stir things up out here? :-)

Iggy here you go again and draw me back into this. I know of no one who scrolls like you do. You come here tell us all how many puzzles you cut per year and then proceed to tell us how many saws you go through per year because of this intense scrolling. You now come here and tell us of a test you did comparing a saw that you have had for what maybe 2 months as to what have you been scrolling on Dewalts for how many + years and you tell us that you can fairly tell what saw is faster in the long run. Every saw will have characteristics that apply to that saw. Nature of the beast or else they would be all the same price with different colors. You have to decide weather you want to use a true production saw such as the RBI or a entry level saw such as the Dewalt and continue to replace or maintain every year and maybe twice a year. Maybe this will even increase now that you have stepped up production. The Dewalt may scroll or cut faster on the straight line and with all the twists and turns you have to make with a puzzles your cuts do not need that true accuracy that some fret work requires thus the speed thing comes into play. If i read correctly you did not even use the same blade for both cuts. The steps to insert a blade on a Dewalt is more than an RBI so time loss there has to be a factor also. Again the more you use a saw you will get faster just in this department. The longer you use a saw the more you trust the turns and you learn the nuances of that saw. It takes longer than 2 months. So for you to tell everyone that your test is the tried and true runoff between the two saws is just not fair. To you at this particular time with the cutting time you have on the RBI it may work for you. Everyone does not cut like you. I have never heard anyone wondering what saw cuts faster. when you get into scrolling you sort of know right away it is a tedious hobby that requires patients and if you get the chance to saw on different saws in your life time you may find out some of those nuances. I know you are in a business and you are juggling many things. Happy for you because this is what you chose. No one is forcing you into doing these things. Enjoy while you are still young and can do these things. There was a time in my life when I scrolled to keep inventory up. When I had 6 store locations and was doing 8 shows a year, I chose to do that and have to say my RBI saws came through all that and still not a drop of maintenance needed except a tension lever. To me this was my test of saws. Again nothing disparaging against you or what you are doing but my original post pointed out what I thought are facts that I have found in my many years of doing this too. The decisions you will have to make pertain to you and your style of cutting. It does not apply for all. If you find 2 minutes per puzzles means that much then your question has answered itself. Just need to decide if that time saved is worth the price in saws. Again I want to step away from this because it makes people uncomfortable as I read others comments. I am not here to put down what you do but sometimes facts need to be brought into a conversation. I again wish you the very best of luck with your many ventures and wish you good health to continue forward. I am sure you will make alot of people happy when they purchase your products and seeing smiles on peoples faces makes it all worth it. Happy Scrolling.

The good news is I finally got lucky and found a Hegner on E-bay UK which was offered with the Global Shipping Programme. It is a 2014 model Multicut 2S with variable speed and the quick clamp and up front tension lever so I decided I had to have it. The bad news it will take three weeks to get here. However that gives me time to sort out a stand for it. I'm not sure if the footprint is universal on all Hegners but if anyone has the same model I would appreciate measurements of the base plate so I can get started. Thanks in advance, Rob

Made out of 3/4" Brazilian cherry material , using Steve Good's name Plaque app , the lower cased Plaque is the first for me always used all capitals before. I think I like the lower cased one just as well if not better now ! Any comments welcomed .....

Oh JT there you go getting your feelings hurt again ;-)... This conversation is about the difference between two saws. There's been a lot of talk since the beginning of mankind about Hawks and Hegners being slower cutters due to their cutting arm motion. I think even Fred Flinstone mentioned it during an episode. I took the time to quantify it and report to our wonderful community what my findings were, which is Hawks cut 20% slower than DeWalts. Whether it's speed, efficiency or just wanting to know what to expect with these two brands of saws, now folks know so that when they shop for a new saw they'll have some additional facts. And now that I've quantified it, I have to decide, that's right, ME, I have to decide if an extra 53 hours cutting in the year ahead is acceptable or not. I have a full time job and a new business that I've started. By the way, the Chamber of Commerce ribbon cutting ceremony is this Thursday evening for my map company. So, with my puzzle making on top of all that, I need to know things like this in order to be sure not to take away any family or sleeping time. I cherish my 7 1/2 hours of sleep every night and I never cut after 6pm in the evenings. 8ft tall banner of the current version of our island map that I had made for the ribbon cutting ceremony...

You bring up a point I forgot to mention. DeWalt, using Olson Mach Speed and Hawk I'm using the Pegas Modified Geometry which is much more aggressive and it does help speed things up.

Man! The painted one are beginning to look like the "finished" ones and the unpainted, look like works in progress! Great job on both, but sorry your Jan wins first place in this one. Great cutting, my friend, but ,,,, I wonder if my wife can paint. If not I'm going looking for a painting girlfriend.

The time difference is not saved on the DeWalt, you would have to spend that amount of time working on the De Walt to keep it running..... maintence, repairs,,,, Okay I'm just kidding,,,, just funning you all. Oh, crap, I am boycotted for sure now.

Thx Iggy for the updates, interesting, but I think you have to much time on your hands, just cut and enjoy yourself, RJ

Here is a piece I just finished. Its about 36 x 24 or so.

I bought an actual Excalibur stand back in Dec. and now with being sort of caught up.. I went out today and swapped stands from the Harbor Freight stand I had that was too small and actually light weight compared to the actual EX stand.. I haven't cut anything on it yet as I had to come in and warm up.. but anyway I did plug it in and run it through the speed ranges.. very smooth running now.. I have a couple orders to cut so maybe I'll try it out.. Might have to play around with the adjustable legs.. I put them all at the highest level as my stool is a tall one.. I like a tilted saw too.. so I'm sure I'll be changing this up some before I get it all dialed in.. Now that there isn't much vibration.. I'm kinda excited to give it another try

https://advanced-machinery.myshopify.com/pages/about-usYes. milliseconds. It is called soft start. Many routers or at least the better ones incorporate that technology. Just a nuance with Hegner. After awhile you do not even pay attention to it.

All I can say is wow, but I agree with iggy, if he needs to keep a schedule for his cutting and the Dewalt will help him then that the way to go. As far as iggy giving results of his findings I think that’s great for anyone looking to upgrade their saw, gives them an unbiased opinion, thx for your input Iggy and Kevin, RJ

Gotta wonder if there isn't some Warrantee angle that could be played to get more miles out of the 788s. On Amazon, it lists the warrantee for 3 years. If you could burn through one per year, then send it in for warrantee repair, seems like you could get like 3 Dewalts for the price of one. For this strategy, you would have to rely on a backup for some long stretches as I don't think these replacements would come quickly.

Jt in all fairness.. He used the Pegas blade because it's a more aggressive faster cutting blade.. I also use Pegas in my Hawk and use FD-UR blades in my DeWalt.. If I use the same FD blade in my Hawk that I use in my deWlat.. I feel as though it's the different between a snail and a Turtle.. LOL.. so in reality he was 2 minutes slower with the Hawk using a faster cutting blade.. I realize this seems like comparing apples to oranges.. but if he was to do the same test with the same blade.. the Hawk is hands down a much slower cutting saw.. Speaking of slower cutting.. you mentioned in the other reply that you didn't see how one saw could be faster than another.. same motion up and down.. But in fact it's not the same motion on every saw.. and even you mentioned that in the same reply a few sentences below.. talking about the old Delta Q3 type saws with the C arm.. Now.. to be fair I too have been saying the Hawk is too slow for my type of cutting.. Not saying the Hawk is a poor choice of a saw at all by saying that.. just stating that it's too slow for my taste.. Awesome saw to do delicate fretwork etc with thin wood.. I too have been using my DeWalt for 10 years.. I also used my Hawk most of last year until the Holiday rush orders came... and I can say.. the Hawk is slower ( even with the more aggressive blades ) than the DeWalt.. Not in a production minded set here... but it goes along with what I've been saying for a long time.. Get off the expressway at 70mph for a days drive and go 30mph for a while.. you feel like you're barely moving.. I'm not worried about production.. I bored cutting sooo slow.. .. I think this is what Iggy means when he says he's not sure if he can live with the saw.. the production numbers are going to get done on either saw in a days work.. but is it more enjoyable to cut them at a faster rate that you are used to or.. slooooow it down and get bored with cutting like this.. 10 minuted longer at the end of every day isn't a huge deal IF you can stand cutting at the slower rate...

We do speak the same language but as i often said many times on other forums sometimes the typed word gets translated differently than if it were spoken face to face and that is just a common thing. I was a foreman for many years in the electrical industry so I dealt with many different personalities and they can be challenging for sure. I try also to impart some of my past experiences within this forum and love looking at others works. It gives me joy. May not be able to do what I use to any more but many projects brings back memories. One thing I am sincere at is I do wish you good luck and do hope you continue to make people smile and continue to share not only here but wherever you go and when people ask questions at shows be forthcoming and share. It is how we all learn. keep those saws humming and get back to work.

Scott, I feel sorry for you. In your kindness, you spelled out the facts that applied to you. You have probably made more puzzles than everyone else on this site combined. What you got in returned were comments from a lot of self proclaimed "experts" telling you what you should be doing differently. You have earned the right to be respected. It's sad to see this site go in that direction so quickly. jerry

My thoughts at the time when I was shopping around were that the EX/Seyco are similar to the DW and therefore would have the same issues with bushings and bearings and overall maintenance being required whereas the Hegner and Hawk are billed as simpler machines that run forever. I'd rather wear out a DW every year than an EX/Seyco based on cost.

JT is very correct about muscle memory and being used to a saw. You have a long history of use on one saw versus the new one. While your test may be applicable to you, it is not generally applicable to everyone. So if the one saw is so much faster, are you going to sell the other one as it costs you 53 hours. There was no real need for this comment...yes I know you put a smiley after it but....

Those both came out great but I agree I like the colored one the best. Thanks for sharing them with us. DW

You nailed it Kevin with your 70mph down to 35mph example and finding yourself forcing or pushing the material through the blade. I've adapted but I feel as though I can take a nap when cutting a straight line longer than 6 inches. LOL I just printed off another 150 patterns that I need to cut, in addition to the 350 I'd already printed. Looking at that stack really makes me want to move the DW back into my cutting area... Maybe I can teach my 3 dogs to cut... They're rather bright...

You bring up a very good point about the speed of these saws.. 20% doesn't seem like much.. and at the end of the day it's not very much.. but... going from cutting on an aggressive saw for several years.. then going to the Hawk.. I was rather bored with cutting on the Hawk.. Similar to driving on the expressway for 6-8 hours and then go into a town.. going 25-35 mph after driving all day at 70 mph you feel like you're barely moving.. which.. for me..It makes me want to push too much to feed the wood into the blade faster.. Hawk does an awesome job.. love the ease of doing sharp turns with it.. love cutting thin wood with it.. but can hardly stand using it for anything more that 1/2" thick wood.. which... I stack cut most anything thin.. and the rest is over half inch.. so I just don't use it a lot.. I have two positions in the lower blade holder for blade forward / back motion for a more aggressive cut.. I find with mine is that the more aggressive position is a little too aggressive for much of any detail work.. great for cutting the outlined project out or cutting bases for the clocks etc.. I don't cut very many bases with the scroll saw in general.. Usually use the table saw or band saw and rip down 2" wide strips then cut to length on my miter saw.. then sand them on a belt sander.. much faster than scrolling them out. Using different blades can and will help tremendously.. finding the right combo for a different saw.. can and will make the experience better.... I imagine for puzzles though you have to be careful on your blade selection so the puzzle isn't too sloppy.. so that limits you on speed to a very few select blades..

Fantastic news!

It is real nice to be able to scroll outside and having the sun keeping you warm, but not for this week coming. We have a cold front moving in and the temperature next week around high 40 and low 50 a heck better that at my home in Ottawa Canada. Any way here is some of the stuff that I cut last week.

I made her names from hard woods i had before i got what she had.Thanks for looking!!!!!!!!!!

I better step away from this again because you are all about speed and I am far from that. Best of luck to you at whatever you do and God Speed!!.

Thanks Jeff,I love to scroll .Takes my mind and clears things up .I'm in my own world creating beautiful things for hours on end.Makes me feel worth my salt.

Yes i have to be on my toes around him,lol, Thanks for looking!

I could be wrong, but I thought they were designed by Danny van Wattingen. Either way, they are very cute!

Here is the first completed cut of the new year. It is my first time stack cutting something this detailed but it went just fine. The wood is 1/8 cherry? I think. FD 2/0 spirals. I'm not sure how I will frame them yet. I finally found a roll of the adhesive shelf tape that so many people on the site have recommended, and THANK YOU. It will be the only thing I use for fret work from now on. The pattern came off in less than 3 minutes and all in one piece except for one tiny sail.

As said above, all cute, well done. Jeff

Glad you're liking the lift arm on the DeWalt.. I'd be lost without it on mine.. On the Hawk... Have you messed with the blade forward / back movement to try to help speed up cutting? They push this feature on quite a lot of saws now days.. and I kind of always thought by making it more aggressive that it'd cut a little faster? Speaking of the "easy lift" for the DeWalt.. This will be something to get used to on my Excalibur.. While the arm goes up and stays there.. It's quite stiff moving compared to the Dewalt and Hawk.. actually the Hawk just goes up on it's own once the blade is un-clamped.. I think the Dewalt with the easy lift used to but the spring has weakend some I imagine.. I've had that on the saw for several years now.. A tip on the easy lift.. Whenever I wax my saw table.. I also wax the slotted hole area where the arm and those washers slide.. help keep it lifting and lowering nice and smooth.. probably helps with wear too..

LOL, I'm a numbers geek... I simply had to know.

Command strip French cleat.