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It has been a while since I posted anything but here are a few recent items: Thanks for looking, Rob

Cut two of these for a friend to give her parents and in-laws. Names are her kids names. I just found the cross design and added the names and then connected them together. Cut them from quarter sawn sycamore about 1” thick.

Had an enjoyable afternoon in the shop with an old friend. He'll live on the cowboy wall in my shop. Gunsmoke and Bonanza make me think of my daddy. Thanks to @wild bill for a super pattern.

Steve Good pattern but I added golf ball and tee.

Made some progress today. New bit arrived and it cut through the wood like butter. Lesson learnt - buy cheap buy twice. Sanding time

I've been looking at the Dremel tools contemplating whether to get one of these or buy the Seyco scrollers drill... I'd have ordered the Seyco drill today had it been in stock... anyway I decided to check out eBay for Dremel tools and ran across a WEN brand... and it really resembles one of the Dremel models.. upon further investigation.. I found that the attachments for the Dremel fit this WEN tool... upon further research I see Steve Good did a review of the tool.. Unfortunately his review showed the tool has quite a lot of runout on the drill chuck so i'm thinking it's probably not the greatest choice for what I'm looking to use it for.. but seem like a great tool with flex shaft for doing other things with it.. and they seem to be priced pretty low.. some on eBay as low as $20 maybe less yet as I didn't look through them too much.. https://www.ebay.com/itm/Wen-Rotary-Tool-Kit-2305-With-Flex-Shaft-Variable-Speed-Rotary-Tool-Kit/263820244985?epid=19021259043&hash=item3d6ce977f9:g:yLcAAOSwuqdaq-p2:rk:53:pf:0 Anyone have any experience with them?

I have 3 dremel tools I bought my first one from ace hardware many years ago I have one set up on my mini router table - 1 on my plunge router and one for regular use. The first one was bought retail and the rest was at Garage sales my plunge router and mini routing table was at garage sales and I love all 3 of them

Just seen this post ( I don't look in this forum much ) and thought I'd share how I make my clocks... I use a tool ( not sure what they are called ) awl? It's like a short screw driver but is very pointed on the end.. I believe it's an awl.. and I center it with the dot or X that in on the pattern and make a tiny dent to mark the spot.. then I look to see it's actually in the center.. if so then I use the tool again and push it in for a deeper.. just helps in finding that little dipped area on my old eyes in finding the center.. Oh and yeah I drill the holes last.. some very fragile ones I sometimes will put the clock back into the original cutout board to help hold it in place.. Make sure to buy a high end forestner bit.. they make a world of difference.. I received a gift of a set of forestner bits and brand new out of the box was worst then the dull high end one LOL..

I was just viewing projects at the Lumberjocks site and saw this. This does not help getting to the middle of a very wide board to drill holes, but it would be an option for those with a drill press with a chuck that does not hold the real small bits. I guess you could also buy some extra throat depth by rotating the jig so it holds the Dremel tool in the front the drill press head or further out to the side.

Great rendition of old Festus. I was a big fan of the show. I remember one time Chester (Dennis Weaver) was a guest on the Ed Sullivan Show. He came out on the stage with his "Chester" stiff leg, limping around. When he went to sit on a stool to play his guitar and sing, he kept sliding off the stool because of his stiff leg, After about three attempts at staying on the stool, he said something like "ah shuck the heck with it" and bent his knee just fine. The whole audience gasped. They all thought he actually had a bum leg from watching him on Gun Smoke. Okay,,, just one of those things I remember from the old black and white snowy TV days with our bowtie or rabbit ears antennas.

This is the bowl I showed in "making a bowl" in the tutorial forum. I have applied the finish and the bowl is done.

I'm no expert on wood species but that wood looks like some Iowa native sawn Sycamore I have. Beautiful wood. I built a large chest of drawers out of it for my Granddaughter.

FYI - you can get it on amazon for slightly less https://www.amazon.com/WEN-2305-Rotary-Tool-Shaft/dp/B003BYRFH8

I have some quartersawn Sycamore that looks a lot like that.

After a short search I found that this is identical to the Ozito model we get here in Australia. https://www.harborfreight.com/heavy-duty-variable-speed-rotary-tool-kit-31-pc-68696.html

Yeah, the Ozito uses collets. I don't know if you can get them in the US but there would have to be other brands that are much the same. No doubt they are mass produced in China somewhere and given a different brand, depending on who orders them.

Yes there was. I can't find the link to it right now but here is a very simple one.

Looks great. I have never done one that small, mine are always 8.5" x 11.7" Marg

Exceptional cutting skills!!! Looks like I'll have to sharpen my pencils, lol

I have a couple dremels and use them for detailed work. I use the fixed router base alot when doing some fine router work. I have many other options when it comes to plunge routers so not looking for that.

I looked at that Wen deal and it looks good. I also saw a Dremel Multi-Pro for $3 cheaper.

Not sure about the WEN model but I've used the Ozito model, https://www.bunnings.com.au/ozito-170w-42-piece-rotary-tool-kit_p6290175. I've never had any problems using this and it comes in very handy for segmentation sanding, don't use it much for drilling.

I have a Dremel and Weecher rotary tools both with flex shaft. I have had the Dremel for years and works great.

You are absolutely correct. Almost every drill can be improved with a quality chuck. Most Chinese chucks are junk although you might accidentally find a good one. Nothing improves accuracy like a good old American or German made chuck. The Dremel little chuck is quite accurate. I have two of those.

Unfortunately, most of the drill presses have no way to tighten the quill. The run out of the spindle on my Jet was low but the quill slop was getting worse and made it difficult to drill accurately. I bought one with a split head that can tightened if needed. The total run out on my new one is only about 0.003".

Ray, I didn't find it on any of Scrollsaw Woodworking's websites as a back issue. I don't know if I'd actually make one but was curious to learn how the sides are made. Tom

Thanks Bob.

With all the help and advice on learning to use the scroll saw I decided to make a gift for my father in law today. He has been a fisherman all his life so you can imagine my delight when I found a mariner based pattern by Travis. Also it was the first time using “real” wood instead of mdf or plywood. I reduced a lump of wood on the table saw and got it as smooth and flat as I could. I have no idea what the species is The base will be from the same wood I am still making mistakes but my confidence is growing and there was a brief moment when I found myself in the groove. As soon as I started over thinking the mistakes started. I have ordered a clock from Amazon and will make the hole for it when it arrives.

Jessica has her paint’s out again and with mummy’s help she brightnened Santa’s day. We will frame it next.

I just finished this Alex Fox pattern. 330 cuts, Baltic Birch Natural Danish oil, mounted on 3/4” Poplar board stained about as dark as I could get it. I may move on to ornaments, or baskets, or maybe boxes for awhile.

Another question just popped into my head. Is there any lubrication required on the flex shaft? I envision something like the old speedo cables that needed occasional lubing with graphite grease.

They usually run all kinds of sales this time of the year. That is when I picked up another 400 series one last year. Almost jumped in my cart from Home Depot. I am hoping they have another great sale on the Rigid shop vac this year. A couple years ago they had a tremendous sale on them for about $30 I picked up a couple. My Craftsman one died this year finally and that owed me nothing but have to use one of the Rigids and would like to replace and have a back up.

Let me know how you like it.. I watched the review Steve Good did and he mentioned it had quite a bit of run out on it.. so I was thinking it might not be accurate enough for drilling the small hose where I need the tiny veining in projects.. My drill press is a crap shoot as to where the drill will actually go once it hits the wood.. been getting buy with it for a lot of years.. and works great for the forestner bits so just thought I'd buy / make mini drill that would be throat-less.. Steve Good has a review of this tool on youtube

Fortuitous topic. I just started looking at these kind of tools. This brand seems to be highly thought off in the model forums I looked at https://www.axminster.co.uk/proxxon-fbs-240-e-multitool-flexi-shaft-package-deal-718858?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIhtOfz7TC3gIVEed3Ch3exQZiEAQYAyABEgKSDfD_BwE Cheaper than the Dremel 4000 kit too Accessories look good quality https://m.reichelt.com/gb/en/drill-stand-mbs140-s-proxxon-28606-p30207.html?CTYPE=0&MWSTFREE=0&PROVID=2788&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIhtOfz7TC3gIVEed3Ch3exQZiEAQYCiABEgIKDfD_BwE&&r=1

Ever since you shown that project I have been trying to figure out that wood type. Do you know what that wood is called?? My only guess was lacewood but not there. Nice recovery and lesson learned as you say. Thanks for showing.

Does the Ozito have a chuck or use just collets? Collets in my opinion are a nuisance. Would be good if Dremel chuck could be adapted.

Finished this yesterday and gave it a few coats of spray poly. This is Steve Goods pattern. It's made out of Oak and Walnut and it's 8 inch in diameter. The backer board is painted red. It killed me to do this for my brother because I'm a Yankee fan. I suffered through it though.

Yeah, I posted that video.. and I do agree about Dremels being over priced which is why I've been researching some other options.. I could build that homemade router to work on most any of the rotary tools.. Steve Good review of that WEN model and talked about how the shaft was a bit wobbly ( runout ) so I don't think it would be ll that actuate for a drill press.. I'll look into the Ozito brand you mentioned..

Wasn't there a video showing how to make a homemade plunge router attachment on the site somewhere? Dremel is so overpriced.

Wow Joe, I have run out of superlatives! Fantastic cut, Rob

Yes Jet was one of the brands that had slop when I was looking... I question it though because.. the other Jet that set right next to it was good and tight.. not sure if it was just one that slipped through the QC or what.. That is why I want to inspect the drill press I buy before actually buying it..

I had a 16" Jet that had quill slop and large run out. It was difficult to find a good one these days.

Scott I've been bringing my scroll saw to a local venue for 4 years now and in the beginning, I was concerned about the dust and noise but the event coordinator told me to not worry about it because I was helping to draw crowds in and keep the crowds inside. She actually told me that she would take care of the clean up herself. Year after year , I get returning customers because I stood out of the crowd. Thank you Jim for the info on the inverter so I can bring my saw on outdoors venues

Looks great, cant wait to see the finished product!!

I would be worried about the mess. Especially in an inside venue.

I've really considered buying this too.. and torn between it and the Dremel with router attachment... and the price of the Seyco drill isn't all that bad when you consider the price of both the Dremel tool and the router attachment.. as I don't already have a Dremel.. well I did.. but it burned up with not much use.. so did the other three or four that I've owned.. so in my experience with Dremels.. I'm not totally sold on it. while many claim to love theirs.. I might have to look into the jewelers drill as mentioned by Dee.. that price sounds too good to be true.. so I'll be investigating that.. never heard of one..

No worries Brad, not a hijack at all. I usually don't take any special precautions when cutting cherry. I've had it burn before, but that was because I was letting the blade get dull, trying to squeeze a few more minutes life out of it. Other woods will tolerate that, with little more than a drop in performance. Cherry however is quite sensitive to dull blades. That is what made my experience so perplexing. I used 3 different, fresh blades of 2 different brands. They all started burning immediately. I've never had that happen before. My cutting returned to normal, once I applied the tape. I even switched to a smaller blade, which at least theoretically could have compounded the problem, and had no further burning. I'm hung up on the wood itself being different, somehow. I know the color of cherry boards can vary from tree to tree and that it darkens over time, with exposure to light. I've built furniture for my oldest daughter out of cherry, harvested from my FIL's farm. They were made from different boards, harvested and milled from different trees, at different times. Both are now several years old, been in the same house for over 10 years and were finished with similar products. The one piece is extremely dark, reddish brown, while the other one is lighter, with more of an orange hue. I've always been curious about this and now wonder if somehow the difference in color may have some connection to the burning issue.

Glad you did it was necessary. LOL

Sorry about the slip up. Believe me, I know how you feel. Looking good up till then. Nice looking piece of wood too.

WOW! It looks like a beauty parlor for wood!