Leaderboard

The good news. The replacement WEN 4212T arrived today (10/18/23) and putting it together for the second time was a snap. Even the table up/down crank seems to be less sloppy than the one I returned. Again, I’m very happy, everything is working well, and it runs quiet and smoothly at all speeds. I built a fixed, 32” high, mini bench in the corner of my shop for the drill press. Although I had to rearrange some wall hanging tools and dust collector hoses, it fits like a glove. And although the shop is getting a little more cramped, its location does not interfere with any of my operations. Only my trash bucket had to be moved closer to the Scroll Saw. Now the bad news. I wanted to bolt down the DP with some 1/2” dia. bolts as recommended in the instructions. Well as I tightened them down, I obviously cinched down too much, and the cheap thin sand-casted base cracked/broke in half. I salvaged the situation by removing the base and using four 3/8” Dia. x 4” long bolts, I mounted the collum directly to the bench top. I like it better as the base just got in the way anyhow and now there is room to lay down bits and tools as needed. So here are a bunch of pics that show the DP installation and my shop. Most were taken standing in one spot and just turning around for each pic as I don’t have very much room to walk very far. Close up of DP Broken base Feel free to snicker all you want!

Any auto store.

I’ve been using a saddle stool for some time. Very comfortable keeping your back straight, stable and compact.

I tried many different ways to create a top vac the way I like. (I think I saw someone else with this setup).For the longest time, I was using a 1/4" ID Loc-Line with a computer brush on the end. It worked okay-ish but for oily, or heavy wood, it would not work well at all. Also, small cut-offs would clog it. So I tried multiple design iterations. Had many "human factors" considerations too. Don't get in the way of my light/magnifying glass, away from my hands, stay put, don't bounce/vibrate, not get hit by the chuck, but be close to it, generate enough suction, etc. Finally went to 3/4" ID Loc-Line and it works really well. One of the things I like is when I am going to a new hole for my pierce cuts and I lift the arm, then put it back down the top-vac is in the exact same place. No fiddling around to get it back into position. I am able to position it out of my hand area, close to the blade, and not be visually distracting. (Though I might paint the tip black to make it disappear more). It might even generate a strong enough air current around the blade I might not even need to use my "puffer". I have a blast gate on the line to the bottom and top vac lines, and a blast gate on the bottom vac so I can "throttle" the flow to that when wood blocks all of the holes and I need less suction. This will increase the upper flow too. Now that I am satisfied with my dust collection piping, I am duct-taping the joints. Of course, the PowerTec products are friction, and work well, but I want extra holding and sealing power. I got colored duct tape, so my Scroll Saw piping is the Orange Line, my hand-held hose for area clean up is the blue line, and the main is the Purple line, which goes to the cyclone and vacuum. I still have to tape my red and green lines. Sure it loses the clean look of clear pipe, but that is the trade-off I had to decide on with aesthetics. I have the Loc-Line secured with zip-ties, and foam at the moment. I will be getting some self-adhering hose clamps shortly to replace them.

A happy ending Frank! you have a very functional workshop! Thank you for the photo's Bob

Couple more.....lol I have this thing where I like a twofer.. That is when I cut out the silhouette and also keep the cut out area. I will add a backer and make a second ornament out of it. Samples below. The brown witch is Cedar so I up undecided if I should stain it, paint it or just leave as is.

Great for solid wood projects like statues, puzzles, toys, etc. IMHO, not practical for fretwork type ply panels, with or without backer. I like lacquer because I can get a nice, quite smooth, finish with no, in between coats, sanding needed. Multiple coats with only a short dry time in beween, tends to get smoother and smoother. I prefer poly for finishing stained wood frames, but don't take it to the extreme Ron does. Still experimenting with clear acrylic coatings.

Ace

95% of my projects receive a minimum 4 coats of polyurethane( satin )and some up to 6 (painted or unpainted). Lightly sanding with a 1500 grit between each coat. Each coat is left to dry 1 day before applying the next. Once I’m satisfied with the number of coats I lightly sand the project with 1500 grit wet with bees wax wiping dry and polishing with a cheese cloth. The final result feels like glass to the touch. I’ve been using this process for over twenty years. Yes I know there are many other beautiful finishes but this is the one I prefer.

Это ложь..

Even Clear varnish tends to yellow over time. And, I personally do not like oil finishes because even when they feel dry to the touch it will attract dust to the work. For the same reason I would not use any kind of wax finish. Most appropriate choices for uncolored or stained wood include Clear Spray orWipe-on Ppolyurathane and Clear Spray Lacquer. I use rattle can lacquer but it is available in bulk at much lower cost per use as long as you have the equipment to spray. For wood that you add color to, it depends on the paint type. Clear acrylic sprays are best for pieces painted with Acrylic (water base) Paints or stains. Polycrylic is a name brand that tends to be expensive, but I have found Krylon and some store brand maufacturers have Clear Acrylic protective coatings at much lower costs. I use Clear Spray Laquer over acrylic painted pieces also, with out any problems. A craft store, like Hobby Lobby here in the USA, has the acrylic spray cans at much lower cost that the hardware stores that only handle the Polycrylic brand. For any oil based painted pieces I would stick with polyurethane or lacquer. Both Lacquer and Poly create a hard durable surface. IMHO, if it good enough for most furniture manufactuers, it is good enough for Scroll work. Clear Acrylic coatings are also good, but, again in my opinion, not quite as durable as Poly. Lacquer and the acrylic coatings have the advantage of a very fast dry time, while poly takes forever to dry just to be able to handle, especially if the humidity is high. For me a BLO finish takes too much work and time, that to me is not warrented for the product our hobby produces. And, last, Poly is the only protective coating I will use for any piece that will hang outside.

Very nice Richard! I use a discarded CPAP hose for the same purpose.

My husband has always said one can never have enough clamps

Paul it looks like you have a gas and brake pedal in the picture, RJ

I have never bought a used clamp. I have rarely paid the full retail price for a clamp. I watched for deals and got them cheap for as much as 75% off retail. I got serious about buying clamps about 30 years ago when the Stanly clamps I had started breaking.

I actually think I've reached the point where I have enough clamps. For years, I got by with the bare minimum as I didn't ahve the $$ to buy all the new clamps I wanted. Over time, my income improved a bit and I've slowly been accumulating a pretty good collection. I find them at flea markets, yard/garage/estate sales, Black Friday sales, etc. I even found several Bessy parallel jaw clamps at Ollies several years ago for less than 1/2 their regular price. I bought all they had. I have well over a hundred now, F-style clamps, pipe clamps, parallel jaw clamps, Quick Clamps, wooden hand screw clamps and that doesn't include several dozen spring clamps and a few random C-clamps. I've gotten to the point that I'm not buying anymore. I still look and if a good deal falls in my lap, I'll jump at it, but it's pretty safe to say I have enough...for now.

Never enough clamps, but I'm getting close. I sold some a few months ago. I would definitely let Wen know about the broken base. That is an incredibly poor location for the mounting holes. I expected to see ears on the base or at least in the four corners.

My solution to the whole chair dilemma was to take the chair bottom from a HF chair, the tractor seat from a TSC chair, and added a plywood base to the foot rest ( for the foot switch ).

This is my setup, works fine for me. I also use a on/off foot witch instead of the deadman. I switched a couple months age. One switch for the saw, one switch for the vac. I do not have my vac attached to my saw switch because I do not like it going on and off all the time like my saw does. Seems to me the constant on/off of the vac would wear it out quicker. Just my theory, not facts to back it.

I have a chair much like that one but I use a push on push off foot pedal. I’m constantly moving my feet position so I couldn’t use a deadman switch.

First off thank you FrankEV, as soon as I saw this pattern I just knew I had to try it. I do apologize for butchering it but I really enjoyed cutting it! Another one for the sand and finish pile. I'm going to see if I can find a piece of live edge or at least a decent piece of solid wood and try it again, because I'd love to hang this somewhere.

thanks for the shop tour. You make good use of the space you have

FrankEV sorry here are some more details This one was cut on reclaimed maple planed down to about 7/16", the panel is about 8x12 but will be cut down some. There's no backer and I'm not sure yet if there will be. I'm planning to stain it.

Here you go!

That looks great. I find on some things I really slowly the saw down. Great pattern...where did you get it.

This is what I have. I bought it because of the seat height range. I have saws and a workbench that all have different heights.

I use a cheap stool, I like it for the formed seat and it goes low enough that I can put my feet flat on the for. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000TMHXA4/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 A couple of years ago I bought a gel seat cushion, it has made a big difference in comfort. https://www.amazon.com/Cushion-Breathable-Honeycomb-Pressure-Non-Slip/dp/B08XX3W5KR/ref=dp_prsubs_1?pd_rd_w=hMH6D&content-id=amzn1.sym.2c74594d-9264-4cdf-bf3d-e4e41e237275&pf_rd_p=2c74594d-9264-4cdf-bf3d-e4e41e237275&pf_rd_r=HKAF99R0DZJ3CC8EKB17&pd_rd_wg=CpSkh&pd_rd_r=cb50ecfc-82ae-4a6b-8e95-a41d8bb817a4&pd_rd_i=B08XX3W5KR&th=1

That looks like a fun seat! Great way to make a chair out of two broken ones!

Mine has wheels but stays in place unless I pull or push. I like it especially when I have two saws. Then I can roll back and forth between the two.

The seat I use is a hybrid. The seat came from this chair https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/vibrant-drafting-stool-with-tractor-seat?cm_vc=-10005 the bottom came from this chair https://www.harborfreight.com/biker-style-pneumatic-roller-seat-63756.html The tractor seat is very comfortable to sit on but the bottom ring broke fairly quickly. The motorcycle seat was very uncomfortable for me to sit on (not sure if that changed after my hydrocele surgery). So I took the tops off and switched them, before putting the top back on the chair I added a plywood platform that fits on the foot ring (for the foot switch). The chair seat is tall enough to use with the factory stand that came with the Hegner, the foot switch is a comfortable height from the seat ( the switch on the floor is too far to reach comfortably ). I don't expect you to buy two new chairs to get one that works, just showing how to get creative with solutions

Thank you to all who have provided info and pictures of the chair/stools that you are using. I decided on the one that @Dave Monk uses... Who knows, maybe it will give me a boost toward being the artist scroller he is! Thanks again

I don't, but I'm pretty well wedged in where I sit at my scroll saw, so movement is limited. My feet are typically resting on something other than the chair, so that helps keep me anchored. I also have anti-fatigue mats on the floor, so that lends some resistance to the chair wheels rolling involuntarily.

That is simply amazing! Wow, I bet it really does roll... Very impressive! Thanks for showing me that.... mc

Just to give you more info. The old chair was a drafting style chair I found behind office building. It lasted about 3 yrs before my bottom went numb. So my wife found this Viper chair. Boy does it roll. I have to have a foot mat under it. It took me about 3 weeks for my bottom to adjust. But now I sit in it for 4 to 5 hours at a time. I still work from home. On the weekends I roll it over to my scrollsaw and it does good.

How about a boat cushion. It’s a floatation piece with 2 handles. About 14” square, 2” thick. Walmart has them For $11.00. I use one with my old fashioned wooden drafting chair.

The chair I posted was not too expensive but gives me and my back good support and has foot rests. I would spend whatever is needed to get a proper chair that allows me to scroll or work in comfort. Given the state of my back and the hardware in it, I need a very good chair to allow me to work. I also use it for working at my bench which I created a pullout shelf with heavy duty under mount full extension slides. I do a lot of work on it and have a Panavise that I can attach to it.

I bought my chair before getting the saw. so I built the saw stand to match the chair height. The stand has a front tilt at 15° and, that puts the front edge of the table 2.5" below the chair arms. So far, the chair arms don't get in my way. It's quite comfortable. I did have to velcro rhe foot control to a short piece of 2X4.

As Bob Ross would say, "A happy little accident"

If you say nothing no one will know. You did an excellent job, well done. Marg

Shhhhh! Don't tell anybody! Just say you cut it exactly how you wanted it cut. I think you did a great job. Love the grain pattern in the wood.

Wow, I think it looks great!!! (Now I’m gonna have to try it)

I see nothing wrong with it! Where is your "butchery"?

What suggestion out there as to the wood treatment Danish Oil has become ridiculously expensive here in S A. What other alternatives can I try that will give me result bearing in mind I often add colour and apply a clear varnish to finish.

Hi Gang. I know this thread is about 6 months old but I'm looking for a new stool so I just typed in "stool" in the search bar and this thread popped up. My question is, if you get a stool like the one just above me with a foot rest all around the bottom, how do you work your on/off foot pedal?