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I have cut these beautiful Russ Beard patterns before but gave them all away, so I decided to cut them again, one set will be in my workshop to remind me why I wake up every day. The remaining two are going to two unsuspecting parishioners in our parish. Patterns cut on 4mm Birch Ply, #1 Niqua Blade, treated with BLO and Mineral Spirits, and then a few coats of clear varnish.

I am working on a custom order for a batch of toy trucks that I cut from 2x construction lumber. I usually only make things from construction lumber one at a time. Still, this time, I am making twelve trucks all the same, and this was an excellent opportunity to experiment. If you have ever cut 2x construction lumber on a scroll saw, you know this stuff can be a pain to work with. Hard and soft grain, hidden knots, pitch pockets, and other defects are common. It is a challenging wood to scroll. I could use a band saw for this, but I prefer to cut slower and get a smoother cut. Less sanding is the goal. I have been scrolling for years and acquired a considerable collection of blades, including Olson, Flying Dutchman, Pagas, and several others whose sources I no longer know are in my blade collection. I used a variety of these blades in the test. I started with Pegas #3MGT because that was already in the saw. I tried #5, #7, and #12 blades from each of the brands I have on hand and included one Olson Thick Wood Hook Tooth blade designed for cutting thick wood. Some blades had reverse teeth, and some didn't. All of the blades worked, but the difference between cutting 2x construction lumber was dramatic. Olson, Flying Dutchman, and the unknown blades cut poorly and were only suitable for cutting one truck body before they were dull. There was considerable jumping, which I assume is caused by the blade failing to clear the sawdust well. Each time there was a jump, a mark was left on the wood that must be sanded out. A couple of the blades left some burn marks on the not-so-sharp turns. The Pegas blades dramatically outperformed the others, so much so that it was not even a contest. The used Pegas #3MGT cut slowly, but there was no burning or jumping, and the cuts were smooth and square. I cut the last two trucks with a Pegas #12MGT. The results were surprising: not only did it cut very well, but it cut even faster than the Olsen Thick Wood blades. There was no burning, no jumping, and after cutting two truck bodies, it was still cutting well enough to cut one or two more trucks. The difference was so dramatic that when I left the shop, I thought that I should get rid of all my non-Pegas blades. Only one of the blades broke: the Olson Thick Wood Hook Tooth blade broke while cutting one of the straight sections. This seems a little odd since it is by far the largest blade I have, larger than 1/16 inch.

Another project from the "What the Heck Was I Thinking When I Started This?" collection. I just finished cutting this Fox and Hare wood-art piece. Pattern by me from an original painting by Bonnie Marris.

A friend is a huge Chicago Sky fan (Women's NBA). His birthday was last week so I made him a wall hanging. It's hard to see but there are LED lights behind it. It's three layers of primed MDF with a couple of coats of spray paint.

So, on a whim I bought a HF SS ( $22.00 from the returned shelf ). The saw itself isn't bad, the the pin end blades however . . . what junk. The HF blades were the best of a bad lot, Bosch, Ryobi, Olsen; all junk, can't turn well, choppy action ( I did try the Ryobi blades on my Hegner, still choppy, even at max speed, 2000 spm ) Here's the first, possible the last piece off the saw. 5" X 15" X 3/4" blue pine, Steve Good pattern "running horses" The saw will probably be used to break down larger boards or cut outlines of plaques

Use the saw to cut boards to fit the project like I do with the old DeWalt.

Today, I used my Pegas scroll saw for the first time. It has been over 11 years since I last touched a saw and it was my Hawk. I finally was in a location that allowed me to have a shed. Attached pictures are of my "Work Shed and storage shed. I also have a canopy over head to protect from the direct sun and it makes a difference. I saw advertised on Tik Tok a small wall air conditioner, so will see if it really works. Also if you look close you will see my first attempt on the Pegas. Not to bad but not to great either. But I am back and my heart sings. Mike

Two thing I learnt early was, always start at the hardest part, that way if you mess up you still have a lot of good wood/ply left. Second never drill all of the holes because if you do mess up you have ruined all of the wood/ply, Drill a few at a time, say 20 or 30. Marg

My latest project - Halloween box with hidden opening mechanism. "Trick or Treat" sign is moving element: if it in the lower position box is locked, if it in the upper position you can remove top of the box. Watch the video to see how it works and how it was made. Also pattern includes 2 variant: usual box and with hidden mechanism Halloween box pattern

I've done a lot of test like this over the years which also included trying said blades on various different saw set-ups.. My conclusion is very similar to what you found.. Really hard to beat those Pegas blades.. only thing I found that might be very slightly better and longer lasting was the P.S.Woods Super Sharps blades.. BUT.. they are very expensive blades and no reverse teeth so they leave you with more sanding of a rough back edge, but they are a bit faster more aggressive blade.. Not worth the money in my opinion but they it's worth mentioning them because they was the only blade that even came close to what the Pegas MGT blades could do..

I just finished cutting the windows on the trucks using the #12MGT blades. The cuts were smooth enough that no sanding would be required except for the little bump I almost always get when I start the cut. The cutting is not fast, but it is faster than the Olson thick blade. Possibly because the Olson blade is cutting a much wider kerf. For my purposes, getting a smooth cut is more important than speed; otherwise, I would use a bandsaw for these.

Thanks for the information. I hardly ever sell the Pegas #12 MGT blade, but with the info, I may start to recommend it on thick wood.

very interesting. Thanks for sharing. Jerry

like your horses

Very interesting and informative article

Thanks for the info.

The tray is an accessory item from US General (Buy at Harbor Freight), just like the drink cup holder you see in 2nd photo above, it is magnetized. I also have the paper towel holder too. They are reasonably priced.

See my write-up in the Intarsia/Segmentation section.

It's a 3/4-inch lock line from Amazon. (2 sets) Connected via a sleeve with a wooden insert RTV'd into place. I used two blast gates, one for the bottom vac, and one for the top so I could throttle the suction to the way I like. As you can see because of the flex hosing behind, raising and lowering the arm does not affect the top vac at all. It will go back into the proper position. Here's what it looks like from the side. This is just before trimming everything up and replacing the Excalibur in the background. And you can see I built the same top vac on the Excal too! 2nd photo shows it in place. 30" Pegas.

I was mentioning before how I only ruined a few projects this past year... Jinxed myself. Been rolling lately getting a bunch of things done. Decided to sand plywood and leave sawdust so shelf paper would be easier to remove. Bad idea... Pattern was lifting and made pieces chip out on the really tight curves, especially the eyes. Should have started there and saved me 3 hours of A H.... Once so much veneer was chipped out or split, and the eye was ruined I got pissed and it made its way to the chop saw. Time for a break from the scroll saw for a while.