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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 attempt at an Intarsia project. For a detailed write up see my post in the Intarsia/Segmentation furum. Comments and critiques always welcome.

I cut the "IRON HORSE & THE BABE", using the pattern by Kris, that he so graciously shared with me. I took the liberty to add the famous ediface that surrounded THEIR Yankee Stadium and then framed the piece. It was a gift for our Pastor, who would greet everyone after mass on Sunday and ask me to wait because he wanted to speak with me. He needed to speak with me about his Yankees,when I prsented him with this gift,he couldn't belive it and it stillhangs in his office to this day. Thank you again, Kris, for your generousity. Rick

Here's the finished product after being dipped in raw linseed oil and hand-wiped. The red in the bloodwood pops now.

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.

Over the years I have done several cars, planes, landscapes and a few ship. I thought I try my hand at a Mississippi style steam boat. It was about the max size for my EX-16 at 17 x 14 and had to do some cuts coming in at opposite directions. The railing was the most challenging with close to 140 very narrow cuts. Lots of very small cuts, especially the stairs. I really liked the drifting smoke coming off the stacks. It took several days to cut because it would get hot in my shop, garage and did most of the work in the mornings when it was still cool. 1/8" BBPW with shellac/ lacquer finish.

Hey Bob, Thanks for the information. I make a lot of toy's cut from 2" lumber. This "test" of yours really help.

Awesome, like all of your projects!

I have not been in the workshop for a month, it's just been too darn hot (95+ with 105+ heat index for weeks)and my little window a/c could not shed the heat. Even on days that the temps dropped a little I just could not find the motivation. Well, we are finally in the 80s, and I forced myself to work in the shop, 30 minutes at a time, getting back to an hour, then 90 minutes. It's a forcing function. But the heat this summer broke me mentally. Here is a tree of life (no roots though) that is a little nontraditional, but I think it came out pretty nice. 100% inside cuts, even the perimeter. I used Bloodwood, which is hard as heck and I went through blades about every 20-30 minutes. Used Flying Dutchman Ultra Reverse. #5 for the smaller details on the right, #7 for the larger on the left, and #9 for the perimeter. Cut on a 30" Pegas, with Pegas chuck. Here are a few images. The finished piece, a closeup through my lighted magnifying glass, and the pan under the saw, I throw the waste wood and dead blades. It is magnetized, so I do keep blades that have a little life left stuck to the back.

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.

For thicker than 1" material I like the Pegas Super Skip blades. I just finished cutting 48 vases out of 1.5" pine using a #9 super skip blade.

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 never time myself. It is a hobby that I enjoy and time well spent.

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.

Really, really nice work. A lot of long straight ine cuts beautifully done!