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I do not make patterns other than a couple portrait patterns of my grandsons so I rely on others patterns. Free or purchased. So I would like to thank all those that make patterns and make them available to the rest of us. Without your hard work my time at my scrollsaw would be very limited. Your work is greatly appreciated. Lester

Congratulations, Barb. You did an awesome job on your piece.

I actually finished a project while Momma was away for the week. My neighbor has two young granddaughters, that visit them often. I love to make them something when I find something I think they will enjoy. When I saw @alexfox's spooky candy box I had to make them each one. They are both the same. I added a skeleton to the inside bottom. Not part of the plans but saw the pattern for the little guy and thought he belonged in the box. The eyes on the cat are green but didn't show up well in the picture.

As many of you know my "Poppy's Workshop" makes toys and donates them to organizations, helping children in need. My current big project is 125 toys for a local organization here in Hampton Roads VA, that helps out with kids with cancer. I am a little behind the 8-ball due to my eye injury early this year and then my summer stoppage. I am about 1/2 way there and have until October, so it should not be a problem. I finished another 20 toys this week (photo 1), and now working on another dozen race cars. I am doing 3 or 4 at a time, so this way I am not left with a big pile of unfinished pieces. It also gives me a sense of accomplishment when I get stuff done, rather than a bunch in 'production'. That being said, I am working on a modified Steve Good design, the first 2 cars you see with the walnut sides, are more along the way of the original design (minus the number). I like this, as the interior is 1/2", and the sides 1/8" each. I can shape the head before gluing, and I think it comes out nice. However, that is more cutting, and then gluing up, which almost doubles production time. So I am opting for a single piece of 3/4" wood. It does make shaping the head a little tricky, but I am working on a process, of sanding on my 1x30 sanding belt, for the rough shape, then using a Kutzall bit to shape the head a bit more. It is still abstract, but it works for me. Images: (1) 20 finished from earlier this week, (2 & 3) from single and glued sides, (4) On the scroll saw, #9 FD UR, (5) Rough cut, (6) This is how I set axle length quickly with a spacer (7) Rough shape, (8) The rough shaped blanks Next will be the rotary tool to shape the head to the finished shape, then on to the barrel sander to add curves to the body of the car, then mop sand, and then the wheels. I will be doing this after my lunch and nap, so this is the start.

Finished this Buffalo a Russ Beard pattern, it was a challenging cut as Russ put so much detail in on the forehead. I double stacked 4mm Baltic Birch Plywood, cut with Niqua #0 and #1 Niqua pin less blades. Finished with a few Coates of a BLO/Mixture, varnish is still to be applied.

This was cut from two lengths of Blue pine tongue and groove pine 3/4". The welcome pattern is from the files here, the horses are a Steve Good design. 18 1/4" X 5" finished 21"long before I cut the ends. FD Polar #1 throughout. One coat BLO ,so far.

Finished this week

The shelf was made for a young lady who plays softball and needed a place to hang her ribbons and mini bats. The only scrollwork is the batters on the ends. Both of my boys played high school football and their team name was the eagles. I made helmet ornaments for each player and coach when my younger son was in school.

My latest intarsia piece. for a full discription see my post in the Intrsia/Segmentation Forum. 124 pieces. Comments and critiques always welcome.

Frank that's an excellent piece, RJ

I completed this Sleigh Ride. Pattern by Charles Hand. I stacked three layers 1/8 Baltic birch covered in green painters tape. Pattern attached with 3M77 spray. Cut with Pegas #2/0 and #0 and #1 spiral blades. Slow going. 13 hours seat time. Cut on my King Industrial 21 inch saw. My first project completed with spiral blades. It was a learning curve but I will use them again on similiar patterns. After getting rid of as many fuzzies as I could and sanding I sprayed with laquer. The one in the grey frame will go to a friend who took my wife and I and our kids and grandkids on sleigh rides through the forest on his property a couple times. Grandkids still talk about those rides. When I saw the pattern by Charles Hand in Scrollsaw Woodworking magazine issue 89 I knew right away I wanted to cut it for Al as a thank you.

That was one of the other things I did.. back then I was making a lot of desk clocks to sell and every time I'd have to set up my forestner bit in then switch it back out etc.. so I bought a new drill press to just leave the one set up with the forestner bit.

I find the same to be true with drill presses. I have two table top ones and each has a different size bit. One has a micro Minnie bit for tiny entry holes. Saves me a lot of time and frustration.

I cut this back-lit scroll saw wood-art today. A bit of pre-halloweeen fun to put in our front door's window on October 31! This is the largest piece I've ever cut on a scroll saw, coming in at about 21 x 14 inches.

I never thought of that. I have two because I make made-to-order items to sell, and I can't afford to have the scroll saw down. There are ways to work around not having most of my other tools, but there is no substitute for a scroll saw.

I really do not want to go smaller than what I have now.

My first scroll saw was a used Dewalt 788 type 1. I brought it home and messed around with it and it did a pretty good job. After watching the videos on servicing all the bearings, I did the job and it became a great saw. I put a set of the Pegas clamps on it and it was even better. I ended up finding a used Excalibur 21 so I sold the Dewalt.

I didn't mess around with scroll saws that the big box stores were selling. I went directly to a RBI 216VS. My Father-in-law and brothers-in-law were avid woodworkers. Father-in-law and one brother-in-law used band saws, the other brother-in-law had a Hegner and did many collaspable baskets to begin with. All looked interesting to me but after studing about scroll saw and attending home shows where there was always a RBI dispaying there wares. I knew I coutdn't afford one. My wife and I would go be various carft fairs when they were a thing and there were several scroll saw artisits there. Not many craft fairs any more. I inherited a little bit of money and my wife allowed me to purchase the RBI. Since I didn't know better, attaching the blade was not an issue because I thouhgt this was the way of all scroll saws. When using the saw I figured I couln't use it like a table saw. Besides, I couldn't cut a straight line to save my sole. Occassionally would fire it up. My first project was cutting my name and my wifes name. Turned out OK. Then I cut some names for my fellow employees. Was a waste of money, didn't use it much more. I retired 10 years ago and decided to get serious and practice. Finally got used to it and got pretty good and did a lot of cutting on it for 8 years. Then decided to take advantage of new technology and purchased a Pegas. I really liked both. Decided to give my RBI to my brother. He had a Roybi that he was using. He took my RBI and hasn't even plugged it in and has pretty much lost his enthusiasm to scroll saw. Long story short, I should have kept my RBI for a backup. Jerry

Interesting topic. I've really been hashing this over for the past month. My first "real" scrollsaw was a Delta P-20. Still have it, still running like new 24 years later. My daughter now has it as she expressed an interest in scrolling and wanted the P-20, I actually had her cutting on it back when she was 8 or so. I picked up a Hawk 20" to replace it. After a rew months on the Hawk I can truly saw I miss the Delta. Don't know if it's because I've used it for 20 + years or it's like an old friend. Blade changes were easy, top feeding a breeze and absolutely zero vibration. On the Hawk, for me, top feed is all but impossible, still trying to eliminate the vibration and blade changes are time consuming. So, here I am, wishing I still had the P-20. I've found a few on Facebook Marketplace and seriously considering selling the Hawk to return to what I'm most familiar with. Those of you who own and use a HAWK, does it get better (cutting on it) over time. Do balde/tension changes get easier? And what about top feed, is that even a reality? Chris

A few weeks ago, I smelled smoke in our family room. I looked around and found nothing. There was no smoke, just a smell. This happened a couple mornings for about an hour, then would go away. On the third day, I came in from the shop to get a drink, and this time there was actual smoke. No fire just smoke. It was coming from my wife’s area where she sits and stitches her cross stitch projects. She uses a lighted magnifying glass on a stand. The way it was standing, sunlight coming in through the window was focused on some books next to her chair. Fortunately, there was no real fire but it did burn several of her books but nothing else. I’m just happy that I was at home and caught it before there was actual fire! This reminded me of another incident. A few years ago I was at a friends shop that had the same thing happen to his DeWalt saw. He had a magnifying light mounted to his saw sitting in front of a window. Sunlight from the window shining through the magnifier melted all the plastic on his saw! So, this is a warning, if you use a lighted magnifier, make sure it does not sit next to a window!

You ask: why does one need more than one scrollsaw? Right now I am wishing I had two again. And I promise, momma, if I can have a second one I will never sell it! I always have more than one project going. Right now I have two. One requires inlay. But I can not work on it because once I set a saw for the depth of inlay I want it can not be moved to a different degree of tilt. You would never get perfectly back to the degree of the original set. So before I can continue in the project requiring an inlay, I have to wait until the paint and glue tries on another project. If I had two saws I could keep on working. When I find the right deal, I will have a second saw again. Plus it is nice to have two or more saw so you do not have to change the size or type of blade so often. You can just move back and forth between saws.

My first saw was a Dremel 1371, later upgraded to the Dewalt DW788, just recently placed an order for the Pegas 21”. Hoping that the Pegas will be the last saw I ever need to purchase (I’m 67 now).

It is pretty fun to do, and with some minor filing it all fit together and the secret to open it works well. I had a lot of fun with it. Now I have to wait almost two months to give them to the young ladies. Hope I don't forget to do it.

A man with a project. Wonderful! WOW, you are able to go back to the shop "After lunch and nap"????? If I don't get into the shop by 6AM and work about 3 hours I would never get anything done. After my early morning shop time might do a few chores done around the yard and then stop for lunch and my afternoon nap which can last to nearly supper time. Sooooo, no shop time for me after my "lunch and nap"!!!!

Very nice job, RJ

Very nice! I skipped Halloween and went right to Christmas!

I like those! The kiddos will love them. Way to go!

Great job Paul. Was looking at the pattern also but just haven't had time. Jeff

My first saw was the Delta 15 inch I bought in the mid 90's. Single speed, bottom feed and wrench tool for blade change. Did some fretwork but more intarsia because did not have to change blade as often. Upgraded to Excalibur 21 in 2010 and thought I had gone to heaven. Easy blade change, top feed , variable speed and a dust blower. Wore that saw out and bought Exselsior 21 in 2021. Jeff

I have two 6x48-inch belt sanders. Currently, I only use one, but if I ever clear enough space, I will set up the other one with different grits to rapidly change grits. I have two bandsaws, one configured for scroll cutting and the other only used for resaw. I have two drill presses, one configured for drilling smaller holes and one for large fastener bits and sanding mops. Belt drive drilpresses are a pain to change speeds on. If I had the money to spare, I would buy one of the new variable feed drill presses and get rid of these two. I really have three since I have a Shopsmith that I can use if needed. I use it for horizontal boring and use the lathe function for drilling center holes in dowels. I also have a Dremel drill press that is not used except when I need to drill tiny holes, which does not happen much.

Some made in Mexico also.

Thanks. I was very surprised when I got notice yesterday. It came at a great time as we had our heads and hands in the middle of a boat repair!

Thank you JT for catching my mistake, I was wrong about Grizzly's table. It is a tilting arm saw.

That was the original reason I first bought my first second saw second saw.. then the reason I ended up with several more was because of them being free and or so cheap they might as well have been free.. Only reason I bought my new Hawk was 1) I've always wanted to try the new one with the adjustable blade aggression and having the lower arm come out to the front of the saw rather than behind the angle adjustment mechanism 2) That year we was trying to stay under a lower tax bracket so at the end of the year I had to spend some cash for write offs that was also why I bought the CNC and laser.. always had a interest in them but they was always way out of my spending limits.. other than that one year. Anyway now for some reason i have 4 back-up saws, LOL.. and I'm really torn on which ones to send to a new owner so I've kept them all for a couple years.. My only regret in all of that was I wish I had bought a smaller cheaper CNC and a larger more expensive laser.. Turns out after getting to learn enough to use them I end up wishing the CNC didn't take so much room and I wish I could do larger projects on the laser, LOL I've never once used the full capacity of the CNC size and likely never will, LOL. Yet almost every time I use the laser I wish I could run a larger batch of ornaments and be able to do larger projects on it.

Too bad you're so far away Paul. There is a like-new Hegner 14 with stand near me for $100. I kid you not. I would never be out of the dog house if I went and bought it. But, I'm so tempted.

My latest - Fire Department badge, 4 layers, 7,5 x x7,5 inches Video of making project Fire Dept. pattern

Just came in from cutting some ornaments on the Hegner... I do really like the saw but this is one of the hang up for me. though I am starting to get used to it. Also the accessory arm where the dumb hold down foot thingy that we alway take off saws.. that is actually lower than the arm and I'm going to try to pay more attention next project to see if I'm hitting that instead of the actual arm, as I think that's what I'm hitting when trying to feed the blade or remove it.. I know I hit that once while removing the blade to move to the next spot which is what brought my attention to that. That arm doesn't really need to be there I don't think except I do have the light mount and use it for my mag light.

i still use my first scroll saw but it is a wen 16"

My first scroll saw was an AMT. This same saw was sold with several brands on it. I purchased it in the mid-1980s. It came as a pin blade saw. It only took me a week or so to figure out that pin blades didn't hack out for me, and I bought an upgrade that allowed me to use pinless blades. The saw cut very well. In some woods, the cut was smooth glass. Thin lumber was not available in my location, but I had access to all the pallets I could haul, and that is what I cut most of my project from pallet wood. I made many toys, fretwork shelves, and compound-cut chess pieces. I never got a full set because my kids thought they were excellent and kept running off with them. I bought a used RBI Hawk for $100, refurbished it, and used it for a few years. Then I saw a video about how easy blade changes were on an EX-21, and I had to have one. I found a used EX-21 for sale locally. It wasn't long before the EX-21 was the only saw I used. Now, I had three scroll saws. While I had them all setup side by side, I did a test. The AMT cut smoother than and had less vibration than the other two. Heavy cast iron can dampen vibration a lot. I had to get rid of one and gave the AMT away. For me, ease of blade changes was more important than anything. After a few years, my EX-21 finally had a problem, and I used the RBI while troubleshooting and ordering parts. I decided I really did not like the RBI saw. The blade changes again, and it was hard on the smaller blades. So now I am shopping for another scroll saw. I found a never used Pegas and drove about 700 miles to get it. I sold the RBI for $100.

My first saw was bought in the mid 1990's was a Delta 40-560, and still being used to this day.

Craftsman 16 inch. Pretty heavy little unit. Never had a problem. Sold it after a couple years when I got the Excalibur.

Depends upon what saw you have.. the older Hawk saws was not capable to do top feeding... but the G4 (2005) and newer saws you can top feed with them.. I don't know if you can still get them but there was a guy making retrofit blade chuck adapters so you can put the Delta Quickset blade chucks on a Hawk and many other scroll saws. @Rolf I believe has them on his Hawk.. The issue is finding a good set of Delta clamps since they discontinued them many years ago.. about the best way now is to find a old saw at garage sales etc to rob the clamps from.

Keven, check with CharleyE about how to fix that arm problem. It entails cutting off the stop. I forget just how he did it. I checked with CharleyL and he said it wasn't him. Not sure who it was now.

Started out with a Ryobi. Made quite a few things with it. Like JT I was at a woodworking show and they were demonstrating RBI. Tried one out and bought it at the show. That was back in 1996 and it still runs like new.

My first saw was a Hitachi, but I returned it to Loew's within a week. Then bought a DeWalt from Amazon. I still have the DeWalt.

I joined the Craftmans club over 25 years ago. I had bought it for a special project and then it sat forlorn until 2012. A neighbor had brought a friend along for a dinner we had one evening. He showed me some of the scroll work he had done and had actually sold it. I thought to myself " I can do that" I pulled out the old craftsman started a simple project. I was finally hooked and frustrated at the same time. Through trial and error, I mastered the cutting techniques but the blade clamping drove me crazy. It had a metric hex screw to tighten the blade and the screw heads and the wrenches would wear out. I bought a whole box of screws because I was constantly replacing them. The steel screws were going into an aluminum housing wasn't a good thing. Eventually the threads wore out and installed a helicoil in the housing. It worked for a while but knew there was a better way--- replace the saw and eliminate the frustration. Did my research and eventually bought a EX-16 from the local Woodcraft store. I had it shipped to them and they covered the freight. Still happy with the unit. I replaced the blade mounts with Pegus blade mounts and had to replace the airpump. Still working good. Sold the Craftsman at a garage sale to a neighbor for $60. I think it was a sympathy buy. Spoke to his son a while back and he said he never used it. Oh Well.

My wife gave me a Craftsman, for Christmas soon after we were married. I had it for years, but seldom used it. You had to have a special tool and get down on your knees to put a blade in the bottom clamp. When I decided I wanted to do more scrolling I gave the craftsman to my daughter and I purchased a refurbished DeWalt. Major step up over the craftsman. My daughter did not use the saw, so she gave it to a neighbor. A few weeks laster she saw it in his garbage can where it really belonged.

My first scroll saw was a used Porter-Cable. The vibration was bad but I learned that I enjoyed scrolling. With what I know now, I suppose I could tune it to get rid of most of the vibration. But the killer was the non-liftable arm. To move the blade to a new hole meant releasing both the top and bottom blade clamps, move the blade, clamp both ends. I soon tired of that and bought my Pegas.

Started with a WEN 16", quickly installed the pinless adapter. But within 3 months I sold it ($10 loss), and bought an Excalibur 21" added the Pegas Chuck. After a year things went wonky with it and I could not cut a straight line, no way i was tracking my pattern line. You might remember the thread on troubleshooting it. I think I finally got it settled down, but during that time I decided to go for the Pegas 30" and have been using it since. Like my other two saws, I added a 3/4" Loc-Line top vac. I have a removable magnetic sheet when I am doing small parts. I turn off the bottom vac through the blast gate and add a screen inset to my top vac. This way small pieces do not get sucked away with the dust. First photo: Here's the 30" before getting everything trimmed up and moved into place replacing the Excalibur in the background. Second photo, my current setup. The excal is now a back up saw. I may set it back up and keep a thick blade on it for thick cuts. And cutting wood to rough size.

My first saw was a Craftsman. At that time, it was one of their better models. If I recall correctly, it was over $200. This was 30+ years ago, so it was not a purchase made lightly. I had never used a scroll saw before, but had previous carpentry and woodworking experience, so it was a pretty short learning curve. Despite not really knowing anything about scroll saws, I soon realized that this saw was a big limiting factor in my enjoyment of the hobby. It vibrated, not terribly, but enough to be annoying. That and a pronounced blade wobble made it difficult to make precision cuts. It also took 2 tools to change blades. That got old real fast. I joined a scroll saw club a few years later and that opened up a whole new world to me. As soon as that old Craftsman gave up the ghost, I was on the hunt for an upgrade. The choice was between a Dewalt 788 and a Delta P20 and I chose the Dewalt due to the true variable speed capability, vs the belt/pully system of the Delta. That saw served me pretty well. I sold it around 2016 when I bought my current EX-21. After some issues with my EX last year, I made an emergency purchase of a new Dewalt to have as a back-up saw. I had forgotten how aggressive the Dewalt was. I had my EX tuned to take as much of the blade arc out as possible and was pretty used to that. When I fired up that Dewalt for the first time, it seemed like it wanted to run away from me. I actually think that will come in handy when I want to cut thicker/harder stock.