Dale Thompson
02-09-2005, 9:32 PM
Hi Folks,
I'm sure that everyone who has ever seen a scroll saw already knows this but I thought that I would share it anyway. I'm NOT a scroller so if I have stepped on anyone's toes, I apologize. :o
When I recently replaced my Delta Q3 (a great saw) with the DW 788 (an even greater saw), the features of the 788 turned me almost instantly into a "top-loader". Previous to that, I threaded the blade from the bottom. It became rather tedious and once an old rigor mortis-prone codger like me bends over, it is hard to straighten up again. :eek:
Anyway, the top loading thing was great until I ran into some of those fretwork patterns with zillions of tiny holes that had to be threaded. Finding the hole in the pattern was easy. Getting the threaded blade to pass through the hole in the table was another matter. I could only hit the table so many times with the threaded blade before it kinked (a sure indicator that "premature" blade fracture is inevitable). DING-DANG-IT!! :mad:
Since I now have grandkids, one of whom is approaching the age of linguistic cognizance, I have been "ordered" by the ladies involved (aka. wife and daughter) to abandon a lifetime of "colorfully descriptive expletives". Right now, I am at a C- but I hope to improve. :cool: ;)
The pics attached will show you how I made a quantum leap in cleansing my vocabulary. A laser pointer costs about a buck two-fifty nowadays so cost is not a factor. The clamp on the laser is not permanent. It was left there only to keep the laser "on" for the picture.
When I have to "thread" a blade into a pattern, I simply push the button on the pointer and move the hole in the wood under the beam. BINGO! The blade goes through the wood and also the hole in the table! :) A slight change in laser position is necessary depending on the thickness of the wood. :(
I may make this a more "permanent" installation but I can't think of a better structural material than Duct Tape.
I plan to rig up something on the lathe with these laser pointers to verify diameters without shutting off the lathe. But that's for another boring post.
Thanks for listening to all this nonsense that you probably already knew!
Dale T.
I'm sure that everyone who has ever seen a scroll saw already knows this but I thought that I would share it anyway. I'm NOT a scroller so if I have stepped on anyone's toes, I apologize. :o
When I recently replaced my Delta Q3 (a great saw) with the DW 788 (an even greater saw), the features of the 788 turned me almost instantly into a "top-loader". Previous to that, I threaded the blade from the bottom. It became rather tedious and once an old rigor mortis-prone codger like me bends over, it is hard to straighten up again. :eek:
Anyway, the top loading thing was great until I ran into some of those fretwork patterns with zillions of tiny holes that had to be threaded. Finding the hole in the pattern was easy. Getting the threaded blade to pass through the hole in the table was another matter. I could only hit the table so many times with the threaded blade before it kinked (a sure indicator that "premature" blade fracture is inevitable). DING-DANG-IT!! :mad:
Since I now have grandkids, one of whom is approaching the age of linguistic cognizance, I have been "ordered" by the ladies involved (aka. wife and daughter) to abandon a lifetime of "colorfully descriptive expletives". Right now, I am at a C- but I hope to improve. :cool: ;)
The pics attached will show you how I made a quantum leap in cleansing my vocabulary. A laser pointer costs about a buck two-fifty nowadays so cost is not a factor. The clamp on the laser is not permanent. It was left there only to keep the laser "on" for the picture.
When I have to "thread" a blade into a pattern, I simply push the button on the pointer and move the hole in the wood under the beam. BINGO! The blade goes through the wood and also the hole in the table! :) A slight change in laser position is necessary depending on the thickness of the wood. :(
I may make this a more "permanent" installation but I can't think of a better structural material than Duct Tape.
I plan to rig up something on the lathe with these laser pointers to verify diameters without shutting off the lathe. But that's for another boring post.
Thanks for listening to all this nonsense that you probably already knew!
Dale T.