# Going loco, but not in Acapulco



## martinka (4 Nov 2013)

Someone asked for occasional updates on my loco so here's a photo from the back. I reckon I am about half way through - and found some more voids in it today.


----------



## mac1012 (5 Nov 2013)

looks very martin nice I like the smoke trail :lol:


----------



## Bryan Bennett (5 Nov 2013)

Martin looks great ,very well cut.Sorry to hear about more voids.You have done so much already it would be a shame for it not to get completed.It would very interesting if you had made a note of how long it took you.I cut a German Shepherd dog out,it took 2 hr 50 min.

Bryan


----------



## boysie39 (5 Nov 2013)

Martin It was me who asked about updates , Jeez there's a lot of cutting done and still to be done on the engine .
Looking forward to more of the same if it's not too much trouble . Thanks for showing .


----------



## martinka (5 Nov 2013)

Thanks for the comments. Eugene, I thought it was you who had asked for updates but I wasn't 100% sure.

Mark, it was the smoke that made me look twice when I first saw this pattern in the book. Pedro has a very similar pattern on finescrollsaw.com and I wonder if his is based on this one. There's more than one similarity.

Bryan, it'd be near impossible to say how long it has taken me as I am always stopping, usually for back ache or eyes watering, both of which are a big problem for me. It doesn't help that I've also got the attention span of a goldfish. :mrgreen: I've probably been sat at the saw 4 or 5 hours, but how much of that time has actually been spent cutting I really don't know. It could easily be less than half that time.

Martin.


----------



## martinka (7 Nov 2013)

A little update on the York Minster, erm, I mean loco. It's a bit late in the day but I am beginning to realise a smaller blade would have been better for the wheels. I ordered some #1 FD-UR last night so I might wait until they get here before finishing the wheels.
(I don't know if the York Minster reference was just where I worked in the 60's, but it's one of those jobs that seems like it will never be finished.)


----------



## ChrisR (7 Nov 2013)

Martin.

Getting there and looking good.

Take care.

Chris R.


----------



## WoodySteve (7 Nov 2013)

=D> Looking great well done


----------



## boysie39 (8 Nov 2013)

Martin, It's going to be a real beauty , =D> =D> 

I'm like a child on Christmas Eve , :ho2 :ho2 =D> =D>


----------



## martinka (14 Nov 2013)

Finished at last. Of course, I am not at all happy with it, and it doesn't stand close inspection. There's lots of little mistakes, but luckily no big ones, and I learnt quite a lot.
It's about 350mm / 13.75" long and about half that high.


----------



## stevebuk (14 Nov 2013)

looks great on tinternet, its a shame to cut so much and not be happy with the end result, tell wifey you need a memo board for christmas, ''must get baltic birch ply before embarking on another project like this''


----------



## boysie39 (15 Nov 2013)

martinka":166btuci said:


> Finished at last. Of course, I am not at all happy with it, and it doesn't stand close inspection. There's lots of little mistakes, but luckily no big ones, and I learnt quite a lot.
> It's about 350mm / 13.75" long and about half that high.





It looks great Martin . Thank's for keeping us unto date , you have great patience from the look of that ,well done .


----------



## ChrisR (15 Nov 2013)

Martin.

Looks very good to me. =D> 

I think we all look at the piece we have just cut and our eye goes straight to the slightest mistake, only because we know when we cut it and said b****r, b****r, b****r, under our breath. :evil: 

Other people will never see it, and if other Scroller’s say it’s a great job, then it is a great job. =D> 

I am now of out to the workshop to start applying acrylic lacquer to eighty odd wood bricks of various shapes, part of a set I have made/cut, for our Godsons two little boys. Applying finish is my least favourite part of the job. I am never happy with the finish, can always see defects. ](*,) 

Take care.

Chris R.


----------



## martinka (15 Nov 2013)

Cheers, gents. My O/H keeps telling me I am my own worse critic.

Steve, the plywood wasn't a problem, and in fact what I thought were voids as I was cutting were actually the top 1/8" ply falling apart. That was REALLY rubbish stuff that I used simply to slow it down a bit. The 6mm ply turned out to be OK. I'm happy with how it looks on a wall and from about 3 or 4ft away.  I was much happier with my cutting when the #1 FD-UR blades arrived, but it didn't take long to snap half a dozen.



Martin.


----------



## mac1012 (15 Nov 2013)

looks good martin , just on your blade breakage where are they breaking ? I never seem to get this problem on my hegner even with a number 1 blade in 20mm stock 

I not trying to teach you how to suck eggs just wondered if you may be over tightening the clamps or bit too much tension 

mark


----------



## martinka (15 Nov 2013)

Mark, they mostly broke at the bottom clamp. I have noticed the blade bends at the clamp sometimes. I thought it might be because of not getting the blade in straight, but I have only had the problem with #1 blades and I do try to be careful about getting the blade straight.

I'll revise that number. I broke 4 and one of those broke in the middle. It seemed like a lot more but it was probably just nerves waiting for the next one to break. 

Martin.


----------



## mac1012 (15 Nov 2013)

I not sure what you mean by bending at the clamp do you mean when you apply pressure ? if it does you perhaps tightening a little bit too much as a tell tale sign is breaking near the clamp where the pressure is applied and the metal has fatigued , you can get away with it on thicker blades but not so with no 1s the the key they provide nowadays gives quite a lot of leverage as oppossed to the older smaller clock key try not squeezing it too hard I think there is a method in the manual but I forget now I think its something like two hour clock spaces or something after the initial nipping of blade.

I would hazard a guess it might cure it as you say its mostly the bottom clamp where as the top is ok because you are tightening with the quick release clamp and not applying as much leverage with your hand on the knurled nut (I am guessing you got quick release purely by the evidence of it keep breaking at the bottom where more pressure is being applied)

hopefully then your nerves will be ok :lol: 

mark


----------



## martinka (15 Nov 2013)

The American manual says to tighten one twelfth of a full turn after nipping it. It goes on to explain that that is like one hour on a clock, just in case you don't know what a twelfth is. #-o 
I have the old clock key, not the newer big red one. Got little hands too, so I *should* have difficulty tightening it too much. :mrgreen: 

The blade sometimes bends like in the photo. I suspect it's a combination of two things - clamping the blade too much and weakening it, and at the same time, having the blade slightly off centre in the clamp, but I am guessing. I think the latter is more likely to cause it, but I tend to be careful when clamping the bottom of the blade.


----------



## mac1012 (15 Nov 2013)

interesting cant say I ever managed to do that to a blade I suspect the former but I could be wrong 

I take it you putting the bottom clamp in the jig before lining up ? (yes mark :roll: )

what I do is put the blade in up to threaded screw the pull back slightly so when I tighten the screw it does roll the blade off centre 

you can tell me to shut the hell up if you want :lol:


----------



## martinka (15 Nov 2013)

Shut the he... nah, all info is welcome.  I could quite easily be missing something. As it is, I seem to be doing everything correctly, but the bent blade says otherwise. Hopefully, time will bring experience and I'll probably stop breaking them without ever knowing what the problem was.

Martin.


----------



## mac1012 (15 Nov 2013)

on my last post it should read dosent roll of centre :lol: 

yeah something not right your blade shouldn't bend like that 

if you are breaking blades on a regular basis it becomes expensive and frustrating , I have cut all kinds of wood and used very fine blades in thick wood and intricate cuts and very rarely had a breakage prob 1 every 6months.


----------



## boysie39 (16 Nov 2013)

Martin I had the same trouble with the blades when I was changing them ,which was pretty often ,in the first weeks it was about a dozen a week . I thought it was wrong technique .Then somewhere I read to just use two fingers to tighten . It made a huge difference when I got the hang of it .


----------



## martinka (16 Nov 2013)

boysie39":2qnyyxzv said:


> Martin I had the same trouble with the blades when I was changing them ,which was pretty often ,in the first weeks it was about a dozen a week . I thought it was wrong technique .Then somewhere I read to just use two fingers to tighten . It made a huge difference when I got the hang of it .


 
Hi Eugene, it depends on how big those fingers are. It's like being told not to tighten too much. Too much compared to what?  

Martin, waiting for someone to add, "compared to too little." :mrgreen:

edit: I've just been back into the garage, started the saw, and a #3 snapped as soon as the saw started. #-o


----------



## mac1012 (16 Nov 2013)

seems similar to the problem with the record on here recently , well its either something to do with clamping pressure, tension or some misalignment on the machine 

mark


----------



## martinka (16 Nov 2013)

Could have simply been coincidence, Mark. I cut that christmas tree with the #3 blade that was in the saw. It was probably ready for snapping, and I imagine starting up will put extra force on the blade.

Martin.


----------

