Hefner angle

[George..]

Hi all,
I started making bowls on my Hegner and had trouble with the table angle being quite high. The wood was a job to stop sliding down the table. I cured this by bolting the saw on a wooden base which was hinged on one side to my bench, the other side was allowed to lift and clamp to the required angle. Then the saw set to the same angle. When this was trialed ok I improved it by making a quadrant on the front of the base to swivel on the front of the base. I’ve now made about a dozen bowls using this method.
George

 

[nealgs]

Any pictures George

 

[George..]

Any pictures George

 

[George..]

Hi, hope photos ok they show the saw at normal level. Loosen front quadrant, tip saw up to angle, tighten quadrant. You can block/ clamp if required. (the base board is hinged on the right). When using saw normally I clamp the base board to bench, see left side view.
George

 

[Cooper]

Hi George
This is a really interesting idea. A picture of the saw set up while you are cutting a bowl would also be illuminating. What are you cutting your bowls out of?
Martin

 

[George..]

Hi George
This is a really interesting idea. A picture of the saw set up while you are cutting a bowl would also be illuminating. What are you cutting your bowls out of?
Martin

Hi Martin, hope these photos help. The bowl came from the piece on the saw table(on there just for show). The bowls are usually from 3/4” thick wood etc.
George

 

[AES]

Hi George. VERY interesting idea that, good thinking Sir. I would only point out that:

1. "Hefner" in your title is I think the bloke who publishes/ed "Playboy" !!! Didn't know he's into scrolling too.

2. With your set up you've achieved exactly (more or less!) what the Excalibur saws achieve with their tilting heads! (But so what? You're dead right, having the table tilted up at a high angle on any saw with a tilting table rather than a tilting head, is, I found anyway, rather uncomfortable).

Please note that NEITHER of my above comments should be seen as in any way derogatory - they're just supposed to be funny. Good "lateral thinking" (sorry!) on the tilted bench. Never seen that idea before.

 

[Cooper]

The bowl came from the piece on the saw table(on there just for show). The bowls are usually from 3/4” thick wood etc.

I presume they are 4 concentric cuts stacked, is my sketch the sort of thing?. That is really very accurate cutting. Do you center the piece on a pin?
Martin

 

[George..]

Hi Martin, your sketch shows it exactly. I started by getting some books on e-bay by an American lady. No I don’t use a center pin, I mark 3 or 4 circles on the fabricated blank, drill the pilot holes at the same angle as the tipped saw. After cutting all the rings, insure faces are flat and glue and clamp each in turn. Before adding the base and in and outside till smooth then add base.
Regards George

 

[Cooper]

These are really impressive!! I'm going to have to have a think to work out how you put the curves in the bowl in the first picture. Do you put them on a lathe to finish?
I am getting quite a pile of off cuts, of wood I can't bare to throw out but are too small to construct something from. I don't suppose there is any reason why a bowl couldn't be quite small, apart from proximity of your fingers to the hegner blade.
Cheers
Martin

 

[Cooper]

Conic sections. Did you make the block like we used to make chess boards in school to get the sections at right angles? What is baffling me is that the dark curves are deeper than the light ones and that the curves are so even at your joins. I'm going to have to do some serious sketching or even an experiment.

 

[George..]

These are really impressive!! I'm going to have to have a think to work out how you put the curves in the bowl in the first picture. Do you put them on a lathe to finish?
I am getting quite a pile of off cuts, of wood I can't bare to throw out but are too small to construct something from. I don't suppose there is any reason why a bowl couldn't be quite small, apart from proximity of your fingers to the hegner blade.
Cheers
Martin

Hi Martin, as you can see from the photos of the book project the bowls are made from strips and wider pieces. If you Google “scrollsaw bowls” there are several books. I use my Hegner to cut the rings, glue the rings only, sand to shape in/out, glue the base. It’s amazing how the original 7”x3/4” fabrication finish up with the pattern. I wouldn’t advise making to small as sawing would be tighter.
Good luck. George

 

[George..]

Hi Martin, as you can see from the photos of the book project the bowls are made from strips and wider pieces. If you Google “scrollsaw bowls” there are several books. I use my Hegner to cut the rings, glue the rings only, sand to shape in/out, glue the base. It’s amazing how the original 7”x3/4” fabrication finish up with the pattern. I wouldn’t advise making to small as sawing would be tighter.
Good luck. GeorgeView attachment 94380View attachment 94379View attachment 94378View attachment 94378View attachment 94379View attachment 94380View attachment 94378View attachment 94379View attachment 94380

Whoops, sorry about that a bit heavy finger I think. George