Newbie

[Budwozza]

Hi Everyone,

Just signed up to the forum so saying hello first.

I have just got myself a 2nd hand Hegner Multicut 2S, and I have lots of questions

I will be setting the saw up in my shed and I intend to get a dust extractor (I may also get a sander), my intention is to make projects for family and friends. I have read up loads and loads on this forum and on the net but I still have loads of questions:

1. Do people still wear PPE if using an extractor?
2. What are good types of wood to use for scrolling and where is a good place to buy - I have a very local wood yard but have not been down yet (typical old fashioned place), is ebay any good? any recommendations?
3. I have ordered plenty of Flying Dutchman Ultra Reverse blades as they seen to be a good all round choice for a lot of people - any other good blades?
4. I have seen that some people round off the rear of new blades with a stone, is it worth doing?
5. I intend to make a dust extraction system from pipe / tubes etc but which extractor would you buy and why? I have seen the Fox F50-800-240 Wet & Dry Vacuum Extractor and also the Record Power RSDE1 Dust Extractor.
I like the idea of the power take off on the Fox so it auto starts and stops - please advise if you think there are better options for similar or less money.

I think that's about it for now, but more questions are bound to follow

Budwozza

 

[gilljc]

Hi Budwozza
welcome to the forum and your new addiction
I'm probably not the best person to answer most of your questions, but will give it a go
1) PPE is a personal choice and will depend on how good your dust extraction is, it is probably wisest to use both
2) Any wood you can get your hands on, I started out using B&Q pine stripwood and plywood, Hobbies do nice thin walnut and mahogany, and I am really lucky to now have a source for ash, oak and elm. I would guess that your local woodyard will prove to be a treasure trove
3) I use Olsen blades with my main choices being the reverse tooth, sometimes the mach blades if I want fast cutting with a fine blade and pgt for fast cutting in thicker woods, they all leave a pretty smooth cut, with no 'fuzzies'
4) never felt the need, if I need tighter turns I use a finer blade
5) Only a woman, know nothing about technical stuff :wink:

All the above are only my opinions, but you will spend a lot of time and have a lot of fun developing your own. You will find this forum a friendly place to be with lots of help and good advice available, so don't be afraid to ask any questions or favours, I have had a lot of help and a lot of fairly daft questions answered here over the years

Gill

 

[Chippygeoff]

Hi Bud. A very warm welcome to the forum sand pleased to see you have started off right with a really good scroll saw, the best available. The best form of extraction is what you mentioned in your last question, the best extractor to get in the Henry, it has more power and a two stage motor and it is the quietest available. A visit to Wicks or wherever will get you sorted on the pipe work, Have a look at previous post to see how the guys rig up their extraction, failing that let me know your e-mail address and I will send you some pics of my set up.

For starting off you cant really do better that practising on off cuts of plywood, draw lines on the ply and then try to follow the lines, then work you way up to hardwoods. It's a learning curve that cannot be learnt over night but it is an enjoyable learning curve and scroll sawing is very addictive. A visit to your local wood yard should see you sorted with various types of wood, Oak is what I use the most but also Beech, Iroko, Sapele, Maple etc, etc. You have gone for good blades, you won't go wrong with those, there are other very good blades available but get used to the FDs first and then take it from there. I only use FDs now.

I have never rounded off the bascks of blades although some members do. Scrolling is a wonderful hobby providing hours of fun, you can make your own patterns on the computer or ask on here and you can have as many patterns as you like. They are a great bunch on here and they will be only to willing to pass on their advice as well. Wish you all the best.

 

[Claymore]

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[gilljc]

Forgot to mention, re sander, I couldn't be without my belt and disc sander and I also really love the 'sand flee' sanding mops that you can put into your drill press, fantastic fro softening off the edges

 

[Claymore]

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[Bryan Bennett]

Hi and a very warm welcome to the forum,certainly the best place to get help.Your first post has been quite fruitful,and I am still learning and have been doing this for well over 20 yrs.Sit back and enjoy the ride.

Bryan

 

[bodgerbaz]

Hello and welcome to the club.

You have chosen a brilliant hobby to keep you out of the pub ;-)

There are some very clever and experienced people here and everyone will try to help you the best way they can. We have all come to scrolling through different routes and therefore have a lot of combined experience. I'm sure you should be able to get the information you want or someone will know where you could look - so stay in touch ;-)

There isn't anything new I can add to your initial questions except to say that I don't round over the back of my blades and always use Olson blades which I buy in bulk from the USA. I did try Flying Dutchman blades but was one of several members on here who found we received a bad batch of blades that were not very sharp and kept snapping. Since then I've stayed true to Olson.

Currently I use a paper mask but have a Trend Airace on my Christmas list . . . . I DO hope I've been good throughout the year ;-)

Barry

 

[ChrisR]

Hi Budwozza.

Welcome to the forum, you have been given good advice in the previous posts, so no need to add more and put you into information overload.

Just one thing, if you are going to set up a dust extraction manifold, standard soil pipe is much less expensive than, dust extraction tubing/pipe. You can get adaptors to join soil pipe to dust extraction pipe, but duct tape does a very good job.

Soil pipe and fittings can be obtained from most builders merchants.

You have a good brand of saw, and I am sure you will enjoy using it.

Take care.

Chris R.

 

[scrimper]

I feel very guilty! I must be the only person here who does not wear a dust mask! further more I don't use dust extraction on my scroll saw! I find fret-sawing with the Hegner is such a quiet relaxing thing that wearing a mask makes me so uncomfortable and I don't like the extra noise of an extractor.

Only time I use an extractor or mask is if cutting hardwood's, most of the time I use softwoods or plywood.

I think that if I kitted myself out with all the safety gear some wear I would give up! Both my dad and granddad were fret-workers and neither work masks etc both lived well into their 90's.

I know I am going to get 'chastised' for this post!

 

[Bryan Bennett]

John I agree with you,but when I use the old bench belt sander dust goes everywhere I have a extraction on the hole on the end,but it does'nt collect it all.

I have just invested in the Trend mask just to get me through until I can afford the Machine Mart CS 48.

Bryan

 

[Budwozza]

Thanks for the welcome and feedback.

 

[scrimper]

John I agree with you,but when I use the old bench belt sander dust goes everywhere I have a extraction on the hole on the end,but it does'nt collect it all.

I have just invested in the Trend mask just to get me through until I can afford the Machine Mart CS 48.

Bryan

I do use extraction on my sanders and other machines but not my fretsaws.

I have one of those 9"disc 6" belt sanders and made my own special device to use with it including a home made lever valve to switch extraction from belt to disc, it works brilliantly.

 

[Claymore]

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[Chippygeoff]

I'm with John. I don't wear a mask either. The hegner purrs away and any dust is sucked up by Henry in the corner and I can still hear the radio. I used to wear a mask when I used to cut up a lot of MDF but I no longer use that. Iknow some guys wear a mask all the time aloing with safety glasses but in all the years I have been scrolling I have never had a problem.

 

[scrimper]

I'm with John. I don't wear a mask either. The hegner purrs away and any dust is sucked up by Henry in the corner and I can still hear the radio. I used to wear a mask when I used to cut up a lot of MDF but I no longer use that. Iknow some guys wear a mask all the time aloing with safety glasses but in all the years I have been scrolling I have never had a problem.

I have been doing fretwork for well over 50years (since I was a boy), of course in the old days nobody wore masks, I feel that it's a bit late for me anyway as I have been breathing the dust in for a long time now and to be honest what concerns me more is the pollution caused and damage to health by the stuff chucked out by the 35 million motor vehicles on our roads every single day and the large amounts of pesticides, herbicides and other toxic chemicals that are used on the food we eat. Not to mention that many of us oldies have large amounts of lead in our bodies from years of breathing in leaded petrol fumes until lead in petrol was outlawed in the late 1990's.

 

[JimiJimi]

Hi Budwozza

Where abouts in the Midlands are you? If you are near enough, the excellent Ilkeston Ply and DIY are worth a visit for Baltic Birch plywood.

http://ilkestonplyanddiy.co.uk/

They will cut the sheet into manageable sizes for free too.

Jimi

 

[Budwozza]

Thanks Again everyone.

Hi Jimi, thanks for the link, I am in Telford, so Ilkeston is a bit out of the way, but I have saved it in my favourites just in case I am going that way or fancy a drive out.

I have had a bit more practice today and I am getting to grips with it quite well, and growing with confidence. The main issue I am having is the blade wandering, especially on small tight bends.

Budwozza.

 

[Claymore]

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[bodgerbaz]

+1 for that comment Brian. I do that too ;-)