Scroll saw footplate

[Kittyhawk]

If its called a footplate, but this yellow bit :
I
I don't do anything intricate with the scroll saw in the aircraftery but a lot of the stuff I cut is very small and all those holes and slots in the yellow thing are a problem with bits dropping down them. I have a piece of aluminium plate the right thickness and the plan is to cut a line just thick enough for the blade to fit through when installing the plate, and a hole just big enough to accommodate the blade when cutting plus a bit more to allow for blade deflection.
But I don't know what is the purpose of all those annoying holes and slots and does it matter if they aren't there in the new plate?
Thanks.

 

[novocaine]

you'll be able to turn that table insert round in a few ways depending on the blade and possibly it's been designed to let a sanding bar be fitted too. may also be so you can have a few blades with blade clamps fitted and slot them through the insert.
they do nothing of any great use to you, go ahead and make your own.

 

[loftyhermes]

The slots are there to allow for tilting the table. I made my own insert with a hole in the centre and a thin slot just as you suggest. The cutouts on the edges are to keep the slot in the insert aligned front to back. As you can see the blade will wear away the ali when deflected. The ring of holes I drilled for dust extraction.

 

[Kittyhawk]

Thanks your replies. The other thing that gets on my nerves with the yellow plastic insert is that it is 2.8mm thick and the rebate in the table is 3.2mm. Really annoying when you're putting a little piece of work through the saw and suddenly it won't move anymore because it has hit the ridge between insert and table. The piece of aluminium I have is 3mm which means the table will still be 0.2mm higher. Hopefully this will be OK but if a problem I will just chamfer the table hole edge a little with a file.

 

[loftyhermes]

Stick masking tape under the insert to get it level.

 

[Kittyhawk]

Stick masking tape under the insert to get it level.

Good idea. Better than attacking the table with a file..

 

[Happy amateur]

When cutting small items stick masking tape over the holes in the foot plate or a playing card by pushing it half way and taping to the table.

 

[Kittyhawk]

Totally happy with that little job.

 

[scrimper]

Why not make a simple wooden over table not only does it allow a smaller blade hole it is more comfortable to use and certainly warmer to the hands in winter.
You can see my over table in several of my videos inc the one linked here, The table is seen around the 1:50 mark.

 

[Kittyhawk]

Why not make a simple wooden over table not only does it allow a smaller blade hole it is more comfortable to use and certainly warmer to the hands in winter.
You can see my over table in several of my videos inc the one linked here, The table is seen around the 1:50 mark.

That is a nice addition to your saw.
But although the scroll saw is an essential tool it gets only limited use and the the problem of little pieces disappearing 'down the hole' is now resolved with the new insert. The other thing is that I occasionally cut on an angle, usually the dihedral of wing to fuselage on my aeroplane models. This is not greater than 7° and the hole in my alloy plate just allows for this. The plate is 3mm thick and I think a wooden top would need to be a minimum of 15mm or so? If so then a timber top would require a bigger diameter hole when the table is tilted and this may give me the bits-down-the-hole problem again.

 

[scrimper]

That is a nice addition to your saw.
But although the scroll saw is an essential tool it gets only limited use and the the problem of little pieces disappearing 'down the hole' is now resolved with the new insert. The other thing is that I occasionally cut on an angle, usually the dihedral of wing to fuselage on my aeroplane models. This is not greater than 7° and the hole in my alloy plate just allows for this. The plate is 3mm thick and I think a wooden top would need to be a minimum of 15mm or so? If so then a timber top would require a bigger diameter hole when the table is tilted and this may give me the bits-down-the-hole problem again.

My wooden sub table is a piece of mdf just 6mm thick, makes virtually no difference to cutting.