Wood hardener

[jamiecrawford]

Hi all, I'm currently cutting Xmas decs made up of names and am aware of the delicate nature of the pieces. What do people think of painting hardener on them? Or do you have better ideas? Cheers.

 

[scrimper]

Not sure of an answer here Jamie, what sort of hardener do you mean? Won't it interfere with any finish?
Be interested if anyone comes up with an answer to this as I do a lot of delicate work that breaks easily.

 

[scrimper]

Jamie sorry to go off topic but noticing your saw table in the picture, the blade aperture looks quite large which does make it difficult when cutting smaller parts, have you considered making up an auxiliary wooden table to place on top with a much smaller hole for the blade to go through? I always do this on my saws and have a tiny hole just big enough for the blade to pass through, it gives a lot more support for easier cutting.

 

[jamiecrawford]

Jamie sorry to go off topic but noticing your saw table in the picture, the blade aperture looks quite large which does make it difficult when cutting smaller parts, have you considered making up an auxiliary wooden table to place on top with a much smaller hole for the blade to go through? I always do this on my saws and have a tiny hole just big enough for the blade to pass through, it gives a lot more support for easier cutting.

I have thought about it, Scrimper, mainly for supporting larger pieces, but being relatively new to woodwork couldn't work out whether to bolt it onto the existing one or remove the existing altogether. Stuff like that baffles me, sadly. Do you not get the aperture hacked into with bending blades? I tighten mine up as far as I dare but there's still an amount of movement. The other thing is the access to the bottom clamp, which on mine is throughout the bit of black plastic you can see in the photo. Blocking that up would make changing pinless a right chore, unless I remove the housing on the side. I'm guessing there's something on Instructables or YouTube.

As to the hardener, I used to use it when I was a decorator but only on scraped out rotten sills etc. it was just a punt to see if anything t there's worked. I have been using rubbish ply for the first week and am getting better stuff tomorrow. I already have a few orders for these decorations, and I guess I'll just tell them to be careful with them.

 

[jamiecrawford]

Having had a nose round google I think I'll get a can and give it a go. Apparently it's worth letting it dry for a couple of days. I shall report back.

 

[Claymore]

Jamie I think he mean't that you make a new replacement for the round black plastic bit in your table (not a full table top) I have done it myself and just drew around the black plastic insert and cut one out of thin ply and then drilled a small hole for the blade to poke through, make it a decent fit but not too tight that you cannot remove easily for access.
Cheers
Brian
Ps following on from your designs for your **** Pals what about a Christmas Star for trees with the lettering "**** Star" ? lol not sure it would be ideal for your local church though

 

[Chippygeoff]

Hi Jamie. A sub-table is just about the easiest thing to make. You can use a piece of MDF for the table top. Place an oversized piece on your existing table and then you want some batten, say 1 x 1, butt a piece to one side of the table and mark the outside edge and then do the same with the other side. Then take another piece of batten and do the same with the front, this acts as a stop. Take the MDF off the saw table and when you turn it upside down you will clearly see the lines which mark the outside edge of your sub table. Screw and glue the battens down and hey presto you have yourself a sib-table. You won't need any bolts or anything else to hold it in place, the weight alone will be more than enough.

They are really useful as most scroll saw tables are to small for the larger pieces of wood for our projects. As John commented, the aperture in the photo looks huge. I would drill a 3mm hole where the blade will go. When you say the blade bends Jamie when you are cutting corners I find it hard to image and it does sound as if you have not got enpough tension on the blade. When the blade is tensioned properly put your finger on the side of the blade and in the middle and push, it should not move more than 1/8th or 3mm and when you pluck the blade it should have a nice twang to it.

 

[jamiecrawford]

Cheers for the tips, Claymore and Geoff. I'll look into a sub table in the morning, although I'm still a bit stuck on accessing the bottom blade clamp. Did I read somewhere that it's the done thing to remove the side housing? My only current access to the Allen nut is via an air vent, which is a pain in the proverbial. I have a Sealey SM 1302.

I'll ask them about the **** star idea