Replies

1. 
   RMillard | Dec 07, 2003 06:23am | #1

   Are you sure that the scroll saw has the throat capacity to handle the splat?

2. 
   gpwest | Dec 07, 2003 06:28am | #2

   No contest, use the bandsaw; it's much faster than a scrollsaw. Especially if you can stack and cut several ballusters at once.  GP

3. 
   RANGERP75R | Dec 07, 2003 06:39am | #3

   Phoenix

      I reserve the scroll-saw for inside cuts. The BS gets the call on outside cuts. Much quicker for what you're doing as mentioned with the Band-Saw.

   Good Luck...

   sarge..jt

   Proud member of the :  "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>) 

4. 
   jazzdogg | Dec 07, 2003 07:28am | #4

   Phoenix,

   How clean, and how identical do you want your "splats" to be?

   If I wanted them to be ultra-clean and identical, I'd cut a template, slightly oversize, on the bandsaw, clean it up with rasps/files/abrasive, and use a router with a bearing-guided straight cutting bit to make identical copies.

   If "close enough for jazz" is all I was looking for, I'd still make the template and use it to trace an outline on each blank and cut them "close enough" with my bandsaw or Bosch jigsaw.

   Good luck with your project,
   Paul

   Whether you think you can, or you think you can't, you're right.
5. 
   forestgirl | Dec 07, 2003 07:50pm | #5

   Definitely a bandsaw op. (except for the inside cuts as mentioned).  With the scroll saw, you really can't stack much more than 3/4" high, and it's very slow work compared to the band saw.  Making a template and a follower for the bandsaw would save you a great deal of time.

   forestgirl Another proud member of the  "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>) -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl   ;-)

6. 
   RANGERP75R | Dec 07, 2003 09:25pm | #6

   Phoenix

      jazzdog nailed the best way with the perfect template. Rough cut the lines on the real thing with a band or jig keeping 1/16" outside the true line. Then use an over-head router bit to cut the rest to prefection.

      I usually cut the template from 3/4" MDF. If you mess it up, you're not out anything.

   sarge..jt

   Proud member of the :  "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>) 

1. 
   Houghton123 | Dec 08, 2003 07:10am | #7

   Thanks all.  The pattern has some sharp corners, too sharp for a router bit, and when you look at it closely, the original has a surprising number of irregularities (compounded over the last century by lots of coats of paint) that don't strike the eye.  I need to clean up my templates, and then it's bandsaw time.