Creative Woodworks & Crafts-050-1998-winter, страница 34

Incredibly small! Both Rusty and Haydon have sawn the popular mini reindeer pattern.

to hold the padded end of one of his fixtures, Rusty hangs it on the buckle of his suspenders while positioning the material and holding it tight against the auide strip of his radial arm saw. One needs only to visit some of the various merchants in the Rockwall area to see several of Rusty's name plaques proudly displayed by the many friends who have received them as gifts. He also makes several other items on the scroll saw for his wife to paint, such as wooden tulips and birds, holiday decorations, birdhouses, and inspirational wall plaques. Rusty has even cut out two of the popular miniature reindeer pieces. These extremely small and intricate pieces present a challenge for even the advanced scroll sawyer. "I don't think I need any more of those to cut out," says Rusty with a grin that shows his pleasure in having "been there, done that."

Some standard tools and wise planning

Rusty has found several readily available devices very helpful to him in his shop, such as a 3" reaching clamp for picking up items that might otherwise be out of reach, and a telescoping pocket magnet to reach for his small steel pocket rule. Rusty's storage shelving and cabinets are also arranged in close proximity to his tools to make it an easy reach for items he needs.

With a disability such as Rusty's, even a simple task such as installing a new blade in a scroll saw can become very difficult. Rusty has made this task easier with the use of a magnet to hold his scroll saw blade in position while he clamps it into his saw. The magnet is attached to a piece of aluminum so that it is not attracted to the metal parts of the saw table and allows free movement to align the blade in the blade holders for clamping. "With the smaller saw I used to use, it was a lot harder to change the blades. But my wife bought me an Excalibur 30 for my birthday, so I gave my old saw to my grandson," says Rusty. "The foot pedal to lift the top arm is also a big help when I want to do inside cuts." Installing a blade with one hand makes it difficult to take the slack out of the blade, so Rusty sometimes needs to add a little more tension than the flip lever provides. With the assistance of a helpful machinist friend, Rusty has added a tension adjuster wheel on the front of the top arm of his saw that operates the tensioner located on the back of the saw, via a small bicycle type chain and sprockets.

Rusty shares his shop with his grandson Haydon, and has taught him not only how to use a scroll saw, but the importance of good safety habits as well. Haydon has completed many projects of his own, including some of the

miniature reindeer. He also designed and built a dust collector for Rust/s planer.

A few words of advice

When asked what tips he would give to those who have similar obstacles to overcome, Rusty had much to offer. "Never say 'I can't' without first proving it to yourself. Always exercise caution and go 'all out' when it comes to goocf safety habits, especially when using improvised methods, if you are not completely convinced that a procedure is safe, ask someone to assist you. Don't rush and don't expect to overcome all of your obstacles in one day. I have spent a lot of time trying different approaches to getting a project done. Many times, they didn't work out or were unsafe, and I would nave to start over. And most importantly, be patient. Patience with myself and the patience of my family have really been the biggest help of all." m

The Excalibur 30, a little ingenuity, and bicycle type chain and sprockets make blade changing a snap for Rusty.

J. H. "Rusty" Vaughn's backyard shop.