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My Tools

Travis1

Sometimes I get questions regarding which tool I use.  Here is a list of tools that I use on a regular basis.  It includes shop tools, video equipment, software, and online services I use to bring you all of these great projects.  I’ll try to keep this list up to date.

Tools I Use

Scroll Saw Related

  • Excalibur Scroll Saw – Great saw.
  • Flying Dutchman Blades – My go-to blades are #3 Scroll Reverse, #5 Scroll Reverse, # 9 Scroll Reverse.  I also use #3 Scroll Reverse spiral blade for portrait-style cuttings.  Puzzle blades for jigsaw puzzles.  I use other blades as well, but these are my favorite 5.

Other Tools

Sanding

Software

  • Inkscape – My go-to vector program. I use it for designing patterns.
  • GIMP – Free bitmap based program. I suggest this for scrollers since it is free and most of my tutorials revolve around either GIMP or Inkscape.  However, I prefer Photoshop.
  • Adobe Premiere & Adobe Rush – I use Premiere for my YouTube Videos. I use Rush for quick videos, mostly for social media.
  • Photoshop – I’m most comfortable with Photoshop. However, I can’t justify the monthly subscription.  So I only use it when I’m in the office.
  • Screencast-O-Matic – The screen capturing software I use for my design tutorials.
  • Fusion 360 – 3D design. I’m using it mostly for advanced CNC designs and 3D Printing.
  • Easel – Free 2d CNC Designer and g-code sender. Integrates into the XCarve.
  • PrimoPDF – Acts like a printer, but makes PDFs. I use it to make my PDF files.

Video Equipment

Online Services

  • Hostgator – My website hosting company. I have the BabyCloud plan that includes addon domains.  So all of my websites are hosted under 1 account.
  • GoDaddy – I only use them to buy and manage my domain names. I think they’re very good for that.  Hosting, I thought was a bit expensive.
  • WordPress – Blogs, store, and static sites run off WordPress.
  • IP Board – This is the forum software I use for Scroll Saw Village.
  • Dropbox – Used to transfer files between computers and locations.
  • Trello – I use this to organizing projects and ideas. Works with computer and iPhone.
  • MailChimp – Manages my email newsletters.
  • WooCommerce – Shopping cart that integrates nicely into WordPress.
  • WooThemes – WordPress themes. I use Canvas.