First pice

[Smitty54]

This is my first pice. Made on a $25 Ryobi pin end. I learned a lot on it. When I look at all I see are my mistakes. I have a Cricut that I made the template on . Then traced it on the green tape, drilled holes and cut out. The finished picture is in bad lighting the stain is even. 
my questions are.

1. Are the pin end blades at the dutchman store better than Menards?

2. Puzzles look like some thing I would like. Where can I get full size patterns? I don’t have a printer.

Thanks in advance for all of your comments. 

[spirithorse]

Nicely done project!
As for patterns but, no printer to print them with, can you load the images to your Cricut machine
to make the pattern the way you did with the project you pictured?
That seems like an awfully expensive use of vinyl if I understand your process. Cheaper to buy a printer, I would think.
That would also be an awful lot of tracing for puzzle patterns unless you are talking about puzzles like
Iggy sells (similar to these and you can look for posts from Iguanadon) rather than jigsaw puzzles.

God Bless! Spirithorse

 

[Smitty54]

I have the first cricket expression you can’t lode  patterns from the Internet on it. My sister gave it to me with a lot of cartridges. I cut it out on card stock.  The card stock are not that expensive.  I am looking for cartridges that make white would be a good close off project. cricut no longer makes them. So I am looking for used ones. I well look for Watt Iggys sells.

I can reuse the pattern.

Edited July 31, 2020 by Smitty54

[wombatie]

First of all your cutting looks great but I would not have drill all of the holes in one go, what if you broke some of and it could not be fixed, you have waste all of your wood and it would just be fire wood.  If you want to drill a lot of holes in one go just do a quarter or half at the most.  Just my 5c worth.

Marg

[John B]

Not only nice but ambitious for your 1st piece. You carried it of nicely.

[RabidAlien]

Not bad at all!!!  My first piece had two interior cuts.    Keep goin with it!

 

Check out yard sales, estate sales, or thrift stores for decent prices on printers.  Just keep in mind that while inkjet cartridges are cheap, you'll pay more in the long run over a laserjet.  A decent B&W laserjet isn't all that expensive retail ($300-$500), but a color laser can get up there in price...but laser toners last forever when just printing patterns, and don't have the nasty habit of drying out if you don't print on a regular basis. 

 

A trick with pin-ended blades...those pins can be popped out.  My first saw was a Dremel 57-2, I got it at a yard sale for $25.  3" pin-ended blades, I started with Olsen blades cuz that was all I could find, until I found Bear Woods website and discovered a couple of different Pegas versions.  Take a piece of scrap metal (I picked up a flat piece at the hardware store, near where all the drawer pulls and angle-iron is stashed), drill a 1/16 hole in the middle of it.  Drill a 1/2" hole in a block of wood, and attach the scrap metal so the 1/16 and 1/2 holes align.  Lay a blade on the metal piece, blade flat, pin's sticking up, and put one side of the top pin into the 1/16 hole (it should just barely fit).  Tap it with a hammer, then use an icepick or punch or something similar to push the pin the rest of the way through.  Now you can drill much smaller pilot holes for your blade, which will open up a lot of patterns for you!  To secure the blades in the saw, take a medium-sized paperclip and thread it through the hole in the top of the blade.  I ended up taking one paperclip and some wire snips, and cutting small lengths and bending them in half, that way when I invariably dropped one, it wasn't a huge loss if I couldn't find it.

[Smitty54]

29 minutes ago, RabidAlien said:

Not bad at all!!!  My first piece had two interior cuts.    Keep goin with it!

 

Check out yard sales, estate sales, or thrift stores for decent prices on printers.  Just keep in mind that while inkjet cartridges are cheap, you'll pay more in the long run over a laserjet.  A decent B&W laserjet isn't all that expensive retail ($300-$500), but a color laser can get up there in price...but laser toners last forever when just printing patterns, and don't have the nasty habit of drying out if you don't print on a regular basis. 

 

A trick with pin-ended blades...those pins can be popped out.  My first saw was a Dremel 57-2, I got it at a yard sale for $25.  3" pin-ended blades, I started with Olsen blades cuz that was all I could find, until I found Bear Woods website and discovered a couple of different Pegas versions.  Take a piece of scrap metal (I picked up a flat piece at the hardware store, near where all the drawer pulls and angle-iron is stashed), drill a 1/16 hole in the middle of it.  Drill a 1/2" hole in a block of wood, and attach the scrap metal so the 1/16 and 1/2 holes align.  Lay a blade on the metal piece, blade flat, pin's sticking up, and put one side of the top pin into the 1/16 hole (it should just barely fit).  Tap it with a hammer, then use an icepick or punch or something similar to push the pin the rest of the way through.  Now you can drill much smaller pilot holes for your blade, which will open up a lot of patterns for you!  To secure the blades in the saw, take a medium-sized paperclip and thread it through the hole in the top of the blade.  I ended up taking one paperclip and some wire snips, and cutting small lengths and bending them in half, that way when I invariably dropped one, it wasn't a huge loss if I couldn't find it.

Great advice! I threw a blade away because the pin got so offset I couldn’t get it in. I will be looking for an laser jet printer. 
 

 Thanks for the great advice.

 

[RabidAlien]

1 hour ago, Smitty54 said:

 

The only hard limits on what a pin-ended blade can do are physical limits.  The blades are going to be thicker at the ends to accommodate the pins, possibly shorter (unless yours takes 5" pinned blades).  Other than that, they're still scroll saws and cut wood like every other scroll saw out there.  Kinda like photography, every camera is the same once you push the button.  Keep on cuttin', get used to your saw and what it can do, find ways to push the limits, cuz the big factor that separates a master from a beginner is practice.

[daveww1]

nice job

[meflick]

Beautiful work.  I have owned several Cricuts and other die cut machines since the first Cricut came out several years ago (back in 2006).  Cartridges were never cheap and I don't know what used ones sell for now or how easily they are to find.  While I still have mine and a ton of cartridges it is never used- I moved up to other cutters that use software that let you create and cut to them without the need for cartridges. There were two programs that you could get to create your own designs and work with fonts on your computer.  Provocraft sued them though to prevent them from working with their cutters so they don't work directly with that brand.  There are "workarounds" though so if you are ever interested in learning more on that, let me know.  

I would recommend getting a printer if you are wanting to regularly use patterns for your scroll saw. It would be much easier then be limited to the Cricut and their cartridges and you can get a printer relativity cheap (probably cheaper then getting a few cricut cartridges that can only be used with that machine). The printer would allow you to do more with a ton of free patterns from multiple sources like here in the Village library and from Steve Good's blog http://scrollsawworkshop.blogspot.com to name but two sources.  (Steve has a few puzzle patterns). Then Al also gives away a ton of free patterns on his site http://baggetta.com and has some he sells, some of which are puzzles. The animal puzzles referenced above that Scott (Iggy here on the forum)  does can be found on his site here: https://www.woodcraftbyscott.com - he sells them but they are created by Harvey Byler.

If you don't have a printer, and don't want to get one just yet - you could take patterns that you get online and download to your computer and send those to print at a print shop like those at Office Depot, FedEx copy centers, etc. so that would be another option for you to consider if you found a pattern you wanted to use but needed to print out.

 

[Rockytime]

You have certainly made a very nice piece. I would also recommend a printer or second choice would be using Office Depot or other digitas service.

[Dragonkort]

I agree with everyone else you did GREAT!!!  now about patterns i agree with everyone else on that too.  and another advantage with a printer you can print a lot of different things as well.  I do have a suggestion for patterns...if you cant do any of the things already suggested you might try this..... Get some coloring books...there usuly not very expensive....then take some tracing paper and trace the picture.  after that is done you can use spray adhesives to attatch the pattern to the wood, then take mailing tape and cover your traced picture with it.  This helps keep the picture adheared to the wood and helps lubercate the blade....another way to get the picture onto the wood is to tape your traced pattern on to the wood at 3 sides.  Then slide a piece of carbion paper between the traced picture and the wood... now go over the lines of the traced picture with something.  When i first started scrolling i used a crochet hook to trace the lines..later i got a traceing tool i bought from the winterfield collection... you can pretty much make a pattern out of any line drawing that way.  you can usuly figure out the inside cuts by looking at the whole picture...for instance a picture of a girl with her hands on her hips...you would cut out the center piece between the arm and the body... i hope that makes at least a little bit of sense. Here are some pictures of projects i made from line drawings..The shied with the red strip and dragon on it i made from a coloring book picture of a shild  the dragon is a piece of scrap wood from a compound cut dragon.  The pilgrams are from a picture i found in our local grocy stores add in the paper at thanksgiving time. the second shield is from a picture in an old D & D magizine  you can see where i did the fret work on that one.the guy in the center of the shield is another wast piece from a compound cut. The last picture Sometimes the Dragon Wins is also a picture i traced from a cartoon pic in a D & D magazine.  I traced each piece seperatly to make the overlay of the pattern. I used very small pieces of wood from different thickness to put under the over lays to give the picture some depth. Before glueing the overlays to the base i painted the background.  then i made the frame to go around it. I made the sign at the bottom from another piece of scrap wood left over from a different project.    well i know i didnt expline all that very well but hopefuly the pictures will help, and i didnt get to long winded

[amazingkevin]

Good ones!!!

[Smitty54]

On 7/31/2020 at 8:13 AM, RabidAlien said:

This is for Dragonkort, I I don’t know how to make a reply to someone that replied to my post. When I try to make it just a reply to my post it comes up with the heading above and I have no idea why. There was a quote from his reply that I deleted so I can type in here.

 

thank you for your very great reply to me. I have been looking at coloring books and I do understand the line drawings negative space and the topics that you spoke of . I am an artist I have tremors and it is difficult for me to draw now. I have been looking for coloring books. Most of the stores are closed near hear. I will look on Amazon. Thanks for the advice.

[Jim McDonald]

You asked about puzzles and I am going to assume jigsaw puzzles from photographs.

With a little practice, cutting freehand, or no pattern, can be fun. 

Look on YouTube and there are some great puzzle cutters. Find Carter Johnson for small freehand cuttings.

[Dragonkort]

Im just glad that i was able to be of some help to someone. lol  when you cant really draw you have to find other ways to do things.  My youngest daughter just graudated from collage this sumer and starts her first job when school starts... She became an art teacher...and i am so proud of her!! She will be starting her teaching by teaching at least at first on line.  with this pandemic a lot of things are hard to find these days.... another place you can often find line drawings is in magazines.... best advice i can give you is to just keep your eyes opened while you going about your days.... there are many places a pic could show up. im so sorry your having tremmers now... it must be terrabley hard not to be able to doi the art work you love so much!!  Trying to relearn how to live is not an easy task.   I am having to do that myself these days.  i have spent my entire life multi tasking...but as i am getting older and my health is getting worse i am finding this much harder to do. lolo my boy friend is always telling me to just do one thing at a time and then go on to the next one. lol  now you would think that would be easy enough to do. lol  but some how regardless of what im doing im thinking about and planning and working ou in my head the next 2 - 5 things im going to do or getting ready to do or alread am doing lol .... oh in case you didnt guess it im a 62 year old lady!! lol  pace yourself if you can and try to to just consintrate on the project at hand. and when you get get frustrated  with yourself you can always talk to me about it knowing that im going through the same type of thing lol and we can just be frustrated together!! lol let me know if theres ever any thing i can do to help you

[Smitty54]

Dragonkort thanks for your reply. I am also proud of my daughter. She had my granddaughter Willow while she was a freshman in college the first time. Turns out she doesn’t like teaching. Went back to college and got her MBA. Now she is a store manager at a dollar tree.  She turn down the district manager, she wants to be home while her sons grow and at least get to high school. OK enough bragging.

 

I found on Amazon that there is a great deal of templates, and stencils that are fairly cheap and a huge selection. I’m no longer very interested in doing puzzles. I have seen finished work on the Internet of projects that I know came from stencils that was bought off of Amazon. 
 

I am a 65-year-old man. I wish better health for both of us.

 

my wife is very excited after seeing my first piece. When I told her that I could sell my collectors bass guitar to buy a better saw she said no way you keep your guitar you’re getting a saw. Things are looking good. I am hoping to make some extra money doing this. 

[Dragonkort]

lol my daughter starts her first teaching job this comming year. she was planning on teaching jiouner high kids but found out it will be k through 8th.  she a little nervious about that as she didnt do very well the really small kids during her externship.  all i can do is tell her to take her time it takes some pratice and hands on learning to deal with the really little ones....and i told her to talk to her mother in law about it as well as she s a retired teacher. i do miss her so much!!! but she bought me a portal ( vido phone like thingy) so we can visit that way and its almost like her being here. we will see i guess what happens and i feel better with the portal as we can still talk about the things she nerves about.  

I got a call from my grandson and he and his parents are going to be checked for covid and if they are all clear he can come back down and say for a couple of days here and there...  he told me he wants to make a house next time he come s over.  im going to see if spike will take the small scroll saws into johnsons to see what needs to be done to make them work well. i want to put one up for him here and then give him one for christmass. Hes 9 now and really likes doing the woodworking. lol  im just not sure if his mom will have time to supervise him and my sons not sure he could handle the noise. ( hes a funching austic man) im hoping with his spical earphones he will be able to supervise him... im still talking to them about connor getting the saw.... i just have to see if johnsons is opened yet.  just talked to spike hes going to get them out and see if there still working.  there fairly old but we have the pin blades for them and we can get the rust of them.... i just hope the moters are ok on them

im still working on my wizzard fret pattern...i tend to break blades lol  but the main reason its taking so long for me to finish it is because my service dog sheba is so old now. she blind and has no teeth poor little lady lo but now she needs me as much as i need her...when she cant find me or smell me i think she makes her way to the wood shop lol and barks at me until i stop pick her up and sit in our chair in the living room !! lol  after a few minutes she jumps back down and lies under my recliners foot stool and goes to sleep. lol then i can sneak back intothe wood shop and do a little more cutting!! lol  im running into a small problem with the wizzard though...I cant reach all the inside cuts with my drill press. lol so i have to wait for spike totake one ofthe hand drills and drill  the holes in the middleofthe patternfor me. lol and he is of course not sure he wants to drill the holes for me because hes afraid he might break it lol so i lold him you have to at least try because i cant finish it if you dont!!! lol  and yes i do know how to use a hand drill , mine is lighter then his weight wise but as i countue to loose my upper body strength its getting harder for me to drill with  the hand drill. and i dont want to break it lol asides from that im still working on the compound cuts, the dragon t light holders and spike got me the wood to make the  dragon house sign for us that i want to make lol i just have to trace it on to the wood. lol im going to have totake a lot o f carbon paper to cover the wood and then tape  the pattern to that so i can  cut it out.... im going to carve most of the inside lines as i think it will be stronger that way rather then doing it in fret work. and of course im still doing all my other crafts as well...i have almost enough plarn to at least start crocheting a sleeping mat and im still making barbie doll cloths lol well this is VERY LONG so id best go before i get into trouble!!!  take care and cant wqait to see what else you do!!

[Smitty54]

I did get two templates from Joan Fabric. One is a 8x8 tree. That is my next project. Haven’t decided on the wood yet. Will look through what I have and get started.