Ken Lotts Posted February 16, 2021 Report Share Posted February 16, 2021 This weekend I made several simple jigsaw puzzles for the grandkids using extra thick and durable MDF board from Home Depot. I used a FD UR1 which worked super well making the pieces reasonably easy to fit together for them. They all loved them. So, today I made a 165 piece puzzle for us grownups. I decided to cut the adult puzzle pieces to be about one inch in size which ended up being 165 pieces (using Steve Good's book of puzzle patterns) I cut up an old calendar and attached one of it's pictures to 1/4" BB with spray adhesive. BTW, I suppose using a calendar image is an OK thing to do since it is for personal use rather than for sale. I glued the puzzle pattern to a sheet of dollar store foam board and taped the two together. I started out cutting it with Pegas MG 2/0 but they snapped too often no matter how I tensioned them so I went to my trusty old FD PSR 2/0 which worked excellent . Anyhow I was able to cut this 165 piece puzzle as a one day project and am pretty happy with how it turned out. frankorona, TexasDIY, Dan and 4 others 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomanydogs Posted February 16, 2021 Report Share Posted February 16, 2021 Looks great Ken. And I know the kids and the adults will enjoy putting them together. Ken Lotts and amazingkevin 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FrankEV Posted February 16, 2021 Report Share Posted February 16, 2021 From what can be seen in the photo the cutting looks real good. Having never tried to cut a puzzle, I'm curious. What is your cutting procedure? One piece at a time or row by row? Do you tape the rows together as you go? Ken Lotts and amazingkevin 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Lotts Posted February 16, 2021 Author Report Share Posted February 16, 2021 10 minutes ago, FrankEV said: From what can be seen in the photo the cutting looks real good. Having never tried to cut a puzzle, I'm curious. What is your cutting procedure? One piece at a time or row by row? Do you tape the rows together as you go? I do each column then I do the individual pieces out of that column. I do not tape anything back together as I go. Here is a shot of what that looks like... (as I was doing the simple 35 piece puzzle for my grandson) Once you start cutting the pieces out, the column is only held together at one end but I found that it is real easy to keep it together adequately while you cut even with a higher piece count puzzle. I purposely drift off the pattern lines to ensure that everything only fits together when using the correct piece. I use dollar store foam board to attach the pattern to and then the foam board is tapes (along the edges) to the photo board. The pattern was too big for my printer on this one so I had to tape it together. This picture is just before I taped it up for cutting (just like stack cutting). BTW, I found that it is unnecessary to wrap the whole thing in tape as just the edges is all it takes. amazingkevin 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dgman Posted February 16, 2021 Report Share Posted February 16, 2021 They look great Ken but, save yourself some steps and cut the pieces free hand. You don’t have to attach a pattern if you cut free hand. My avatar is my first puzzle. It was cut completely freehand, no pattern. It is also a calendar page. When I decided to do this puzzle, I practiced on a scrap piece of 1/4” BB. Once I got the hang of it, I went for it. I think it came out great! Ken Lotts 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Lotts Posted February 16, 2021 Author Report Share Posted February 16, 2021 2 minutes ago, dgman said: They look great Ken but, save yourself some steps and cut the pieces free hand. You don’t have to attach a pattern if you cut free hand. My avatar is my first puzzle. It was cut completely freehand, no pattern. It is also a calendar page. When I decided to do this puzzle, I practiced on a scrap piece of 1/4” BB. Once I got the hang of it, I went for it. I think it came out great! Wow, Interesting.. I will play around and see if I have what it takes dgman 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dgman Posted February 16, 2021 Report Share Posted February 16, 2021 16 minutes ago, Ken Lotts said: Wow, Interesting.. I will play around and see if I have what it takes The pieces don’t have to look alike, as long as you have good keys and slots. Ken Lotts 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wombatie Posted February 16, 2021 Report Share Posted February 16, 2021 I have been going to cut a puzzle piece for about 20 years but I have never gotten around to it, maybe I will one day. Great work with hours of fun for the family, well done. Marg meflick and Ken Lotts 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daveww1 Posted February 16, 2021 Report Share Posted February 16, 2021 very nice Ken Lotts 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rdatelle Posted February 16, 2021 Report Share Posted February 16, 2021 That came out good. I use a lot of Steve Goods puzzle patterns but I never tried to do any free hand. Not sure if I can do that. Ken Lotts and amazingkevin 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heppnerguy Posted February 17, 2021 Report Share Posted February 17, 2021 I have not cut a puzzle for a long time. Thanks for the reminder. You did a great job on yours. I also cut mine free hand and it worked fine for me.. give it a go Dick heppnerguy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amazingkevin Posted February 22, 2021 Report Share Posted February 22, 2021 Absolutely amazing how many ways a scroll saw can be used!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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