Hanging Macaw Parrot Puzzle

[Joe W.]

I came across this in the Big Book of Scroll Saw Woodworking (a library find) and gave it a go.
Enlarged the pattern 170% from the book.
16 1/2" long by 6" wide on 5/8" pine.  The pattern for the support calls for 1/2" thick but I stayed with 5/8" for it too.
Used my new bandsaw to cut the outline of the pattern. (is that cheating?)
#5 Pegas MGT blade .
Took about 3 hours to prep and cut out.
Colored using food dye (from my wife's cake decorating box O' stuff) and denatured alcohol with a small brush.  That took about an hour while watching TV. 
Tried using alcohol and acrylic paint on a previous item but could not get the intensity I wanted for this.  Maybe it was the paint.
Showed The macaw to my wife and she claimed it . . . so I made another one for the next farmers' market outing.
The string holding the support is temporary.  Pattern shows a small eye hook at the top of the support for a string/cord, which I still need to do.
It can be taken apart and reassembled.
So now I'm on a puzzle kick.  Made some other smaller animal ones and some have sold, so I'll keep making them too.

[barb.j.enders]

Looks great.

I have made a few.  One that I copied at the correct size and two that were much smaller.   I found them quite easy to cut/paint/assemble except for the hanger.  I still don't get it right

[Dak0ta52]

Unique piece. Great job, both cutting and painting.

[Joe W.]

8 hours ago, barb.j.enders said:

 I found them quite easy to cut/paint/assemble except for the hanger.  I still don't get it right

Hi  Barb,

Yes, I had to do some whittling on both of mine as well to get the parrot piece to slide onto the support.
But once I did that, it made it a lot easier to assemble/disassemble the puzzle. 

[Peter N White]

Great looking parrot very well done.

[Joe W.]

 Well, here's an update.
The parrots have been hanging on a curtain rod, near a window, for the past month.
Took them down for a Farmer's Market event and discovered the coloring on the side of the parrots facing the sun was faded.
I had colored them using my wife's liquid food coloring.  
I never imagined the sun would do that, but it did.  The fading was not severe, but noticeable.  So I guess, yeah, that qualifies as severe.
Learning has taken place. 
So . . . can anyone recommend any coloring agents out there that are UV resistant?

[wombatie]

That is sooooo colorful.  Excellent work Joe.

Marg

[Gene Howe]

A pinch of salt in Rit dye makes it color fast. Other than that, Rustolium is pretty uv resistant. We've had good luck with it on several projects that are continually exposed to our intense Arizona sun.

[FrankEV]

12 hours ago, Joe W. said:

....So . . . can anyone recommend any coloring agents out there that are UV resistant?

A clear Acrylic or Lacquer protective coating should help deter rapid fading.  Unfortunately, direct sun will fade almost anything ovrt time.

If you like dying your pieces, there are wood dyes available, both in powder and liqud forms.  I have used them a long time ago. 

They work like a water based Stain.  And, they do rasise the grain requireing additional sanding.  Back then, I would coat the dyed project with Poly or Lacquer as a permanent protective finish. Better verity of colors than typical mineral sperit stains. 

Edited October 2, 2023 by FrankEV

[Joe W.]

33 minutes ago, FrankEV said:

A clear Acrylic or Lacquer protective coating should help deter rapid fading.  Unfortunately, direct sun will fade almost anything ovrt time.

 Thanks Frank.  And now, off to ACE Hardware.

[jellis2]

On 8/30/2023 at 6:12 PM, Joe W. said:

I came across this in the Big Book of Scroll Saw Woodworking (a library find) and gave it a go.
Enlarged the pattern 170% from the book.
16 1/2" long by 6" wide on 5/8" pine.  The pattern for the support calls for 1/2" thick but I stayed with 5/8" for it too.
Used my new bandsaw to cut the outline of the pattern. (is that cheating?)
#5 Pegas MGT blade .
Took about 3 hours to prep and cut out.
Colored using food dye (from my wife's cake decorating box O' stuff) and denatured alcohol with a small brush.  That took about an hour while watching TV. 
Tried using alcohol and acrylic paint on a previous item but could not get the intensity I wanted for this.  Maybe it was the paint.
Showed The macaw to my wife and she claimed it . . . so I made another one for the next farmers' market outing.
The string holding the support is temporary.  Pattern shows a small eye hook at the top of the support for a string/cord, which I still need to do.
It can be taken apart and reassembled.
So now I'm on a puzzle kick.  Made some other smaller animal ones and some have sold, so I'll keep making them too.

This is really nice.