Lesson’s Learned (Just an FYI)

[FrankEV]

All the very nice comments that I received to my post in Bragging Rights re: ‘Whale of a Christmas Gift’ were based on the final work I showed in my post.  However, that is not quite the whole story.

My first conversion of the Whale Tail Image I found was not done correctly.  Simply adding bridges to a line type image, I created in Inkscape using the Trace Bitmap command, may produce a scrollable pattern but doesn’t always result in a visually correct pattern.  My foreground and background were kind of reversed and after a long tedious cut and an attempt at adding color, the panel was a disaster.  The White of the Whale flukes were in the background and the Black was on top.   The White was almost invisible and visually, the cutting just did not work.

In addition to the cutting being visually wrong, I attempted to add color to the ocean on the foreground cut panel.   Well, I’ve always admitted that, although I add color to my work, I’m not an artist when it comes to creating an image by painting.  I just could not make the ocean water look like ocean water.

So, I finally cried Unkle and decided to start over.  I revisited the pattern and reworked the image, keeping the same general line work I started with, but changed the pattern to make the Whale area background all Black and the White of the Flukes and Body, on the foreground cut panel.  This resulted in a scroll saw pattern that produced a “typical scrolled dark and light’ image that was visually appealing, and that I was able to add my colorization efforts to.

Well, I wasted a Maple plywood panel I use, maybe 15 to 20 hours of cutting time, quite a bit of Air Brush Paint and a lot of paint application and dry time, but I’m very glad I came to my senses and redid the panel.  And, although I feel my scrolling abilities are fairly decent, I’m still learning to use Inkscape and the ‘Art’ of creating well designed, visually correct, scroll saw patterns.  So, this project was not a complete waste as it resulted in some valuable ‘Lesson’s Learned’.  

Sorry no pics of panel....fire pit tinder.

[Scrappile]

Even with a good pattern, I end up with fire pit tinder more often than I like!

[Gene Howe]

I sometimes....more often than I like... end up with fire pit ready stuff. But, usually, I just hang the unsatisfactory piece on the shop wall as a reminder. 

[Joe W.]

6 hours ago, Gene Howe said:

But, usually, I just hang the unsatisfactory piece on the shop wall as a reminder. 

Yeah, I have one of those . . . helped a friend build a deck using special order Trex [3 week waiting time for an order] and I measured the last piece wrong and cut it wrong.  I freaked out.  
I still have a piece of that displayed prominently in my workshop (garage) with a sign on it that says:  "Are You Sure?"
Full Disclosure:  I still make mistakes, but I'd like to think . . .  just not as often.
Oh, and my friend is still a friend.

[Fab4]

Hi Frank:
Fire Pit Tinder or as some  of us say "Designer firewood"
Just goes to prove that we are never too old to learn
Crying "unkle" is this case was necessary by the sounds of it (Good move)
The end result was satisfactory. It did turn out great.
As scrollers, if you have never made a mistake, (FPT or DW) then you're doing it wrong
Keep up the great work Frank, thanks for sharing your story
Fab4

[Norm Fengstad]

Thanks for sharing your Cried uncle story Good to know these things happen occaissionally to even the "greats"

[BadBob]

I have a hard time giving up on a project that is not working like I want and starting over. I'm getting better.