Leaderboard

The design for these comes from Steve Good and can be found at Scrollsaw Workshop. Here are photos of the ornament I made for Melanie out of maple together with it's box made from purple heart and maple: In all, I made 11 such ornaments and boxes out of a variety of hardwoods. This is a photo of just the ornaments:

Thanks sooo much to Sasho for sharing a couple of fantastic patterns.

I made this from a Steve Good pattern that can be found on his Scrollsaw Workshop web site. Steve's pattern came with only one ornament, but I made seven of them by utilizing other "cutout" patterns which I also found on his web site. This way, there is an ornament for each day of the week. The tree was cut from 3mm Baltic Birch plywood, the ornaments from 3mm thick plywood, and the base from a 20mm thick cherry scrap. The tree and ornaments were spray painted with Tremclad oil-based paint.

I have been commissioned to make crosses for a nursing home where my cousin works......they give a cross to each family when their loved one passes away......last year they had 87 deaths.......here's the 1st one.....8"T .......plain ole common pine burned with torch.......quick & easy to make......they just put in their 1st order on ten......

Passive Amp for Mobile Phones: I found the design for these on Steve Good's Scrollsaw Worshop. Here are four different views of one such amplifier. Steve does't mention it, but the design only works for phones that have their speaker(s) on the bottom of the phone. This does seem to be the case for the bulk of recent brands and models that I found. The sound from the bottom is passed into the large hollow area withing the disk and then comes out the top. I made one modification to Steve's design. I increased the phone holder part of the design so that it could accomodate the plugs and the bases of the myriad phone brands and models that I looked at the five phone retailers that I visited when doing my research. I made good use Baltic Birch plywood scraps of three differnt thickness (3mm, 6mm, and 18mm). They were sanded to 320 grit, then two coats of satin spray varnish were applied. I made 7 of these, mostly for my children and grandchildren. I don't own a smart phone, so it is no use making one for myself.

For anyone who might be interested..Fox chapel has it's old issues on sale for two dollars each if you buy 5 copies....I have been wanting to get my hands on a 2012 issue #47......it was easy for me to browse and find other copies of interest....just thought i would pass this along....Steve PS. The issues are usually 7.00 bucks each....I got 5 issues for 17.95 (including shipping )

Alright, so, not to bring up the entire Iggy saga involving the new Hawk saw that I ordered last summer, I'm ready to put the saw to a true, dedicated test and I plan on giving it a full 7 day workout. After initial problems with the saw during the summer and early fall, it is now functioning 100% perfect. Thanks to Hawk as well as to members here on the forum that helped enlighten me on some adjustments that took care of the issues I was having. Folks have asked why I didn't send the saw back like I said I was going to and there are actually 2 reasons. One is that I didn't have the box/crate any longer and that would have been a pain in the ass to take care of, but secondly, once I got the saw to where it was running right, I did not feel right sending it back to the manufacturer simply because I didn't like it too much after performing minimal testing. I didn't want the emotions of having dealt with an initially "faulty" saw blindly influence me without actually giving the saw a solid try. That's on me. Either I get used to it and decide to keep it, or I'll sell it to some lucky person that will get a great deal. Day 1 Test - I've cut 5 puzzles today and I'm pleased to announce that I did not have a single issue even after not using the saw at all the past 3 months. It cut smooth, it cut straight, I didn't snap any blades, the puzzle pieces slid in and out from both sides beautifully. I'm using Pegas Modified Geometry blades as they are stronger and they cut a bit more aggressively than other blades. I'm using a #5 blade as they are a bit thinner than most other blades and are close to my usual Olson Mach Speed #3 blades I typically use with my DeWalt. One thing I knew when I bought the saw and learned early on is that the Hawk does cut "slower", it's not nearly as aggressive as the DeWalt and is one major thing I had to mentally prepare for. I've actually slowed down recently on my DeWalt so as not to put so much pressure on the machine as I wear them out on average every 9 months. I wanted to see if I could alter my cutting style a little and get a little more life out of the DeWalt's. So, the transition to the Hawk today wasn't that bad. I did worry that slower cutting would be an issue in that I cut a lot of puzzles... having sold over 1,000 in 2017 and have a goal of selling 1,600 in 2018, every minute counts. Literally. So, I timed myself today while cutting a Sea Turtle puzzle and it took me 19 minutes as compared to 17 minutes with the DeWalt. I'm OK with that. If the difference had been 5 or 6 or more minutes then I'd have serious concerns, but a minute or two extra isn't going to bother me. My daily goal during normal weeks is 5 puzzles a day, so an extra 10 minutes a day is no big deal. Even during 'crunch times' when I'm stockpiling for a major event and cutting 10 a day, an extra 20 minutes a day won't kill me. So, bottom line is that after Day 1 of testing, I'm happy. I want to give this a full 7 days of testing before making a final decision. With the holiday weekend coming up, my 7 day test period may actually span 9 or 10 calendar days, but I'll keep everyone posted. Iggy

I did a video of myself cutting out my best selling ornament for this year..( just shy of 100 of these sold this year) Probably the most boring 20 min. video you ever watched.. but I know some that will watch it all the way through..I taped 4 boards together ( usually do 5 at a time ). Excuse the movements in the camera.. I taped my phone to my Magnifier light.. was tough doing this as I couldn't look through my magnifier light because my phone was there.. so I cut these looking through my phone screen.. I had to slow down the saw and cut slower than normal.. probably about half my normal speed at cutting these.. This particular ornament sells for $15.97 each. I can cut approx. 20 per hour on a good day.. but really my average is more like 15.. as you can see in the video at about half speed I cut 4 of them in 20 min. This is my first YouTube video so be easy on me, LOL If you like the video subscribe to my YouTube channel as I will be doing some other videos on my process and some other type of things as time allows etc.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vlcygntBix0

Birch plywood 6 mm, finishing - stain, gloss varnish Blades - flat blades #1 of LuxTools (Germany)

Made the name out of 1" Red Oak and the base out of 3/4" Red Oak . Was a little harder to cut but really popped especially when I put the light red mahogany stain and lacquer finish on it. Think the customer will be happy , a rush order for a Christmas present . Any comments welcomed .

If we have any Firefly (SciFi) fans here, this one is for you. I about chickened out on this cut because when I printed it out, several of cuts were not much wider than the Kerf on a 6/0 blade. Took a chance and it wasn't as bad as I had feared. My source coin was not near big enough for this pattern, so I had to smash the heck out of it to get it to a cuttable size. I really needed a bigger coin, but, you do with what you got. Below is the original so you could see what I was going for. If I had the talent for painting, I might try to paint that outer ring . . . but I'm not.

Thanks for sharing Steve. Went to check it out here: https://foxchapelpublishing.com - scroll over the top red "Special Offers" area and it will give you a popup with the code. See the screen captures attached.

In memory of our friend Helmut.

Great work. I first saw this type of "finish" in Mexico. Did some basement shelves like this. It seems that when selecting a board to purchase, the more knots the better. jerry

Last year I sold so many ornaments that my head was still spinning in May.. LOL... Said to myself If they are going to fly off the shelves like that.. then I need to raise prices to sort of slow down the sales.. The old saying of price is controlled by supply / demand etc.. Anyway I raised my prices of each ornament by $2 in hopes of slowing the sales down some while making the same or more money.. I haven't added up anything yet.. but I've still sold more than I did last year.. but growth wasn't a huge amount.. $$ wise.. yes ALLOT more money on ornaments this year over last.. and didn't have to work so hard to get that $$ that said.. this year.. my desk clocks was flying off the shelf.. and orders still coming from them pretty strong.. Does that mean my clock prices are going up? Probably not a large amount like I did with the ornaments..

Two orders I did for gifts. One for customer and one for my son in law.

Randy, I just found some of your work in the Gallery section. I must say, you are VERY talented. I don't see how you do it. Emphasis on the word "see". Truly beautiful work. Ray

I've told people that the blades I used are as small as a regular sewing pin, but both are so small, it's kind of hard to know for sure without really really zooming in. So out of curiosity, I scanned the smallest blade I commonly use. I assumed I would get a profile view, but was thrilled to see the front which give an idea of the actual kerf. I can't really see the teeth with the naked eye, so it was nice to get a zoomed image. Anyway, I though this was really neat, hopefully you will also. Click the picture below so see full size, so you can see the teeth.

Requests have been coming steadily,avacado is the first pvc 1/2" x3.5" material i ever cut ,cuts like butter,a customer wanted to see what i could do they have lots of names needed for cottages they rent

More orders,16 stars ,16 bells and 16 snowflakes which i forgot to take pictures of,they came 2.5 hours to pick up.

This started off as an running joke with a good friend of ours so I decided to try a simple sign design to see if it would turn out. I used 3/4" pine for the letters and a 1/4" birch ply backer. I used Edwardian Script ITC for the letters and I stained the backer with Dark Walnut and use Gloss spray lacquer on the letters and a quick coat to seal the backer board.

Good point, I hadn't thought of that. I haven't actually cut anything with the new knob on, but if I notice any new vibration I'll know what's up.

Cutter and pattern maker brought this one to life.. excellent of both of you.. Thanks for posting Dick heppnerguy

A customer suggested a planter to resemble a vintage truck. I liked the idea. After searching to no avail for a pattern; I turned to my old source T & E designs. After a large amount of trial and an overly abundant amount of errors; the photos are the result. It is made from rescued cedar fence material. The size is 14 inches long, 7 inches tall and 5-1/4 inches wide. The rjR standard unless instructed not to by the customer, the light torching was also applied. The clay pot is a standard 4" form H-D. I may have to try to make some ???? Patterns from this. I will be making a few more of different styles as I bought 4 pots. As always ideas and suggestions are appreciated.

You just need to buy a plane ticket and come visit me here in Arizona.. our Christmas day will be 74 degrees f. Dick heppnerguy

And a couple of additional notes... The saw cuts very precisely and it turns on a dime making sharp turns a breeze. And I imagine it would do very well for those that do a lot of intricate, detailed cutting, fretwork, etc, especially in thinner material. Reminder, I cut 3/4" poplar, so keep that in mind as you read my comments and review.

Looks good. I hope you do not have to make many this year. Sounds tough but you get my thought. I too have used the torch method before. I was an electrician for over 40 years and in the early years we would get our wire on wooden wire spools. Back then they use to just throw them away. Now they recycle so there are not available any more. But they came in all sizes and I use to make outdoor furniture with them. I still have a small table with a chess board inset in it. Use of various ropes and burning with a torch really dressed them up. Thanks for showing.

nice job, I enjoyed the video

nice job

Sasho goes by the name of neptun here at the Village. He shares many patterns.

Paul,this is a Wonderful Tribute to Helmut.Loved it.

Finally back to normal, missed a couple of days do to the Flu, spent all day yesterday in bed, feeling much better now. edward

Oh wow they are excellent. Fabulous work and fabulous patterns. Marg

Thanks for the tip.. I didn't know that..

For those discussing video playback speed, keep in mind that you can click on the gear in the lower right corner and speed it up to 2x (double speed). And if you don't like videos that have been sped up, you can also slow it down with that gear setting as well.

Very nicely done Paul. Thanks for sharing this with us. DW

I do not have the Sand Flee but have a home made version. It does things a random orbit sander can not do. I use it for making boxes and smoothing out finger joint or dovetail corners. I use it for a lot of things. I People have all kinds of tools that they find useful to them. I would never tell anyone that a tool they bought and use regularly is a waste of money. It might not be useful to me but great for them. Rolf is very accomplished and experienced and to him it is a very useful tool.

My set screws are the same way.. I did this when I first got my saw.. and do it to any new saw I have had since I figured this out.. sure makes sawing a lot easier and smoother running when a saw is tuned good..

Well there are a lot of medical helicopters.. and a lot of medical personnel to fly / work on them.. from the USA to International to Military etc etc.. LOL.. That said.. My experience is.. This ornament won't be a hot seller next year.. Last year was my bodybuilder / weight lifter ornament.. this year I sold a whole 3 of those even though I stock piled a bunch of them.. LOL.. The year before was the Ford Bronco ornament.. sold 2 this year and about 3 last year, LOL.. So it's never the same ornament..

Super job Marg. Never heard of the wood but I sure like it.

Yeah... it was the end of a long day of cutting clockwise so I was trying to unwind...

You did really well on them Marge! They look perfect! Bob

New to me ,good job Marg!!!!!!!!!!

Denny, I've gotta try some bird houses. I've done some compound ornaments that didn't come out so well, but that was before I fixed my saw. Maybe tonight.

I use a lot of FD Polar blades. For compound cutting, I use FD Polar #7 blades. Just made eight more Miniature Birdhouse Ornaments.

This is the kind of info I still have to gather. I start using a blade and don't remember to experiment with others. I take it you are using Flying Dutchman? I bought a sample pack from them but so far I have only tried one of them. I can't recall what it was. Right now, I'm using the Pegas #3 MG. It works ok but I think I'd like to try something that doesn't have any reverse teeth to see if it cuts down on the wood lifting. I'm cutting a project out of 5/16" BB but not the best grade of it. I got it cheap.

I made the bowl for our friend Betty because she saw the one my wife has and loved it. I made the Army Veteran for our cousin David. David is retired Army. I made the Air Force Veteran for our cousin Mario. Mario is retired Air Force. Not scrollsaw related but I made the big basket for my wife.

I made Ribbon Racks for my 3 grandsons who are big into hockey. Each a little different. Carter is both goalie and a forward, Cooper is only goalie, Caleb is only defense so the racks match. For the girls I made a shelf as they are not into anyone sport.

This one for my daughter in law. She also always helps me.

This came just in time as I just finished making gifts for my family. I decided to make rather than buy my gifts this year so here they are: for my grandson Yoda, another grandson soccer pic, my daughter alphabet, dil Noel, son eagle, my wife O Holy Night. Thanks to all the designers Steve Good, TD, Scroll Saw Magazine. I modified several to add my personal taste to the designs.