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I made this as a special order: Cedar box measures 9"x 7" x 2.25". Inlay the name in the normal way but applied the logo on top of the box using a method I used to decorate boxes before I learned to do inlay. I printed this image onto tissue paper that I had attached to regular printer paper. Printed this on my inkjet printer. When the tissue, with the image on it, is laid on the box I wipe on thinned poly and most of the tissue paper "disappears" The tissue paper covers the whole lid, edge to edge. It is a fussy procedure and works better with smaller images. Easier to get wrinkles out of smaller pieces. Three coats of wipe on poly.

We knew it was coming but nobody expected it to be this hot. On my back porch it was over 103° all day. That's in the shade. I was working in my shop and on the driveway building a cart/stand for my EX. I finally got it in clamps. Tomorrow I will drill and screw it all together. I used 7" wheels from H/F so I can get it in and out of my shop. Generally it's pretty nice out on the driveway so I will do a lot of my scrolling out there.

I mentioned in a post recently that Harvey was undergoing heart surgery. He just called me from his hospital room to let me know the surgery went well yesterday. What was supposed to be a 4 hours surgery ended up being 8 hours as things were a bit more complicated than they saw on the MRI, etc. But the end result is positive. He'll be in the hospital for 3 or 4 days, then home to recuperate. He'll call me when he feels up to drawing custom patterns, which should be pretty quick since he'll be bored just sitting around. I have 2 customs ready for him already. Iggy

You can't see most of it. That part is neat just so I can get in and out. Jerry, My shop is all of 9 x 13 feet. I have mostly portable tools that can be used outside. I have to keep it under control or I wouldn't be able to do anything. I even have a portable work table outside made of two sawhorses and a piece of plywood. But, it beats not having a shop at all.

I haven't even touched a scrollsaw for around a year. I have no idea what made me think I could cut something today with any skill. I would be cutting a nice straight line and all of a sudden the blade would take of in a direction of it's own choosing. It's almost as if a gremlin was periodically bumping my elbow. Now that I think about it it would of made a whole lot more sense to practice on something easy instead of something I wanted to give as a gift. Sorry about tis post, I just had to vent somewhere and I thought you folk would understand.

The Alex Fox, Clef note shadow box is cut from 1/8 inch BB and finished with spray shellac .....I really enjoy these types of projects !....The counter dish, is a Steve Good project, made of Pine, Mahogany ,BB and Cherry...I plan on using the dish to drop my wallet and keys in...maybe some loose change if I have any !.....Comments welcome, Steve.

I don't like your shop Ray. Too darn neat. I could never find what need in a place like that. jerry

I wish I had a shop as large as yours. Yours is 117 sq ft. Mine is only 112 sq ft. You lucky guy.

This was my first ever scroll saw project, but it needs to be explained. I have worked with my hands most of my life. Built 2 motorhomes in my earlier days, as well as various machines and/or improvements. Took a woodworking class at a trade school & built an oak desk. Time & patience mean absolutely nothing to me. The clock was cut with a $69 Performax saw from Menards. Not visible is the pedestal that made the total height about 6 1/2'. It was given as a housewarming gift to our son in Des Moines, Iowa. To you nice people that hesitate to start what looks like a challenging/difficult piece, just remember it is always 1 hole & cut at a time. It doesn't make any difference if it takes 7 months (as this did), or you start 1 or more projects per day. The amount of sawdust is the same either way. jerry

I prefer hardwoods, mostly domestic versions. Cherry, walnut & sassafras are probably my favorites, but the project often dictates the wood. Fortunately, many domestic hardwoods are readily available in Western PA. I've got a barn full of rough cut lumber, that came from trees on the farm here and we had sawn into boards several years ago. I still buy lumber, from time to time, when I want something I don't have available, such as African Mahogany. It cuts and finishes well and its medium brown color provides a nice contrast when used with lighter woods like maple & sassafras and even a really dark wood like walnut.

This is a Steve Good patten I cut from 3/4 inch "mystery" wood. Someone gave me a piece of wood salvaged from a home remodel. At first I thought it had stain on it, but that was not the case. My guess is it is Redwood. It is very soft, cuts easily, but did have some tearout . Cut with FD-UR3 on the Hegner. . Used 2 blades, the first one was replaced because it was getting dull. Since taking Scrappiles's advice, I am not breaking any blades

We're going to Berea, KY next weekend for a craft show and I needed a race horse puzzle! So I went to the internet and found a royalty free illustration which I used in conjunction with Judy Peterson's horse puzzle (FOX Publications) and came up with this design. bb

Great color for the Steve Good dish, and high-five for all the effort with the Alex Fox pattern! Vin

Both beautiful!! Excellent work!!

Those both came out great. Thanks for sharing them with us. DW

very nice

Nice work thanks for sharing

WOW!! a Unique method.It is Awesome!!

Dog Gone Nice shop!! Try and stay Cool.

the thorn in my side has been making "good" frames. with building stock for the con in oct i needed a frame for every book cover so... i made a jig to make frames fast. with super glue and accelerator i did 11 frames in about 15min 1/4" luan cut into 1/8" strips. and finished on a cover with jewelry box corners to hide my sins... I WAS FRAMED!!!! -chris

They look Fantastic!!

Many factors can cause that and grain direction is a big one and if the grain is a hard grain it will steer the blade.

Kevin instead of trying to copy and paste comments and give my answers I will try to explain a few things. Danish oil is mineral spirits, blo, poly and some driers mixed in. The key word in there is polyurethane. That is what makes it different from oil stains and every manufacturer has their own formulas. The Danish oil you are talking about has added stains to color it to the mixture but it still has poly in it. This is like a one step does all finish. stain and top coat all in one. With BLO it does not have poly so it has no film protection as well as most stains such as minwax line. This is why people say it needs to be top coated because it is a dull dried look. Yes it seals the wood but it is not protected from moistures such as water, alcohol and other things. If that cabinet was just stained, yes it is sealed but not protected from moisture which it will see. Even humidity is a moisture to reckon with. I can list a ton of manufacturers but just read the can as to the ingredients and it will tell you what is meant to be used as. I love Danish oil because it is a one step process and sometimes I will top coat. If I ever top coat I use lacquers. I have said many times here lacquer and poly do not play well together and they do not. But in the case of Danish oil if you only use one coat to seal the wood then there is not enough poly to cause adhesion problems providing you let dry and cure. If I do large projects and or many projects that require lacquer I will break out my compressor and use my HVLP gun and waterbase lacquer. If i am doing a small number of projects Deft is my go to lacquer.(or similar) Whenever I dip projects in Danish oil I never have to blow out frets. I let them drain to the side and wipe. If you are getting into doing faux woods made from poplar then there is an art to that but as I said grain pattern can not fool a knowledgeable person. I have people ask me many times what the wood is that they are interested and when I tell them if it is not some they know it goes right over their head. I will right down the woods used on the receipt when I make one out for them. It is more a reminder to me because a copy is kept by me. There are many products on the market that have more poly mixed in and are glossier and or more satin look. Just amounts used in mixture. Using dyes is another topic in it own. One other thing, the use of lacquer over poly is a choice because of ease of use, looks, and also environment the item is going to be used. Waterbased products over oil is another choice thing and both have their pluses and minuses.

Nice stand / cart Ray.. looks like it should work pretty well for you.. as for my shop... I do pretty good at keeping it clean.. just wish I had taught my kids to do the same.. also wish i had taught them to put tools back where they found them.. most times when i need a tool.. I know better than to look in the tool box for it.. just pay attention to where my kids have been working on things at.. and i'll find the tools I need.. 9 out of 10 times they aren't in the tool box.. so anyway.. that is one big thing I failed to teach my kids I suppose.. but I'll take that over the majority of mouthy disrespectful brats that many of the younger kids are these days..

Thanks Wayne, I've read a little about dyes.. and had forgotten about that option as well. I need to give this one a try sometime too..

Ditto to what RabidAlien said.

Very nicely done. Jeff

What kind of wood were you cutting.

Wiser words have rarely been spoken.

Very nice. I know it will be appreciated.

Not too much scrolling involved, I mostly used bandsaw for these, but they were the very first things I cut with the scroll saw, right after I bought it. They're cut out of old weathered fence paneling, with a back cut the same size as the frame then glued/nailgun'd together.

I use any wood that may be on hand. I prefer Walnut, Oak red or white, cherry. I have been blessed with good older friends who know someone wanting to give wood they have away. Some have built a home and took down the extra trees milled them and were stored but not going to use them. Been known to do some dumpster diving. because I do like free. I will use the box stores if have too but not too much

Let me know if you need me to recover a lost account. Shoot me a PM and I'll see what I can do.

The good news is that the skills will all come back to you much faster than it took to gain them in the first place. Keep plugging away.

Good save!

I cut pine because it is cheap and I can afford it.

I like most all of the hardwoods.. but probably Cherry is my most used wood.. Love to cut walnut but for my projects I find the darker wood doesn't show all the details in the cutting like a lighter wood would.. I get a large amount of my wood from my brothers sawmill or my uncles.. but if they don't have what I'm looking for then I buy it at a local place called Johnson's workbench.. try to only buy it during their wood expo sale.. as they offer some really awesome deals. ave to buy a lot because the expo is only held once a year.. First part of Sept. I under estimated and ran out back in March-April so I've been picking up a few boards here and there from the mill.. but the stuff from the mill is usually not dried out good..

I agree with John, give it a try. Mask off small sections and label them for whats been done. You'll have the results and can make your decision. IMHO I don't think you will get poplar to look like cherry or oak without more effort than Watco. Here's a picture of a vanity I did a couple of years ago. All the dark wood you see is poplar. I don't remember all the coats nor the order - too old. But I like the look. (Not that it's relevant to the thread, but it might be of interest. The door panels are reeded glass. I painted the backs of the glass with silver paint. The other item I was pretty proud of was the bottom drawer. In most vanities there are double doors that cover the sink plumbing as is used to store bathroom cleaning supplies/equipment. I thought it a waste of space and made that area smaller with a false bottom and added the full width drawer. Great space for towels and tp.) Good luck finding your solution, that's a lot of wood.

Hope it's OK to post this here. This is one of my most prized possessions. It was made my uncle Charlie Knight Edmondson. I believe it is a Boy Scout. He was a paratrooper and was captured in France on June 6, 1944. He was executed the next day. Wish I could go back in time and watch him making it.

When @neptunposted this pattern in February, I knew I had to cut it. Was not sure of the wood to use and then a couple of weeks ago I was in our local Winner's store. There was a serving tray in the clearance area that had been damaged and was 30% off. Solid teak and cost me $20. BINGO!!!!!!! 12 3/4 X 16 inches. Not sure if a frame is needed or not, still undecided, what does everyone here think? Thanks for another great pattern Sasho. Jeff

It is easy to do in microsoft paint. Check it out. I agree with Jim Finn.

I save to "Paint" and edit, resize and print from there.

I save the pattern to my computer. The open it with paint shop, with this I can resize it and print.

I right click on the chosen pattern, save to a folder (documents or picture folder) and print directly from there.

For downloaded patterns I rework them a little using GIMP (Thanks to Travis), export to the desktop and import into InkScape to scale and size the drawing to the size I prefer, 8.5 x 11 or 11 x 17. If I want larger I use the Poster utility in my HP tools. I use InkScape to change the color form black to light grey with a thin black outline, this is easy on my eyes and save a lot of ink. The poster utility will create a drawing that is either 4, 9, 16 or 25 times as large as the 8.5 x 11 original. You simply print it out and tape the pages together. If you want something a bit smaller you'll need to scale the size down using either InkScape or Gimp, you would still print it on 8.5x11 sheets of paper, you would have some trimming to do before you tape them together. If your printer has this utility it can save you a trip to the print shop. Ed Sr.

I usually upload into Corel. I usually do a quicktrace to "vectorize" the image, then change the pattern to the 20%gray with red outline, then resize if needed. Then, I either print, or publish to pdf for later printing.

Patterns that fit on regular paper I just print (I usually change the color from black to red which seems easier to see). Patterns where the cutting will be larger than the standard 8 1/2" X 11" paper stock I take to Office Depot. I print the pattern on regular paper, decide what the size of the cutting will be by measuring the largest dimension (length or width). If the longest dimension is 7 1/2" and I want that to be 12" (11" X 14" frame, 1" border), the pattern needs to be enlarged by 160% (use a proportional scale from an art supply store). The cost for B&W is less than $1 here.

I have a hp printer that lets me chose print quality and have found that useing {fast draft} and[ black ink only] is good enough for a pattern in most cases.The printer prints really fast and saves ink.

After downloading to a scroll file on my computer I open Picasa, a free photo program from Google. When I print from here they give me multiple size options for printing purposes, I don't ever resize as long as the size works for my project.

I just use the printer options. First I "Save Image As' then go to where I saved it, double click the image/pattern, that takes me to Windows Photo Gallery, I then click CTRL-P to access the printer options, from there it's a matter of choosing what size etc, etc, etc. Hope that is of help. Merlin