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My grandson Ethan (16) and I will setting out on Friday to Pellow's Island for a two week holiday. While we are at the island, we will be doing LOTS of fishing. I made this item: to surprise Ethan once we get to our cabin. The pattern is by Steve Good. I printed the pattern at 130% then cut it using 6mm thick Baltic birch plywood with (mostly) a Flying Dutchman reverse tooth #1 blade. Then, I stained parts of it using Saman water based stain. Before staining, I carved a small barrier between stained and unstained regions: After staining, the whole thing received two coats of clear gloss rattle can urethane.

Yesterday when I posted the items from my day in the shop and the experiments with the baskets, I forgot to add this one. I particularly fond this one to point out to me the problem with using MDF for baskets, as the outside was again left uncolorful and I found it took away from what could have otherwise been a rather nice piece. I understood from this that when this item was sitting on a desk, the eye would first be attracted to it by the outside and not the inside of the piece. Now that I understand this better, I believe I will be way more satisfied with the results of this kind of scroll items. I also added a simple inside cut to help bring a little more interest to the piece. Dick heppnerguy

Made this one for a fisherman friend who is turning 70 shortly.

Very popular around Mother's Day and Christmas. I have uploaded the pattern 4mm Hoop Pine Ply, Radiata Pine Frame stained. I used either a #2 or # 3 FDU

This pattern is by Scrollriffic (Bobby) once again. The Sydney Swans are part of the AFL (Australian Football League) and red and white are their colors. I cut the sign from 1/2 inch pine and 3mm hoop pine ply. Marg

Another 3 tissue boxes hot of the press (out of the spray booth). The patterns in these are ones that came with the basic box pattern I purchased many years ago, to see how they fitted them to the front of the boxes. Curiosity hasn't killed me yet, but it has given me few close calls

Finished some Christmas ornaments for the grandkids. Made out of 1/4 B/B. I want to thank Keith for doing the patterns for me and also Marg for sending me to him. I liked the ones that Marg did and I mentioned that to Keith and he was nice enough to do the patterns for me.

This was the 2011 People's Choice pattern winner in 2011 in SSWW&C. Saw it when going through some old issues and had to cut it. Pattern by Kerry Hallam and he was nice enough to send me the pattern (he also did the patterns for two others I have cut, Battle Cry and Waiting, two of my favorite cuts). Stack cut three 1/8" BB ply, approx 13 X 17 inches, cut using Sawbird #3 UR and #2 spiral. Probably 90 % of the cuts were with the spirals, so they are not really "dreaded" any more lol. Frame made out of some old drawer sides. Jeff

Weather either too hot to play golf or rain, so in the shop I went and made some new sawdust. Some the finish has not been apply yet.

I ran against this pattern several years ago in ARPO and always wanted to cut it but never got around to doing it. So today I decided to give it a go. I found a peace of wood laying around and decided to give it a go. I especially liked the lighter color of the wood, even though it had a crack in it. Since it was only for the fun of cutting and was not an order for anyone, I decided to cut it. It turned out that it was not a good wood choice as it was too thick for the small pattern and would have been a lot better if I had used 1/4 inch BB Birch instead. I guess this has just been a day of bad choices for me. But at least nothing was lost as I got in some shop time and that is always worth my time. I will redo this one again when I get a new wood supply Dick heppnerguy

I bought some laminated wood to make the Alex Fox 3 D pattern that I did a couple of weeks ago and had some left over and thought I would use it to experiment on a couple of patterns. Well, I did discover some rather interesting results that I am passing on, with the reason I did not like it for the items I made here. First of all I had a chip in the laminate that makes me not want to use this product for anything again. Secondly I lost of lot of what could have been some appeal for the outside of these items. Thirdly it helped me to understand something I have been overlooking on the baskets I have been making, and that is BB Birch is not a good source for basket because is only leaves a dull outside appearance. I somehow did not see that until now, partly because of the lessor price of BB Birch over solid woods and I am cheap. On the other hand, using BB Birch for plaques is perfect. That being said, I am going to download the three baskets that I experimented with. The first two are Steve Good patterns and were extremely easy pieces to cut. I did not find them to be very useful, individually so I combined them and made what I considered a more useful basket and also one that has more eye appeal with the two colors. None of the baskets in the photos below are glued together but only stacked. so the last one is where I alternated the two baskets and gave it, what I considered to be more of a useful and more of a decorated basket as well, but because of the product used, it has no eye appeal on the outside part of the baskets. I hope this might help others that may be not seeing the lack of luster using BB Birch for the wrong applications, like I have been doing for years. On the other hand, If one is using BB Birch and leaving it in it's natural color then in my opinion, it looks fine, like in the last example Dick heppnerguy

I wanted to make a portrait for our best friends. Picture was taken last year while they were on a cruise. My wife did the primary cleanup in Photoshop and then I'm back to MS 3D Paint to gobble pixels. The faces were pretty easy but the shirt and curly hair is a Pita. I need to learn how to simplify things.

My first scroll saw project was the same as Don's except that I did mine eleven years ago: Also, like Don, I have been woodworking forever.

One week from tomorrow I load up the PuzzleMobile and head to Cary, NC for the 42nd annual Lazy Daze event. Over 350 arts and crafts vendors gathered in one place. It's 9 hours long Saturday and 4 1/2 hours Sunday. This will be my second year doing it and I have set a goal of selling 200 puzzles. I sold 153 last year, but the first day I wasn't able to set up the way I prefer, but this year I rented 2 spaces in order to maximize sales. We'll see if it pans out. Of course, weather will be the biggest factor and so far, the 10 day forecast looks decent. We'll see if it holds true. I'm still cutting in preparation for it and I'll take a final inventory count in a few days to see exactly how many puzzles I'll be taking with me, but I know it'll be in the 500-600 range. Silly me, I signed up for another decent sized event the following Saturday... UGH! But I'm taking vacation from the day job the week in between so that I can replenish my stock based on what I sell at Lazy Daze. Fingers crossed for good weather. Iggy

First time in the shop in over a month due to a kitchen remodel. Thanks to lawson56 for a really cool pattern. Live edge Black Walnut backed with rough cut Black Walnut. 7 1/2" tall. ***Ha! Just noticed the drill hole I left undone in his mustache. I'll fix that later.

You've obviously been asked this question before - and your response is about as clear as it gets!!! ....... Whenever I've been asked that same question my own response is: "the instant you start to push - the question is answered ....." Thanks, Jay

I have had a busy summer and have not spent much time online. I have been building out my new shop/studio, but have still been doing a fair amount of scrolling, and just did two takes on Alex Fox’s C15 basket. I used 1/4” Baltic Birch, #1 FD Ultra Reverse blades. I oiled one in Natural Danish and the other one in Medium Walnut Danish oil. In the pics I light the lighter one, but in person I like the walnut better. If I do another one I might alternate the colors on each layer.I also bought some of Steve Goods signature coins and used them for the first time. The coins are 1/8” thick and I use two Forstner Bits.have made one sacrificial Forstner bit by removing the point. I start the hole with a regular bit to center it, then finish it with the sacrificial bit to just over 1/8” so as not to drill through the wood.

My wife restores an also makes new stained glass windows. She found this panel at a antique store. It was in very bad condition. She asked me to make a frame for it. It is made out of padauk with inlays of yellowheart & oak. The frame is 3 1/2” x 3/4”. This was a challenge for me because of not doing very many inlays and cutting such hard woods 1 1/2” thick. Also I used half lap joints.

No, but here looks to be a good deal on a Hawk in my area.. You buy it, I could pick it up and deliver it to you next time I go to Portland.... In the mean time, I could try it out and keep it warm for you...... https://kpr.craigslist.org/tls/d/rbi-hawk-20-scroll-saw/6642687280.html

Nice pieces. I don't understand why anyone would play golf when they could be scrolling???!!

G'day Edward, I use lacquer. Three coats with a light sanding between each does the trick. Pine will yellow, especially if in sunlight, however I find this ads a warmth to it.

The question is what look are you going for?? Whatever you do it will be bland because there is no grain to absorb the stain to make it different shades along the piece. You would be better painting it. If you want to try staining use a gel stain and not an oil stain. There are people who will take a comb and run it through after stained or a wire brush to give lines and texture. Can do this with paint as well.

Well I decided to knock this out this morning. I want to thank Wayne for doing the pattern and also the other pattern makers that also made name patterns for me to try. This one seemed to work the best because of so many letters. This is made out of Oak and I made it 12 inches long and about 2 inches high. I think he will like it.

Les, what did I miss?

Travis, I have seen the King Canada Excelsior 21 inch saw at a local dealer and, to me, it looks just like the old General International Excalibur 21 inch saw. So, it does exist if you can wait. Having said that, if I were in the market for a new saw and lived in the USA, I would probably buy a Seyco.

Staining would make it blotchy, I would think. I'd try it on some scrap first. You can clear coat it, add wax or even an oil finish (BLO). All of which darkens the MDF. I did that for my workbench and it looks nice. I can't remember the exact details, but I think I did 50% BLO and 50% Mineral Spirits. Then I added a couple layers, then added the wax to the top. For this piece, I'd skip the wax and maybe go with 50/50 BLO with an acrylic rattle can spray topcoat. MDF also takes paint nicely. The edges can be a bit challenging, though. Bu the smooth top surface works well.

I like the way you have used different type of wood on your Tissue boxes John, Thank you for showing, Bob

SUPER DOOPER Scrolling there John! Top job on finishing too! Thanks for posting, Bob

Excellent work, I'll have to try them. Roly

Nice job on that John.

Good luck Iggy. Hope you make your goals and then some!

Those turned out great !

I like it. Is the pattern yours?

nice job, I'm sure he'll like it

Thanks Falcon, I tried that to but it doesn't give me the option to change it on y Ma, only certain files.

Charlie Don't know if you realize it or not, but your cutting made the Village Instagram feed.

Great cutting thanks for sharing

That's a nice one thanks for sharing

Those look great thanks for sharing

A portrait of Ned Kelly. I had quite a bit of help from Jigsue with the pattern. Cut from 3mm Hoop Pine ply with a 3mm mdf backer painted mat black. Frame Radiata Pine stained. if you have a bit of time you can read all about Ned here https://cv.vic.gov.au/stories/a-diverse-state/ned-kelly/suit-of-armour-worn-by-ned-kelly/

So nice to see!

I'm impressed with your work here!

Hi @octoolguy - thanks. Yes, the heat has been unbearable in my garage/shop for the past few months. Not to mention we've had one of the wettest seasons I can remember. I just received my 734 dewalt planer which I'll be reviewing and posting on soon. Once the weather starts to chill a bit, I'll get back into the shop and start up again. I have a new wood working class I'll be starting on the 5th of Sept,! Sorry to hijack the thread - back to our regularly scheduled topic :)

@tgiro is correct looks like Woodcraft has a few GI Excaliburs left. $799 + $35 shipping. Doesn't appear to me to include a stand. I checked Woodcrafts in Portland area, not available. They are not that close to you anyway.

Dick, you done good! That is a beautiful basket.

I agree with you, Marg. Shop time is never a total waste of time. Dick heppnerguy

Spiral blades do typically need a little more tension as others mentioned.. I also use them somewhat like a flat blade still and cut with them on the front portion of the blade.. The way a scroll saws blade motion works.. there is a slight front to back motion on the blade.. so you'll probably find the spiral will cut faster using the front and possibly the rear of the blade as opposed to the sides of the blade.. because of that slight blade front to back blade motion.. Spirals typically wear out a little faster too.. Since I do a lot of my cutting on them on the front like a flat blade sometimes I'll take the blade out and reverse it for the less used teeth on the opposite side..

Thanks Noris, that's the same screen I get On my Mac. The only problem it will only let me increase to the size of the paper. I want to be able to print in poster where two or more page print out and you tape them together. Some of the name signs I do are around 14 to 15 inches long.

It was a practice piece that showed you how easy or hard it was to cut, that is always time well spent. Marg

I have MDF finished one side left over from making work benches. It's white one side and would work well for painting.