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This is a Steve Good pattern I downloaded from his recent daily email. Cute little fella so I had to cut it.

I finally did my first intarsia pattern. Made this for a sweet lady in United Kingdom. He will be flying there when his feathers dry up.

I am starting to put some of my things in a shop in Colorado. A gal called me and said she really likes the items she has seen on my page and wondered if I would like to put any of my work in her shop. So I agreed to do so and made a few of the ones she liked for starters. I will see how it goes from here. I also will be putting a few other items in the box to mail to her. Just letting you know I have not been laying around the house and staying out of my shop this past week. I have a few other items to add to the package and I will get them mailed off this week Dick heppnerguy

I've done a few Segmentations but I've always wanted to do this pattern since the 1st time I saw it. I actually started it in April of '15 but only able to work on it on and off. The plan was to have it done before the Eagles first super bowl, figured I had a lot of time and didn't have to rush. Oh well, it's for the 1st anniversary. I used Cherry, Aspen, Walnut and Red Oak. Luckily all the mistakes aren't noticeable from the picture but pretty happy with how it turned out and learned a lot.

I placed an add for state plaques of your choice and got several orders. I did not get a photo of a couple of them but here are the ones that I did remember to photograph. It was a fun venture and I am going to run the adds through December. However I am leaving this week for the entire month of November so my shop will be closed. I will repost my add when I return and see if anything else transpires when I get back. some were a little challenging but I did not have any breakage occur. That I am happy about. I hope to pick up some new customers from this sale as things have been pretty slow for me here in Arizona. The most difficult one was the Maine plaque and my favorite one is the Indiana plaque. Many thanks to Sam Custodio for the fun state designs. Dick heppnerguy

So I've been wanting to do a portrait and finally got around to taking the plunge. I used the rapid resizer website to design the pattern. Cut on 1/8 Baltic birch plywood. Just need to make some kind of frame for it, but I got impatient and wanted to share it's of my beautiful girlfriend who also bought me the saw.

First pic is of me holding my grandson. Second pic is of my son and his family. I just moved from Sacramento to Kansas City, so I could live near them. I love living here!

This is one I made from oak for my Ma with The End of the Trail in it. It doesn't have all the the feathers on it yet in this picture.

Thanksgiving was a big event in our family. All the grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and family friends would all come together and enjoy a carefully prepared meal together. But as a kid, I never enjoyed the holiday. We always went to my aunt’s house for Thanksgiving Dinner. She had no kids of her own, which means it was boring! But as I get older, I’ve learned to appreciate those days and now have many fond memories. It was an opportunity to take time out of our busy schedule, slow down, and enjoy our friends and family. So when I think of Thanksgiving, I think of family. This month’s scroll saw challenge is around the theme of “Family.” What does it mean to you? Post a pic of a scroll saw project that illustrates your love of family, friends and thanksgiving. When you do, write a little something about it. I really enjoy hearing the backstory behind these projects. Have fun!

With all the help and advice on learning to use the scroll saw I decided to make a gift for my father in law today. He has been a fisherman all his life so you can imagine my delight when I found a mariner based pattern by Travis. Also it was the first time using “real” wood instead of mdf or plywood. I reduced a lump of wood on the table saw and got it as smooth and flat as I could. I have no idea what the species is The base will be from the same wood I am still making mistakes but my confidence is growing and there was a brief moment when I found myself in the groove. As soon as I started over thinking the mistakes started. I have ordered a clock from Amazon and will make the hole for it when it arrives.

This is a project I completed a couple of months ago. Found the verbiage on Facebook and took a photo knowing it would be a future project for the scroll saw. The panels are made of 1/2" baltic birch ply with a backer of 1/8" painted black. The panels measure 14" wide by 6" & 8" high. I used a # #5 reverse tooth blade for the entire project. Sometimes you do not really know what you are getting into with a project till you begin. Each panel took approximately 10 to cut. Letters are one of the hardest items to cut simply due to the fact that the smallest error can be easily seen by even the youngest eyes. You really get nervous when you are nearing the end of a panel and hope all goes well and you finish with success vs having to throw the work away. I have included a photo of the complete project and also closer shots of each panel. I used two 1 1/2" wide strips on the bake to hold everything together. Thanks for looking. Ron

Howdy folks, I sincerely appreciate all the compliments on my handy work. They mean a lot to me. I try to keep various colors of feathers cut and on hand because it seems like what few folks come in the shop "just love those feathers!" They want a string of feathers made, or some put on thongs and hung on some creation they've dreamed up for me to cut, or a dream catcher some folks ask for when a loved one passes on. I am always looking for new feather patterns. The patterns I do have are the ones that come with different patterns I have bought from Wooden Teddy Bear. I would like to find a couple Eagle feather patterns, a raven and owl feather pattern, and other traditional feather patterns. I don't have any sheets to get a picture of at the moment, justdraftn, but when I get one started, and some size to it, I will get a picture of it and send it to you. Then when I get a sheet planed out and sanded, and ready for patterns, I'll send ya a picture of that as well, if that would be ok. Meflick, good to hear from you, Ma'am. And thank you for your thoughts and prayers. I am on the mend, I reckon. Been down in the back the last three weeks, but I am startin' to heal from that, too, I reckon. I may try out my sea legs this evening and stray over to the shop for awhile. We'll have to see how things go. If you get a chance, I posted a few pictures in another post of the dream catcher I made in memory of our daughter. Skip over and have a look see at it and let me know your thoughts about it. I'd appreciate hearing what you think about it! Look after yourself! Brad.

Thanks for your post Brad. I love your work. Even more I love the history you write. I love History. My family is all Germans who came out of Russia during the Bolshevik up risings. I have a friend who is half Choctaw. Keep posting Brad.

Thanksgiving has come and gone here in Canada but I do have to be thankful for our family. I have 2 daughters that have followed careers that allow them to help others. One is a nurse and the other is a principal in a public school. Very busy but they still have time for their families too. This project was inspired by Steve Good’s pattern sportingmoms.pdf My youngest has 3 boys that play hockey. Two play at AAA which means 2-3 practices a week and 2 games a week each. They play all over south eastern Ontario. The oldest also plays house league which means 2 games a week. My Son in law is a policeman and so it is up to her to makes sure that all the boys get to their hockey (we get called on often). They never miss and she loves it. She is the Super Hockey MOM and so Steve’s “Hockey Mom” was a perfect stocking stuffer. I reduced to 3 inches and then added the #1. It was my wife’s idea to eliminate the base. My wife asked if there was a lacrosse Mom for our other daughter. My Granddaughter plays elite Field Lacrosse and it is my daughter is her big supporter and chauffer. This summer they played all over southern Ontario, Michigan and upper New York. Fall and Winter 2 practices a week. Not one in Steve’s pattern book, so I made a pattern in Inkscape. Well, 2 out of the 3 ladies in my life are covered for stocking stuffers so I made the Hockey Gramma pattern and cut the same as the others. She is a big supporter of the Whitby Wildcats and makes whatever game she can arrange but still takes the others when required. My family busy and great sport supporters. All pieces cut from ¾ red oak using Flying Dutchman UR-5 and 3’s. Finished with Tung Oil.

The font looks like times new roman. I played with the R and it looks like below. It is created it two layers. Top layer the letters green and the bottom the layer blue expanded with a dynamic offset. (I think). I would like to know if others have any other ideas.

nice work

Brad, have you got any pics of the "sheets"? I really like the crosses. May have to have a go at those. I have a bunch of feather patterns....you have inspired me to have a look at those. You are turning out some beautiful work..... and I think it is great that it's from "scrap". Looking forward to the dream catcher pics.

Love the feathers Brad. Thanks for sharing how you use the scraps. Hope this means you are doing better and getting some shop time in. I am sorry to hear of the loss of your daughter. I can only imagine how difficult that was for your family, prayers said for your wife’# knee replacement to go well.

Nice work and a great idea.

Very unique, I wasn't expecting it to look like that. I really like it!! Irene

Brad, They look great and the colours are beautiful. That's a genuis way to use your scraps. I'm excited to see your finished dream catchers. Thanks for sharing your process. Irene

Many thanks for for all the great comments. Joined the Marines out of high school and stayed for 21 years. Words on these panels mean a lot to me as well as every service member past and present.

No Brad I survived the reading. They all look good and the use of the color of the grain in the woods is smart. Gives them a natural look. Need to post more of your work. 25+ years. another old sawduster. I know if when I pass and they have to do an autopsy they will find saw dust in the veins too. To me it is the most relaxing hobby and was glad I found it some 35 years ago.

WOW that is creative Brad!

Your work looks great Brad! Thank you for posting.

Please do come back. I'm sure you will be more than welcome.

Those are very cool! What is the process to plane them down? Before you cut them, after? How? Planer....

Those are great. I bought the new Scrollsaw magazine and want to cut the ones from their patterns.

Nice work Brad!! I use to make dream catchers and made my own feather out of wood but never did them from that thin of wood.. I usually did them from 1/8" hardwoods.. They use to be a hot seller for a while.. but it kind of dried up a bit.. I still have a couple of them but not on my website anymore.. Maybe the market will open back up so maybe I should put the listing live again.. been a couple years since I took them down.. Ray, there are quite a few dream catcher patterns out there.. Sue Mey scrollsawartist.com has a few.. Use to be several free designs floating around out there back in the day.. not sure they are still out there or not but..

Aldi in the UK, have 10 acrylic paints for £4.99, they are £6.99 online. I've been looking for some and they seem to range between £10 + £25 Don't know if this is of any interest to anyone, but I bought some.

A while ago someone made a pattern for me from a picture, forgive me for not recalling. Used Oak ply, frame is red oak tongue and groove flooring, I cut the groove ends off.

That's a fact, Sir!

Great job. Your father-in-law is going to love it, thanks for sharing.

Thanks Brad for posting the pics of your work. They are great. More interesting though is the story behind them and your family history. I love reading that stuff. Also, for anybody who loves to read and read non-fiction, there is a great book out about how badly the Osage Indians got screwed over when oil was discovered on their little piece of Oklahoma. The name of the book is "Killers of the Flower Moon". You won't regret reading it. I couldn't put it down.

Howdy everyone! I sincerely hope this finds everyone in good health and spirits, & primed for the oncoming week end!:) Thank you again for all your comments and interest in my work. My interest in Native American culture goes back a long ways. I have studied the American Indian since I was a young feller, and have done many written reports about several tribes, their life styles, way of life, freedom, the harmony amongst the tribe as a whole. Their means of survival, how the elders made the decisions for the tribe. Not to mention the fact that several years ago, My Ma and her sister spent two years doing endless hours doing genealogical research on our family history as far back as the 1700's. On my Father's side there is a lot of cowboy history. Cattlemen, horsemen, ranchers, farmers, and of course, truck drivers. On my Ma's side, they found farmers, Cherokee Indians, some German blood lines, more farmers, steel workers and welders, and, wait for it, yep, more truck drivers. My great, great, great Grandfather was a Cherokee Indian Chief. Mom and my Aunt even located a picture of him, his wife and two sons. We have that photo in our family history records. Long story short, I have some Cherokee blood running through my veins, like it or not, I carry it with great pride. Our people endured a great amount of suffering, family loss, and severe mistreatment moving from their native lands of the Carolinas to the Reservation lands in Oklahoma territory. Treaties were broken, starvation was forced on our people, small pox infested blankets and clothing were given to the Cherokee and other Native Bands on the trail in order to kill the tribal folks. The tribal medicine men had never seen or heard of these diseases amongst their tribes, therefore they had no medicine strong enough to fight off the white man's diseases. The mortality rates were high among the numerous tribes on the trail, including women and children. By the time the bands reached the Oklahoma Territory, their numbers had fallen by nearly half, and the sickness was running rampant throughout the People. White Dr's were beginning to treat them as they could, and bury them faster. After 6 months of this, control of the situation began to come to light, organization started to come together among the People, and tribal grounds were beginning to be assigned to the different tribes. If you know anything at all about Native American History, The End Of The Trail has an important meaning in our History. The true meaning of it is the final arrival at the tribal lands in the Oklahoma Territory, and the sense of survival and freedom. The Cherokee Warrior on the Horse in the real picture is supposed to be pointed west to indicate the direction of travel they came to the tribal reservations from the east. If you see a pictorial view with the horse and warrior facing a different direction, the artist had no idea of the history he was painting, nor the true meaning of the art piece. I have an original piece hanging in my office that is over a 100 years old. I would be glad to post a picture of it if anyone is interested in havin' a look see at it. In the meantime, I have taken a couple of pictures of the dream catcher we have hangin' above our chairs that I made in memory of our middle daughter when she passed three years ago. The catcher itself is cut in cherry. The Dragonfly is maple, and glued to the catcher. Miss Bonnie was a Dragon fly nut!;) A little about the feathers. The feathers hanging right in the center, there are four in that bunch. One for each one of her children. They are cut from barn wood, poplar, cherry, oak, beetle kill pine, & walnut. The outer single feathers hanging around the bunch of four in the center represent Bonnies' grandchildren. Those feathers are cut from oak, cherry, and poplar. Mary Ann & I done the thongs and bead work ourselves. I done all the scroll saw work myself. There ya have it, I reckon. One of my catchers to look over and comment on, folks. Hopefully it's to your liking. We get a lot of compliments on it here in the house. One of the most common things folks say about it is they can't believe the feathers aren't real because they're so close in detail to a real feather. They cannot believe they are wood. What's your thoughts and opinions on the feathers? Have a look see and leave your thoughts. I am anxious to hear what ya think about it! Thank you for takin' time to have a look see. Brad.

Looks like Times New Roman (Bold) to me.

Love it! Steve Good has some really nice patterns.

Brad, stop getting down on yourself. You are very talented, you have a ton of great equipment and a great shop to work in. Now, all ya gotta do is get back to feeling good. Both physically and mentally. Your work speaks for itself. I am in awe of what you do. I am still in the learning stage. Very early learning stage. I appreciate YOU taking the time to read my posts and help me along. We are all here together to keep each other company and to help wherever we can. Thanks for just being you.

Howdy folks, I appreciate the compliments on my handy work. And my apologies for the title not bein' short enough for ya to read it all in one sentence, J.T. I hope ya didn't hurt nothin' by readin' all that at one sittin'.;) the process I use, JustDraftn, is perty simple. All the scraps of hardwood I have leftover from different projects, I save and glue together in "sheets," or long pieces of all different species glued together. When it gets long enough I don't have anymore bench room, I take the run to my RAS & start cuttin' 14" - 16" lengths until I run out of material. Then I run them over the table saw and trim them down to about 11 1/2" wide. the width of my planer is 12 1/2". But 11 1/2" is wide enough for what I do with them. Then I just start runnin' them through the planner, flipping side for side, end for end each time to cut down on the snipe & planer marks until I get down to 3/32". Then I run the entire piece thru my drum sander, then sand the complete piece with 220 grit sand paper on a palm sander. Then they are ready to tape and stick patterns to. I drill 3 entry holes in each feather, there is one pattern that has to have a couple more than that. Than I cut them apart in pairs, and start cuttn'em out. Each feather takes about an hour to an hour and a half to cut. There is more detail then it looks like. I use anywhere from a #02 polar blade up to a # 1 polar blade. It just depends on how much of the detail I am after, and where on the dream catcher I'm plannin' on hangin' it. I have a dream catcher hangin' in the shop now that is partially done now that I am making for a close friend that recently lost her Ma, and we have a catcher hangin' above our chairs here in our living room that I made in memory of daughter when we lost her 3 years ago. It has ten feathers hangin' on it' representin' her children and grandchildren. My bride says NOBODY gets that one, but I will try and get pictures of those two on here in the next couple of days. We spent all day in Nebraska today in the Sawbones office gettin' things started for my brides' knee replacement. So not much got accomplished here today, even in my crippled up state. But I try to keep truckin'! I sincerely appreciate the gratitude, comments, and the interest you folks took in my handy work. After 25+ plus years of scrollin', I was kinda beginnin' to get perty down on myself on account of nobody likin' my work, or not doin' a good enough job to suit folks, or whatever hit me. You folks have kinda lit a fire under me again that maybe I was needin'. More'n ya know! Thanks again, and keep admirin' my handy work, if ya would.;) Thank you. Brad

You are one prolific scroller!

Beautiful work. Of course I am partial to the Colorado plaque.

Very nice!!

Yeah, i joined it years ago.. then it was so interesting to me that I forgot I joined it... when i joined it again a few month ago.. and guess what.. I forgot I joined it until this post surfaced again... and now I forgot my login stuff again Grrr. I guess i'm just not going to join.. I find this to be true with the majority of scroll saw sites.. I'm a member of probably most of them including the FB groups... but for some reason I just can't get interested in the other places.. There is a crap ton of groups on FB.. and I ended up leaving most of them because it seemed as though many of the ones that like to post messages on them would post the same message on about 20 of the groups.. so I'd get the same questions in my feed 20 times.. then count about 10 others that did the same thing and almost on a daily basis.. Maybe I just get annoyed easily with stuff like that.. Probably why I'm not a very big fan of FB.. Except the marketplace... that to me is getting to be like craiglist on steroids LOL..

Thanks Brad. And I second what Paul said about the wood. Do you have a pattern or is it all freehand? Where in the world did you get the idea for "dream catchers"?

Most of my work of this nature has a black backer but it's up to you whether you have a backer and what colour to use. I do like the red though.

After a dismal difficulty day in the shed yesterday I had another go and with Jessica’s help we produced this from a piece of old pallet wood. She had great fun painting it.

I drill all the hols first. I have discovered that I cut curves more accurately cutting counter clockwise rather than clockwise. So that helps me determine where to put my holes when drilling.

I try to drill them all but I dont think I have ever done that as I always miss at least 2 or more

If it's something small I will drill all the holes at once. For bigger projects like your portrait, I like to drill out holes in a section and then cut that section, then move onto the next. I do this for a couple reasons - drilling 100+ holes at once can become really tedious and boring, and this also gets me up from my saw and moving around more often which helps keep my back from stiffening up too much from sitting at the saw for multiple hours at a time. I find it easier mentally to keep going on a bigger project this way too. By only cutting a section at a time, you set multiple smaller goals for yourself instead of looking at one big one.