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Cut the musical note version today. 1/2" oak ply. Letters were no problem, the notes/bars on the right pushed the limits of my saw. But....it performed like a champ and we got it done. Tomorrow...well...tomorrow will see some Advil, some sanding, and a frame.

I made Dark Tower night light as a birthday present (Sauron would be proud). The back layer is frosted glass, I mounted a color changing LED bulb to allow the user to change its color and add a soft glow light to a dark room. Aside from the frame, this was made using 1/8" plywood. I used a airbrush to color the wood.

These are just more from Sue Mey's lighted project book. I've posted similar trees but I used a gold glitter spray paint to add some more color to them.

Each year at our Christmas dinner I make place markers for everyone know where to sit. Started back 8 years ago with Steve Goods personalized ornaments. Over the years I have done mostly ornaments but have done sleighs, last year dangles and this year we have snowman ready to go. 19 expected for diner. The pattern is by Sue Mey( modified), decorated by my better half and the laser broom by a friend at our club. There are 5 designs but all decorated uniquely.

Well, my new spiral blades arrived yesterday !! So off I went like a big kid this afternoon to try them. Oh Boy !! They are something else aren't they? They chew up everything they touch,, and when you realise you are going the wrong way and try to move them out of harms way, they chew that up too !!! Amazing... A little difficult to put in the clamps,, the bottom end went in fine but then when I went to put them in the top clamp the 'flat end' was facing the wrong way, so got a pair of pliers and held it straight while I clamped it. In the end I tried to cut part of my 'go to' simple pattern and although all the 'wobbly' don't have total control bits are pretty obvious, and I seem to have 'aquired' a nest for my birds I really quite liked it. I'll keep practising until I feel more 'in control' of this 'runaway blade' as I'd love to be able, one day to do a 'picture'. But till then I'll stick to my 'straight' blades. Many things I am but Constable I'm not

Packaging this weekends sales today.. and while boxing up ornaments I thought maybe you all would like to see my method of boxing the ornaments.. I get these little clear top gift boxes from Papermart or.. Uline.. The sizing is just about perfect for a business card to fit into the box.. and I also buy little stickers that I stick n the sides to hold the top on during the shipping process.. One customer mentioned they wanted to do another purchase from me but had lost my business card.. when she was unpacking and putting up her tree.. she come across my ornament box that while torn to get open.. had the remnants of these little stickers with my web address on them.. so kinda serves two purposes I suppose.. We have a pretty cold morning today.. so since it's my birthday.. I'm staying inside and working on getting orders ready for the post office... This is ornaments I sold over the weekend.. Now I need to get these packaged in the boxes and mailing labels put on so i can move onto the 4 clocks and 2 Portraits I sold.. P.S. I've gotta reply to this message with the photos because they are on my phone and I'm on my PC at the moment.. So if you see this before I get the photos up.. they're on the way in just a minute, LOL

I quickly reached a plateau with my Scrollsaw efforts after the first few weeks. However for a brief few minutes this afternoon I realised I was holding the wood down without using the death grip I had developed and the blade was cutting the wood without being deflected. As soon as I gave it conscious thought it went back to normal I spend ages looking through all the threads that you guys post of your outstanding work and usually think that there will be no way I could be as good as you. However feeling that wee bit more encouraged today. I still cut awkwardly and lose the line often but the positive from today’s cut from a Travis pattern was that I was confident to spin the wood at the right angles

Cut another of my patterns today, just to make sure it was possible. One word of caution....be careful sanding the "Queso" portion. Mine cracked into three pieces, the "u" breaking off from the "Q" AND from the "e", and the "s" separating from the "O". Nothing terribly hard to fix, just annoying as I wanted it to be in the process of stain drying, not glue drying. Cut from 1" mystery board, found in the attic of my old house and snuck into the moving van, one of the few pieces of wood I managed to bring down south. I'd say cedar, due to the orange-ish dust it gives off when sanded, but there's so much other stuff soaked into the wood from its time in the attic, that I honestly couldn't tell you. It is, though, rather fragile as it turns out. LOL

I did this one with 3/4" Walnut for my brother. I'm going to give it to him for Christmas. Thanks for looking.

Next year by chinese calendar is a year of pig. So i made this. Beech, 1inch thick. Pattern found in ok.ru or vk.com. Don't remember. Sorry about that

I made this for my hubby, he seems quite pleased with it.

I recreated as I could not find. If this is not oaky please let me know and I will delete. You will have to resize

This is basically what I was saying and I agree with Bill. I also do the double bevel cutting style and can tell you even your sideward pressure can make a difference when cutting because what happens you start to overcompensate because the table is leaning and you are not used to it and want to try to straighten up but you should not and let the blade do the cutting and just steer the wood. I use doublesided tape to hold the pieces together. I do not do much of this any more but it does make for some nice projects.

I have very little experience with double bevel inlay, but what I do know is that 1/2 of a degree can mean the difference between a great fit and firewood. Also use the exact same blade on the test piece as the finished piece. A different size, even a different style blade can make a difference. The tolerances are just that sensitive.

Made from scrap wood. Sizes for each entire unit is about 30 inches long, 6-1/2 wide and 7 tall. These are toys, not intended to be models. Built sturdy enough that they should stand years of play. Also generic -- no brands implied either. Cut with scrollsaw . Used a lot of other tools too. Pattern by T. & E. designs as many of the ones I use are. Fun to make. Blue one is for a great grandson that likes to be with me in the shop.

Wyatt & Gage stopped in to see me today.......1/2" ply, 1/4" ply.....14"T x 11"W....rattle can paint.....comments as always

Hot of the saw.

Im not an experienced scroller but I started with spiral blades thinking it would be easier to learn. I really enjoy neptun's patterns and in my opinion are perfect for spiral blades. Now I have to learn regular blades and I'm not sure if one is harder than the other. My observations on spiral blades are....and I use the Dewalt 788...... 1. Hard to clamp up blades at times. 2. Doesn't cut well even with a new blade on the back side. Side to side is limited. Spinning the project and cutting from the front works best for me. Blade pops out occasionally when cutting to the side and frequently when cutting from the back. So i stick to the front as much as possible. 3. Corners are rounded and not as clean. Very hard for me to cut a straight line of any distance with a spiral. 4. Most definitely chew up everything they touch. The on/off switch was my friend.

Howdy, I agree with Fred. Spiral blades are not a blade for first timers, for sure. They are a blade of choice, and a blade to respect. As Mr. Fred mentioned, slow blade speeds to start out is a good suggestion. The faster a spiral blade cuts, the more wood it chews at a faster rate. Also, the bigger the spiral blade at a faster cut rate will open up places in your project that ain't supposed to be opened up. So keep a small blade at hand if at all possible. Sawblade703(Brad)

That could be a hornets nest. Bird nests usually set on top of the branch. Thanks for sharing your experience. I've yet to try spiral blades but plan to order some soon. Looks like a completely different skill set required. Tom

Here's my version of a lift arm for the DeWalt DW788. I know, how many ways are there to skin a cat. I wanted something very simple to build and use. This design features a tapered catch that slides under the existing plastic housing by the speed control. The arm (1/8" x 1" aluminum) is positioned so that the latch pin normally sets about 3/8" away from the black plastic housing. The arm can be raised or lowered without interference. With the arm fully raised the latch pin clears the housing just enough to allow it to be pushed left to contact the yellow arm. To latch the arm in the up position simply raise the arm with an up-turned right hand and use the thumb to push the lift arm to the left. Allow the arm to come down and trap the latch pin under the housing. To lower the arm simply lift it up and the latch pin pops away from the housing allowing the arm to drop. The latch pin is a 1/4" x 20 flat head phillips screw. I'm sure it could have been used as is but I decided to turn a shoulder at the base of the head. This eliminates wedging the housing between the screw head and the nut. The mounting holes in the lift need to be positioned accurately to keep the arm as high as possible but still allow the latch pin to clear the housing. The arm only droops about 1/8" when held up by the lift.

Got my 2018 display out today.....I think the 6ft sled will stay out all winter......comments are always appreciated. Happy Holidays!!

Just completed a 24x30 double car garage which will be my shop. Do you guys have suggestions on heating and cooling?

Finally got around to shooting pics of some Christmas ornaments. Almost all of these go to family. The simple snowflake count was 37. (First picture) The birds on the birdhouses are not glued. I will let my sister pick the bird for house. She wanted some for her friends.

More of a bandsaw project but these were lots of fun to make. I don't usually sell but I'm doing a Christmas Expo at my daughter's school. Cut these from 2X6's, pipes made of 1/2" and 1/4" dowels, eyes 1/4" carriage head bolts, carrot nose 1/4" dowel, brass nail buttons, arms are twisted #12 wire with white caulk on the finger tips, and caps are boys socks.

It all will become so easy you could do it in your sleep. Even if you walk away for awhile it comes right back to you. You start to learn all the little tricks too and as Ray said take the pattern off and no one sees the lines any more. Looking good.

The more time you spend on the saw the better you will be, there is no other way to learn, practice, pratice and more practice, you will get there.

lookin good! and progress is awesome! glad you've kept at it.

I have used the method that Steve put out on his site not long ago and it does work to a small amount. As stated you cannot get the wood completely flat but within 1/32" which is useable. Now having said that, I had ordered 1/4" maple 1/4" x 24" X 8" and it started to cup a couple of days later. I decided to try the process and I wasn't expecting what happened. I wish now that I had taken a photo of the result! I had done the wetting and put the stickers down than placed the wood with two weights on the stickers and left it alone. That afternoon I went to check on the process and the wood had done a cupping that was an arch! Now these weights weigh about 15# and that maple had pushed them up a good 3inchs! I was eventually able to get the wood flatten somewhat but ended up cutting it into 4inch wide strips and used it for ornaments. Every day I find out more about what wood will and won't do! Erv

Wow Dave you made me look at the name. I bought that thing so long ago I did not remember and still do not remember where I got it. But all it is is a plastic portable one that is so easy to use and set up. It is by Edgewood and I believe I bought it from Rockler or Penn State Industries and am thinking the latter because that was where I bought my dust air cleaner and i think I bought together. I have included a link to one by a different company but looks similar. I use my 4" dust hose and it has a metal screen with a perforated rubber non skid sanding mat that lays over the top. Any dust not collected with dust collector can be vaced out. It does not take up alot of room so that is why I went that way. Today there is utube videos and plans to make your own which are basically a box of any size you choose and a piece of peg board on top. You can buy those perforated sanding mats from any where. They work well if you have a good dust collector. I have a seperate hose that I use for various portable tools such as my 12" planer and Belt sander and I use that hose for tools like that. Quick hose clamp and easy to use. https://www.amazon.com/Platte-River-Collection-Collectors-Dustless/dp/B007NL0WC0/ref=sr_1_15?ie=UTF8&qid=1542640159&sr=8-15&keywords=downdraft+table These look so similar that I believe that is the company that took over for edgewood..

I've got 18 old bench planes, mostly pre-war Stanleys, but a couple Ohio Tool Co and Miller Falls brand. Oh and probably 6 or 8 or 10 block planes. My wife doesn't even ask anymore.

I have a 24x30 shop too. It's insulated but no ceiling. I installed an 80000 btu natural gas hanging heater. Works good so far. Keeps it nice and toasty in there. But I'm in Iowa and your in Texas so you may not need as big a one as I do.

My shop is 20x22. I installed a through wall a/c/heater. 13,000btu. I have no problems keeping it cool in the hot summers but I don't have the humidity you do. Winter's the same. To add....shop is also insulated with insulated garage door. Pic is from last summer. Notice the indoor/outdoor temps with humidity. My next recommendation would be a mini split but more expensive.

I'll agree that the segmented belts are great. I almost wrote on the other thread about buying a new table saw that the first thing one should do when you getting it home is to switch the belt to a segmented for better operation.

I do all my sanding outdoors with the sander. If I have to sand indoors I have a downdraft table that I set up and works well. I love that sander and would not be without. I had to replace the pad once but it does it all because it does not leave orbital scratch marks.

Beautiful job! I also like this version of the quote- God grant me the serenity to accept the people I cannot change, the courage to change the one I can, and the wisdom to know it's me.

No, but I'm jealous! I handle my 16x20 with a 3 radiant infra-red and an attic fan.

Freezing drizzle outside......68 degrees inside the workshop, have I ever said how much I LOVE my insulated garage door.

You folks are making me feel guilty. It was in the low 70's today and for the next few days, it will be in the high 60's. Long sleeved shirt weather here.

Brad, you can do it! I have lots of confidence in you.

May I recommend slowing the saw speed and your feed rate. Spirals take some time to get used to. They are a tool that scrollers can use for larger projects.

I recently purchased Olson spiral #4 blades. They are still on my desk. Have not yet worked up the courage to use them.

Look at you Brenda. You cut this beatifully. You cut those letters spot on. You should be very proud of yourself. Well done.

My wife, unfortunately, likes her car in the garage also. That's why my shop is so small. Recently I wanted to buy her a pristine 2002 yellow Mustang convertible. She said, "But my car will have to be out in the weather." Shot that deal down.

In the 30's outside 68 inside. R19 walls, R30 ceiling and 50k but Biggmax gas heater. I love my heater, so ,does my wife who gets to park inside.

Yesterday was in the mid 50's. I went to Woodcraft for some DC fittings as well as a large sheet of 1/8" BB. I want to stack cut a portrait. Today was supposed to be bad so I needed to get the BB while it was decent enough outside so could roll my saw out to the driveway and make the necessary cuts. Good thing I did. Today it was in the low 30's and now is 24 degrees. My small shop can get up to the mid 60's with a small heater.

Thank you all for your lovely comments. I must admit to being quite pleased with it, more so because I cut the letters out all in one go !! I've never ever even tried that before and was quite proud of myself for doing it.

I have posted about this book before here on SSV but if you are truly interested in double bevel cutting, the best book on the subject is this one. https://www.amazon.com/Art-Marquetry-Schiffer-Book-Woodworkers/dp/076430237X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1542663174&sr=8-1&keywords=the+art+of+marquetry $14.99 on Amazon.

I do LOTS of inlay! I use 3/8" wood and cut at a 2 Degrees. With 1/2" I would guess one degree. As suggested, Make trial cuts on 1/2" stock and find the required angle

beautiful job