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Finished the Alex Fox pattern of Barn and Pickup for my B-I-L. He should get it in a few days. The pickup and Barn cutting was not too bad but the blade pulls for the bushes and the meandering lines for the pine trees got to be a little tedious. Lots of traveling with the blade(s). I used a 2.0 puzzle blade and went through 8 to finish. They are very fine and wear out pretty fast but I can make some sharp turns. 10.5 x 14 1/8" BBPW on 1/4" backer. Shellac/Lacquer finish.

About two weeks ago, i asked in the General Scrolling sub-forum for advice/info/help on cutting delicate, thin lettering patterns, wood choices, blades, etc. That thread with its great advice, helpful tips and more can be found here: http://www.scrollsawvillage.com/forums/topic/32260-how-would-you-start-cutting-this-pattern/ - There were quite a few of you who offered helpful advice, encouragement, tips, and information to help me in trying the pattern in question. It was a free file created by Keith Fenton at Sheila Landry Designs site and can be found here for anyone interested in it: http://www.sheilalandrydesigns.com/free-pattern I took on the challenge to cut it and decided to try it first with 1/8" baltic burch plywood (some 12" x 12" sheets purchased from Michael's). Since I was cutting thinner sheets, I also stack cut it and cut three of them out at one time. This was probably my first time in truly stack cutting something (or at least one i did successfully.) I think I used a #3 MG blade for the thinner lettering and a #5 UR for the bigger letting and the outside cuts. I slowed down my saw, took my time, and took breaks from day to day so I did not cut it all out in one setting. It is not perfect, but it looks good enough that I plan to finish them and keep one for myself and give the other two probably to my children for Christmas gifts. I am presently trying to decide how I want to finish them. The plan calls for a smaller backer behind. I am thinking of cutting a backer bigger then they are from maybe barn wood from a 100+ old small barn torn down on my inlaws property last year by my husband and my son. Some of the wood we salvaged still has old red paint on it so am thinking of using some of it. Figured it would give "Home for the Holidays" special meaning with that wood for my kiddos. Still trying to decide so not finished. Will share picture when I do. However, I wanted to go ahead and show my cutting and say thanks to all of you who took the time to give me help and advice in that thread. Can't say that I will be out hunting down thin lettering projects to do regularly, but I don't think I am quite as afraid of them now. Thank you all.

Toys being played with by Great grandson. The man cave toys( bottle opener cars) are relatively new 2 years old at the most. The tow truck is dated 7-2000 on the bottom. I had brought it out of the dust for him to play with. Now I am going to have to make more tow-trucks. May end up a much different VINTAGE style though.

Found this today, it's got loads of info and tutorials both written and video. It'll take me a month to read, but fascinating !! Just thought that others may like to look. https://inkscapetutorials.wordpress.com/tutorial-list-2/

Well, this is my first attempt at the pattern I bought. Not displeased with it although there are things that I'd do differently. My 'Napkins' must be a lot bigger than what is intended for this holder as they hide the 'bodice' of the dress. A photo of one with Napkins and a photo of the other side without, just to show. The gaps where the 'feet' go is my fault, I think I printed the base at 100% but I cut the doll at 95%, I'll watch for that later

I tell my printer what I want it to do all the time. It is like my wife, it just don't listen to me.

Now it is time to get back to real work but, I had so much fun building the first nutcracker, I had to do another. This one is 25% larger, so it is big brother meets little brother. I was kind of proud of the paint job on this one. I added more to it because he is older big brother, he has more glitz. I figured out how to do the round eyes. Take a small pencil eraser and dab it in paint than on the face. Same with the button, sand down a pencil eraser and dab. So the fun is over. Got to do some more serious projects.

There's a 'video' page too, https://inkscapetutorials.wordpress.com/category/video-tutorial/

Nicely done. I've decided not to make any of these. I do not have any friends sophisticated enough to appreciate them! Well except for @heppnerguy, and he can make his own.

I subscribe to scroll saw and Wood worker Journal. After they expire I'm going to stop both. Nobody seems to offer ( scroll saw ) that is a challenge and the other seems to repost items that were published before. I find that pintrest and a few other searches yield better ideas for creating my own work.

NRA lifetime member since 1967..

I have not renewed my prescription because of this. I know, I am petty. But in this day and age,,,, you should be able to download them. I donated my prescription money to Steve Good. I use more of his patterns anyway.

Here are three of my latest ones. The Christmas Night and Poetry wizard are designs by Aniki Lykke Sorenson. The Steam engine is by @neptun. The Christmas Night one is cut in two mahogany drawer sides salvaged from work and glued together, 9 1/2 X 12. The other two are 11 X 14, stack cut 1/8 and 1/4 BB ply. Jeff

This is invaluable to me, it saves all that fussy around finding icons https://logosbynick.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/InkscapeShortcuts.pdf

Same for me. Though I have more patterns on my to-do list then I could cut in a life time.

Use to get them all now i get none except the AAW which I am a member. Trying to figure out a way to sell off tons of magazines I collected over the years. They became a waste to me the plans in the scrollsaw mags did not interest me and were too plain and easy. Not for seasoned scrollers and they started to get too much intarsia. Woodworking mags are all about ads. they all do the same tool reviews. You can find these things out on line these days. I highly suggest find a store that sells mags and buy ones that have something in that interest you. They get hard to store after awhile. I have an attic full.

Nice. NRA here as well. Was mainly interested in scroll saw or woodworking magazines. I should have put that in the title. Sorry!

My subscription is up for renewal. I won't be renewing. Magazines tend to pile up and. I prefer to purchase patterns. There also so many kind pattern designers here that are generous with their designs. I have more patterns that I can cut in my lifetime.

Good job Melanie. I too like the barn wood idea. I use it often. You may already know but you should check the barn wood for powder post beetle holes. Most of the barn wood I've gotten has them. If it does there are a couple of ways to treat it, with heat or insecticide. Otherwise they can hatch out which wouldn't be great if they are inside the house. I've used the oven to treat small pieces and I've sprayed it when I had a lot. Not hard to find advise on the internet for treating.

Looking at their web site there is very little information with just a couple of photos which do not show detail. Neither does the site explain why they are superior to the regular Hawk clamps. If I see things that are significant improvement over what I have now I often purchase them. Significant improvement is the key. Always like to hear about new things.

I have not renewed my subscription for bunch of reasons but mainly because I found the patterns of less interest to me and many require painting. Any patterns that I want to cut, I scan to pdf to use.

I bought the pattern yesterday and had a go at it. Don't look too closely, it's not perfect but it was fun to do and as Alex says, the assembly is not hard if you follow the pattern. Rob

Interesting 3D effect Birch plywood 4 mm, stains, glossy varnish Pattern is available at: https://www.etsy.com/shop/AlexFoxUA

I redid the wolf and eagle in oak to match the Indian. Before they were poplar and I didn’t like the way it took the danish oil. Now they match and I’m much happier with the results.

I was thinking about this, no stationary tool I have actually provides dust collection, well, except for my dust collector. They all, including my scroll saws, provide ports or some means to hook up to a dust collector. Me thinks you all want too much....... oh, now I am in trouble! ,

Very well done Paul...Thanks for eraser tip

Thank you, I'm hosting a ' Posh' BBQ on 1st June and I thought I'd make a few for then. It would have to be better cut than this first one, but hopefully now that I know the 'ins and outs' of the pattern, I'll have some good ones by then. x

You are not a wimp. I can relate to those struggles. I can stay upstairs with my wife, cozy by the pellet stove, or go down into the cold, stinky basement. Hmmmm... decisions, decisions.... I have adapted some by putting my scroll saw stand on a rug. That helps with the cold concrete. Plus I have rubber mats for that in the main workshop room. Gloves? Sometimes I just have to. Hot tea helps my hands. But wait...NCIS is on! Drat!

I know about working outside. I worked in construction for 43 years and worked in all kinds of weather. No work, no pay. Usually when a building is warm or cool it is time to move onto the next job. My last job was working on a FedX ware house under construction. I did not plan to stay on that long but wound up staying till the end and that was the job I retired off. It snowed as hard inside as it did outside because of all of the dock bay doors which were about the last thing that went on. That was one of the toughest winters we had in NJ in a long time 5 years ago. Standing in 4 foot of snow wiring parking lot lights up. Won't go into tax thing for that is for your accountant to tell you these things. But you can dedicate any part of a building including your house as place of business. Just need to designate this when setting up business and portions of all utilities can be deducted.

Every shop I have had since I started woodworking has been below ground. Some have been warmer than others. In my current shop, which is the size of a 2 1/2 car garage, contains the ejector pump to our septic system. When it gets really cold, like it will be this coming 2 weeks, then it stinks. Normal temp is around 55 deg F. A sweatshirt is enough to stay warm most of the time, but some days a heater would be nice. I might borrow the one from the bathroom this weekend. Sometimes when we are not home one of the dogs leaves me a little present on the floor. One time it was right in front of a project I was working on. I figured it was her commentary on my abilities. She was probably right. I have always dreamed of having a garage size shop above ground with a little wood stove in the corner. My grandfather used to have a shed way back of the house, next to the alley. I think it housed horses at one time. He had a wood stove and just a few tools, some of which he made. I remember his home made disk sander. Worked great. He was a retired tool & die maker and I grew up to be a tool & die designer. I like to think I inherited some of his love for tools and wood. I think he would have liked scrolling. Anyway... just a trip down memory lane.

Kevin I understand there are circumstances that come up and a shop is far from the list of necessities but if it is your business then you have to make it a priority. This is what pays the bills. The expense can be written off on your taxes. Health issues is different. But I read not only here but other forums about it is too hot or too cold. There maybe just a handful of perfect days to be out in a shop. Many years ago when I got started in this and woodworking in general, I left a scrollsaw out in my shed and on those beautiful days I would scroll under a nice large oak tree in my back yard. It was nice and the lighting was great and all but then I moved operations to my basement and have not looked back. Even in an uninsulated shop you will be surprised you can change the temp with little trouble. I have at times did some finishing and also powdercoating in my garage with a couple electric heaters running. Yes the garage is sheet rocked but no insulation in the walls and the door leaks and it very cold but it does not take much. If you make it work for you than all is well. But as I said I read these types posts all the time and scratch my head, why build a shop if you can not work in it.

I subscribe to Wood Magazine. I just let my SSW&C go and not renewing. The projects that were interesting to me have dwindled. IMHO they have too many that require painting. They do have fret work type projects but that is not my cup of tea. I suggested one time that they do a poll to determine what type projects they should have but was told it was too difficult. Also, I seemed to be always the last to get my copy. There were people making and posting projects from an issue before I even got it.

I subscribe to Woodsmith Magazine and Wood Magazine. I thumb through Scroll Saw Woodworking and Crafts at the store, if I find a project/article I'm interested in I'll pick up that issue.

Nice work Paul, but now, where is the sister? Wifes?

You will absolutely love the new Delta. I couldn't see the need to spend the extra for the Dewalt either. After having used my new Delta and used my Brother in laws Dewalt, I see no difference at all. Again you'll love it!

There is also a free one on the Scroll Saw Woodworking & Crafts magazine's site here: https://scrollsawer.com/2016/07/10/lighthouse-silhouette/ It was one of the earlier things I tried outside of Intarsia and gave to my husband. It might fit your needs. While on their site, check out the other free projects and patterns they make available on the web site: https://scrollsawer.com/category/patterns/ - These are in addition to what you get in the magazine its self usually.

@Rob Well done Rob. That really looks neat.

Use to love magazines of all different varieties. Did a lot of furniture projects from them and even though I hadn't, would save all of them for future reference. Same with model railroading, music, dental etc etc. Then when the TV show "Hoarders" ask me to film at my location (only kidding guys and gals, in reality, just ran out of cabinet space), took the bull by the horn, cancelled subscriptions and loaded up the cans at the curb. Talk about mental relief. Now, except for my AARP and my free Taylor guitar magazine, that's it. And they get tossed frequently. As to scrolling, either buy it or download it.

You can, I did it with some stars. Not the best photo I'm afraid, but it will give you an idea

I chose Scrollsaw Woodworking and Crafts by Fox Chapel. Since I haven't been scrolling that long I still enjoy it. And since I enjoy jogging my memory with back issues, I often bring up a stack to browse thru in the evening after work. Store them in a wall cabinet in my shop. Just renewed for 2 more years. I also browse the magazine rack at the local thrift store. They had a good selection of old magazines which were a treat to look thru. Bought quite a few and enjoy them. But then again I like nostalgia.

Excellent work. Marg

Great cutting Melanie. Very smart to use different blades where applicable. Sometimes I get too lazy to change blades and just plow through with whatever blade I started with. Results are not always desirable.

I cancelled my subscription too for the same reason. I have written to them and they supposedly are working on it. (for the last 3 years at least). I did buy the first 48 issues on DVD and that solves that problem. Hopefully they will do 12 more issue soon. I do buy each issue at Walmart and it is cheaper because of the postage to Canada. If the pattern is in the middle I go to Staples and copy the whole page.

I quit subscribing partly due to this.. When I did use a pattern from the magazine.. I bent the staples to lift off all the pattern papers out scanned them to my computer.. fold as best I could back up and re-insert them in the magazine.. But what I really hated about them was the fact that the patterns are on big sheets so in order to scan them I had to fold them all sorts of ways to get them to fit in my scanner.. then by the time you get them in the paper is all crinkled every which way, LOL.. Also hate the fact that.. the magazines take up quite a large space after you save them for 10 years.. i'd like to see them go digital.. or.. subscribers get a yearly CD with the magazine in PDF so you could ditch all the issues.. LOL Magazine companies always offering subscribers deals to subscribe.. My issue is I like to keep my copies.. and being into cars trucks and several other things that have magazines.. don't take too long before they take up a whole room in a house... when they could be on a CD.. I'd pay full price for subscriptions if they gave out a disc.. or even make it online subscription.. where you could go print patterns out from the magazine issues... Some of the car ones have went online subscriptions..

Ray, I do mostly Christmas ornaments, so I know exactly what you are talking about. I usually use a lot of Steve Good's patterns which may have multiple patterns on a page and I may only want one, so I pull the pattern into Inkscape and can delete and move others around or even make multiples of the same ones that I want.

A. Great cutting! B. I am a fan of old barn wood. C. Suggestion for backer; definitely the old barn wood -- Enough larger that the sign becomes a door on a barn shaped background-- old paint left as is and then just clear coated over all of it. Maybe add a name or?? on the side or on the hayloft as was often done. D. I and I am sure; many others want to see the final results!

Lovely cuts. Roly

Technically, I think this may be my second for the New Year, but the other one was one that spread its self out over about 3 years! LOL Anyway, I had asked for help, information and tips on cutting thin lettering in this thread: http://www.scrollsawvillage.com/forums/topic/32260-how-would-you-start-cutting-this-pattern/ and received lots for which I am thankful. I finally cut it out and have added it to my gallery and to the sub-forum bragging rights found here:

The last couple of weeks we have been through a severe heatwave with temperatures around the 40 degree mark or above.Today it is 42 & expected to hit 46 on Friday & that is celsius readings.Not much time spent in the shed .I manage to do a few jobs in the morning but the heat drives me back inside before lunch to sit under the cooler.Cheers Peter