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Good day in the shop. Couple of quick ones after the "Sleigh Ride". My sister's 40th wedding anniversary is this year so thought I would get this one out of the way early. Saw the pattern on Sheila Landry's site and Keith did it up for me. 7 X 16 on more reclaimed laminated maple 3/8ths thick. The "Doctor and Doll" is from a Norman Rockwell painting and I cut it for Dad's Doctor. Kenny Hopkins did the pattern for me. 11 X 14 on 1/8th BB ply. Jeff

I bought a cheap Dremel scroll saw a few years back and made this clock as an anniversary present for my wife.... She loves it...

Got my John Wayne Orders caught up. I love John Wayne, but I am starting to hate John Wayne if you know what I mean.

I'm a newbie at Scroll Saw Village and I just wanted to show a few of my favorite scroll projects I've finished... I started scrolling around 2005 when I made a wall clock for my wife's anniversary present... Since then, I really got into making fretwork clocks... My favorite so far is the brown dome clock that was so fun to make...

Got my Circus Train done. What a project. It was fun to cut the parts and put it all together, but like others, I do not know what to do with it now. It takes of a lot of space. If I made another I think I will make it at 70% or less. I added the extra par of horses because I think it looks better, thanks @rdatelle, for the idea. I did two other things different. I made the body pieces of the driver, horses and elephants out of 1/4" instead of 1/8". Just to give then a little more heft and I could cover the tabs on the horses sides. Not sure it was worth it, but I did it anyway. I also had to add the baby elephant. Like the extra pair of horses, it just seemed better with a baby elephant tagging after it's mamma. I also use very little CA glue, most things are glued together or in place with the Titebond Quick and Thick. Slowed me down a bit but I really don't like working with CA glue very much..

Completed music box this week for a Valentine's Day present for my wife. This is from a Steve Good pattern with a few modifications. The wood is cherry and I cut with Shark #0 spiral blades. The song played is Amazing Grace. Comments and mild criticism welcome, Keith

I have don three one I already posted under just for fun. The other two are projects for the SSWWC magazine I can't post those yet but they are pretty cool. I have also been busy restoring a Heron chain saw carving that we bought at a Fox Chapel open house in 2014. It is outside all summer long so it needed sprucing up. I brought it back to this.

6 layers, 3mm (about 1/8 inch) I like ornaments - that's all i can say :) https://www.etsy.com/shop/AlexFoxUA

It's not voltage that is the issue when using a transformer like that, I used them all the time both in Europe and the far east when stationed there. The issue is the frequency that the electric company transmits. In the US our electric companies transmit at 60 hz. Overseas they transmit at 50hz, that makes motors run slower. Before manufacturers began putting voltage selector switches on components, record player needed a special 50hz spindle, tape decks just did not sound right, etc etc. Running a 60hz motor at 50hz overheats it and it's life span is shortened, very counter intuitive and I never really grasped why that is. the difference between 50 and 60 hz is a 20% change in motor speed Australia and New Zealand use 50 hz, as does most of the world by the way.

Well I made the mistake of looking at Paul's (Scrapile) circus with the added baby elephant so I decides to do the same thing. Thank's Paul. I shrunk this down to 60% and they look pretty good. I didn't attached them to the tails of the bigger elephants because it would make it to fragile to move around. I was only going to do one like he did but I was using 1/8 BB and it was easier to stack cut two so that's why there's two of them.

Bob, if you need to get more tension than what the lever gives you, I can help you on this, as I've had to do this many times. The trick is to press down on the arm a bit while tightening the blade in the clamp. This gives it a bit of tension, before using the lever, so that when you add the lever tension to it, you end up with more tension that what the lever alone provides. You might ask, "How do I press down on the arm, if I have one hand on the blade, and one on the clamp knob, well, I'm embarrassed to admit . . . . . I lean over and press it down with my chin . . . . yep . . . . . . did I admit that outloud? I learned this approach after I screwed up my "Blade Travel" setting by using the back knob. Now, I never touch that back knob. -----Randy

Well I plow snow for a liven and I don't get to play in the shop much during the snow season. But once in a while something comes up that gets me in there. A retired coworker sent his sister in law to see me. She was expecting their first grand child and really wanted to have a sign in plaque made before the baby shower which was only a few days before the baby was supposed to be here. I told her I would try to get it done for her but lets pray for no snow. Well she must have done just that because I had just enough time to get it done for her. Well I'm happy to say the parents loved it and they had a beautiful baby girl and they are bringing it back to me to put her name and date on it. I love when people get excited over stuff that I make.

Here is a Steve Good pattern that I received an order for. I made it using some pine I had and liked the way the darker center part would work well for the football, Steve Good had suggested using 1/4 inch for the laces and the white part to the football but I thought it would look way too thick and changed it to 1/8th inch thick ply. I am glad I did. I was considering just cutting those parts out of the football and putting a white backer board on the back of the piece. I am glad I did not use the 1/4 inch suggestion as I believe my thoughts on it turned out better then it would have with the original suggestion. Dick heppnerguy

Hi NC, Yes I am only using spiral blades - FD New Spiral 2/0 and 1. Many thanks for the suggestion I will try flattening the blade ends - currently I sand them a little but they are not flat so blade slippage is a possibility.

Hi Don ; Sorry to hear your problem as well. My last saw in the UK, many years ago, was an old Diamond Fret Saw and I had no real control over blade back to front movement. It had long threaded blade clamps and by altering the lengths and also tensioning at the back there was some adjustment for blade back and forth movement but I could never say I could make accurate adjustments. These new saws , Excalibur, King, Seyco, Axminster seem to be all the same and are the only ones I have ever seen where one can adjust the blade back to front movement. I assume that they accomplish this with a motor which has its' shaft slightly offset and by rotating the motor mount it gives an eccentric movement to the arm mechanism. But I could be wrong. There may be other machines with these adjustments but I do not know of them.

Bob are you seeing this with all blade types or just the spiral blades? "Blade stretch" is minimal at best and should not require any adjustment. What brand/style spirals are you using? Spiral blades are tricky to clamp up. I suspect you have blade slippage. One way to combat that is to flatten the ends before trying to clamp them.

@hotshot, you got any pictures of that move!!

Hi Hotshot - Many thanks for that - I will try it. After re-reading my last reply to Scrappile I was thinking of doing the opposite of tensioning with the back knob - ie. with the blade unclamped turning the knob slightly to the right - lowering the arm a little - just don't know if that would affect the back to front blade movement. Will try you method - sounds safer.

Hi Bob and welcome back. First, I do have a Seyco saw and it is the primary one I use. I have had it and used it since they were first released. However, I have never used a spiral blade in it so cannot respond to using it with that blade. I do not use the knob to change the tension on the Saw, it was set once and I use just the flip lever to release tension to move the blade to the next hole to cut as needed. I do it the same way with the excalibur Saw I own as well. Paul, @Scrappile also has the Seyco Saw I know and is a much more accomplished scroller then I with lots more experience, so perhaps he can give you better info, if someone else doesn’t before he has a chance.

This ornament is 4" tall, designed by Volker Arnold. He uses a lot of veining. Spiral blades are great for uniform wide veins. This is the Womens Church in Dresden Germany.

That is a great job of a great pattern. I'm not really into the movie actor thing, but I did do a couple of the Lonesome Dove ones. I may have to do this one if the pattern is still available. He was such an icon. When my nephew showed some one he worked with the picture I did of Gus McCrea and Caption Call, she asked if I could do a John Wayne one. I said sure, for $30. I thought that was more than fair, but I never heard another word about it. Guess she thought they were free.

Great job! I like the live edge too. I'd be having John Wayne nightmares.

I like what you did and it does make the small clock look good. It sort of "balances" it out. Great idea!

Randy, I do the same as you but not with my chin. I manage to hold the arm down and hold the blade with one hand and turn the clamp screw with the other. It can be done. And I do it every time. It takes all the play out of the mechanism and "pre-loads" it. I have not had any problems with tensioning and I never touch the rear knob. I do pretty much the same on my Dewalt. But in all honesty, I haven't used any spiral blades yet. I think I did try them when I first started and realized they weren't for me.

Well Done! When you are cutting them, does "burning daylight" keep running through your mind?

Jim you are correct and I just did not want to get into too deeply because most people understand differences in voltage more than frequency. But it would be a concern for me if I saw that. Remember there is electronics involved with the speed controller also.

That is beautiful looking box you made. She will love it. Marg

Bob, Just read the post you made while I was writing the post I made above. You can apply a little more tension with the back knob when you first put in your spiral blade, but you should not have to adjust it again until you put in a different type of blade. I know spiral use a little more tension. It should never require the upper arm to be far from level with the table.

I use these https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06XPL9V7S/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04__o00_s02?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Good looking box. You sure are good with spiral blades.

Hi Rocky - I have a Seyco 21

What saw do you have?

these are so cute!

When I was looking for a used Hawk, I talked to Bushton, Mfg. on any issues. The short answer is look under the saw and if the motor says FASCO Motors, they can be a problem and the repair is to replace the motor AND the speed controller. Which means way more the the cost of this saw. I walked away from a $600 USD unit for that reason. If it any other motor, $270 is one I would get, assuming the above voltage issue is resolved.

Really nice! I can't remember who "showed" this in the past week or so, but I think it's a cool project. May I ask where you got the plans? Being as I am a clown and I actually performed in the circus, (albeit a very very short time)I thought it would be cool to make.

Hi Dave, I guess you heard it all so far, but let me add this. You should keep the box because you are the real superman on this project. Outstanding craftsmanship.

I'm sure it's only because I'm old or stupid, but I'm unclear what pieces are being glued to what. I guess I'd have to see them disassembled. Often when I have an odd shaped piece to be glued I keep the off-cut and use that as a clamping caul. If the caul wants to slide away under pressure I will use pressure sensitive sand paper on the stock to keep it from sliding. I've cut up and used those pads that go under rugs to keep cauls from moving too. And I've called my wife to the shop to help, some glue-ups need more hands. And I've used painters tape to hold cauls in place while I work the clamps. When I clamp edging I just use painters tape instead of clamps.

Looking at the pictures the Hawk appears to be a 220VS Ultra saw based on the lower blade clamp style.. I'm not sure exactly when the ultra saws came out.. but I can say I have a older according to Hawk 1993 that is not an Ultra.. and I also have a 1998 that is a Ultra.. Based on reading online of others postings etc.. I've learned that they had Ultra models in 1996.. Based on that info the Ultra saws came out in the mid - late 1990's and they ran production of these until the Hawk G4 came out ( around 2005 ish ).. This style saw is a bottom blade feed only.. Tell tail wear points that I know of off the top of my head are to look at the wedge shape things at the back of the saw that the adjuster rod / bolt goes through them.. These wedges get worn and the point becomes rounded which will make the blade tension fluctuate during the blade stroke... that wedge should be quite pointed.. not so pointed to be sharp but not rounded over either.. My older saw was rounded some and gave me the tension issue.. I just sanded each side until it was pointed again.. but they recommend buying new ones and sometimes the saw arms need sent in to me re machined.. I think this is talked about in the videos.. Seems like a good deal from what I can see in the pictures Hawk does mention that they have had some of these saws come back for repair where the motor shaft broke You can watch the videos on their site that will give out info on wear points etc and problems they have had with them etc. You can either go to their site or youtube and watch the videos.. Lots of good info on them if you watch all of them.. Here is a link to their website video page. Any questions after watching these.. give a shout out and someone here may have an answer.. http://www.bushtonmanufacturing.com/Videos.html Rather watch on youtube here is a link to the channel, https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFgc95v5zaz0G80IQChHJ2w/videos

Harvey has drawn both a BIGFOOT and a YETI... The Yeti seems to be a favorite so that's what I display at events.

I did the pattern attached . The cupid came from a Steve Good pattern and the rest came from a pattern posted here. cupid napkin holder.pdf

"Veining" was the original way of showing definition to a cutting. Once the computer and the very talented designers learned how and what the machine could do, veining was not used as much. The pattern you have is using that technique on the letters for that definition as a Halloween design. Veining can and is still used but not as much as it once was. Erv

OH MY that is me,I have 3 cutting plaques started,and another one brewing in my mind..Love the comic strip.

Beautiful pen, Thank you for all the great information.. I'm glad I asked the question as I almost just bought it and gave it a try for myself.. I didn't realize there was casting type and all the other types.. so who knows what my out come would have been because of these different types.. Again Thank you for taking the time to shed some light on the topic,

I vote for the 2" and use birchbark' technique to make it look proportional.

That is a great idea!

I'm late i see. But thought i would throw my two cents in. This is the way i would save the ones you cut until you could get a pattern sized correctly. Was thinking something like this. Russell

Gorgeous piece of work Dave. Can't add much to what's already been said, but I occasionally have used filled gallon paint cans for weight. And sometimes we crank on those clamps so hard that something has got to give, and usually it's the alignment of the pieces being glued..

Clamping is hard and frustrating. I have several jigs, but none really make it easier. I am going to get a strap clamp one of these days and try it. Lately I have been using Titebond Quick and thick glue. It is very tacky and just holding it in place for around20 seconds it set enough that I can then add clamps. The more I us it the more I like it, and it dries clear. However, I have not used it long enough to know how good it holds long term. Ask me again in a couple years. That is a beautiful box, Dave. You always set the bar so high.

My first project was a big one. I am working on developing my technique of creating layered cartoon style scroll saw art. I spent roughly 40 hours on this project. The dimension (including frame) are 15.5"x21.5". I used naturally colored wood with no stains along with stained glass to pull this off. Aside from the silhouette layers, I did not use any paints. As for the woods, I used Padauk, Yellowheart, Walnut, Bloodwood, Oak, Figured Maple, Sapele, Aspen, Tigerwood and Mahogany. If you want to see more of my process - here is a link to the full build album https://imgur.com/gallery/BeB2nKi.