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We're having our fair this week here in Lamar, so I decided to enter some of my work in the Hobby Show. Lamar is the county seat and we have the old county court house and square in downtown. Instead of being in a building with rows of tables, they have businesses on the square offer their front windows for the show. So I got the use of a window and setup a display. They judged today...and I won first place blue ribbon!! I have to thank all of you folks also for all the tips, tricks, help, and friendship to get better at this insanity we call scroll sawing.

Translation: Family: Where life begins ... And love never ends Hello friends, a small detail to decorate your home, I hope you like it, greetings to all.

So I cut a few new puzzles this week (I already posted the Dinosaur scene: I also used my trim router for the 2nd time ever and did an Roman Ogee edge - first time doing an edge to a frame. It's been awhile that I've cut any frames and it's taking me a bit to get back into the swing of it, only destroyed 3 pieces of frame wood LOL It's kind of hard to see in the pics, but the arrows "point" the way LOL Frame #2 The both need staining/finishing Here's the colored dino set in one of them Thanks as always in advance for reading!

I cut this pattern without too many problems When I first got started. I used a #2 and #3 and 14/inch ply. It is tricky but 1/8 I think is going to cause a problem particularly on the up stroke of the blade if the blade is a modified geometry6 or reverse tooth both will give the 1/8 th stuff fits..

What material you cutting? I'm going to assume you're using 1/8" BB plywood When I first started scrolling I had a little trouble with this type of stuff.. what worked well for me is going up to a #3 blade and stack cutting them in a stack of 3-4 pieces.. Those small blades will drift real easy if you push at all to either side etc..

Pattern used off of Animal patterns from the library pattern by Grampa , used a #5 spiral blade on 1/4 inch BB ply and black photo mount board just need to stain and frame

H. Botas pattern from the pattern department. 1/8" BB, 50/50 BLO, #2/0 Pike blade. Will not frame. I've stopped framing projects. I don't sell so unframed projects take up less room. Most things will go to the landfill eventually. If someone wants it I'll give it a couple shots of laquer.

1/4" plywood ,acrylic paint,10/0 brush,4.25"tall x 3.5 wide each letter and takes over 45 minutes to do!!!

I tried to cut the pattern below, but had lost of trouble with the small port windows on the side and aft of the ship I could use some guidance on you all cut those types of fretwork as it really p'd me off and I threw out the cut. I was using a MG #1, on speed 2 trying to go very slow but I kept going outside the line of the port, which caused me to cut into the port next to the one I was cutting For example the 4 little ports towards the rear of the ship Thanks in advance for reading and your assistance

There are some nice cuts. when I have made an error like that and it is the end of the project, one trick i use is to take a nail and put some wood glue on it. the use the nail to spread the glue. It isnt perfect, but unless someone gets right up to it, no one will know. Just a thought.

All great advice above. Nothing new I can add other than, using a zero clearance adapter so the really thin cuts don'y blow out the back or break.

Just an idea, try drilling your entrance holes on either side of the window separators then you will only have to cut along the line. Give yourself a bit of waste then you can sneak up on the line.

You could cut a triple stack of 1/8 with a #1 blade with a lot more control than a single 1/8 (#1 modified geometry is my go to blade -- my last couple pieces I cut 3/4 and 1" with it)-- and yes cutting with a duller blade does help with control but not so much at the 1/8 level. You could also try a 2/0 (even those I at least double stack even if I'm just wasting a piece) -- I will usually cut the longer easier cuts until the blade has the edge dulled a bit -- then go in for the delicate ones -- however - slowing the blade speed down doesn't always help with control. In fact I think I've turned my speed away from maximum twice only. Both times I turned it back up as soon as the blade dulled a bit. The thing to control is the speed you feed the wood into the blade. I have found high speed blade - slow feed into the blade works best for me -- slow is smooth - smooth is fast Also there is an alternative -- nobody knows what it's supposed to look like so you could always go with round ports there or a pair of rectangular ones -- change it up to what's possible for you to do rather than fight it until you get better at the control (practice practice practice). It is a very nice piece but it also has potential to be altered in certain ways that can make it your own instead of a copy and with less frustration

Practice makes perfect. On the site here Travis has some practice Pages for cutting. I don’t remember where they are but They always help when you practice cutting thin wood with a very fine blade.

Perhaps you would do better with a smaller and less aggressive blade. Hard to say not knowing what material you are cutting.

Steve Good made the suggestion at one time that using a slightly dull blade can help. Haven't tried it myself, YMMV. Tom

Nice looking pattern . Looks like there are a lot of smaller delicate cuts in it. Besides the ones you mentioned, the mans legs, the rigging for the sails etc. What are you cutting this out of ? How thick is the wood ? I have done a lot of delicate cutting and there are many ways to correct some of these issues. But for me they differ with the wood and thickness.

Done as a favour for a friend.

All good stuff Frank. I did a you tube video a while back when I did the '57 Chevy. On very small holes I will grind a point on the tip of the blade end entering the hole. I did a 57 Studebaker and the grill had over 400 holes. I ended up "nibbling" all the holes rather than trying to make turns. This topic has been touched on before also, adjusting the "bite" angle of the blade by rotating the motor may help also.

Overcutting is a symptom of over aggressiveness. This could be the saw, the blade or the operator, or any combination of the 3. What kind of saw do you have? Excalibur style saws can be adjusted to be more or less aggressive in the cutting stroke. For delicate stuff like this, I use the smallest blade that is practical. I also avoid using a fresh, sharp blade for these cuts. Being a little dull gives you more control. Use caution when drilling entry holes, because if they are too close to the line and there is blowout on the back, it will weaken the bridge to the point that giving it the stink eye will cause it to break. Cutting thicker stock offers more resistance to the blade and helps provide a little more control. Also, slowing down both glade speed and feed rate helps. Finding the right blend of all of these factors is the key to successfully cutting delicate fretwork.

As a newbie, I am probably doing something that is NOT correct or proper technique, so take this with a grain of salt. When I have had a similar situation where the cut out is not much bigger than the blade access hole and close to another cut out area, I don't try to cut it out by following the line. I will eat away the material easing up to the pattern line with the tooth edge of the blade, actually gently moving the work side to side. I have found that little squares like what you have there is easy to do this way. You do need to use a very gentle touch when pushing the work into the blade. Small cut outs like that are easy to clean up afterwards with needle flles.

I bought and cut this pattern a few years ago for a friend who is a lighthouse nut. I used 1/4" BBPW on a oak backer. My wife painted the plaque. For detailed and small cuts, I use a 3/0 31 tooth Puzzle blade. I buy them by the gross because the do break and get dull fast, especially on PW but they are the best for control in tight spaces and I always cut on the slowest speed with my EX-16. I thought your cutting looked great and if you hadn't mentioned any issues, I wouldn't have noticed it. SHARKTOOTH Scroll Saw Blades Superior Puzzle Blades Top Quality Blade for intricate puzzle cutting is one of our best sellers!! The package of 1 dozen blades are size 3/0, 31 teeth per inch and requires drill bit size 68-71. Recommended for cutting woods approximately 1/16" to 1/4" thick

Excellent cutting skills!!!

Great choice.

I made this Hot Rod as an experiment to see if I could use woos with knots. It was a pain to cut and sand, but I like the look of my rat rod.

nice stuff!!! i try to stay away from making frames...for some reason no matter how careful i am the first 3 sides come out good but 4th never seems to fit lol

Trackman Looks great.. I thought I might be a little stingy with my blade usage. I must have misread the statement about 5 - 7 blades for one piece, perhaps it was that many for whole set. The set I am working on is similar to yours (classic set from a book of 15 chess sets) mainly for the practice. I would also like to make a more modern set with some inlay.

Bill Yes I am waiting for polar blades before I make any more attempts. I am interested in seeing the difference. Speaking of blades I had an entry level Band saw that I was about to throw out the window. Before doing so I purchased an olson blade ..Hell, it was a night and day difference. I actually use my band saw now. Only issue is it cuts to about 3.75 I wish it was 6" only reason I would replace it now.

Guys like you should be banned from the site. !!! jerry

excellent work with clean cuts!

very nice

WOW CONGRATULATIONS. Well deserved. Marg

Thanks all, Yes, using 1/8" bb - stack cut 2. I normally would use a MG #3 for these, but figured they were so small a smaller blade would be better Thanks again for the direction - greatly appreciated!

That is awesome!! How did you get in contact with them? Or did you just go back to where you bought it?

I have the China made scroll saw. I happy to report that General International is sending a new EX21.!!!!!!!!!!!!!! They have insured me that before it is shipped they will make certain there are no problems. I am excited about there decision to help me. Fred B.

A customer is doing a fundraiser for a lady she works with who has breast cancer. So I thought I would do Sue Mey's pattern for her.

@BadBob sending you a PM lets work something out if you want both of them.

Great way to pass the day and nice work.

very nice

Class les, am going to cut this and put it on my bedroom wall it has to be a good start to the day if you open ur eyes and the first thing u see is that looking at you lol, I also don't sell just give aways lately I have been taking photos of ppls dogs redrawing them and cutting them to make doggie dream catchers with the dogs name on it Gordon

I have always loved this pattern, I will never cut it but I love it. Great work Les you did a fine job. Marg

I was getting down a box in the shop to find something & this nice piece of cherry was laying in the bottom......not sure where I got it but I couldn't think of a better way to use it.....another "Tree Of Life Cross" plaque......9 x 12.......5 coats of semi gloss Deft.....chamfered edges......it will be a gift for my mom later today.

I made this Norm Marshall car years ago and kept all these years. I made a lot of them. I don't remember if I used a scroll saw when I made these, but I did have one. A cast iron AMT brand scroll saw I no longer own, but it is still being used. I gave it o a friend after I bought my EX21. How long ago did I make these? Pretty close to forty years ago.

Here's a few of mine that I've done over the years.

I can only think of one thing I've cut that has wheels....or that I plan to cut that has wheels. But, I'm a military history nut, so I had to cut this Steve Good pattern:

My son in law has one just like this

Here,s one patterned by our own chief cook an bottle washer a long time ago.

How about a lawnmower...LOL? It has wheels! I did this a month or two ago for a local business.

Ohhh Boy... I'm looking forward to this one.. Only thing is.. I need to pick one or maybe a few of my car projects since I have over 60 car clocks listed on various websites not to mention puzzles, portraits and ornaments.. I'm going to have to think about what ones have the best story to go along with them.. I guess since you said your first car was a 83 Camaro.. I'll start with one of those, LOL.. I'll think about something personal and post it along with a story behind it I suppose..

Awesome, Are you glad you waited 1 year to decide on that one, LOL Those are great saws.. Ray is a great guy and Seyco is a great company to deal with should you ever need anything.. He has helped me and is currently helping me with a saw that he doesn't even support.. The China made Excalibur..