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I am a huge music fan, especially Bluegrass. I decided to do this Charles Dearing pattern, with a few minor variations, and it took me a bit longer to cut and finish it than I thought it would, but hey, it was Covid time so it doesn’t really matter. I am sometimes having a tough time staying focused on the task at hand, which is definitely not my norm. A lot of Bluegrass songs feature the word “breakdown” (i.e.Foggy Mountain Breakdown), so I decided to call my version of this, “Covid Breakdown.” As is my norm, it is pretty small at 8 1/2”x 6,” and was mainly cut with Pegas 2/0 and #1 spiral blades. I hope you all enjoy it.

I finished this vase and these bird wall hangers this morning. I used bamboo for the birds and think I will use it on something else. I thought it might be hard to work with but it was easier to work than I thought. Onward through the fog.........

In my previous post under Scrollers Q&A about preparing wood before painting, in his reply Dave Monk included a pic of his cut from this pattern by Jenevski that can be found in the SVV Patterns Library. It kind of jumped out at me, and since Eagles is my favorite subject, I just had to cut it. The cut panel is 5/32” x 11” x 14” Solid Core Birch plywood which I affixed to a 1/4” x 12” x 15” BB ply backer. Cutting was completed with a Pegas #0 spiral blade. Coloring of the backer was completed a little different for this project. I did prep the panel with a sealer and then used Krylon Spray Paint with Primer to paint the Red, Blue and Gold. I did use a lot of blue painters tape to mask off the various areas so I could paint each color. Of course, after all painting and assembly was completed I protected the panel with multiple coats of Clear Gloss Lacquer. The frame is 1 3/4” wide Poplar that I added a store bought decorative bead detail available from Lowes. After prepping the frame with a pre-stain the frame was stained with Minwax Water Based Semi Transparent Royal Pine (Blue) stain and then finished with a coating of Minwax Water Based Polycrylic Clear Satin Protective Finish.

Young man that I consider a son is getting married tonight.

Wife is redoing my son's room and I decided to make trinkets for it. The paint color of his room is Suddenly Starfire. Which gor me thinking Teen Titans and the next pattern was a fish in the workbook. Some tweak, some color, and... Beast Boy as a Fish Number 3 blade with some picket wood. Inspired by the Gwinnett folks on Youtube. Craig of the Creek pop out picture. Done with a 2/0 which honestly didn't really like using. I do wonder if I should put a clear coat on this as it is a printed picture.

One of my customers asked me to make train layered pattern for his 60 anniversary. Usually I dont make custom orders, but I thought it could be nice pattern, and here it is Video of making Steam train Steam train pattern

Thought I'd make a few of these with different saying. Roly

Dan I would say it's totally up to you on taking it further apart.. When I did mine I took a couple of the pieces apart to expose the bearing and there was plenty of grease so there was no need to add any more.. plus I had no idea what type of grease was originally used, and many grease types are not to be mixed.. some will turn into a almost glue like substance if you mix it with another type.. I don't recommend adding grease unless you're willing to use solvent to remove all the factory grease first.. On mine.. I just assembled it and figured I'd run it a couple years and pull it apart for a clean up and fresh grease if I keep it that long.. Without a doubt the factory grease is not a high end synthetic grease like I would use if I was doing a clean and re-grease job on it.. If you're not willing to have to take it apart in a few years for a maintenance / grease job.. then maybe worth the effort for you to clean it and replace it with a good synthetic grease now while it's apart.. I just don't recommend mixing the two types of grease by simply adding to what is in there now. Good luck

Hi all I have to say I have had a talking to me as I am ashamed of me. You all keep me hooked on your work and I battel to get work out. So these are to job done. Barbara

I did a cutting of Stan a few months ago and messed his hair up. Since I see it every time I go in the shop I had to do a do-over. I'm much happier with this one. A lot of you didn't know who he was before so as a reminder he's the writer/creator of such characters as Spiderman, Ironman, Hulk, Thor and many more. He's feigning shooting his Spiderman web in this picture. Done in Red Oak with a rough cut backer. Around 7" X 13".

A couple of months ago my daughters friend asked for a Dale Cooper portrait, so I asked for help and Mahendra kindly obliged but could not do a pattern of the picture she wanted but did one of an alternative photo. Any way the girl was moving at the time and a lot of things went wrong for her so while we were waiting my daughter started messing around to see if she could make a pattern and low and behold she did. I had to do a bit of tinkering to get it cuttable but hey she loved it. She got the finished piece yesterday and she was over the moon with it. So thank you to Mahendra @multitom for going to the trouble of trying to help me. This was cut from 2.5mm bamboo and is an A3 ( 11.7" x 16.5" ) and the frame is store brought. Marg

This was a fun cut

Hi all This is a plaque im working on the a strongman / women competition.

A favorite actor of mine, Denzel Washington. Seems to be a good and wise man off the screen as well. If this actor is in it, I'll watch a movie with bad reviews just to see him act. Any guesses? I'll add his smile to see if that helps.

Trapper John, what time of day are the zoom meetings and what day of the week?

Not sure Kevin but take a bearing and wash it really well with solvent and then try to get grease to stick to it. You can eventually get it to stay on but not like it should. Cleaning solvent must not have the oil base like kerosene.

I wonder what they use at the bearing factory when making them, they use solvents during the machining process's.. typically a machining oil.. I guess it is a oil still.. typically what I use to clean out old grease is a light oil such as diesel fuel it's still oil or a light lubricant.. I think the bigger issue with solvents is that they are meant to break down oils and people do not rinse or clean off the solvents.. make sure they are completely dry etc.. Difference in a auto shop industry is it's not cost worthy of using solvents to clean as the time a mechanic spend cleaning with solvents and then scrubbing with dish soap and water to clean off solvents waiting for parts to dry.. they just replace parts as you spend $80 in labor to clean or $40 for parts.. For sure you want all the grease off before adding new grease.. unless you are for sure adding the same grease type.. many grease types if mixed will do more harm than good.. as they'll separate the oil properties and dry out the matrix. Which is the same thing as using solvents that break down the oils.. This is why engine builders wash the cylinders out with soap / water after cleaning the blocks in the solvent tanks.. No reason you cannot use solvents to clean out old grease.. just be sure to also wash off the solvents in a mild dish soap and water.. be sure it is dried out well before adding the new grease.. Blowing them with a air hose helps drying times if you have a compressor

Super cute. Well done.

Well done! Thanks for sharing and God Bless! Spirithorse

How then should the bearings be cleaned?

Finally done! 50 patterns - US states. I tried to make detailed but not to difficult contours of states, size is 9 x 5,5 inches. I cut only one pattern - Texas, I used 1/6 inch birch plywood and wood stains for finishing (recommend to use 3 stains or 3 types of wood) Video of making US state project US states patterns

Looks great!

The bridge work around the fiddle was nerve wracking.

Beautiful piece and can imagine how delicate at that size.

Awesome piece Frank!! The details in the display make a fantastic cutting look even better!

very nice job

It is good practice to protect both exposed wood and painted wood panels with a clear coat of some kind of protectorant. I like lacquer, but others use Poly and other protectorant products. Our work is usually exposed to the enviroment and not mounted under glass. Because a wood medium, and even if painted, they are suceptable to absorption of moisture and dust and dirt can build up on surfaces. A good quality finishing protectorant prevents moisture absorbsion and makes cleaning easier. Just don't forget to coat all surfaces and not just the front.

Not much action here so I'll just post something. I usually convert my patterns, especially fretwork. Perhaps it's just me but a black blade on a black and white pattern is difficult for me to see. Many designers offer their patterns in grey scale which helps me a lot but I usually take them to Office Max and have them copied in red. For me it's a big improvement. Someone here or somewhere said they liked their patterns in green. That might be good too. It's just that the pattern to blade really helps me. On another matter; I purchased a B&W laser printer. I can't justify an expensive color printer as I never print photos. I have a nice ink jet for that. I emptied the sample cartridge that came with the printer and filled it with magenta toner. Well it was impossible to get out all the black toner so my copies are sort of a blackish burgundy. I'll probably have to change toner a dozen times but eventually is should turn red. In the mean time there is still Office Max. Hopefully the photos are clear enough to demonstrate. In the second photo are those dreaded little pieces of pattern that lift up. I've been using 77M but will switch to 45M to see if that makes a difference. The blade shown is a#2/0 Pike.

Thanks Ray. Didn't think about it like that. More food for thought. Appreciate the input.

Thanks for your help.

Nice work! Glad to hear I am not the only one to turn out work slow

Just ordered a new Hegner 22" with the stand and accessory package. Hopefully I'll only cry once. I'll post updates as time allows.

Denzel Washington

Just Down Right Awesome!!!

I'LL Echo that. Best of Luck to ya.

Love your work. I may try that wine bottle holder. I don't drink wine but a bottle of RC Cola would look just as good.

I, too, much prefer patterns in red. The best are grey shading with red cut lines. I guess that I should try to learn how to use Inkscape. My printer can certainly handle it. It's an Epson colour Inkjet with refillable tanks and the ink lasts a LONG time. The initial cost is high but there is very little cost after that. I highly recommend it

I have no interest in learning inkscape. I can watch tutorials on line but being deaf I don't understand the audio. If I could I would be expired long before I could become even slightly proficient given my age and health. I was merely pointing out how well the red works. I basically did so as I was bored and not much was going on in the Village. I can only scroll so many hours day before the eyes and neck give out. I need to lower my Hegner stand but that's a whole different thread.

Great collaboration between you and your daughter! It's a really great and very recognizable portrait and the fact that you and your daughter had a hand in it will make it more special to her friend. I love the bamboo too. Haven't seen it in sheets around here. Great job!

very nice Roly

Marg, that looks awesome

The blade tightening thumb screw on my Excalibur just stripped out. Has anyone ever repaired this with a Heli-coil, M-6 thread, I believe. Seems like it might be a less expensive fix than whole mounting unit with a Pegus block..

Best of luck and hope you have a great year.

John, thank you for the update.... Since I started this thread, feel bad the I have not worked hard to keep this active. My problem is, so many projects in wood working I want to accomplish that it is really hard for me to focus on one and become proficient at it... Example, I have three projects currently active and finding it hard to stay focused on one to finish before I start the next,, part of getting old,,, having so many interests that you want to try,,, and you know time is running out!! Anyway, I did rejoin the Marquetry Society after I started this thread... If nothing else,, I enjoy their news letters, and it seems like they are working hard to keep the society going... You are aware there is a chapter in Washington over on the coast.... Not that horribly far from you... Also,,, When/before, this covid BS hit I made several trips to Portland a year,,, my daughter and her family live there... If we get back to normal in this country,,,, maybe we could meet somewhere between, some time and you could teach me something and let me see some of your wor, now that would be a challenge,, to teach me,,, wow... Also @Travis lives in the Vancouver area,,, I feel I owe him a lunch, but don't remember why, and I would like to pay my debt,,, it would be great if the three of us could some way meet up. Let me tell you, meeting and talking with people that have the same interests is pretty amazing.. and awesomely (that a word) fun... I have done it with @heppnerguy and @scrollingforsanity, and we keep in touch with phone calls and email... Some of my most cherished friendships.. Is the leaf marquetry from "The Wood Whisperer"? I remember watching one of his videos and he did a leaf like that.. And I rattle on,,,,, again thanks for the update.... Not sure "zoom" will work on my desktop Mac Mini, but I will look into it. May have to dig my wife's old shattered Ipad out of the garbage and use it... She will no let me touch her brand new one.. Thanks, again, John,, please keep posting about marquetry.... gets me pumped up!!

The Marquetry discussion seems to have tapered off. Since last posting I have joined the "American Marquetry Society" and participated in a few of the weekly Zoom meetings conducted by its parent, "The Marquetry Society." This group is based in England and the attendees comprise a most helpful group of well-established marqueteers. Their work is most impressive and their willingness to share and discuss technique reflects patience (no doubt a benefit enhanced by the practice of the art form) and experience. For a rank beginner like me, the difficulty with this informal structure is that at present I have nothing to show or discuss. Ernie Mills, the U.S. Rep, has a website known as "Marquetry Magic," ( See www.marquetrymagic.com) which is well worth visiting. Be sure to check out the section entitled "Tutorials.". After selecting this option scroll all the way to the bottom of the screen and select the link to "The Beginner's Guide." After introductory material is covered there is a section entitled "Basic Techniques" which is well worth your time to review. The basic "Leaf Pattern" seems to be a classic introduction to the window method of cutting veneer. There are also several variants of the exercise to be found on Youtube. No matter your skill level this exercise is well worth the small amount of time and materials required to complete it. For this novice the simple act of cutting the first piece of veneer was a learning experience, in that I quickly found that choice of knife handles and blades was important to my success. If it doesn't "feel" right to me I tend to distract myself and to begin fussing with my work. (I also learned that not all #11 Xacto replacement blades are created equally, but that's another story.) Although I ultimately plan to use a scroll saw for my marquetry work, I concluded that learning several different approaches to cutting and developing "windows" into my work would only be helpful. Ernie Mills has been most encouraging and helpful in launching my efforts and I highly recommend joining the American Marquetry Society for its benefits. Since marquetry, as opposed to inlay, is a relatively obscure approach to woodworking and art (especially in the U.S.) it would be useful to have a regular forum for exchange of ideas and information about projects on this site.

I thought I would post this group of cuts so you did not need to read the same thing over and over. These are all patterns converted from ZM Creations Illustrations. All of these portraits were completed in a similar way with a smaller sized 5/32” thick solid core plywood cut panel affixed to a larger 1/4” thick BB plywood backer. Each backer was sealed, then coated with the white Krylon Spray Gesso (Acrylic Paint primer) and the 1” borders were painted in various rattle can Krylon Fusion All-In-One Matt colors. The areas under the open cut areas were colored with Acrylic Art Paints, using the original illustrations as a guide. As usual, each panel was protected with multiple coats of clear gloss spray Lacquer. Each cut, being quite simple, was completed in less than one 3-4 hour session. That was a one per day but painting and framing added many hours to each. Cuttings were completed with Pegas #1 MGT R and/or #2/0 spiral blades. Each panel was set loose in a simple 1 3/4” wide Poplar frame that I applied a coat of pre-stain conditioner followed by a coat of Minwax Brazilian Gel Stain and protected with coat of Spray satin Polyurethane. Peacock: 9” x 10 ¼” Maple Toucan: 9”X12” Maple Birds3: 9” x 10 3/4” Maple Birds4: 11 1/2” x 9” Birch Bird5: 9” x 9” Birch Bird6: 6” x 11 3/4” Maple The following .zipx file contains all of these patterns including the Simple Eagle. Birds - ZM Creations.zipx Hope you enjoy!

One of the greats, Ray Charles. Done in 1/2" Red Oak, around 6" X 8".

Hello friend, this time I show you the bike I made. I am a fan of all types of motorcycles. I hope you like the work, it is pine wood in 3/4 inch, length 13 "high 9" Thank you very much in advance for your comments.

Now, I know absolutely nothing about bikes, but a friend asked if I could do this for him. I've never painted anything before as I prefer plain wood and plain backers however I said I'd give it a try. Just hope he likes it as it's going to the USA and I don't want it back. It's a gift so he can do with it as he wishes. It was, to me, a pain in the backside to get right, so I doubt I'll do another one

The original pattern was clockmans. Jim Blume revised it to cut 8.5x11. it pushed the limits that small