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I’ve been busy over the past couple of weeks producing this group in between multiple doctor appointments, blood work, CT Scan, Colonoscopy and a short, but much needed, vacation trip to wine country of North Georgia. We had a grand time taking in all the Wineries. We drank and purchased a lot of wine over the 4 day trip. All the medical stuff is to do with a gastro problem that hopefully is resolved. The big C was negative. I’m told I just need to get MORE fiber. However, I also needed to get cleared for, in late July after another trip to Virginia Beach for family get together vacation, a scheduled partial knee replacement. FUN RIGHT? I’m hopeful it will be a short recovery until I can sit at the scroll saw and operate the foot pedal again. I presume the recovery period in order to be able to ride my motorcycle again will take considerably longer. Now back to bragging about my project. I converted the patterns for the following projects from various free stencils or illustrations available on line. These projects were made to supplement my portfolio to include pieces that may be more attractive to the local beach community citizens who frequent the Gallery that I exhibit in. All pieces are my typical construction using 5/32” Maple or Walnut Solid Core Ply Cut panels affixed to hand painted 1/4” BB ply backers. All cutting using Pegas #2/0, #0 and/or #1 spiral blades. All hand painting was done with Artist Acrylic paints. Panels were finished with multiple coats of Clear Glossy Lacquer. All the Frames are simple 1 3/4" wide Poplar, stained and then finished with multiple coats of Satin Wipe-on Poly or painted. Mermaid and Fish, 11X17, Painted Black cut panel affixed to a BB ply backer. Frame Painted Black. Crane on One Leg, 11x17 Fishing Boat, 11x14 Sailboats, 11x14 Sailboat at Sea. 11x14 Crab 11x14 Jelly Fish, 11x14 Octopus, 11x14. (The hand painting on this piece could have been a loot better.)

This is similar to the bottle opener a few weeks ago. I decided that all bottle / lid openers did not have to be turned handles. Niles bottles stoppers sells this lid can opener. It looked liked it could save some cat lady's finger nails. Ok my wifes nails. So I hand drew some cat face on paper and and put it on some really hard dense wood Purple heart. I tapped the wood. Then I scroll sawed the cat face. The cat has a really shiney nose. I used CA glue on the threads like lock tight. I want the grip of the lid opener handle similar to a base ball. Your fingers goes around the handle to get a better pull. Added bottle opener. 1inch thick acrylic. Drilled and tapped for bottle opener. Cut with Pegas #11 skip, really slow motor speed. No melting was done. Arrowhead for a friend that likes NFL. He named his cat "Chief".

I decided to make this for my wife's return home after 3 weeks away from me. I thought it just might be better for me if I made her a return gift, since I have been busy in my shop making requests and nothing for her. See, I really am a little smarter than you all thought I was. This is a Steve Good pattern that has a riser on it so that it really is not totally attached to the backer board so when the lighting is right, it looks almost 3D. I made another frame attempt to set it off. I hope she likes it when I bring her home tomorrow. Dick heppnerguy

The closest I have is courier new - bold (it maybe bold italic as I can't see from picture) If you do not want the centers to fall out you will have to use your eraser. If this does not work let me know and I will explore some more.

I had been buying lumber and some plywood for some time. I have not bought any this year as I have enough to last me quite a few years now at the pace i work at. Pretty happy about that after reading the horror stories on SSV and other forums about the price of lumber.

I used a cardinal pattern by Kathy Wise and added the Dogwood. Used bloodwood, red oak, cedar, walnut, aspen, yellow heart, canary and poplar. My client loved it.

I keep a can of it around and every once in a while I use it, but very rarely. Mostly I use it for Intarsia. if I have to remake a small piece. I usually just spray the back of the pattern and attach it directly to the wood. I will use the mineral spirits to remove the pattern and clean up the glue from the small piece of wood. Only takes a couple of minutes. Other than that, never use the stuff.

The last piece I got was a 4x8 sheet at the lumber yard in my town and paid $35. That was last June or July. I’m not sure how much it is now. It was cheaper there than at the retail hardware store- menards.

This is the senior softballplaque of a young mother who died far, far too young. Her family has asked me to create a new version with her son's name and I would like to try to match the typeface if I can. Any and all suggestions are appreciated! Hopefully, someone recognizes it. I am searching on dafont with some hope.

A quick project. Steve Good pattern, reduced 50%. A piece of tongue and groove pine that I removed the t&g. Gnome and letters all off cuts from other projects.

Firstly I wanted to make just tractor, than added grass and fence, then decided to add background - barn and trees, so came out whole countryside scene. Tractor pattern Video of making tractor project

This is beautiful. Excellent bird breast. The grain on the breast just make you feel the roundness of a real bird.

Rather than buying brush cleaner I use MS for that purpose. It is also an appropriate oil base paint thiner (art paint or house paint). Yes I clean my hands with it also. In the past I did NOT wear latex gloves when finishing but I do now and my use of MS for hand cleaning has gone way down. I will ocasionally spray the spray adheasive inside if it is raining, being careful to use a drop cloth or paper, but overspray can get on things...the MS will remove it. It will even clean up greesy tools when working on machinery of any kind. I buy it by the half gallon and it lasts a long time. You can get it in small (quart I think) cans also. I find it handy to keep around.

Still here. We just can't find a place that is comfortable on a year round basis. Too hot, too cold, too humid. Yada yads yada. And, we're old. So, we'll just stay here and ignore the politics and high cost of living. Oh, and the ever-increasing crowds.

I stain my backers so I use it to clean up my hands,

I don't see any increase in the price of hardwoods at least nothing like construction lumber, 2x4, 2x6, plywood, etc, simply because hardwoods are not used for construction! Now the cabinet companies will or already have, raised their price because they can say the wood price increased for hardwoods also which it hasn't! Personally I don't thank it will as what I have ordered this year is still the same price as last year! The construction lumber has increased in price at one time, 4 times what it was priced at in 2019 and is still about 3 times as much! This is just my opinion, take it for what it is worth! Erv

I cut sitting on the patio on the west side of the house. Mornings are great and in later afternoons, there is a 50 foot maple tree shading me. With a breeze, it is quite tolerable--except on the 90 degree, high humidity days we had last week. I have placed a floor fan blowing up my back when I am on a deadline and have to fight the humidity.

Good looking pattern. Is that one of Pedro's ( Finescrollsaw ) ? I would love to do one...but don't think I have the skills or for sure the patience lol.

Here in SW MO it went from 65* first of the month to 85* for a week then 90*+ now! I got out the window A/C a few days ago and shoved it in the only window in the shop. It's only a 5,000btu but that's the only one that would fit in the window, but where I have my scroll saw I can direct the cold air right on me My shop is a 18 x 30 metal building I had put up 3 yrs ago. The cement floor helps in the summer...not so much in the winter. The first winter after it was finished I stumbled on a great deal on insulation! A guy from KS was doing a large spray foam job in my area and had enough leftover chemicals to do my shop. Rather than just throw away the chemicals he just charged me the labor and turned my shop into an Igloo cooler! Like Kevin, I have trees that shade it from noonish on so the baby A/C will keep it tolerable most days.

You still in CA? I thought you moved to somewhere in TN a while back?

Fantastic work. I love the crane!

This got me to looking. I get my BB ply from Ocooch, in Aug '20 I got 12 x 12 x 1/8 for $0.93 ea. and 12 x 12 x 1/4 for $1.55. Now 12 x 12 x 1/4 is $2.16 ea. and they don't even have 12 x 12 x 1/8 . I've never seen them out of 1/8 or 1/4 before! Wonder what the price will be when they get some again? I also checked Walnut and Poplar from that Aug. order...and they are the same price today...? It looks like just plywood is going sky high...for now. Now for the $64,000 question. Do you "assume" hardwood will do the same shortly and buy a bunch now...or just get what you need and ride it out?

fantastic work

I really like the theme you've chosen. The execution is exceptional. Thanks for sharing. Steve

That is still a big percentage jump.

Hey Ray, at first your suggestion fell flat because being a chronic DIY man just didn't want to saw concrete block. But then I just thought about writing the check and have someone else do the work putting in a wall banger. Have a perfect spot for it. Probably will get some estimates this week to improve my "man cave" or affectionately known as my home away from home.

They are Fantastic!!! Love the Octopus.

Well done, as always, Frank! I particularly like the jelly fish and would purchase it if I could visit your gallery.

My 2 favorites are: The jellyfish has great coloring. The inner tenacles captures the curled flat texture really well. The mermaid has some really artistic smooth curves with flare. The mermaid in colors might make it better. The butterfly fish would stand out more. But I have no clue what colors to use. This is just a thought for the next time you do this mermaid.

Check out their price on 1/2'

Ray, I think the Seyco saw is made in the same place the Pegas, King, and Jet saws are made as well as the "old" Excalibur. I think the only saw made in the USA is PSWoods and Hawk. Last I knew PSWood saws was doing a redesign of the saw and they currently are not selling any until the new one comes out, IF it does ever.. as this has been the case now for over a year and maybe more like 2-3 years. I looked into buying one back when I bought the new Hawk. Much cheaper saw but a lot less bells and whistles for a production cutter that would make it not very productive. Seem well built.. just blade changing and other things needed improvement.. but again, you sometimes get what you pay for.. Those saws are only $550 - 750 depending on what one you get.. as opposed to the $1200 - 1500 for a Hawk.

Well it's definitely a job as I do this full time. If you like working for yourself and working hard it can be living from selling crafts. Not easy to do, we did it for a while solely on selling my crafts but feeding 3 teens made money quite tight, ..

@octoolguy Thank you! I knew there was a way to do it, but I'm unfamiliar with this platform. That bowl looks like it took a lot of dedication. It's beautiful. I have to admit that the inlay (?) in the bottom dish is interesting to me. I always wondered how people did that. I'd be interested in creating mosaic pictures. It would be about as close to purely ornamental as I would get. It seems like it'd be a good skill to have for making decorative accents in furniture, too. Very nice work. My interest in US-made gear is highest, as I think we should be supporting the economy of the region we live in, but my main concern is quality control. China has a bad record there. I'd gladly use a German or Swiss tool, even if it's made in Taiwan, as long as it's good. I'd use a Chinese tool if it was truly a quality tool, but their record in that regard has caused me to default as far from that potential garbage as possible. That isn't the first time I've read that Excalibur turned to garbage when they switched to Chinese manufacturing, either, and I've only been looking into this for a couple of days now. That doesn't bode well for them.

Great work!

I just have a strong fan. I don’t open the garage door unless I have to.

Kmmcrafts, I don't want to get too personal, but would it be ok to ask how much business you do? I don't want a dollar amount; I guess I'm asking if you could hypothetically live solely off of your scroll saw work. You don't have to tell me if you do or not. You have a LOT of impressive items on your website. I cannot even imagine the number of hours you put into just what I see online. It would be interesting to know if it's a decent profit generator. Even if it just paid for your own woodworking addiction, it'd be worthwhile to me. Don't worry, I'm not likely to be competing with you at any point soon. I don't even know what I'd make yet. Or own a saw. Or have any ideas.

Howdy all. Looks like SSV crashed. Thanks to @meflick for letting me know. If SSV is down and you can't access it, feel free to email me at travis[at]scrollsawvillage.com to let me know. I only pop in a couple times a day to check on things. This week, I'm on holiday, so I'm a little less frequent. Otherwise, I won't notice until I try to log in again. An email will allow me to get thing fixed right away. Thanks all!

I am in NC where it also can get very toasty. I cool my 660 sq shop with a window A/C unit. It has an economy setting and a thermostat. It runs 24 x7 during the summer and does not greatly effect my electric. The thermostat is at 78. Remember it takes less energy to maintain a temperature at a fixed level then to try to raise or low the temperature even 5 or 10 degrees. Now my shop is insulated including having an insulated roll up garage door. The other things AC does is to lower humidity which then reduces rust.

You could move to Nipawin Saskatchewan, temp seldom goes over 75F we have AC in the house , use about 3 days in a summer.

Cut this over the spring, but just now posting it. I have decided I HATE cutting letters out like that. It's soo much harder to cut them I had to tape a playing card down to the table to keep the opening tight so the letters wouldn't just fall through. Made with curly maple and some walnut.

I was in yesterday and it shutdown on me. I thought " o my golly, I broke it."

Well I myself don't go down to my shop during the day, I am down there before daybreak, I suffer from sleep apnea, so I am up before the chickens, down at my shop by 4am and normally back up at the house by 9am. I do have a small fan just incase of warm mornings, like this morning.

Build yourself a little igloo with a couple sheets of insulation and get one of those portable AC units is probably your best option. My shop stays pretty cool so long as I keep the place shut up. But my shop is two levels and I have to say, I'd never build another shop that is single level. Upstairs loft is quite warm. Today the temp is 92F and the shop is 76F. I don't have AC in the shop. Do have if partly insulated and do have heat for the winter finally this last winter installed a heater. I am fortunate to have a large oak tree and a large maple tree that shades the shop from direct sun light from noon throughout the rest of the day. But I do get direct sun in the morning

I think i'll leave it for 24hrs. Maybe. I'm not a real patient fella.

I have not found one coat solutions. For me it's spray, sand, spray, sand spray. That's a minimum for me. The first layer raises a bit of wood fiber. Subsequent layers are smoother. I usually have a terrible time with finishing. Guess I'm not patient enough.

Yep! Taxes can get stuffed.

My father has made several. All of his grown kids have one.

Rocky I have made about 6 or 7 fretwork clocks and I always use hardwood. The best place to get good quality hardwood and is sized correctly is Ocooch. https://ocoochhardwoods.com/scroll-saw-lumber/ Just my opinion. No, it's not cheap and shipping is outrageous. I also order a little extra just in case. I'm sorry, but plywood just wouldn't look nice for a clock. My opinion. If you do decide to use hardwood, keep it in it's original packaging until ready to use. The larger width pieces may curl or cup on you. Or you can find a way to keep it flat with weights until you are ready to start cutting. Most all the time after you cut it will not curl or cup. If you decide to finish the clock before assembly I would use Aleene's glue That stuff seems to stick to everything. I use it all the time with great results on finished projects. I just finished a fretwork clock about 2 weeks ago that I finished before assembly and I used Aleene's Tacky glue. https://thebuzz.aleenes.com/content/aleenes-original-tacky-glue-inducted-afci-product-hall-fame It's quite cheap also. Good luck with your project. Ben

No, I spray house paint and cheap craft acrylics. You will need a larger tip size and thin the paint some. I only use distilled water to thin. Chemicals in the water can react with chemicals in the paint and cause problems.

25 or so years ago, I had a Badger air brush and compressor kit I bought at a local hobby shop. I used it for my toys that I made. Mostly children's musical banks. It played a tune every time you dropped a coin in it. I liked it a lot but found I was spending way too much time on making toys, working 6 days a week, and just worn out. I did that for about 2 years and finally quit doing that and gave my scroll saw and other power tools a rest for about 2 years or so.. I finally sold my Badger compressor and all the spray equipment. About a year later i was sorry i did. I loved that little sprayer and very quiet compressor. I wish I still had it today.