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I have a neighbor a couple of houses from us and her husband has had cancer and she told me he was now on hospice and not doing very well. They are really nice people and I wanted to be sure and have a memorial plaque done to give her when the time comes so I cut it yesterday and I have it ready for that sad and lonely time. So sorry to hear about his suffering. I know his wife will be very lonely when that day gets here and she no longer will have his companionship. This is a Sue Mey pattern from her site....www.scrollsawartist.com Dick heppnerguy

I have an old friend that has purchased and donated crosses to her church that are given to new people who join their church. She orders about 50 at a time. I found out she donates them to her church and felt bad that I had charged her for them but I kept the cost at rock bottom and not even sure if I collected enough to pay supplies and postage, but I was ok with that aspect of it. Anyway I decided to make her one of these crosses that I have gifted to other people also and we have one hanging in our house too. It is just a thank you for supporting my efforts throughout the years. She has purchased some of my woodwork for birthday and Christmas gifts in the past. Dick heppnerguy

My boss's sister passed away last year. A few months ago I made him an over-sized heart key chain with her name on it. A few weeks ago his mother came down and saw it and loved it. He asked me if I could make something for her with her daughter's name on it. Wayne made me a pattern of something he uses for people who have passed away. I finally finished it last night. Wayne, thank you very much for the pattern! I used a FD UR1 which I had to practice with to get the hang of a regular blade again after using spirals for so long! 1/4" BB ply with 1/8" ply as the backer stained with something I found in the shop. Rattle can spray for the finish.

Made this for my wife's cousin who has a few goats and chickens. Goat stencil from Etsy and added the text. Made from some very old pine from a door frame I picked up on the roadside.

Some of you might know how difficult it is to keep a scrolling project a secret from a better half that likes to visit you in your shop and see what you are making. That was the case with this project. I’m hosting a family get together in Virginia Beach the third week of July that includes my Son and his wife, my Daughter and her husband along with my Lady and myself. It has been about 10 years since we were all together. I’m trying to make this vacation a little special as us all being together at one time is difficult to arrange. We live in different parts of the country, namely NC, NY and FL. Back in early May, Danny Knappen had posted a couple of Sue May Pattern Dream Catchers he made that caught my eye and decided I would make one for each of the ladies as a surprise, hence the need to keep the project secret from my Lady. Sue May has a couple of offering including a Dragonfly that is perfect for my DIL and a Hummingbird that is good for my Lady, but wanted something different for my Daughter. I found a Butterfly pattern on-line that worked well. I stack cut 1/4” thick solid Walnut for the circular body. The creatures were cut from 1/4” solid Maple affixed to a hand painted 1/16” thick plywood backer material I found in Hobby Lobby. The feathers are cut from 1/8” thick solid Walnut and Maple. All cutting was done using Pegas #2/0 and #0 spiral blades. Based on the write up that came with the pattern, I decided to fancy up the cutting by adding Gold colored beads and a hanging chain, which I added after the wood work was all assembled and finished with many coats of clear Gloss Lacquer. The feathers and beads were fixed in place with Cyanoacrylate Glue. I spent a lot of time in the beading section of Hobby Lobby trying to find what I wanted/needed. Deciding on what chain to use and finding tiny screw eyelets was difficult. Cutting and assembling the various parts of the Dream Catchers, times three, was very time consuming. Not something I would care to do on a regular basis, but I enjoyed doing it for these special gifts. I now need to find some approximately 12” square by 2” deep boxes to bubble wrap, store and carry them in, as they are quite fragile. I may have to resort to some Pizza boxes from my local Pizza place . Thanks for reading! Yep, the Butterfly got placed a tad bit off center during glue up. I don't think it will matter to my Daughter.

Regarding the clock, I'm glad you chose the maple & walnut. For a project like that, I think you will like the results much better than using stained BB play. Use any glue that works with wood for assembly, but check the fit several times before committing to permanent assembly. Spray it with the the clear coat of your choice. A project like that is a little hard to use a brush or rag to apply a finish, so spraying is easiest. As for resawing on a table saw; It is certainly doable, but not something I would necessarily recommend for anyone who is unfamiliar or uncomfortable with using a TS. You need to have really good control of your off cuts. If you resaw on a TS, make more than one pass to rip the entire thickness. If it's wider than you can resaw with the blade the whole way up, you can flip it over and cut from the other edge to maximize the width of stock you can rip. However, if your last pass cuts the rest of the way through the wood, the off cut could get caught in the blade as it falls away and kick back at the operator. Some folks will leave a narrow strip in the center uncut to hold both pieces together. This can then be finished with a hand saw and cleaned up with a block plane. Not the easiest method, but the safest. If you are resawing thin pieces, make sure they can't fall down inside the gap in the throat plate. A zero clearance throat plate should be used.

Hi All. Better late than never. Been wanting to get this done for a long time. Love the patterns with two images eg leaf and bird. I used other materials on the outside and it helped to stop the wood splitting Barbara

Three books with good patterns, two currently available from Fox Chapel - one Colorful Toys by Dmitry Bogomazov for 7.99 (not strickly puzzles); Baby Animals by Judy and David Peterson (their patterns and puzzles are excellent look good and hang together extremely well); and Adorable Animal Family Puzzles in Wood by Jaeheon Yun available from Amazon for 12.99. The animal family puzzles would keep a child with a good imagination busy for hours with all kind os stories about the particular families' adventures. I'm not a sales person for these books just a puzzle maker who loves making puzzles of real and fantasy animals. As the kids grow older the books by the Pertersons can lend quite well to years of puzzles if you get hooked There is another book I would suggest for for kid's presents Wooden Banks you can make by Harvey Helm available from Fox Chapel for 14.95.

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.

My wisdom words is not let pending age deter one from buying new tools as our addiction needs to be filled even in advancing age I agree!

Wife wanted something to hang a calendar with. I had a Montana stencil so I glued up some scrap walnut, cherry and paduck, planed it down, did some inlay and then cut it out on my saw. Was a nice break from other projects.

Blades are the cheapest part of scrolling, My thoughts are if you c an't afford a .$25 cent blade then you need to find a different hobby. Perhaps I am fortunate enough to be able to afford blades, so I don't even give it a thought about what one costs. I don't mean to offend you but there are costs to all hobbies and some of them are very expensive .Don't worry about the cost, just enjoy what you are doing.

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.)

Ok, got it. I didn't scroll down far enough the first time. Ben

He's talking about woodcraftbyscott I believe.. which would be the link provided by Dave Monk in the first reply to this topic. Good luck with the puzzle making, they can be addictive, LOL

I sent you a PM Dick heppnerguy

Thanks Kevin I do know oak would not be a good choice. I have experienced issues with oak in he past with pieces breaking and a project ruined. I will probably use poplar or soft maple. I have a few pieces in my wood pile.

great job, I'm sure she'll love it

A Very Awesome Tribute.

So sorry to hear. A lovely tribute Dick, she will be touched by your thoughtfulness. Marg

Very nice. The dragonfly is my favorite. Marg

Really nice pattern. I tried to cut it as nice as Wayne created it.

Nice cutting!

Gorgeous cross. Nice work!

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".

Really cute and well done, as all of your work is. These sure are nice and colorful and it will bring some nice comments where ever they end up being displayed. be sure and put a your contact information on them. as I would be willing to wager, you will get several orders for them if you do Dick heppnerguy

Cut on the quilted maple guitar seconds from the guy on FB.. I forgot his name... Another Sheila Landry design.

What a cute plaque. Mind if I steal this idea from you and make one for my granddaughter who also has and loves her goats. It is so perfect. I will wait to hear from you before I go ahead and cut one, and then only if you give me permission to do so Dick heppnerguy

Thank you Don for the Steve Good pattern renovation. I think it turned out great. Taking to my friend this weekend so she can give it to her husband for fathers day. Great present i think Hope everyone has a great and safe week and keep that saw dust flying Mimi.

I have to agree. It is a really nice gift. He will love it, for sure. You did a terrific job cutting this one out. Look fabulous Dick heppnerguy

Hi all here's is what I have done for fathers day.

I love Goo Gone and have used it on many things but never wood. Now I know what to soak my nozzles in and other stuff!! THANKS!!

I promise not to tell anyone if you promise not to tell on me as I use it for cleanups, pattern release, soaking the M 77 nozzle and sometimes to start a fire in the fire place

I wondered about elevating the table with a 3/4 piece and even tried it once it is doable and in some projects might be worth it . Mostly though blades are bent, weakened or stretched

At todays prices for plywood to make a riser table to get more from a blade.. I think maybe throwing out the blade is a cheaper option, .. Then again, I go through half a dozen + blades per day.. Usually order 2-5 gross of each size / style blade I use the most when I order, and I always order when I get to my last gross package so hopefully I don't run out. At any rate, It'd take a long time and a lot of blades to pay for the plywood material just so you could save a few penny's on blades.

A few years ago I cut a small plaque out of some 1/2 " red oak I had lying about. It was perfectly flat when I cut it. After cutting, I dyed it with RIT water based fabric dye. I laid the piece on some paper towels to dry. When I checked on it the next day, it had warped and curled so much that it looked like a potato chip. I turned it over to let air get to the other side and the next day it was flat as it was when I started. Point is, wood will do what wood will do. Our attempts to make it do something else may or may not be successful. You could try wetting the convex side, then allowing it to dry in the sun. Sometimes this will cause the wet side to shrink as it dries, thus drawing the edges up and hopefully flattening the wood. It's a long shot, but worth a try. Wouldn't want to waste that beautiful piece of wood.

I do this when I am cutting out toys to give away. I use a skip tooth blade to cut the toys, when it get dull I have a 1" thick piece of plywood that I put down on my scroll saw table and continue cutting, it almost doubles the life of the blades.

I generally always keep a gallon can of MS in the shop. I have a spray bottle with MS in it that I use for releasing patterns and general adhesive clean up. I also use it for cleaning brushes/body parts etc after painting or being in the same zip code as an open can of roof patch or tube of grease. Maybe you've heard of the product called Goo Gone. I believe it's simply MS with some other additives thrown in to make it smell a little bit better. I think it may be a little less combustible than MS also. A 2oz bottle of Goo Gone is about $5 on Amazon. A gallon of pure mineral spirits is about $14 at Lowes.

Here's my take which is a little different then yours. First, I looked back over your post and no where did you ask for "constructive criticism" to be provided. Further, it was posted in the "Bragging" sub-forum so you were clearly happy enough with your work projects to post them there. As a result, I would not have offered any criticism (if I had any to give) in that instance. I would never offer criticism, even if I considered it "constructive" if someone had not specifically asked for "insight" or "suggestions" or "ideas" on what to do differently/change. My theory is that if they are posting it for others to see - and did not ask for our "insight" or for "constructive criticism"- they were clearly happy with their end product and just wanted to share it and show it off and be happy with their finished piece. I would not want to hurt or offend anyone by providing criticism that they did not seek. Further, "Beauty" and a "great looking project" is as the old saying goes "in the eye of the beholder". Clearly, they liked the project or they would not have posted it. While I do think that we can learn from each other, I would only want to do so if someone asked for that help or insight. I would not want to hurt or offend someone by offering my unsolicited advise as to what I thought they had done wrong, could have done better, etc as that is not what they posted it for (because if it was and they wanted insight/feedback, they would ask for it.) I do agree with Frank Pellow, most of us are not very good at giving or receiving criticism especially when it is not asked for. I have seen many people in my years here in the village who do ask for insight/help/what can I do better. I have done so before. When they do that, they clearly want some help/advise. If I don't ask for it - I just want you guys and gals - who understand the time and effort that can go into a piece to see what I did and be happy for me! I liked the piece and that is really all that matters to me. I do know that when folks ask for help/insight or advise most people do their best to provide good, kind feedback that will help the OP with what they have inquired about.

I would have thought that after using the blade in the normal position it would become slightly weaker in that section and more prone to breaking if used in an elevated position.

awesome job

Nice cutting. You might want to think about doing some detail sanding and using a butane torch to remove the backside fuzzies in the future. They do detract from a very well cut piece.

But then your reverse skip blade would be just a skip.

You did a good job, any mistakes are only noticed by you

Scrolling is the most inexpensive hobby I've found. Pen turning can be very expensive unless you sell everything you make. Then machining. Many thousands of $. I've gotten rid of everything except my scroll saws. I've thought of perhaps collecting used shoe strings.That would be inexpensive.

The Olsen crown tooth has always been my favorite blade. You have to learn when to change ends add not push them too far before you make the change. Yes the will track off in the opposite direction when you change.

In the past, I have cut the bottom 1/2" of the dull blade off. This works well if your saw will accommodate the shortened blade.

Very nice. I like the bird house but love the upper one!

My GF made 4 birdhouses for her mother.. simple bluebird ones.. After seeing yours, I told her she was slacking. LOL

You over estimate my cutting abilities. Thanks for the compliment though.