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Well, I spent more time down in my "shop" playing with my scroll saw and here's what I came up with - still trying to get the hang of this "hobby"! Hats off to everyone here - I've gained a lot of respect for the time and effort you put into your work! The first image is a train puzzle made from spalted ash. The second image is a puzzle of a mother hippo and her baby (I'm sure you've all seen this one all over the internet); the third one is a "batmobile" made from spalted ash and purple heart.

This is one of the flower-design, I want to make in 2022. I have never done intarsia before, but I think it would be good to make it in intarsia style. I made it with the theme of harmony between flowers and birds. I cut Rangas wood and Red Padouk waiting for warm spring

Finished this for my daughter. Steve Good pattern shrunk down to 75% (I think). Assorted woods including poplar, live edge black ash, pine and ???? Modified the star as it snapped off when finishing. 20211217_074243.mp4

Made from 3/16" thick Hard Maple. Measures 12x21 in total. Cut with Olson #2/0R blades. Sheila Landry Design.

Christmas gifts for family members.

I was commissioned to make this pair of Chinese Dragons panels. The client chose this Dragon from a group of different Dragons I provided. The patterns were found on-line and had to be only slightly modified to make it scrollable. The original had the “ribs” (for lack of a better word) bridging to the opposite side making a multitude of dropouts. The cut panels are 1/8” x 20” x 30” BB ply mounted on a painted black 1/4" x 20” x 30” BB Ply Backer. The cut panels were stack cut to make mirror images with good side up. Shelf liner was applied to both sides to minimize possible tear out. All cutting was completed with Pegas #1 spiral blades. A number of blades broke, mostly because it was difficult to thread the blade from below without kinking the blade. Keeping the panel flat while cutting was difficult, especially so after some of the larger areas were cut out. Used a lot of blue tape to hold cutouts in place to help keep the panel somewhat rigid while cutting. Yes, the little piece in the Dragon’s nose had to be glued back in after the panel was affixed to the backer. The 20” x 30” BB ply panels were special ordered from Ocooch Hardwoods. I did not find the prices to be too unreasonable for this special order. They responded to my request quickly and the order was received within just a few days. Great service. Now here is where I need some help and opinions. I need to make frames for these panels and cannot decide what width rail/stile I should use. I typically use 1 3/4" wide, but not sure if that will look the best for these panels. Often large frames are narrow (3/4”) or, like large paintings, use a much wider (2 1/2” +) that may be more appropriate. Please provide you opinion on what size I might use and tell me why. You might want to let me know what color the frame should be also. Thanks for you help. EDIT 12/22/21 I made the frames from 1"wide x 3/4" thick Poplar. I think the 1" frame width works well for these Chinese Dragon mirror image panels. I did a significant amoiunt of hand sanding to obtain a very smooth surface. I then applied two coats of a Rustolium Black Primer sanding between coats, again to a very smooth finish after which I applied multiple coats of Rustoleum Black Lacquer. Just as I was finishing the final coat, the nozzle on the spray can stuck in the open (spraying) position and made a mess, but fortunately not on the frames. After drying almost 24 hours, I found there was some areas of blush. Two light coats of Deft Clear Gloss Lacquer did a nice job of getting a bright uniform finish. This commission project was difficult in many respects, but I feel it came out fairly well and am hoping the clients are happy. I'm not sure I would want to tackle a large panel project like this again. Thanks again to all that offered comments and advice. When appropriate and a black frame is needed, I think I will be using Black Lacquer again.

This is my 1st time posting any of my work. These are the gifts I made for my children and grandchildren this year. Al so the 1st clocks I ever made, all Steve Goods pattern. Jim Holler, Fairfield PA

I give my nieces and nephews an ornament every year. This year was Steve Goods initial snowflake. Did the personalized ornaments for the grandkids and great-nephews and an order from my daughter for her nephews.

Here's a few things I have made for this Christmas. The first one is my grandson. The others are special requests by friends.

Present for my wife, not yet completed. 12 X 12", papercut pattern cut with a scrollsaw on a 2 stack 1/8" BB. Deciding on the color for the backer and frame.

Hello every body When she saw a flower of life on my desk a friend said: I love it! can you make one for me? I thought a tree of life, a classic. I show you my latest job and wainting for your advice. It was a very good exercise for practice. It is diameter 7.08 inches

We have a summer Christmas every year, 50 years worth of them and I still can't get used to them. Christmas to me should be cold and maybe a bit of snow. Enjoy your winter retreat. Marg

I have a compressor and use spray guns. They may of improved these "Airless" guns by now, but I have never had much luck with them in the past and considering the cost of decent compressors these days that's the way I would go. Also noting that a compressor allows the use of other tools like nail, pin and staple guns, Tyre inflaters and blowers etc. I almost 100% of the time use lacquer, either automotive clear or that designed specifically for wood. I have tried water based but it does nothing for me, considering the principle reasons for finishing timber. 1 to protect the item. 2 enhance the look. Lacquer dries quickly, cuts back easily, and you can rapidly apply extra coats to improve the depth of finish. Finishing is a vital part in the completion of a piece, just like sanding, designing. cutting and assembly etc so can not, should not be, looked upon as just a quick necessary step to get you item out the door.

Not quite 78 here but that's OK. It just means I have more shop time as the outside work has to wait! Russ

Cut this Steve Good heart/gear pattern for my wife and daughter, decided to give them early (lots of family stuff going on). Haven't really cut much for Christmas this year, in past years I've had a garage full of gifts I scrolled. Owl/Wonderwoman/Superman trivets, multi-layer dragon scene, and Superman/Wonderwoman pics.

I cut these 7 Santas to give away as Xmas presents to friends and family. They were given on Thanks Giving so they could be hung for the month of December. I also cut 30 of the S. Good 2021 Ornaments. Pic only shows the first 20. Some have been given already and some will be given with our annual cookie exchange amoungs the neighbors on Christmass Eve Eve. I also cut this S Good "Santahouse" for a present to ourselves to hang on the front of our home.

This is a piece I just finished. It was ordered as a gift. A lot of fun to cut. Not quite 16 x 20 Over 300 cuts. .

Phone stands with there names on. Roly

My grandson, Kyler, is always trying to get into our bank. He even pulled a shelf down on himself trying to get to it. He is okay. Well, I decided to make him one for his upcoming birthday (OK, not Christmas but close enough). I also put a little money in it. Now, do I give him the combo or let him try all 1000 combinations? Hmmm.

These were made a few years ago but go up every year

I've already posted these, but they all were sent to various people as presents. I made two of each so every one who received them didn't complain so all is well!

Since I am a multi-medium crafter not all my ornaments this year are scrollsaw. Most of these have been mailed out to my ornament swapping friends.

Got to Panama City Beach Florida a week ago tomorrow, will be here until end of March. Here is my new workshop, nice to be able to saw outside, today’s temperature is 78. I always bring my scroll saw with me, not much of a beach goers. Played golf and scroll saw that is a perfect winter for me.

Might do a search on Asian picture frames... to get some ideas, I always struggle with the same question and usually my "cheapness" wins and I go with narrower, get more out of a piece of wood..

Most of you probably already know about this, but for those that don't, here is something I just learned and is a real time saver! While watching some videos on bandsaws I came across a scroll sawing video that used a new (to me anyway) technique for sanding items. I didn't really think it would be that much different but I gave it a try and what do you know, it reduced my sanding time on ALL projects by 80% and was a much cleaner product afterwards - very few if any "fuzzies" on the backs, a nice smooth finish etc. It requires just a few items, easily obtainable and even easier built: Shelf liner, plywood base, a few rails and screws. It's called a sanding board. Not to be confused with a sanding down draft table but looks similar. Here is my old style of sanding, using sand paper and a sanding block (sand both sides), a torch (to burn off any "fuzzies" a highly technical term ), a abrasive ball (to get any remain unsanded edges ). This process takes anywhere from 3-5 minutes for each piece. Using this method requires the sander to hold the item and hopefully not break it LOL The sanding board accomplishes this much more effectively. You place the item on the board (has the non-stick shelf liner - also used to line tool boxes and drawers)... Place a hand/palm sander directly on top of the item and start the sander. I use 240 g paper and sand the item for less than 5 seconds on each side! This has saved me so much time and effort I was completely surprised by its effectiveness. In fact, I have sanded items using this board as small as little round fragile ornaments that we make and they don't move at all and come out so clean and smooth Thanks as always in advance for reading NOTE: The key is to place the sander directly ON the item before turning the sander on. The item will NOT move and it will get sanded very quickly

Great work. I like the car with the colour choices.

Peter, Welcome to Florida for the Winter. I'm a little further South in Ormond Beach (Just North of Daytona) on the East coast of Central Florida. I have a very small shop also. Just 8'x12' in an outdoor shed. I do not have a garage so this was the best I could manage on my very small piece of property. After being here in Florida now almost 8 years and dealing with very warm temps for most of the year, when the temps drop into the 40's F, it feels really cold. However, a small electric heater makes is comfortable and lets me work in my shop all winter. Of course I also had to instal a small AC unit for those hot summer days.

Now that is just Down Right Awesome!! Until I looked at the 2nd pic I did not see the birds. SO COOL!!

Awesome job Barb. I cut that one sometime back, I had trouble with the star also. Still have trouble with stars at times.

You did Fantastic work. Love the Locomotive puzzle.

Very great job Vey great Job, It wake up some souvenirs, when I was young,( but I'm always young) we could buy Craker Jack popcorn in France around the 60's, in the box we found a toy.

Great work! I'm not sure how long it would take me to do something like that but I might be able to have something of much lower quality ready for Christmas 2022! Thanks for sharing this one!

Finished this plaque up for a friend, thanks Dan for the pattern was easy to cut!

It's a great method. I have used it for many years. I also have a "Yoga" mat on my bench so that I do not mark the surface of larger pieces when sanding and working on them etc.

Excellent! The star was just an alteration to make it fit your own imagination.

Looks very nice

Great work.

Very nice Barb!

Thanks Kevin and new2 for the tips.

Beautiful gift Wayne!

Yep, Been doing it this way since about 2007, LOL.. I started out with just foam sanding blocks of various grits.. was at a dollar tree one day and seen the anti slip shelf liners in a roll.. bought one to try it and like you say.. saves a ton of time.. and am able to use the random orbit sander on them. I don't have a sanding board per say.. but I just roll out the liner on my work bench.. usually double it up. The stuff from the dollar store is cheap and smaller bumps / grips ( for a lack of better wording LOL ) I think the more pricey stuff would probably work better... I've just never run across it and the wife keeps bringing those dollar store rolls home to line the drawers.. somehow she misplaces it and gets more rolls.. Don't tell her they're misplaced in the shop..

Do you have a air compressor Scott? I think if I was going to experiment with spray equipment I'd go with a small cheap set-up before spending bigger money on something that may not work well for your needs. Harbor Freight has some real cheap HVLP spray guns ( like $14 cheap ) If you have a compressor I'd experiment with something like that to see of spraying bulk quantity's of product is going to work for you..

I use Arm R Seal. I thin it with around 10% mineral spirits. It won’t flake or peal. Everybody I know that sells bowls and things use this. Have you thought of using a small inexpensive air brush since what you are finishing is small.

I was going to suggest shellac. Be aware of the humidity. It needs to be below 70% or it will absorb water out of the air. I mention this because I lived near Carolina Beach for several years. Humidity is going to be an issue no matter what you spray. It spray well and cleans up easy even if you let it dry. If you buy flakes and mix your own, you can get several colors. If you wan to use sand paper on it I recommend a dewaxed shellac.

I spray water based poly with this unit from Rockler. Very simple and easy. Simple cleanup. No compressor required. I can also spray lacquer but water based poly is safer. The water based poly I use is made by General finish. Rockler HVLP Finishing Sprayer | Rockler Woodworking and Hardware

With water based poly you need to add an extra step. Wipe down the piece to be sprayed let dry then sand very lightly to remove the raised wood fibers. Doesn't take long and I use 400 for this. Lacquer you need great ventilation and a proper mask for protection. Both dry fairly fast. Both should be llightly sanded between coats for that smooth finish. Let us know what you decide.

The water base poly doesn't change the color tone to the wood like the oil base does.. however you seem to like the mineral oil poping the grain colors so you might be better off with shellac? Tom is correct in the fact that water based finishes might raise the grain some. Another thing to think about is humidity.. being right next to the ocean.. that could affect the lacquer.. I know it's a big factor with auto lacquer based paints and clears.. I would assume the same for wood finish as well?

I have that gun. I would recommend getting the fine finish cup for it. I use Sherman Williams Pre catalyzed lacquer. Thin it about 50%. Been spraying with it for about 3 years and love it. I always leave lacquer in the gun...........soak the tip in thinner only when it needs it.

Being in Texas, boots are pretty much the same for girls and boys, other than girls are fancy, RJ