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Hard to stop a train! Here's one for the Starbucks girl at Publix

thought I would try something with colour .I think it looks ok

Here are some new ( to me ) ornaments. 1/4 hardwood, #1 FD Polar blades Various artists, including our own Travis.

Here's the latest off the saw. 1/4 hardwood, #1 polar FD blade, 1 coat BLO, will be putting at least 3 coats of shellac ( 1/3 shellac to thinner ). Original pattern by Steve Good, modified by myself.

Val Kilmer as Doc Holliday. I improvised from a tee shirt image I found on Google. It's about 7" X 8" on 1/2" red oak.

Super happy with how these turned out. Alex Fox pattern that I shrank to 80%. Left the backer piece off. Finished with Tung Oil. Shadow box frames were free and missing the backer. Used foam core as the backer. The backer on the dragonfly is rainbow scrapbooking paper (from my mom's stock). The boarder is another type of scrapbooking paper. One is pale green and the other is a blue. Took the photos outside so, unfortunately, the reflection is in the way.

Surprising my beautiful daughter-in-law with a portrait. She's a wonderful wife and mom so I'm a blessed father-in-law!

Practicing my inlay cutting with scroll saw. A few flaws here and there , but came out fairly good. Would I call this inlay fretwork, lol. The patterns are by Alison Tanner.

I have used Unicorn Spit and acrylic paints. The Unicorn spit does not seem to interfere with the puzzle tabs. When I have done acrylic paints, even watered down, it seems to interfere with the tabs. The attached heart was done with Unicorn Spit (I think). The other product you could look at, but it is expensive if you only need a bit, is Osmo. I mentioned it in my posting on the Roly Poly Ladybug

Putting my system on the Hawk G4 26 was easy as there is so much room, on the top and bottom. The entire assembly is held on to my Hawk with Mag switches. I can easily move it to my EX 16. But there is not as much room for the nozzles especially on the bottom. I have a design in mind to work around that when I have time. I put a metal plate on my EX table so that the Mag switches had something to grab. What ever system you use I highly recommend a trap in line with the vacuum. You WILL suck up some small part that you want to keep, digging through a bag of dust is not fun and re-cutting that perfect piece can be tricky. I may make a new trap so it acts like a Cyclone. For now the screen works

Might want to look into Unicorn Spit brand. Has good reviews. I have never used it but worth looking at for an option.

I use red latex paint diluted with water to stain poplar red.

Wish I could help with the coloring, I'm not much of one to color wood either.. natural wood is my go too, If I were making it I'd probably seek out some bloodwood, LOL.. closest you get to red color you'd get with me. LOL Good luck, at least Poplar usually takes stain well,

Yes after Ray pointed out Rolf's thread I eventualy found it and it looks like it would work for me. I need to go into the attic where some of my tools were stored ( and forgotten) after loosing my leg, I'm certain there's a festool Planex and matching dust extractor up there. The dust extractor is designed to handle very fine dust ( it's attached to a drywall sander) and even bangs the filter every so often so the dust falls off it and keeps it from clogging. I think it would be the perfect scrollsaw vac lol attached to Rolf's pvc collection system ..... Thank for mentioning festool shop vacs lol.....

I start with either 60 or 80 grit.

Inlaid butterfly 2

I just did a software update. If something isn't behaving the way it should, please let me know and I'll take a look. Thanks all!

I'd like to have a drum sander, but I don't have space for it. I think it would be a great supplement to a planer, but I wouldn't consider it as a replacement for it.

Planers are for removing wood to reduce the thickness. Sanders are for removing tool marks from the wood. My Dewalt planer will remove a maximum of 0.125" of material. My Grizzly sander will remove a maximum of 0.006" To remove 1/8" with the planer it will take 1 pass. To remove 1/8" with the sander it will take about 21 passes. The sanding belts also have to be cleaned frequently to prevent the wood from overheating and provide a smoother surface.

I also use the cnc bits for the majority of what I do although to 'clear out' on this sign I did use a regular bit as there was so much wood to remove. But I find the cheap and cheerful cnc bits brilliant for my normal stuff.

Thank you for your kind words Dick. Much appreciated. Here's a link to a video that a friend of mine made. It's a sign on a smaller scale but the principle's the same.

Normally and for the most part aside from a few items, I avoid "coloring" our products. When I do, it is usually with a Minwax stain, Rit Dye or food coloring. However, I received an order/request to make a "Big Red Dog" puzzle. Obviously, it is a "Clifford" copy with out it being "Clifford" LOL and my current colors/formulas are not bright red enough. The wood I will use is Poplar, and the entire puzzle will be colored to look like a "Big Red Dog". I'm looking for suggestions/recommendations on a wood dye/stain to use. It has to be a nice deep, bright red and soak into the wood, and not be topical so as to interfere with the puzzle nibs (tabs). I really want the red to pop! I've been looking at Keda dyes and I really like their Red concentrate or Red powder dye - has anyone used these? Thanks as always in advance

If my wife tells me that she has to pick out a few birthday cards when we go shopping, I stay home. I've spent too much time leaning on the shopping cart waiting for her to do that. Not any more.

I'm curious about the bandsaw. What makes them more dangerous than a table saw?

Hi, this is Jerry a Native of Colorado. Grew up on the farm, served our country as Air Force navigator in cargo aircraft, retired as a computer programmer and now live in Arvada, CO. I have no regrets, but there are a couple of things I wish I has done. I like to do fret work on the scroll saw.

Getting ready for Christmas early. I've been saving my scrap for ornaments. Right now I have enough scrap to supply my county!

Makes me think of wasting away in Margaritaville! Excellent job.

It works very well. If you want a "wash" type finish, then thin it out. Straight out of the bottle is fairly thin. Add more coats to darken the finish. Acrylic sits on top of the wood where Unicorn Spit soaks into the wood. Hope that makes sense.

Thanks all - knew I could count on you guys/gals! @daveww1 - Appreciate the response! I'm concerned that would hinder the puzzle too much. In fact we have a sample of ours that used that process to demonstrate what not to use on our puzzles when coloring them. @barb.j.enders - that is a very nice color. I can't really get a good idea of the red hue, but it does look very red! Question - how is it working with the Unicorn Spit product - is it thin enough to not interfere with the puzzle - looks like it works well for you? Thanks as always

Well done and very clever! I have not seen that before.

Very well done!

Looks great

You think right, great colours. Roly

great job

I'm your huckleberry! He played the best role in that movie. Outstanding job making the pattern and cut.

Whoah! You just earned a lifetime membership in my fan club with that very welcome comment keep them coming friend!!! You,ve brought life in to me !!!

I have the basic same thing as Ray but I went the pricey route and bought a kit from Seyco.. https://www.seyco.com/dv-10a-cyclonic-action-scroll-saw-dust-collector/ That said, maybe I just scroll too much for this little rig but I'm not at all satisfied with this set-up. It does catch a lot of sawdust.. I have to either change or blow out the filter in the vac. about once a week.. and every couple weeks have to empty the gallon canister.. I can live with that part, however the sawdust on the top side of the table seems to get pushed around by my turning the work piece and within a hour or two I have a lap full of sawdust.. very little makes its way to the floor now that the dust is collected at the bottom of the table.. This system I have needs a suction hose at the top of the table as well.. I'm doubtful the vac is powerful enough to hook it up to a T for a second hose. I had much better results from a shop vac connected to the dust port on the Excalibur.. I bought a vac and a dust separator like Ray has to put on my Hawk a couple years ago.. I haven't hooked it up since I'm doubtful this is power enough to collect from both top and bottom.. @Rolfhas a nice set-up on his Hawk using some PVC pipe and a Festool MIDI vac... I plan to do something similar to what he has done for my Hawks, The older Hawks like my 226VS Ultra has the lower arm behind the angle mechanism and there is a hole in the stand with a plastic plug in it, I've seen people put a threaded fitting in there to hook up a vac. The new Hawk BM-226 I bought a couple years ago the lower arm extends out through the angle mechanism.. and if you set close to the saw the dust lands in your lap, LOL

Seems like you could just put a 90 pointed up to the ceiling to connect your hose to it? What am I missing here, LOL.. I know I've been out in the shop since 5am and now it's 11pm so it's been a long day but I feel like the 90 could just point upwards to your dust collector.. Guess I better get to bed but now I'm going to be trying to think of why you'd cut a hole in the top of the planer for a hose to go up to the ceiling when a 90 pointed up from the actual dust port would do the same thing.... I think? I've gotta be missing something here.. LOL

Great job!

When I was making custom hardwood furniture the planer and drum sander were of equal importance. When it was available I bought rough lumber and did a lot of resawing and planing/sanding to need thickness. Was often able to to get two boards where with surfaced lumber could get only one.

The issue for me is I use the flat top to sit the boards on when I’m planing multiple boards. For me, I have no reason to fold up the extension tables. Plus, I use a 90° elbow, no problem!

I really don't see a big advantage doing what he did. It could still use an elbow.

Late to the party, but I saw a YouTube video from a guy selling a aftermarket chip cover allowing the exit of chips through the top of the planer for the dewalt 735 you did have to cut a hole in the top cover but it did look great. I I have a 735 and considering doing it to mine. I'll see if I can find it and post it here. Here's the link

Thank you, yes I find controlling my small router quite easy. The cnc bits are so small and sharp it makes it easier than using regular bits. Also I like doing 'detailed' stuff which I don't think you could do with a full sized router. Well, I couldn't anyway.

I woke up last night and thought. maybe it is the simple as the old blade in upside down, that we all have experience.

Not a day goes by that I don't use my drum sander. I get most of my lumber in the rough which is about 1" thick. I make a lot of inlaid boxes using 3/8" stock. I will resaw my lumber with my bandsaw and then run it through my drum sander. I end up with two useable pieces. A drum sander will also sand some pretty small pieces. Just tell your wife that Dave said you need a drum sander.

i have a delta TP305 planer. ive resawed lumber and planed down to 1/8" with an aux. table on the planer. ive achieved great results with a few variables. wood species is one. harder species can have some problems so i need very light passes. quarter sawn seems to finish the easiest/best. rift and plain/flat sawn can have issues. i have to look at the sides of the board and make sure the planer blades are cutting into the grain and not against it. the attached pic might help explain what im referring to. feeding against the grain seems to tear out more on thinner stock. even with quatersawn, i not all pieces have came out good. sometimes i was taking off too much material. sometimes it was just the nature of the piece of wood- internal stresses or minute defects( cracks) that i couldnt see showed up during/after planing. i also dont plane all off of one side. make a pass, flip the piece and make next pass on opposite side. and even if i get a piece of rift/flat sawn to come out good. there have been a few times the wood cupped not long after finished. 1/16" i havent had any success with running through the planer. if you do get a drum sander, id suggest loading it with 60 grit.

It turned out very nice. You did a great job with it. Thanks for sharing

Foxford great video thanks for putting in the thread. I will have to try this.

After several days of contemplation mixed with terror, I tried artist brushes and acrylic but hated it, I tried 'foam rollers' too but after the first touch I chickened out . So I cut a piece of kitchen sponge and used Rustoleum paint. I wiped on a thin coat of paint over the letters being very careful to work from the inside - out and when that dried I used the same sponge to 'dab' paint all over. I didn't know if it would work as it seems like nothing the 'professionals' do but I don't think it turned out that badly