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Here are a couple more for my wife's cousin's Christmas order. I have two more to post and I should have them packed and ready for the post office on Monday. I thought they were a little the way she ordered them so I framed one and added a little color to the other one. I am happy to be getting these finished and on their way soon Dick heppnerguy

It didn't take me long to realize my rookie mistake with my dust collection engineering while cutting this Seahorse for my granddaughter. A couple of minutes into cutting, the wood hit the pvc piping. Thankfully I hadn't glued anything and it was a quick fix to move it back and out of the way. On the positive side, I cut the whole thing and had virtually zero dust on or under my saw. I'm thinking I may be able to do without the dust mask. You can buy these Seahorses on Etsy, but they don't have the love in them.

I have taped the completely cut blocks together and given them to relatives, along with a dull blade, so they can see what cuts them as well as seeing all of the pieces fall away. When taping, I fold the end back on itself, to make it easy for them to find and un-tape the block in the correct sequence. One cousin called me and then un-taped the block while on the phone with me, so I heard her surprises and excitement as each piece of tape came off. It's worth doing for friends that you can't be with as they are discovering what you made them. Charley

I have posted a few of the results of my first Christmas order and I stated that the request involved several patterns that I was not fond of myself but a customer's request is not to be argued with. I add some of my own colorization and backer boards that were not part of the pattern as well as framing some that really was not part of the item either. In these last two item I added both a frame and on one, corner decorations to try and help it to be a little better appreciated by the receivers of these items. Dick heppnerguy

This Alex Fox pattern is kind of haunting, what with everything going on in his home country. I cut this out of the suggested 1/8” the first time, but I just didn’t like it. I ended up using a piece of 1/8” mystery wood that I had around for the back piece, then 1/4” BB for the other layers. I used Natural Danish Oil on some parts, and Walnut Danish on others, trying to give a bit of subtle contrast. Additionally, I made a solid Walnut base so it can sit on a shelf and also put a link loop on the back so as it can hang on the wall.

With the change in hours at work, my time on the saw has been limited... very limited! I finally finished this cut from a BirchBark pattern using Maple with a Birch backer. The frame is pre-shaped Walnut and I shimmed the corners for strength. The cut is stained with Minwax Natural and the backer is stained with Minwax Espresso. The frame was pre-finished although I did touch it up with Minwax Dark Walnut stain. For the first time I used my new air sprayer with Polyacrylic and was pleased with the results. I cut it using Pegas #2/0, #0 and #1 spiral blades. I stack cut this but the other piece was Birch and delaminated in places when removing the shelf liner. I hope to paint it in the near future in hopes of hiding the delamination. I've about decided to start placing my wood face to face when doing cuts. I know I could only do this on pieces that were not limited in left or right such as patterns with words. But doing so will prevent delamination from happening on the face of the projects. For instance, the Jim Blume Stagecoach I cut was a double stack and faced different directions. I tell people one stage is going east and the other is going west.

I did not want to Highjack the thread on compound cutting clamps. I cut lots of them especially at our clubs woodworking shows and give them to the kids. Occasionally I will show off the capabilities of the scroll saws for cutting small stuff. The smallest reindeer in this image is a bit less than 1/2" and the smallest and most delicate compound cut for me so far. I used a Pegas #2 28TPI blade no reverse teeth. The trees are turned and carved. I did not sand any of them.

Made using A4 1/4 inch bb plywood sheet using #2 spiral blade with black backboard mount like the look he’s giving on this one thanks for looking

Ha, I just cut 9 3d patterns of the same thing and was amazed 9 times!! But I go around pretty amazed most the time.

I hung the 100th portrait in my shop today. There are a few I didn't count since they aren't really portraits, like Groot, The Weeping Angel and a couple of signs. If I counted correctly there are 146 individual faces in the 100 portraits. So glad I somehow stumbled into this hobby. So many hours of fun, frustration , and therapy.

I've been continuing on my learning curve with hand carving (as well as turning). These 4 ornaments were ones that I cut out on the scroll saw and then hand carved. The two "peekaboo" santa (triangular shaped) are patterns from Carolea Hower in the Winter 2016 edition of the Woodcarving Illustrated magazine. The other santa is a pattern from Jon Nelson that also appeared in the magazine 2017 (not sure of issue - but figure Winter perhaps.) The snowman with the NP sign is a pattern from Steve Russell, again from the Magazine, with 2016 copyright so assume the Winter 2016 for it. I scrolled the basic shape on the saw, then hand carved and finished. Will try some more and probably try to "paint" them but wanted to go with the natural look on these first ones. These can easily be adapted for use by a scroller without doing the carving. You can add in extra scrolling as needed, or just cut the basic shapes, and add a little detail with paints or woodburning. The Santa and the Snowman on the bottom had the darker details added with my woodburner after I completed the carving on each.

Maybe you are using too much spray adhesive. It only takes a very quick once over, let it sit for about 2 minutes before applying it to the wood. Make sure the wood is sanded well and very clean of dust. Then just a light application of mineral spirits and wait about one minute to remove the pattern. It should almost fall off on it's own. When done this way you should have no residue. If you try to remove the pattern too quickly and a little part of it does stick, you can use a paper towel barely dampened over that area and it should remove any residue completely. I remember when I first tried doing it this way, I was very skeptical about doing it this way and used too much spray adhesive and experienced what you are talking about. Then I read some direction from someone on a different scroll saw page and explained it the way I just did above. Only this guy did not put the pattern on the wood until at least 3 minutes and up to 5 minutes. I did it the way I told you above and it worked perfectly. I was afraid the pattern would lift but I was willing to give it a try. I was pleasantly surprised and it is how I do all my scrolling now, even with a lot of very small fret holes. I never need my blue painters tape any longer and I never have any surface damage when I remove the pattern. Dick heppnerguy

Here's what 3 of my 5 will look like when cut, the other 2 can stay a surprise.

Came across this Steve Good pattern. I had to adjust the angle of the arms a bit to accommodate my saw, but it works. Looks better than the scrap block I was using. I put magnets in his feet so he would on "stand by" when not in use. Chris

I live in Canada as well and am very careful about sharing my SIN number as well.

In Canada, it is actually illegal to ask for the SIN, Social Insurance Number. That is only to be given/used for income tax purposes. I never give that info out.

I find myself asking if the repeating patterns I see on most commercial puzzles are some sort of standardized pattern everyone but me knows about and uses, or are there bunches and bunches of talented crafters that freehand these patterns for themselves with each creation? And, should I/could I freehand a page of the interlocking piece lines and then simply overlay that on puzzles of my own design after outlining the overall piece? Inquiring minds want to know. Thank you. Don

Hello from SE Michigan! Earlier this year I decided to fire up my old Protech 16" scroll saw and start fiddling around with it. Now I'm hooked. I'm having a blast. I'm glad I found your site. Thank you! Chris

WOW! That is some awesome cutting, Dick!

Just a Thought. While you got that meter handy, did you do a check of your on/off switch? I know you said you blew it out, but it could really be bad, not just durty.

I also enjoy wild cats but I guess I do not have a favorite one. I love all the wonderful freet patterns that are being made of them and I have cut a few and have more I plan on cutting as time allows. I am with you about the joys of successfully cutting one of these Dick heppnerguy

The motor turns freely. So it isn't bearings or brushes. There is not much left.

Thanks Dick, I love doing tiger portraits they are by far my favourite animal it’s such a great feeling when you take off the paper and reveal what you have made

Great looking project. Your granddaughter will love her gift from her Pops. keep the mask on, even with the dust collection system working, you are still going to have some airborn dust. No need for your lungs to collect. Especially since you have already stated that you have been getting sick from dust. Dusk mask is cheap and easy way to protect your lungs. Means the grandkids hopefully get more time with Pops in the long run. My kids didn’t get to know my dad as I lost him to lung cancer well before they were here. He was only 52.

What a great idea!

Steve Good has a pattern book for "standard" interlocking puzzles.

me think the motor is bad. The brushes are good. However, I found one thing that doesn't seem right. The DC output from the controller board fluctuates. The output fluctuates a lot when it is cold. After a short time the fluctuations settle down a bit, but it never stops fluctuating. I have worked on many power supplies from 5VDC to 50,000VDC. None of these power supplies were voltage fluctuations acceptable. I think something is wrong with the controller board, which may have damaged the motor. Today I plan to disconnect the motor from the linkage and see if it spins. Controller board output after it warms up on an analog volt meter.

Look good Dick

Another Cartoon character 11x14 pattern converted from a, paid for, image obtained on-line. Grumpy and I relate! Cut panel is Hand Painted 5/32” Birch Solid Core ply affixed to a 1/4” Hand Painted BB Ply Backer. Cutting was done with Pegas #1 MGT R Blade and assembled panel finished with Deft Clear Gloss Lacquer. Frame is 1 3/4” wide premium Pine primed and painted with Glidden Max-Flex Brick Red Satin. Comments and critiques always welcome.

So I started this multi-layer papercutting-lightbox pattern last year....then a bunch of family drama hit, and my cutting has been slowed down. Finally finished the pattern a month or two ago, but I really dislike cutting frames. Nope, dunno why, just don't care for it. So I finally got the frames cut, trimmed to size, a couple of pieces of opaque plexi sourced, LED strips applied, and final assembly done. One less project stacked up and moved from convenient-horizontal-space to convenient-horizontal-space in my shop. Stack-cut these, stained one with Minwax "Natural" and one with "Honey", and then alternated layers so that each layer stands out from the layer above and below. Still waiting on a power supply for one LED strip (the box that Amazon touted as having two....did indeed have two strips, but only one power supply with two ports to plug in both light strips to the one supply...so, technically, it works. But these two are going to be 20 miles apart and I doubt the cities of Austin, Cedar Park, and Leander would look kindly upon an extension cord of that length), but the one that's working is now up on the shelf at work.

nice collection of project up there. Good addition. You have been a busy person Dick heppnerguy

those are interesting critters you made. Very creative. I like how your dust collector is set up. I can see why everything stays so clean when you saw. I should make more effort for something like that in my shop too. Dick heppnerguy

Double your pleasure

This is the method I use to paint my Stand up Puzzle pieces. It may come in handy to somebody sometime. I have lengths of 4mm steel rod, cut at about 100mm (4"). I drill a hole into the puzzle piece where it wont be seen, insert the rod and by holding it, I can easily paint all around the piece. Then place it in a hole on a board to dry. If I'm doing a lot my hand get a bit tired holding onto the thin rod, so I use Vice grips. Makes it easy. I also use this method when spraying small items.

Weight and flex in your stand are the two things I have found that are critical to keeping the saw running smooth. The first stand I built flexed, though you couldn't see it. This caused the saw to have spots where it ran glass smooth and others that were unbearably rough. Increasing the weight on the stand helped some, but the flex remained. The new bench is 2x4's laminated together and bolted to a cabinet that is framed from 2x4's. It is HEAVY, and I don't think anything will ever cause the laminated 2x4s to flex. My saw now runs smooth at all speeds. If no one has mentioned it, one huge tip is to have 3 points on the floor. 3 legs/feet naturally find level on their own. Unless your floor is laser flat 4 legs will always have a wee bit of wobble. My stand has 4 casters, but I prop the back up on a 2x4 stood on edge. 4 legs to 3. Dead solid and the little bit of extra angle is nice (my saw is already angled but the extra was a nice bonus).

Home Depot gives Veterans a 10% discounts for instore and online orders. Needless to say I purchase quite a bit of supplies from them. Much of their items they will also ship to my home. I used to use 3M 45 spray glue. I can't seem to find it anymore. I'm always up to tying new products. Saw this Roberts Glue online on HD site so I ordered a can to give it a try. Sprays a really heavy coat and is a bit messy. If you zoom in on the paper you can see how heavy the coat is. I tried putting a different nozzle on it but no improvement. Really sticks well. A bit cheaper than 3M. I've used about a half of a can and nozzle hasn't clogged yet. I think I will be buying more.

The VA only requires my "last name and last 4". Seems that should be good enough for HD.

I have been doing something similar for years with dowels. I started using pointed dowels to finish wheels and soon discovered many uses for these. I have been doing something similar for years with dowels. I started using pointed dowels to finish wheels and soon discovered many uses for these.

You mean like wearing your levis down low, cigs pack rolled up in your white T-shirt sleeve and a ducktail hair do,,,, dude? sorry.

These are the ones I use in my shed Charlie. The only downside is you have to alter the volume on your phone. These are the ones I wear for work when using the mower, chainsaw, blower etc

I have watched every one of his videos and he is amazing. His mind just never stops finding ways to do things. This is a simple video on how to make better picture frame joints using bamboo sticks. Enjoy, and then check out the rest of his stuff. You'll be amazed.

Nice work, look's great. I use a bench hook and Japanese pull saw. Clean quick and dependable. As for length, set up a stop block, slide the dowel over cut, repeat.

I also have been perplexed by the vanishing act of 3M 45 spray adhesive in stores. I finally found that my local Ace Hardware had supplies. While Ace prices are a bit high if you are a devoted 45 user you may want to take a look. My local price at Ace is $8.59 for the 10.5oz can.

I keep my glue nozzles in a jar of mineral spirits to prevent clogging.

My EX21 is down and I get three custom orders. Go figure. This is why I have two saws even if the second one is old an clunky it will still get the job done.

In today's ScrollSawWorkshop newsletter, Steve Good does a walk-through of his shop. For scroll saws he says that he has 2 which he uses regularly, Seyco and Pegas, and another 5 that he seldom uses. I trust his opinion about scroll saws.

I use blue painter tape on some of my pieces. That seems to work sometimes. I really believe my problem is the cheap box store wood I use.

What would you bevel cut that was over a few degrees? Not arguing, just curious. Been scrolling a long time, tried almost all disciplines of scroll sawing and I have never tilted my table top or scroll say head more that a few degrees... Inlay is only a few degrees. Basket or bowl making maybe a few more degrees. I do like the Pegas method of tilting the table a little better than the seyco, but once I needed to tilt the seyco table and it was not a problem. Just not quit as nice as a pegas or Excalibor. The one thing that would push me toward the Pegas over the Seyco is price. But then if you wanted a bigger table on a Pegas, it price then is very close to the same. That big table is really nice. It would be a hard decision for me. Pegas would probably win because I have never had one. I would hate to buy the same saw twice. But not for me to worry, my Hegner is my last saw, unless my rich kids wanted to surprise me. So far they have not shown any desire to surprise me... still getting underwear, socks and a bad time for Christmas!!

I am going to try to buy, and scroll, as many of Alex Fox’s patterns as I can, to support our Ukrainian friend. I just finished this one that I believe many have done before. 1/4” Baltic Birch, all cut with 2/0 Pegas spiral blades, except for Pegas #1 MG for six straight cuts.

This is another Alex Fox pattern, this cross has a bit more detail than the last celtic cross I did. Trying to add some color to them and get away from so much brown . Bottom layer is ¼" the middle and top are ⅛" I was thinking ir might be more stable for the long term. Time will tell (lol).