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First one I finished in a while. Red Oak 1/2" with a full size backer of 1/4" BB.

Arthritis in my neck has kept me off the saw for a while but managed to cut a few for the church craft fair

Old age crept up on me to fast and sitting in a chair since 2004 didn't help matters.

I am making Christmas presents for the 6 Grandchildren inlaying their initials into red oak. (Pictures to follow when the finishing is done.) The first 3 were done with walnut inlays which went well. The last three I decided to use jatoba (aka Brazilian cherry) for the inlay with the end grain showing. Starting with a new blade and using it for all 3 initials - the dropouts were cut first and they were too loose - lots of filling with sanding dust and white glue. The first letter fit perfectly. The second letter went 3/4's of the way in and the third letter was 1/2 way in. I was convinced that my blade angle was changing. The fact that I had no problems with the walnut inlays should have been a bigger clue. My analysis: The jatoba wood is extremely hard (#10 on the list of the world's hardest woods). I am convinced that the first cuts on the dropouts using a new blade were impacted by the wired edge on the blade creating a wider kerf. The 2nd cut the wired edge was wearing away - thus a narrower kerf. The 3rd and 4th cuts the wired edge was essentially gone. Using a high quality micrometer I found the blade thickness was .0140" in areas above and below the cutting area. In the section of the blade doing the cutting the width was .0130". This trend was repeatable with a new blade and subsequent cutting. Additionally with the hard wood the blade dulls more quickly and it cuts slower. I did not have this problem with the walnut (which is softer than the oak). Solution: Use a new blade for each letter if your inlay is extremely hard. I share this in the hope that it may save someone else from creating a significant pile of expensive fireplace kindling.

Travis just released the new book. I try to cut my designs beforehand. This year I did not have a chance until this week. Everything worked out okay. This is a great effort by the village.

I think I may need help for my compulsive hoarding of wood. This is my favorite piece of many I found today. Never saw a piece of yellow heart like this.

My shop remodel is finally done! I started this in August while on one of my work vacations. Prior to the remodel I had exposed wall studs with insulation. I was using a 30 year old Craftsman rotary table as my main worktop that wasn't meant to be used as that. I had some corner shelving that I could never find anything on. I met a guy that lived a couple of miles from me that also did woodworking. He had a source for lumber that was rejects from a local mill. He was getting tongue and groove Pine and Cypress in 36" and 44" lengths, 3/4" thick x 5 1/2" wide. We become friends and he gave me a really good price on all the lumber that I needed. I decided to go with the Cypress because, well.. it's Cypress! Towards the end of my remodel he lost his source for the lumber and I had to finish up using a little bit of Pine, but it is mostly hidden by my lumber storage. I needed a miter saw station that could double as a work surface as my shop is small. It is 12' x 22'. The main part is 12'x14' with an addition that I built a few years ago of 12'x8'. In the new part I have my table saw that has a router table on it, storage and this is where I mounted my Dust Right motor/bag. This part is still a mess right now. I made the miter saw station as long as I could with the room that I have. On one end below the top I have a stationary shelf, on the other end I made a roll out cabinet that can be used as more work surface if needed. On this cart I will add some plywood wings on each side to increase that work surface if needed. I will use hinges and a support system so that the ends can be folded down when not in use to fit back under the miter saw station. I used reclaimed Cedar from fence panels that the last hurricane knocked down to make a roll out spray paint holder that I attached using drawer guides. I build some wall hanging shelves above the miter saw station for needed storage. I spent 4 hours a couple days ago cleaning up the original workbench to complete the remodel project. Threw a lot of stuff away that I have been hoarding for years. Find my very first tool pouch that I bought when I was 16 for VOTEC while I was in high school. Found my Dad's old benchtop grinder that you can turn on and stop the wheels from spinning with a pinch of your fingers. LOL,, that thing has been used hard! I still need to put a trim piece above and on one side of the doorway going into the new part of the shop and figure out what to do above the walls on the gable ends and on the ceiling. The new part of my shop is not insulated so to keep the cold air from the air conditioner kept in the main part I use a shower curtain to keep the air in. This works very good. As the part that is intended to be kept cool stays cool, the other side is hot though. I can now get back to making things that has been collecting in my "to do" list. I want to make something special as my first project in my "new" shop. I'm thinking about maybe a porch swing. I have linked a short video of the shop for your viewing pleasure, 'cause I know if there isn't any pics,, then it didn't happen! https://youtube.com/watch?v=0wpBbSstpkc&feature=share

thanks for all that created patterns for this booklet very nice

Sorry to hear about your neck keeping you off the saw, but excellent work on the ornaments. Prayers that you can find some relief for the neck.

Thanks for the order. Already in the mail.

nice piece! finish it and hang it!

Typically the Cyber Monday sale is just from 12am - 11:59PM Monday only sale.. doesn't mean it won't spill over a couple more days but typically is just a sale for Monday only.. As for the Jet saw.. I've already mentioned this but.. I think it's at the lowest price you'll see it as we had discussed before.. I don't know how long that special will last on HD and Amazon but not many companies offer more than $150 off regular priced.. That 18" saw normally sells for $860 ish + shipping.. I don't think you're going to find it any cheaper than the $710 with free shipping unless you find a used one.. I haven't bought one.. keep thinking about it but really don't "Need" it either.. I already spent a fortune on laptops for my CNC and Laser.. Got tired of only having 1 laptop for both machines and one machine is set up in the loft upstairs and the other in the garage.. Hard drive getting really noisy on it so I bought 2 laptops.. Now I won't have to keep setting up machines every time I need to use them.. and will be able to run both at the same time as needed. Though stepping away from the laser isn't going to happen.. but can step away from CNC for a few..

nice work

I converted this Tiger image I found on-line into a 12” x 16” Scroll saw pattern. The cut panel is 5/32” Birch solid core ply affixed to a painted black 1/4"thick BB ply backer. Cutting was done using Pegas #2/0 and #1 spiral blades. The cut panel was hand painted with Artist Acrylic paints. The assembled panel was protected with multiple coats of Minwax Clear Gloss spray Polycrylic finish. Panthers was a free downloadable SVG file I found on-line. Although it was a SVG file, it required work to resize it into a 12” x 15” scrollable pattern. This pattern has well over 500 small cutouts and although very easy cutting, it was time consuming to complete. I used about 15 Pegas #2/0 spiral blades due to a lot of blade breakage caused by blade kinking, as a result of the many very small blade hole threading’s required. The cut panel is 5/32” Maple solid core ply affixed to a painted black 1/4"thick BB ply backer. This cut panel was also hand painted with Artist Acrylic paints and the assembled panel protected with multiple coats of Minwax Clear Satin spray Polycrylic finish. Although I have consistently used clear spray lacquer to protect the assembled panels in the past, I’m giving the clear spray Polycrylic a try. Although it looks very wet with a milky blue color when first applied, it dries quickly to a clear hard finish. A very light sanding with 1500 grit paper between coats results in a nice smooth finish. Polycrylic is quite a bit more expensive than Lacquer, but it is more compatible with the Acrylic Artist paints I use. The frames for both are 1 3/4"wide Poplar, primed and painted with Glidden spray Gloss Black. As always, comments and critiques are welcome. I will post PDF’s of these patterns in New Pattern Announcements.

Frank, you do an awesome job with the scrolling and the painting! Thanks for sharing

Amazing. Love it. Marg

Very cute. Pity about the pompom. Marg

Very nice. Marg

Very recognizable, excellent work on pattern and cutting. Marg

Very impressive work on both. Excellent. Marg

Cut from 4mm Hoop Pine Ply, Framed in Radiata Pine Stained various colours. Three coats of gloss acrylic. The coloured truck is backed with felt. A3 Size "Dad's Garage" pattern by Helda Botas If I do another "Garage" cutting I will use my own fonts "Keep Australia Moving" Pattern by San Custodio

They are equally impressive John, just offer both, then you can't go wrong. Marg

Thank you Charlie, I know I missed some real projects you chose to do. I always liked your taste in projects.

As a Pegas dealer, I ship the same or next business day. I always include a tracking number. My prices are fair and for customers in the USA, free shipping on orders over $35. To order, go to the link below my signature.

Thank you for opening doors to the scroll saw community! I appreciate the giving spirit of the holidays!!!

JUST SOMETHING INTERESTING: Talk about holding screws while you get them started in the place they need to be started. Here is an old screw driver from my Dad's old tool box... I used it often when wiring my house. It has a split blade. To secure and hold the screw you slide the forward piece back into the handle. Place the split blade into the slot of the screw and slide the front part forward as it pushes the split blade together, making the blade thicker until it holds and holds the screw.. Works great, however I hardly use a slot type screw anymore. All are phillips, allen or socket heads anymore. But this puppy got it's use in the olde days.

It amazes me that a small co. like Lesleys Patterns that keeps getting emails wanting to know about their orders and when thy can expect to receive the orders can still be in buisness! There are so many other businesses such as Wooden Teddy Bear, Scroller, Dennys Pegus and Blades etc, that make good on delivery's, sometimes within the same week, and at reasonable prices, why would anyone want to go through the hassle with that one! I for one, if a company, big or small, doesn't want to deal with me in a timely amount of time, I no longer will deal with them! I'm sorry, but that is just my opinion! Erv

Good job Don. I wasn't going to cut anymore ornaments, but, "gnome" you!

They look fabulous, love the trucking one. Marg

Just thinking of you today... wondering how you are. Great to hear from you.

Good to see you cranking out work again. Bruce

The first thing I want to say is that I know nothing about motorcycles, so dont judge strictly. Secondly it is not exact pattern of some motorcycle model. I took some details from different photos, I made it to not violate copyright of famous brands, so I think it came out general pattern of cruisers motorcycle. What do you think? Pattern includes 2 sizes (10 x 5 and 15 x 7,5 inches), recommended to use 2 types of wood or stains. Motorcycle pattern