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This old toy car is 7 ½” L x 3 ½” W x 3”H. Sister in law acquired this from a yard sale for.60 cents. It was in pieces, with only two wheels, broken bumpers with headlights and taillights needing replacing. It was in sad shape so I decided to try and restore this beauty. Lightly sanded the original finish and applied a natural oil finish. Not sure of the wood spieces. Made new bumpers of Aspen, headlights taillights of Ebony along with new wheels. Really enjoyed doing the restoration.

Stayed late in the shop, seemed appropriate considering the subject matter, and finished up Rod Serling. I hung him next to Hitchcock, which also seemed appropriate.

Got this done recently, just before Christmas, made it for a friend of mine, who wanted to it for his son, Keith Fenton pattern

Thank you Dan for commenting on my work which contains mostly scrollwork with subsequent carving, called "Carved Fretwork". Some examples can be seen in the User Gallery of this Forum, on page 1, scroll down to Dick Mira. My new Avatar, a tiger, was just carved from a thick block of Hard Rock Maple, 9" x 7" X 3", that was given to me by a friend. This was very dense wood to carve and certainly not recommended. Most of my projects consist of wildlife subjects that are scrolled, carved, and stained with oils. Regards, Dick Mira

If you apply a light coat of clear spray sealer, polycrylic or even lacquer prior to painting, you can eliminate paint bleed. Another way is to prime the areas to be painted with a acrylic Gesso. This is easier to do when painting a backer.

One I am thinking of. Habitat for Humanity has lots of hollow doors for sale and cheap prices. The wood pannels on them are not really good for scrolling but for using a backers they may work fine. I hate to read of some one using good BB plywood for backers... makes me cry

I love those ornaments Kevin! Out of desperation I broke a cardinal rule and copied a design I found on the web. We were invited to the neighbors house for Christmas dinner and I needed a special gift. They are avid campers. So I found this image made a pattern then laser engraved it. The burn lines helped with paint bleed . I also incorporated their graphics. I then cut a single layer of 1/8 bb (pegas 28TPI skip tooth)on the scroll saw, then painted. Still had a bit of paint bleed.

Originally I got hooked on woodcarving and only bought a scroll saw in order to cut out roughouts for carving. Then, the sky fell and I got so hooked on scrolling that I put aside my carving hobby. Now, I have reconnected with carving and so I was wondering if we have any scrollers here on The Village who have managed to combine the two artforms. If so, I'd love to hear and see all of what you have managed to come up with. I've been watching all the Lynn Doughty videos on caricature carving and am anxious to start something but not sure what yet. I did try a basic search here using "woodcarving" as the search word but didn't find anything so I hope this will get some interest.

I have a good source for inexpensive hobby wood. Used furniture from Goodwill type stores. Also cigar boxes sold from some smoke shops, they usually sell them when empty inexpensively. Hope this helps someone. Happy New Year !

Thanks for the suggestion, I'm always on the lookout in second hand furniture shops for any decent pieces of wood suitable for scrolling. Happy New Year !

Ray, where's the pics? LOL I've done some carving but just to learn a bit about how much I'm not an artist. I plan to get into carving when I retire (I thought I was but guess it wasn't in the plans). @DickMira does some great work but I think he uses a power carver or rotary tool to add more dimension to his projects. I'd love to see what others contribute here.

Pattern acquired from ToymakingPlans.com. Woods used were Mahogany, Paduak and Cherry finished with natural oil.

My grandson has recently become a Hobbit/Lord of the Rings fan and is having a Hobbit themed 9th birthday party at my house tonight. His parents are also telling him about an upcoming trip to Universal Studios Florida theme park tonight. I thought this would fit the day for him nicely.

Dick, those are beautiful, the cub with the mouse, I don’t see where the scroll saw could be used, can you explain, you really have a talent for carving, RJ

Toy car patterns acquired from ToymakingPlans.com. Wood used was oak with two coats of acrylic paint and three coats of clear satin polyurethane finish. Kids love colour.

I don't much like wood carving, but it is sometimes necessary. I am currently working on a fishing game for my toddler nephew. It will consist of 6 fish with metal studs in the mouth. The fishing pole will have a rare earth magnet on the "hook" (blood wood part you see) to catch the fish. I am using just some pine and will have it finished by his 3rd birthday in December of 2023, but this is my start. The fish that I have carved are rough, but they will get a thorough sanding and finishing. Dan

I like scrolling Intarsia and carving the pieces. Also like some carving with puzzles like I posted recently.

Dan, we went out on the road full-time RVing in 08. We sold everything we owned except what we could carry with us. I got looking for a hobby that wouldn't add any weight to our rig. We stumbled into Ladybird Johnson Municipal Park in Fredricksburg, Tx. and the Texas Woodcarver's Guild was having their semi-annual outing. One of them took me under his wing and exposed me to the world of carving. I bought a knife, a book and couple of pieces of basswood. Then another member gave me a cowboy boot and a piece of wood and told me to carve a boot like the one he gave me. I still have that boot. And the one I carved. I've done a couple of things but nothing to brag about but I want to get better. I won't abandon my scrolling though. The two are going to have to mesh together somehow. The neat thing about carving is I have everything I need in a small Kobalt 3 drawer tool box in my office. No sawdust to worry about. Just chips. I wear an apron that has a large open pocket in the front of it and that catches almost all my carving chips. I bought it at the Carolina Visitor's Center on the Blueridge Parkway. There are some fantastic artist represented there.

Now, that’s interesting!

BadBob and Millwab, you have a way with words. You both hit the nail on the head.

Fun pattern by pattern designer Jik from Indonesia. https://www.facebook.com/jik.siluet His custom portraits are very good. Don't know if there's a deep meaning to this one but it was a fun cut anyway.

Size is 8” x 10” BB ply. The young Beatle pattern is by Helder Botas acquired from the library and I don’t know who designed the older pattern.

Beautiful piece Charlie, RJ

I usually do but was in a hurry and took a shortcut. I usually use the Zinser sanding sealer and on occasion the the acrylic sealer on painted ornaments.

That's actually not a bad idea if they make a sellable design.. and if there was room to engrave / personalize it.. I personally like to make my product myself.. but there is a large market for just making bulk stuff.. especially in the cutting board, utensil type things.. a lot of laser guys do not even make the product they sell but rather just add graphics to a mass produced item. I would say a large amount of cutting boards are not made by the seller the seller just personalizes them with a monogram or ?.. and that would be a market I couldn't get into and compete in.. because I would want to make the board myself.. and many of these folks sell them cheaper than I could / would make a plain board for let alone personalize it.. That said you have to find a niche that these type of folks aren't / can't do.. which would be CNC'ing them as "inlayed" cutting boards and that would get a edge on the competition because you can market it better too.. after all the thin laser engraving will eventually be cut away from using the board for the intended use over time. A inlaid board you can make the inlay as thick as the board itself and even go all the way through to the bottom side so that graphic is always going to be there no matter how much you use the board. You see, CNC doesn't mean it has to be mass produced.. I think there is a fair amount of hands on with this type of project.. and this is making a "quality board" from start to finish.. as opposed to a person buying bulk boards and just adding laser engraving on them. Same goes for the laser.. I'm not mass producing items and selling them as handmade.. my ornaments are in a completely different category as my scroll sawn ornaments.. they are listed as laser cut/engraved and hand painted. Can I go the mass production route and just sit and make the same item all day long with a CNC/Laser? Sure can and that opportunity is there if I needed / wanted it.. I get more satisfaction making that personalized 1 - 20 off type items and get paid extra for doing it because there is a large market for it and not many offering personalized because they want to do that mass production. Check this inlay cutting board making video.. consider it enough hands on to be handmade or no? Just curious what others think.. More hands on than the folks buying bulk boards and just engraving them?

The laser is just a cheap 40watt Co2 laser with only a 8 x 11 work table. It's called a K-40.. cost me about $300 back in 2017.. I think they may be around $450 now days.. Lot of fun to mess with.

I've heard that works good but does it affect the glue strength for layered ornaments? I haven't tried that yet however I haven't had much trouble with bleeding either since I was using the laser to burn the lines.

Like that ornament, I did one similar for my brother but had a 5th wheel trailer and their favorite park instead of their names. The laser lines do help a lot with paint bleeding. That is how I do mine..

Thanks Jes. I too have always been a fan.

Delta Airliner 9 ¾”L x 8 /⅛”W x 3 ⅞”H and Cessna Skyhawk 8 ¼” L x 7” W x 3 ⅜” H. Woods used were Canarywood, Poplar and Mahogany. Patterns acquired by Toymakingplans.com.

Kevin your ornaments are beautiful, what size laser do you have, RJ

There was a post from some time ago that spoke to this. As I recall, it was something along the line of using a toilet paper roll - supposed to be the size of a persons/child's throat - if the piece would drop thru the toilet paper roll it could be swallowed.

Lasers/CNC are just tools.

Thanks Marg. Like to see some of his work.

Here is some of my work for this Christmas ! I've discover the scroll saw about 4 years ago it does help me to control my PTSD from Canadian Forces

That is so cute. Paul's patterns are always spot on. Excellent team work. Marg

I like Millwabs best because it's not singling out any particular machine user. A lot of different believes on the CNC and Laser machines and many scroll sawers portray them as a inferior machine or something.. I find just as much fun and get the same gratification from the projects I make with the machines as I do with the scroll saw. Scroll sawers can and do " production work " as well.. at least I do.. stack cutting is running production and a "good" sawer can out produce a single laser or CNC machine.. From a hobby standpoint I would rather have and use a scroll saw than a CNC/Laser.. as a business I like the ability to be able to use all three machines as they all do "different" products.. I think on some projects the charred edges gives the project more contrast and actually looks better than the scrolled piece. Just a matter of ones opinion I know.. I've seen scrollers staining and painting edges on some projects to achieve that charred look too. As for customers.. yeah some are shocked when they realize you made something freehand cutting.. that said I have never had any customer really care how a item was made.. they like the item and want to buy it without a care in the world how it was made really.. Most all my lasered ornaments are hand painted with details so a fair amount of "hands-on" still for me and the products I offer.. and I still get that "Wow" factor from the hand painted portion sample photos of my hand painted ornaments below. The machines are able to enhance and make a project better than just a scroll saw as in the ornaments sample below I add words around the ornament with the laser.. These ornaments can and have been made on the scroll saw too but you just can't achieve the added touches with those words or personalizing them or the details by using just a scroll saw. I offered these last year as scroll sawn ones.. sold a few but then this year added the words and details with the laser and a few customers that bought last year loved the details so much they bought the same ornament and discarded the old one.. Not sure if anyone noticed I've not been on the village lately but I've been swamped with laser work doing many of my ornaments with the added touches and personalizations.. laser been running dang near 17 hours a day and was easy to have one of my kids watch over it while I did some other things.. This is good for my business standpoint and I get a great deal of satisfaction from making exactly what the customers want.. It's not just a production mode and like printing a paper that it's made out to be by some.. I also get a great deal of satisfaction from designing a pattern.. much like the designers do here for your scroll sawn patterns.. so that in itself is gratifying to do and then set up the machine and watch the project come to life so there again there is more gratification to a CNC/Laser made items than what it's made out to be.. for me anyway.. some of you have never run one of these machines and you have no idea if you'd get that satisfaction from it or not.. same with designing and making your own patterns.. most don't do it because they don't know how to do it.. if they tried and accomplish a pattern they'd get some gratification from that just the same. Most CNC/Laser guys can't go out today and buy a scroll saw and start efficiently making things tomorrow to sell, as some of the signs posted above implies.. as is with the scroll saw guys can't go out and buy a CNC/Laser and efficiently start making things to sell tomorrow.. they both take a level of experience to do.. Having all three machines opens up a whole new opportunity for my business.. As Milwabs sign says.. I have heart and sole into making the customers dream project come to life whether that is from the CNC/Laser/Scroll saw.. my satisfactions comes from working with the customer to see what I can do for "them"... maybe that's why I thrive in what I do..

I, too, removed it as I set up the saw.

I kept the hold down on my first saw, for some time. I was just learning how to scroll (trial & error) and I had a tendency to do things that caused the blade to grab and lift the wood. The hold down was actually somewhat useful for this. After I got a little better at controlling the cut, selecting blades, etc, I found the hold down was far more of a nuisance than a help, so off it came. I'm on my third saw now and I've never used a hold down since.

great job

When I first started scrolling it was on my saw for a day. After that it is trash. Now if I get a new saw, it is gone before I even setup the saw.

Nice job! I really like the way you did your fonts.

Jewelry box size is 7 ½” x 4 ¼” x 3”. Woods used were Holly, Maple, Jatoba & Cherry. Cherry & Jatoba were laminated and then cut to size for the box. Inlayed banding on top to complement. Finished with clear satin polyurethane and polished with bees wax.

Hey everyone, Been working on this Owl pattern on and off for a couple of weeks now, finished it today. This is my first project using a spiral blade ( Pegas no.3 ) I added a white backer board for the moon and some edging strip for a frame. The pattern is from the village pattern library but I cannot find it again to give credit to the designer, but thank you for a lovely pattern. Hope you all had a merry Christmas and all the best for a happy and peaceful New Year. Regards, Alan.

An Alex Fox pattern

Steve Good recently issued a pattern for a Heart Tray. I had some Maple and Padauk boards left over from the Heart Box I made back last February (https://www.scrollsawvillage.com/forums/topic/45466-my-version-of-dave-monk%E2%80%99s-%E2%80%98box-for-valentines-day%E2%80%99/#comment-486165). I thought the Tray would make a good companion for the Box I gave my Lady. Was going to give it to her on Christmas but she saw and claimed it already. Laminated the Maple and Padauk making the tray walls 1 1/4” high. Stack cut the outside of laminated tray walls along with the 1/8” thick maple bottom first, then after removing the bottom, cut out the interior sections. Fairly easy cutting with Pegas #5 Skip tooth Blade. Lot of hand sanding creating the red dust everywhere. Attached bottom to walls with Superglue and applied multiple coats of Deft Clear Gloss Lacquer. Used the inside dropouts to trace and cut out the red felt bottom liner which I attached with spray adhesive. PITA to fit the sticky liner in its proper place. Comments and Critiques always welcome

Ah, I can vividly remember my first project going back 24 years. I had just built my 8 x 12 workshop and purchased my first scroll saw. A 16” Craftsman, and couldn’t wait to get started. Photo attached was my first project, and it was a Christmas gift for my mother. I think I spent at least three evenings till midnight completing this. I was finally done and proud as hell. My mother was very pleased, it was the first thing she would put out on display each Christmas season. When she passed in 2007 I received it back. Here it is. A Christmas window scene cut out on ⅛” oak and enclosed within an oak frame and red acrylic backing on a mahogany stand. Now my wife puts it out on display each Christmas season as well. What was your first project and story? Love to hear it. Merry Christmas everyone.

Trinket boxes (apple & butterfly). Pattern by Paul Meisel. Size of apple design is 2 ¼” x 3” x 1 ½”, butterfly 5” x 2 ¼” x 1 ½”. Lid slides open on a dowel. Woods used were lace wood, poplar, maple, walnut, paduak, cherry, & wedge. Inside of each flocked. Finished with clear satin polyurethane and polished with bees wax. Very easy and fun to make and best of all you get to make use of any scraps. Thank you.

@John B is right about sanding between coats. I am working on a commission piece and chose shellac as the finish. I have put about 4 coats on now and sanded between each. What I did though was started at 400 for the first 2 coats which leveled the surface. Then switched to 600 for the next 2 coats. The finish comes out glossy with out looking like plastic. Although shellac alone offers very little long term protection but adding a coat of paste wax and final buffing helps protect it a little more. Currently I am using Zinsser spray shellac and dries pretty quick between sanding and coats.

Recently I saw a statement, "In the 1930's new car manuals included a chapter on how to adjust the valves. Some of today's cars include a warning label "Not to drink the contents of the battery". A pretty good indication of today's society's "lack of common sense", and "sue happy society". Charley