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My latest efforts.

I converted and resized this original White on Black image into two (2) slightly different 11” x 14” Scroll Saw Patterns. Being true to the original, for the first pattern (which I consider a Nighttime view) I simply inverted the image so that the cut out areas, that would show the White, would be Red outlines with grey fill. For the second, using a copy of the first pattern, I reworked the area around the Moon (now to be a Sun) so the image is a Daytime view, which allowed me to add color. The conversion work also included the removal of a lot of unintended bridges created by Inkscape. Since most of the cut panels would be painted, I felt the panel did not have to be the normal better quality solid core ply that I typically use, I decided to stack cut two pieces of 1/8” BB Ply that has been hanging around in my workshop for a very long time. Unfortunately, the stack was bowed slightly which made cutting very difficult. The stack cutting was completed up to a point where the area around the Moon/Sun had to be done. The two panels were then separated, and the areas cut separately. As usual, all cutting was done with Pegas #2/0 spiral blades. For the Nighttime version, the cut panel was primed and painted with Krylon spray can Black and the backer primed and painted with Krylon spray can White. The assembled panel was set into a Painted Black Floating frame. For the Daytime version, both the backer and cut panel were both sealed with a clear Krylon sealer and then painted with Acrylic Artist paints using an Air Brush. The assembled panel was finished with multiple coats of a Clear Acrylic Protective Coating. The assembled panel was set into my usual 1 3/4” wide Pine Frame that was primed and painted with Glidden Spray Can Max-Flex, Earthy Cane Satin (Glidden likes to use fancy names. This is just a light cream color.). Comments and critiques always welcome.

An online mulitplayer game called Diablo 4 is being released soon. My son is playing pre release version now. Part of this game play has shrines. First pic shows a shrine from game. So this inpired me to try compound cuts again. I had 2x2 douglas fir to play with. I was struggling with pegas blades. I went up to #11 skip and still struggled. So I switched to polar #7. Polar started cutting ... yea. The top part it apears I cut inside the pattern left side and outside the line on the right side. I can see how it adds mystery to a game piece. But it is a total oops. This is the first time cutting Douglas Fir. At 1.75 inch thick, Now I know why they use it for contruction. 7 inches tall. Some more pics showing inside. I played with red "transtint" to give a Diablo feel. I still need to clear coat it with high gloss. I found a rechargable 9 volt battery on amazon for powering leds. Other than Diablo 4 game piece this can hold Gnomes inside. Me. Mark Eason

My Lawn guy has a early 50's Chevy Pick Up he keep "rustic" pristine and he is very proud of it. Thought I would surpise him with this plaque. 1/8" BBPW with 1/4" backer finish is shellac and lacquer. Used my "paint In" method on the tires and grill.

Yip the Insane Dust Maker ( Don Bedggood) is at it again, had to get the right size and keep everything in proportion on this one which makes it harder to cut because of the reduced size, but you will understand my madness when all the animals are cut and added to the Lion in a 3D arrangement. I will have to make changes to the outer cutting of the pattern because there must be no wood back round visible just the Buffalo profile.

The real answer is purchase them wherever and whatever you want,,, it is all a personal choice!

I am playing around with different designs of Welsh Love Spoons, James got me started when I saw his, and now I am just going nuts! I really like the cedar as it is really nice to cut and carve. And of course the smell. These are about 11" in length. The 2nd image I just cut out using spalted maple. (The backside is in the 3rd image) I had some Pegas skip tooth blades I wanted to test, I used 3 blades for the maple one. I saw a piece and just hand-drew this pattern. The penciled-in areas will be where I do the over-under/deep carving. I am going to try a rough carve and finish, sort of the 'Ol Rugged Cross thing. I had some scrap walnut and did a smaller pattern (two blades), you can see the backside in the 3rd image. I am not too keen on the Pegas skip tooth blades. They seem like a faster cut, but I do not like how the cut edges come out. The FD Ultra Reverse finish is so much better, and I have better control. Perhaps the Pegas lasts a little longer though. I figure with a couple of pieces already cut out, I can then sit down and do all my carving, shaping, sanding, and finishing at once. I really like making these Welsh love spoons. Now I have 3 pieces to carve and finish.

I haven't read all the comments. Kinda stopped after you mentioned the shipping cost from Bearwood. That is one of the reasons I won't deal with Bearwood. The other was, when I did order blades, and only blades, I had called to inquire whether they would just put them in a regular envelope and post that way. I had just received a similar shipment from Mike's Workshop. The employee on the phone said it was not feasible and that I didn't know what I was talking about. I now purchase from Garnet Hall at Sawbird. Always happy with his service. If I was in the states, it would be Denny.

I understand why people who are selling pieces want to know how long something takes, but why do those who scroll for a hobby need to know.

Don't want to bash anyone here. I started scrolling and using FD blades from Mikesworkshop. Had no issues. Still have a wide variety of FD blades. Started using Pegas blades. I mainly use the MG blades. Have used the spiral blades and even some metal cutting blades. I only order from Denny at Artcrafters online. Have no complaints and he has been great. I just like the Pegas blades. Like others have mentioned, it can be a personal choice and the best choice is the one you like and use.

Tell you what, scince I have two clocks already, on my next project I'll have one clock on the foot switch and one on the overall time and give both values ( at least as it applies to me and my rate of cutting (slow).

That can be a bit of lost time for sure. Not only changing blades but the time you need when you are doing inside cuts. Stop, loosen chuck/blade, lift arm, pierce through drill hole, reposition blade, tension, then cut. The seconds/ minutes add up for complex pieces.

Since I do not use a timer, it would be interesting for those that do to post a picture of a project and the time. One interesting thing is that the time does not include time to change blades only machine time.

Great job.

My shop clock

This seemed fitting.

As always, beautiful work. As others said, I prefer the black one.

Sweet cutting of a sweet oldie. Please explain your "paint in" method.

Ditto!

terrific job

One reason is when I cut out an intricate fretwork project with a ton of separate cuts and show it off to friends and/or family I inevitably get asked "how long did that take?" I know that I could just throw a number out there or say not long or a long time but it'll be neat to say that I know how long it took. But the main reason I think is just curiosity for me. Although someone pointed out it could be handy for knowing how long you've been using a blade or knowing when to service you saw. I just kind of like tinkering with gadgets too I guess. This isn't for everyone but a few people have liked the idea so it was worth sharing.

I have an Etsy shop... I know this all too well. Shipping is calculated into the cost and that's fine, I just look at the total cost when comparing a "free shipping" product to a paid shipping product. In this instance Mike's with "free shipping" was cheaper than Bear Woods with shipping added separately. The difference being one was FD and the other Pegas. I know that it's largely a preference thing, I even mentioned that in the original post. I was just looking for a good discussion on price versus quality versus customer service and I wasn't disappointed. You guys delivered just that. I learned a lot from this discussion and appreciate everyone's input.

There is no such thing as free shipping.

I buy Pegas blades from Denny at Art Crafters. I started with Olson, then Flying Dutchman, and then tried Pegas blades. I still have a few Olson blades and many Flying Dutchman blades that I occasionally use. Switching back to the older blades occasionally to try and use them up. It is possible that the way a particular blade performs for me is connected with what I am doing with them. For me, the Pegas blades are the best.

Scrappile, if I get it right I think it’s going to look great, I’ve drawn it out on paper as to how I think it should be, which I use as a reference and keep me honest and motivated.

Wow. A great result with both pieces I think. Very well done and a great explanation as well.

Wow! Both are wonderful but I too Love the black and white one!

If I did that then this is how my shop walls would look.. many times I start on a project to "restock" a sold item and another order comes in for a sold out item so I have to make the sold out item to get it to the customer quickly.. I change all my sold out items to a "made to order" until I get around to restocking it.. so many times I get a project started and it might take me 3-4 weeks just to get back at it again.. many times I get a order for it before it's done restocked again even though I started it a few weeks prior, LOL..

This as far as I know has always been the case.. MWS has always been a little cheaper than WTB even though WTB bought out MWS and they are the same in one now.. they seem to operate as two separate entities. As for sales tax.. it is my understanding that sellers do not have to collect and report sales tax to only their own state "unless" they are selling a certain amount of $$ in said particular state. For instance I sell on etsy and etsy being a large business is required collect and report it on my behalf.. however my own website doesn't necessarily have to charge sales tax because I'm nowhere near the ( I think it's ) 10,000 per particular state in sales to have them make me collect and remit.. Etsy and those larger sites do a lot of business transactions in each state and they are the payment processor so they are required to.. I may be wrong on all this and someone may know more about this.. It's just what I remember being told when they started making sellers / marketplaces collect for states other than your own state. Just because it wasn't collected from the seller doesn't mean you're not supposed to report it yourself under the use tax I think is where that's at.. tax forms used to have a question line to report it similar to "if you purchased items out of state but had it delivered to your state" etc..people weren't reporting it and more and more online business going on the states were missing out and wanted their share, LOL..

Since I was headed out the door earlier I'll finish my reply, LOL. I have quite a variety of blades I've gathered over the years.. I use for the most part Pegas blades.. there are certain projects that I use Flying Dutchman and or Olsen blades... I get my Pegas blades from Denny.. Do not care for Bearwood at all and try to not use them if I don't have too, but that's just a personal thing that I have my reasons why. FD blades I get from Mikesworkshop.. sure miss Mike as his customer service and experience would outdo any other seller to date past or present.. he would send free of charge a 2 blade sample of any blade he sold for you to try. Olsen blade I currently just buy packs at the box stores since my use is minimal now days, and the sellers I used to get them from are no longer there or the one is just very poor customer service so I stopped ordering from them. I also use Super Sharps from PSwood.. they are awesome blades for certain types of projects and are pricey blades so I limit my usage of them if possible. For a time I ordered my blades from Bushton MFG. because they sold Flying Dutchman, Olsen,, and Pegas and were cheaper than anyone else for a while but last time I needed blades they was out of stock on all the ones I needed.. Thinking maybe they was getting out of the business of blade sales possible as they was never out of stock and some of the styles / sizes was completely gone from the site.

Guess I'll add my 2 cents. I started scrolling using Flying Dutchman blades from one of their variety packs. I didn't really notice that they were bad but I did notice the blades had a tendency to drift and I've since learned that was due to the production method the blades were made. I kept seeing comments about the Pegas blades and on my next order I tried them through artcraftersonline.com. Denny at artcraftersonline.com typically announces a discount in his monthly newsletter. I found the Pegas blades cut straighter than the Flying Dutchman as well as, in my opinion, being sharper and longer lasting. Denny is also very prompt with his shipments and if there is any concerns with the product once you receive the shipment, Denny will take care of it pronto. (However I've never had an issue with anything I've ordered from Artcrafters.) I am currently working on a project that requires extra small blades. Pegas only makes blades down to a 2/0 and Flying Dutchman has a 3/0. I ordered several dozen of the 3/0 from the Wooden Teddy Bear and when I received them, the blades were bent from being folded inside the envelope. I was able to straighten them but I've noticed the blades have been breaking in the spot where they were bent more often that what I feel would be normal. I don't like to speak badly about any business and this may have been a fluke for Wooden Teddy Bear. I've ordered patterns from them in the past with no issues. In fact, I had also ordered a pattern with the same order as the blades. As mentioned in posts reacting to your forum question, the blade of choice is what works best for you. If, in my opinion, I have a blade that is going to last me longer and cut truer for me to product a better project, the minimal difference in cost is not a big issue. At the time of this post you had remarked that you had already order you blades. My I encourage you to at least give Pegas blades a try. They also have a sample pack I'm sure Denny would help you with.

I buy FD Ultra Reverse from wooden Teddy bear, but get them off Amazon too, as I can get them in one day vs cheaper from Mikes but slower. I usually buy a gross of #5 UR (my go-to-blade for most of my work), and also a gross of their sampler UR pack, so I have small to large. I have a few other brands I tried out, but just find the control and smoothness of the cut makes me go with FD. But I am paying for the speed by a lot. https://amzn.to/44t1NCo - #5 UR $31 https://amzn.to/44rkCFY - Variety Pak UR $28 Image below, you can see my two packs handy-dandy on the wall next to where I scroll.

Got a feeling someone is creating a master piece. Can't wait to see the results.

looking good so far

I use both pegas and niqua from Garnet Hall (Sawbird) as he is local to me ( Saskatchewan, Canada)and shipping costs are reasonable, then so is Denny at Artcrafters as he also sells Pegas and has reasonable shipping and is a fellow scroller. I think Niqua blades are made in Germany they seem more flexible, Pegas sharpness lasts a bit longer but are more brittle. Bearwoods are a good supplier as well but bigger companies have higher overhead.

Looks great, well done. Marg

Great work.

Another masterpiece by Tbow. I wish I had you selection of wood. Sorry to hear about your mother-in-law. Prayers that your wife will find comfort.