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Well it will be finished when the finish dries. I met a young man a few months ago, that was a Navy Submariner. First submarine person I have ever met. I made him a military plaque and added the submariner emblem to it. Anxious to give it to him.

Well, I did it. I bought a hegner 22. I just placed the order this morning. I've got a king 16 and I love it but I really wanted a hegner too. Maybe that's crazy , maybe I didn't need it but I just wanted it. Hopefully I'll enjoy it. I'm thinking I'll keep both. We'll see what I like each one for as time goes on. Maybe one for delicate work and one for more aggressive stuff or something.

These are a couple of dog pattern I just finished cutting out. Want to give a shout out to (Grampa) Paul and jr42 for getting these done for me. jr42 was able to come up with the font we needed to. Thanks for these great pattern makers we have her. Much appreciated. Just need to put a couple coats of poly on them.

Just put some Old Masters satin finish on this one. Started it yesterday, made out of Black Limba. Overall about 4 hours into it. It's funny, I have so far given all but one of my spoons away as gifts. This one is going to a French Officer who is leaving the USA in 2 weeks, after being here at NATO HQ for 3 years.

Congrads on the new toy, RJ

Great saw!! They are awesome saws once you get the blade tensioning down.. That is probably the most complicated part of the Hawk and Hegners.. My first was a Hawk and I was ready to throw it into a trash can at one point, LOL But as Paul said, then something clicked and I haven't looked back.. I love my Hawks.. I Like the Hegner but my biggest issue with the Hegner is the small table, and yes you can fab a larger top but since I have two of the biggest Hawks with nice tables I just use those for the larger works and the Hegner gets used for smaller pieces. I didn't have any issues with blades breaking but most of my tensioning skills came from learning it on the Hawks. They are way more fussy with tension than the Excaliburs and like saws.. I like using my Excalibur too for certain projects.. guess I could get by with just a Hawk but it is nice to be reassured of how nice of a saw it is when I go to trying to cut on the Excalibur, LOL.. You forget how nice it is to have a spring loaded upper arm instead of having to "lift it up" etc.. Same thing when I went from DeWalt to Excalibur.. the DW has to have something to hold the arm up once raise... great saws too but just not the Cadillac saw like the Hawks and Hegners are..

Welcome to the the HEGNER world. Be patient, if you have any questions do not hesitate to call Advance Machinery and ask. I had problems when I first bought mine, Breaking blade, They did not give up on helping me. Truthfully, I was ready to give up on mine but one day it all fell into place. I have owned Craftsman saws, TheDewalt, Exvalibur, and Seyco. All but the craftsman were great saw, but the Hegner is "my saw". fits me right. I will not part with it as long as I can scroll.. I may buy a second saw, but I will not part with my Hegner. And Congratulations. Great choice.

Best improvement I've made to a tool in quite some time. They are lighter and easier to use than the originals. The saw seems to run quieter/smoother, too.

You did a fantastic job, I am sure he will cherish it forever

Yep. I just remembered I posted patterns yesterday or the day before and on had grapes.

very nice work

Definitely 2 different saws. I'm still not totally comfortable with my Hegner, but learning.

I just checked mine. It is fine.

Another great one.. I swear I am going to try this.. I have added many patterns to my catalog. I want to do one for my neighbors that have a winery. It will have grapes on it. Might be worth a bottle.

Talked to CS today, they are putting a replacement in the mail today. Just wondering if it was a one off, or widespread.

Mine was fine. Email them, maybe they'll get out a new one.

First modification I made to my Excalibur when I got it.

Very nicely done, RJ

dewalt 788 RJ

Latest project done. 1/4 bbply with #1 mg blade. Frame is a cigar box. Stripped the paper, painted outside with black craft paint. Pattern by Dean (face book). Finish is Walrus oil.

Nice job Barb, I bet that looks great at your BEACH HOUSE. Rick

Love the frame idea. Terrific job!

There were a few spots that were. The pattern printed smaller than I thought, but always up for a challenge.

I use Steve Good patterns for baskets a lot. I will shrink or blow up the pattern depending in the size of the stock I am using. I also very the thickness of the stock to get a different look. I recently made a SG basket that I stack cut two layers, one layer was thinner than the other, the two resulting baskets look completely different. One is taller and has a narrow look, the other is short and squatty.

It's not finished but this is my first attempt at a love spoon. I scrolled out all the shape of it and used a combination of knife and rotary tool for the shaping. I need to do some more sanding and shaping to get it right.

Here's is my work for the week. Hand-rubbed Old Master Gel satin polyurethane. What a difference it makes, giving the completed look. I will never use anything else for my finer pieces. Still a few things to master, but overall I am pleased with my first efforts creating Welsh Love Spoons.

Start with a low Janka harness wood like basswood. The red cedar is higher Janka, but still carves nicely though prone to chipping if you do not outline with a blade, so that is a good option too. The Birds Eye Maple was a lot tougher, I had to use my mallot for 80% of the carving since it is more than double the Janka of cedar, so I would stay away until comfortable and you have better tools, even with my good gouges, I had to stop and strop my gouges more frequently. Next tip... have a 'squared' (rectangle) piece of wood to cut from so it fits in your vice, (and after cutting out becomes your holding support) then after laying your pattern, carve your spoon bowl first, this way you have full support from the board, then drill, do inner cuts, then the exterior. Finally, carve and shape the rest. I did not do it this way at first and actually broke one of the more delicate pieces because of the pressure of my vice. Thus you see how I had to jury rig support in the vice.

It's been a busy weekend, I am now in the home stretch on 3 spoons. The final steps will be hand-sanding and then a finish with Old Masters Gel, then a buff. The Birds Eye Maple is VERY hard, it took the better part of 4 hours to carve, vs the Red Cedar. I use my cut-offs to support my piece as I carve. Being that this was scrap wood, I did not have even edges. In the future, I will have perfectly parallel sides to clamp in. This was a workout today for sure!

James... you've created a monster! I am now sanding an 11", red cedar love spoon... the same pattern as above, as the first one goes on my wall of "first tries". I really like the way cedar cuts and carves. Still sanding... I will check my FB messages.

James Well, you inspired me to try my hand at a love spoon too! This is where I am at so far today. A combination of Scroll, hand carving, rotary tool sanding and edging, and mop sander to finish. Still smoothing things out before applying a finish. Nice I can use 'scrap' wood to create these.