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Some ornaments I am working on.

I'm not a puzzle maker. However, I found a nice Puzzle of an Elephant that I thought would be nice to make for my soon-to-be-born Great-Grandson. His nursery is all decked out in Elephant's on his crib blankets, a hanging mobile etc. I did not have any nice solid wood, so I decided to cut it in a piece of 3/4" thick premium pine, since I plan to paint the puzzle pieces anyway... Airbrush Elephant Grey of course using Artist Acrylic paint with a Polycrylic protective coating. Thinking I needed a wide kerf I used a Pegas #1 spiral blade. This proved to be the wrong choice. Although it goes together easily it is very loose and the cut edges are not very smooth. I have since found out, from replies to my Q&A, I should have used a standard blade. I had used a drill hole to start the perimeter cut which left a solid boarder. I added a backer to the border, mounted the boarder - tilted back about 12 degrees - to a base and I’m able to use it to display the puzzle that won’t stand up by itself. I stained the Pine stand with Minwax Sedona Red and finished it with multiple coats of Clear Gloss Lacquer. Although I did not do things the best way and the results could have been better, I think the finish project came out OK. Comments and Critiques always welcome.

yes a lathe can be just as relaxing and enjoyable. Today with the VS models out there it is easy to change speeds when you need to. And that only really needs to happen if you are sanding, finishing, or drilling on the lathe. Any other turning is usually done at high speeds so no need to switch belts. Yes they can throw lots of chips and a dust collector is something that is handy. Being I turn alot of acrylic pen blanks I have to be careful about clogging the duct because the stringy material does stick to the sides. But I have done some birdhouse ornaments as well as tops and small items. Never did get the desire of getting into bowl turning but if a ever do it would be segmented bowls. Those are really cool. I know this is not a turning forum but here are some examples of what I turn along with some recent pens. If there is objections to this then Travis can just delete them. The spinning top is an example where I combine scrolling and turning. I make many different styles of this type of tops. Kids love them.

To combat that problem real easily is to make a subtop. Use a piece of 1/4" baltic birch plywood and make it any size you want. Drill a hole for your blade and then use doublesided tape to hold the top in place. You could put a finish on it if you want more free spinning. but I found BB is smooth enough to give you that just righ amount of resistance when spinning. Works well. I had to do that with my Hegner right away because as Kevin said that table top is just not large enough. I aslo do it when using the RBI's and I am making the large mirrors. Because spinning that much 3/4" oak is not easy to control. One less thing to concentrate on if the top is flat and wide.

It is the same in my area. Scrolling was alot more popular years ago but the lathe work has taken over by far. People doing bowls and segmented work as well as pen turning. I found we went through phases with my scrolling. When I first started I have mentioned here many times I was a huge fan of the Berry Basket and Rick and Karen's designs. They had a lot of projects that were geared to home decor and that is what I did mostly. The shelves, mirrors, tissue boxes, planters, table lamps and what they became famous for the collapsible basket/trivets. and so on. Then I added magazine racks and plenty of wall hanging items. They did sell and then they started to peter out and that is when I got huge into clock making because we all need clocks and the Victorian style of wood items faded. Unfortunately the I phone camera thing was not around back then so whatever photos I took were film style. I tried a few times to transfer some to digital and get them on my computer but not really good at that. I did put up a few photos of past work I did. here not sure how well they show up. As you can see, who uses magazine racks any more? Who collects spoons any more? I use to make those shelves 2 and 3 times as long depending on an order. And I made many other varieties of these items. This is just an example. Man back in the day I went thru alot of oak. I use to do many of these same items with a darker stain on them These are all natural finish. All finish with Watco Danish oil. Man went thru alot of gallons of that stuff too. Trip down memory lane. The wheel barrel and the tricycle are made from Mahagony and I just sold those last year thru FB. I had 5 of each left and just wanted to get them out of the basement so sold cheap and was surprised they went as quick as they did. Sold a couple of those shelves too. I have a few more large items such as wishing wells that I need to sell and get them out of the basement. I need to complete them first. Have all the pieces cut but need to assemble. they have to be at least 20 years old.

Yes Kevin , the 2 wood ones shown there are made from rosewood and yellowheart strip for accents. It also has a blue acrylic mirror for accent behind pens. I will include a photo here. As you can see there is a back rest that the pens lean against and a small corresponding hole for the nib to rest in so it does not slide off. the round one is also a spinner in that I placed a lazy susan rack under it so all pens can be viewed. Just last week I decided to buy some display boxes to make it easier for me to display and carry my pens. I have over 200 pens. These boxes have a couple shelves that are easily taken out and people can pick from them. When I find a few shows I want to do it will be just pen sales so will be able to display using the boxes as well. I started a display cabinet for my home for those real special pens that I probably do not want to sell but never finished it. Over the years I have made some interesting single pen display boxes that I have yet to make the pens to compliment the boxes but which I will get to soon. Those will forever be one of a kind and rather valuable. Now that I got my house just about 75% done I am getting closer to finishing that cabinet. Will hang in my Den. Believe me carrying 200 pens is a whole lot easier than carting my scrollsawn stuff as you can see from the photos of the display I shown here. I do not know why sometimes double photos show up. I tried this twice and same thing happened. Oh well.

Hey Everyone And Happy Labor Day If Your In The States! In this fun scroll saw project video, we make a neat little Miniature Horse Head Diorama! This Steve Good Design uses 1/4 inch material for the horses head and 1/2 inch material for the base. This Project would look great in a cabin out in the country! Hope you all like the video! #ArtisanPirate

...for my sister. #5 MGT, De Walt 788, and a Dremel for the ball's dimples. Poplar. My first project that turned out good enough to show.

It is good to see you JT. You are a true artist in whatever you do. Please call in often we would love to see more of you. Marg

A person had shared this on another site so I thought I would share it here. Woodcraft has it.

I made this for my wife from Opal, mahogany and ash wood.

It's so great to hear from you J.T. even on this sad note. Please consider rejoining us here on SSV. We need your sage advice more now than ever. Lots of new scrollers. ComeONBACK! I did not want to comment in the thread about Rick Hutcheson because that is not about me. So just a quick note to say HI to the villagers who remember me and to answer Ray's post. Just an update as to my doings. Since the great shut down of the pandemic, the shows I was attending never made a comeback so my scrolling days came to an end. I sold off my Dewalt788 and Hegner18" saws for a fairly cheap price and it sounded like the new owners were enthused to have them. I did keep my 2 RBI's 220 and 226. But they have been idle and I have shifted my focus to turning and mostly the making of pens. I found these are far easier to sell and to also give away. I have included a couple photos of my last show I did and my set up. I really do have alot of stuff to get rid of. as I have gotten older the desire to do shows like that is not there any more. Last year I did sell some things through FB market place and may at some time do a yard sale thing and sell things from the garage to lighten the load for my family when I pass. The eyes and hands are definitely not the same. It is good that there are new members joining the site and choosing scrolling as their hobby of choice. It still has its merits but not what it once was. I basically can not add any new sage advice that has not been given by the senior members here, I am sure. But did want to say a BIG HELLO to all and maybe I will poke my head in from time to time again. Hope all are doing well.

Beautiful work J.T. Thanks for showing your artistry and imagination. I am in awe.

awesome work

All great looking work.

Very nice. Love the snowman. Marg

Very cute. I am sure he will appreciate it when he is a bit older. Marg

I find that if I stand up and do a couple of stretches or maybe a slow walk around the garden every hour or so my back is not quite so bad. It doesn't matter how long a project takes, you are only competing against yourself. You did a very good job, keep up the good work. Marg

Great job, especially on the painting.

Wow those are very nice racks and of coarse pens as well. Thanks for showing the additional photos. I had a lathe given to me some 7-8 years ago and I messed with it some but I guess it just wasn't my thing so I ended up getting rid of it. It was a old Craftsman that you changed speeds with swapping the belt to different pulleys. I can't remember how many speeds it was.. I just know that it made a big mess in short time and that was my biggest complaint about it. Now if I'd of had the dust collector system I now have I might have hung onto it... Maybe again some day I'll give it another try.

meflick: here are some pictures. I thought it easiest to remove the table, attach the port and replumb the dust collection system. I did have to grind two washers a little.

Looking good.

very nice

The only thing I disliked about that map thing was it didn't have my planet listed on there.. so I just had to pick a spot.. probably great thing for the earthlings though.

More of the same! This is just a nice pattern. Not sure I'm happy with my color choice for lights but it is what I had. I like the white lights but the purple is a bit much. Looks better in person.

Thanks Barbara. Yeah, that would be neat to make a radio controlled plane or car.

The Ambrosia Maple was great choice

For your problem, I frequently leave the outside edge square, until the last. but I have also hot glued extension strips to the flat top and/or bottom long enough to support the work on the saw table while I cut near the ends of it. Then I can cut the outside edge or the strips free as the last steps. Charley

This here is why I'll always have a Hawk 26" saw in my shop.. The saw table is the largest of any of the saws I have.. the worst table is on the Hegner and second worst is the Excalibur. The EX has a decent sized table however the distance from the front of the tabel to the blade is not very much.. like 4" or less.. I think the Hawk had around 7" from blade to front of table so there is pretty good support. I have a few good selling pieces I make that are about 20" long by nearly 10 wide.. and I usually stack cut them 1/4" at 3 pieces so 3/4" stacks.. I don't have any issues with holding down the wood really.. but these pieces are always the easiest to cut ( for me ) on my Hawk.. and cannot be done on the Hegner with a straight blade anyway since it only has a 18" throat. One of those projects where you have to stand to the side and sometimes have to move myself to the other side of the project to do a cut, LOL

321 3oz of mineral spirits, two oz. of polyurethane, one oz of BLO.

Products called Danish oil typically are a blend of some type of drying oil (such as boiled linseed or tung oil), varnish (or oil based polyurethane) and mineral spirits. The proportions vary and product names can be misleading, so one brand of "Danish" oil may be somewhat different from another brand. If the main ingredients are available, you can readily make your own with MS, BLO and any varnish you like, mixed in roughly equal proportions. BLO is a drying oil. I know a lot of people like it as a stand alone finish, but I don't think it is ideally suited for that purpose. BLO will impart an amber tint to wood, which is attractive, especially when first applied. However, over time, it can begin to look dull. BLO can be reapplied periodically, to freshen up the appearance, but the affect will be temporary. Over time, the build up of many applications of BLO can result in a finish that remains tacky and attracts dust. Again, I know many people use BLO by itself and like it. I think the ease of application is a primary reason for its popularity. I just want to point out the potential downsides of using BLO as a stand alone finish. As for alternatives, consider shellac. A few folks on the forum have stated that they use it as a dipping finish. I've personally never tried that, but they claim good results. Shellac dries very quickly, so the process will be somewhat different than dipping in BLO or Danish oil. I spray my shellac and it's about as easy to apply as any finish out there. It dries very fast and is easy to clean up, with very little overspray to deal with. If using a compressor and spray gun aren't feasible, Zinsser makes a shellac in a spray can. No idea if that is available in South Africa or not, but perhaps there is an alternative.