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Hi villagers.. I just got done with a small 4 inch logo. My daughter in law has set up her practice for therapy called "Three Feathers Therapy". This her logo.. This is my small 4 inch plaque. Made from Butternut wood. Wow that is soft wood. 2/0 spiral blade was used. She did not mind to add a bit of tint to the wood. I played with my green and orange transtint dye. Butternut wood did pretty well with green and orange. The middle feather I used water-based stain Provential brown. Very diluted, just to get the tan effect. The 3 bigger stand alone feathers : ( left to right) are oak, olive, canarywood. The oak did not do well with green dye after the finish darkened the oak. Olive is so pretty no tint was needed. Canarywood is orange enough with no stain. The off angle pic has a better angle to show green tint. This angle also shows that I added texture to the edge of the feathers. Spiral blade with slight pressure changes left to right. Lessons learned: Butternut wood is soft. Leaves fibers behind. Breaks easily. "feothors" now has a definition. Scollsawyers need therapy when using butternut. Olive smells like olive oil when cutting. Olivewood is my favorite wood due to smooth creamy patterns. It is hard to find good uses for olivewood to show off the grain patterns. Canarywood wood smells fruity. Nice orange color after an oil based finish. Nice to play with. Me. Mark Eason

I just converted my fluorescent shop lights to LEDs. Love it.

It doesn't really take all that long for the glue gun to heat up. I usually work on organizing stacks of blanks, applying patterns and clamping them together while it's heating up and by the time I'm ready for it, it's ready to rock. I actually have a couple of them. One takes the mini glue sticks and the other takes larger ones. I didn't buy them for scroll sawing, but that is what their primary use is these days. From some of the comments I've read, I think there may be a mis-understanding on how the hot glue is applied, not from Kevin's reply, but from others over the years. The hot glue is not applied between the layers. It's applied in strips, across the edges of the stack. All pieces in the stack need to be the same size, so that the edges all line up. It does not cause any gaps between layers. It merely holds the edges together, sort of like the binding on a book. I use this technique mostly when I'm cutting Christmas ornaments. I'll place patterns for multiple ornaments on the blank. Most of the time, the edge of the blank is not part of the pattern and gets cut away. I do not cut into any edge from the outside, until I've made all the internal cuts and have freed the finished pieces from the stack. That way the stack stays together throughout all the cutting.

The simple line drawings of RED LIP LADIES IN HATS are prolific online and most are stock images that cost little or nothing to obtain. There are also a lot the simple line drawings of RED LIP LADIES and RED WINE. With only minor conversion work needed, using Inkscape to make scrollable patterns from these simple line drawings is a snap. The patterns were each designed for an 11x14 panel. However, for these projects I printed them out scaled down in Adobe to fit 8x10 panels. As usual, the cut panels are 5/32” Maple Solid Core Ply and backers are 1/4” BB Ply. The backers were painted Black with, of course, Red for lips, accessories, fingernails, and wine. And, as usual, painting was done with an Air Brush using Artist Acrylic Air Brush Paints. Although the individual panels were rather simple cuts, using mainly Pegas #2/0 spiral blades and Pegas #1 MGT R blades for the smooth long cuts, the 10 panels did take quite a while to complete. Handling each individually, from start to finish, was quite time consuming. Then there was my choice to make gang frames. IMHO, the smaller panels look better in narrow rail frames, especially when ganged. Although all the construction is like what I do when I make my standard 1 3/4” wide rail frames, the narrow rails are difficult work with. This added a lot of time to the project. The frames were primed and painted Matt Black. Between our cruise, major yard projects, dealing with a stomach bug, and slipping in the Abstract Art Cat and Dog cuttings, this is the results of what has been occupying my shop time over the past few weeks. Comments and critiques always welcome.

The board is walnut and poplar, and the pieces are maple and a giant stump I picked up off the curb, no idea what it is

I've bought and returned the Wen and the Dewalt 734 planers before because I don't have a real dust collection system... Hear the Dewalt DW735X with it's powerful blower can be used without dust collection. What's really tempting is it's on sale -$180 off at Lowe's until the end of June. On Sale @ $599 with both tables and extra set of blades... Being a beginner using mostly the scroll saw projects 98% of the time I think I would feel guilty spending that amount of cash...

About a year ago, I was given some beautiful, very dark hardwood flooring that I eventually identified as Ipe. In a recent project, I decided to use some of it. I ruined two bandsaw blades in an attempt to resaw these boards. A few days ago, I had a project that required some dark-colored wood, and some of the Ipe was the right thickness. I cut the parts ok, but it rapidly dulled the blade. To make a long story short, Ipe is almost impossible to glue with wood glue, and it is iffy with an acetone wash and epoxy. Next, I'll find out if ipe burs is well.

OK, just could not leave it with just a Cat (see my post ‘Cat Picasso Style Abstract’), I had to make a Dog. No free SVG file this time, so I had to develop my own pattern from an Abstract Pop Art image I found on-line. Tried to stay away from any specific breed. This time the panel is 12” by 16”. Otherwise, all information is the same as the Cat so no need to repeat here. I will just say, although the finish product is striking, I will not be inclined to do more like these too soon. Although the cutting is quite simple, painting the colors is a SPITA. I’ll post the pattern in Pattern Exchange. Maybe some out there who like to do segmental type panels can adopt the pattern for such. Painting individual pieces would be much simpler and, the end result should be just as striking.

looks very good. appreciate the explanation on using the various woods

My All Time Favorite Action Hero Is 94 Years Young Today!

Wax free shellac is alcohol based, so it dries quickly. It's mostly used to lock the surface so a different kind of stain or finish can be applied without it being diluted or being affected otherwise by a finish already on the piece. For instance, a water based stain applied first, and now you want to apply an oil based stain over it. Applying the wax free shellac over the water based stain will prevent the oil based stain from being absorbed and mixing with the water based stain, if the wax free shellac is applied over the water based stain. It seals the surface preventing the two stains from mixing as the second is applied. Charley

I have used almost everything and settled on wood glue in the waste area. It is cheaper than all the others. It doesn't leave a gap between the layers like double-sided tape or hot glue. Downsides: You need to clamp it long enough to cure the glue. I use Titebond II and let it set in the clamps for at least 20 minutes before cutting. You must be careful about how much glue you use and locate the glue far enough away from the cut so you don't glue the pieces together. Little dots of glue around the edges are all that is needed.

Great looking shop!

It's a really nice shop, but there seems to be a fatal flaw... How do you get drinks out of that fridge?

Mark, I'm certain your daughter-in-law will be pleased. Your explanation was very educational, thank you. One me thing, nice cutting. Jerry

I am not allowed to operate power machinery after that type of therapy.

great job

Guess it really depends on how much scrolling you do and if you have a local source for various thickness of boards that are readily available etc. I personally would be lost without my planer.. dang near every single project I make the board ends up going through the planer.. not always because I need a certain thickness but sometimes just to make the board freshly flat again after it has sat in the shop sometimes they get cupped etc. and it's nice to just be able to true them up before starting the project. For me when buying thin stock 1/8 - 3/8 by the time I get home with it it has already cupped.. nice just to take a 3/4" board down to whatever size I need and have it completely flat. My local source for project lumber is 30 - 35 mile away and it would cost me a fortune to make a special trip just to get a board at the certain thickness I needed.. so in that aspect I have saved a ton of money just in fuel. The tool I bought that I probably shouldn't have was the bandsaw.. I got it so I could resaw boards but the time and effort vrs the savings really ( for me ) wasn't worth it.. Most times when I need to resaw a board I have the wrong blade in and the set up time, resaw time, and then planning time etc to get the finished board I need for no more than I use it for the resawing purpose it'll take a very long time to pay off.. however that planer is done paid itself off several times over.. BUT as I said... really depends on your specific situation.. if you have a good selection very close by etc.. you may be able to do without..

Well, it sounds like a pretty good deal, but whether or not you can justify it, only you can determine. I probably use my planer as much or more for scroll saw projects as other WW'ing stuff. Having the planer gives me all sorts of flexibility to use different thicknesses for different projects. I'd be lost without it. That said, dropping $600 on a tool is not a decision to be made lightly. You've already committed to spending several hundred $ on the Wen and Dewalt 734. Now the question is, can you realistically step up another couple hundred for the 735? Good luck. I hope you can find a way to make it work.

Wow Charlie it looks so clean do you work in another shop? Excellent looking displays. Still room for more. Marg

It was time well spent Frank. They are a fabulous collection. Excellent work Sir. Marg

I am sure your daughter-in law will be pleased great job.

Yeah, I don't know why they don't respond to their message system very well.. I don't know if they just don't get notifications from the website like they should or if they don't check them etc.. Kind of weird to me since they (from what I've seen ) respond to the messages quite regularly on their FB page.. I haven't had the need to contact them since I bought by new saw back in 2017 but I've been reading that they're much better with CS now.. maybe not though if they aren't responding to you.. I don't know.. and I don't blame you one bit if they are still having CS issues.. I get that from time to time with most everywhere.. and it does happen now and then. Seyco as an example as i always had great service from them until the last time I had a question.. Took them 6 months to answer it.. excuse was they swapped website or servers or something and they lost a bunch a data but then somehow retrieved that data and was going through the messages.. so at least they did reach back out to me 6 months later, LOL.. I don't think Hawk would have done that nor many other companies. At the end of the day.. the best contact info is done by phone and talk to a person.. I get email glitches etc happening all the time with Etsy and Amazon.. Etsy recently changed their system and had a glitch and it was marking everyones messages as spam and not giving us sellers any kind of notice so it's always good to be able to talk in person rather than rely on a message actually going where it supposed to.

Never used shellac before, still kinda new with woodworking so I might give that a try. I did lightly sand with 400 then 800 to try and smooth things out but the rough patches were on the inside so it was a pain to do. It looks better as long as it's not vied too close

Thanks! “My heroes have always been cowboys.”

Just saw the G4 saw you posted. Good price but the stand does look a bit funky but the saw looks pretty good. Pretty far drive. I would keep looking especially since you have to get a new range. But you do make a good BBQ...you could use that for a while!

I have used all the methods mentioned so far here's my take (for what it's worth) pin nails Pro: very good at holding the stack and keeping it from moving. Con; have to have or buy a pin nailer, I use hardwood and the pins would bend inside the wood and be in the pattern line ( this is very bad for the blades) double sided tape Pro: works well, adds lubrication to the blades Con: removing the tape can be problematic, wood fibers may come off with the tape. Hot glue: Pro: works well Con: I've have one or more layers come loose in one or more areas around the piece Blue painters tape Pro: works well Con: can't see wood grain through the tape. If your'e using BB plywood this is probably not a concern Packing tape Pro: works well, can see grain Con: packing tape can be a real pain if you have issues with static electricity, the adhesive can be wildly different between batches/manufactures ( The roll I'm using right now has to be cleaned with acetone, MS just won't dissolve the residue ). My current system: Cover top and bottom with clear shelf liner, packing tape to hold the stack. Pilot hole for the outside cut and enough room around the pattern so that the waste area keeps the layers of the pattern locked in place as the ouside is cut. I have recently cut 5 layers of 1/8 BB plywood for ornaments, using 2/0 blades. The stack limit is the length of the small drill bits. I did try putting wax paper between each layer (for lubrication), but I didn't notice any difference.

Tape around the edges is what I do most.. I have also used screws in the waste areas and then take them out to reuse again.. just make sure they don't poke through the back side and scratch the saw table all up. I also and more now than ever use a pin nailer.. again.. be sure they don't poke through the back. I've read where some use hot glue around the edges. Gotta be careful with double sided tapes as they might peel up some larger wood fibers and create a problem..

I did some bookmarks using 1/32" plywood and held them together by wrapping them with blue painter's tape. Worked real well. I think I did about 8 at a time using a #2 blade. Tom

I contacted the seller and he responded that he had no idea why the paint was like that. The whole stand is that way, no places underneath, inside legs all. I contacted Hawk and asked them about it via their message system and of course on response, which is what I expected. It's hard for me to want to do business with that kind of CS. If they do not want to respond to messages do not have a setup for them.