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sue mey always comes up with new christmas patterns each year. Wood is usual birch and cut with spiral blades

Cut out of Rimu rescued from a building site

Another member, Scott M, recently posted here with an image of his version of "Skull" by Janevski. He did a great job and inspired me to give it a try. As a relatively new scroller I was intimidated by the large number of cuts required in this design and wasn't sure if I could pull it off. To up the risk factor even more I decided to try a spiral blade for the first time. What the heck, the videos make spirals look easy to use! What could go wrong? With a new #2 spiral and a piece of 1/4 inch BB I dove in headfirst and began cutting. To my surprise, like the videos show, cutting with spiral blades is easier in some ways. The piece doesn't need to be rotated, and I was able to work much faster at higher RPMs than I ever did with a straight blade. To be fair, the design doesn't require much accuracy except where cuts run close to each other. I did make a few mistakes and had one breakout but am happy with the result.

I posted in the General forum about how to make pattern outline lines thicker using Inkscape. but I did'nt do a good job of explaining why it may be useful. (epoxy fill) Here are some project pics to illustrate why you may need thicker lines on a pattern you want to scroll. I would not have been able to use epoxy fill with thin lines. These patterns came from various stained glass websites. I plan on making several gnomes to give away as christmas tree ornaments. The cross with several colors of purple will be put in a lighted shadow box. The cross with the flower will sit in a stand and put in a window, I have made several of those as they will make pretty good Christmas gifts. Thanx for looking.....forrest

I did that on our dining table. Wife not happy.

The charge to my credit cards was $47.50 via Paypal. Shipping and handling included. I buy by the gross and pass the saving to members. The gross now on sale. I recently bought a mixed gross of FD UR from MIkesworkshop and the charge was $59. cad all in. I sell to members at $5 a doz. I have never gotten hit with duties on blades but you never know. It usually takes about 10 days via mail to get.

They will brighten up xmas look great.

I used Pegas super skips in #5. As said, no reverse teeth needed. I was cutting some old hard Douglas fir cut down 2x4's. Tough stuff.

It just depends on how tight of turns the pattern has for the size of blade. Otherwise choose skip tooth or super skip type blades. Because you're not saving the outside of the blank, you don't need reverse teeth, and not having them will help clear the sawdust from the kerf. My favorite blade is the FD Polar series, I use mostly #1, even in 1 1/2" pine.

I finally had a chance to play around with this. The video is pretty good, here's some additional information about adding thin lines and a contrasting fill. To add lines, aka "stroke"; hold down the shift key and select the line color, typically red. Using the " fill and stroke" dialogue box, change the stroke width to .005". This should create thin lines around the thick lines . Select the image and use the curser to select the contrasting color ( I use light green). You can use the "fill and stroke" dialogue box to make the contrasting color lighter. Note: selecting the color without the shift key changes the fill color; selecting the color with the shift key changes the stroke color.

Got these done for some upcoming shows. Poplar cut with #5 MG blade. Walrus Oil finish.

This is an H. Botas pattern. I believe this is a piece of Spalted Maple. Finished with varathane. The original pattern has an eyebrow but this piece wasn't wide enough to allow it. I didn't want to shrink the pattern to fit because it would be way to small. I love the way the colours of the wood popped with the finish.

Pretty much every ornament I have ever cut came out of a 1/4" thick board that had a cup or twist to it. I try to be choosy and select straight and flat material, but its tough to find. Sometimes I feel the boards move when broken down to manageable sizes also. Do you guys just deal with it or try to flatten one side with a drum sander/planer/jointer? I have just been dealing with it as I don't have any other option; but have been seriously considering buying or building a drum sander. I also get some blade squeal from time to time, and I think its small gaps in the wood buzzing with the blade, so having one side nice and flat may help with that. The squeal doesn't hurt anything, its just wicked annoying. What do you all do?

Adding - it started loading correctly and worked pretty good for a little while except I was having a few issues with some pictures in threads not all showing or displaying correctly, would get a small blue box with a ? Mark on it. It wasn’t all, just sometimes. Some I would see a couple photos then one or two not show when someone had posted multiple photos in the same thread. Then, I posted a reply on one thread and when it posted, it came back up with it not loading correctly again. I went back out and came back and it’s loaded correctly. I’ve never had this problem on my iPad before this started in past couple months. So I, not sure what has changed. I did update my OS earlier this afternoon to latest update. It was after this that I first encountered problems with the photos so not sure if it’s related but I’ve had the not loading correctly going on for a while now. It does affect my getting on and participating when this is a problem since I usually always am on my iPad.

Tiki I made for my son.

It’s important to understand what causes the warp or twist, and for the most part, its uneven moister absorption or drying. If you purchase thin boards, it is important to provide equal air movement around the board. If it is just a few boards, then just lean them against a wall or work bench to allow equal air movement. Do not lay them flat on any surface. This does not allow for equal air movement. The same applies if you resaw or plane your boards. You must provide for equal air circulation around the board. If it is a lot of boards, it is best to stack and sticker the boards. That is stacking the boards on top of each other with stickers or thin sticks in between each board to allow for equal air circulation around each board. Either way, you must allow for some time to allow the boards to equalize to the environment of your shop. As for trying to take the cup out of a warped board, you might spray a little water on the cupped side of the board, then apply a little heat with a heat gun or hair dryer to the wetted surface. This trick works sometimes. I make and sell a lot of ornaments each year, so I stack cut all of my ornaments. Beacuse I have a full woodworking shop, I can mill all of my thin stock. I either plane or resaw my blanks to 3/16” thickness. I will usually stack three layers. If any of the boards have a cup in them, I’ll stack the cups against each other, then clamp the stacks together along the length of the boards. This will flatten the stack. Then I apply hot glue along all edges of the stack. After the hot glue sets and removing the clamps, the stack will be reasonably flat enough to cut. These picture show a stack of boards I bought online before I got my band saw for resawing. I cut the stickers from 3/4” pine.

Mighty fine cutting. Nice way of killing time.

Mighty fine cutting.

I am going to try my luck at compound cutting for some Christmas gifts. Will be using 1 1/2 inch pine ( cut down 2x4 ). What blade brand , number or tooth count do you suggest for this, thx for any advise, RJ

I use Pegas #6 Super Skip on all my compound cutting.

Excellent cutting, RJ

Thx for all this information, i guess i should have asked before i placed an order ad received with Denny, o well will order some pegas supper skip #5 and #6, Thx again RJ

My go to blade for this type of cutting is the Pegas #6 super skip. I have also tried the FD Polar with good results. Jerry

I use either a Polar #5 or a Pegas Super Skip #6 as above. Both work well on the mini birdhouses in various hardwoods and softwoods. I just recently bought Pegas Super Skips #6 for the class I teach on compound cutting at our club from Denny at Artcrafters https://www.artcraftersonline.com/ The dozens are on sale and you get an extra dozen for free (if deal still on). In Canadian Dollars about $3.65 a dozen I think it works out to 2.70 US. Great guy to deal with.

just one last note......for RabidAlien....I always err on the side of making to much epoxy mix for the reason you mentioned ( two batches made may not come out the same color ) A pic to show how i clamp up, a pic to show a mistake if you don't clamp up right. that gnome will have a black backer. a pic to show gnome beard after pour. If someone can show me a better way to hold down project , then pour and for resin not to leak into other areas please let me know. i keep thinking there has got to be a better way. thanx..forrest

I'm all scrolled out right now this weekend a lot of the pieces go out

Got it now. It is like a puzzle embedded in the frame that becomes the manger. Cool idea Dick heppnerguy

Thanks RJ and heppnerguy for your kind words. I really enjoy reading through the forums here to see the amazing things others are making and learning the techniques they use.

Thanks for rotating the photo.

See if this helps dick

My latest cutting - Cat fretwork, recommended pattern size is 14 x 11 inches, but I reduced it to 11 x 8 inches. Background - self adhesive film with black wood texture Video of making project Cat pattern

Still practicing made a bunch of these Xmas tree with ornament can't stand working with oak but this is a good way to get rid of it trying different blades and just having fun Still need to oil the leaning tree but need to turn out a few more so I'll do all the staining at once these might be a fundraiser for the school before Xmas

3D Snowflakes - my new pattern and project, size is about 3x3x3 inches, 1/8 thickness. For this moment I cut the first one (left) and the set consists of 6 snowflakes. Video of making 3D Snowflake Snowflakes pattern

Do what makes you happy, even if you don't achieve some desired level of mastery. It's a hobby. Life is too short to chase perfection, never to be satisfied.

Trust me. The red suits her very well. Very principled with a real mischievous streak.

I recently purchased a used Hawk 226vs scroll saw. An added bonus that came with it is a good-sized box of scroll saw books and magazines. I have been having a great time going through the box to see what is what. I already have some of the books, but some are new to me. The magazines are great; they appear to be mostly the old "Creative Woodworks Crafts" magazines. All from the early 2000'nds! I laid in bed last evening and looked through around 15 of them. From time to time on here, people have mentioned looking for an old one for a special pattern they wanted. If someone is looking for something, let me know, and I will watch for it as I go through the issues. Might get lucky.

I started here with lot of frustrations. Only 4yrs ago. I ask lots of beginner questions. Within just about a year, I was getting good enough for Me. A few of the experts told me to use the pattern as a guide. If a piece breaks off during cutting just make it look like it was cut and move on. It, the pattern, is only a suggested guide. This was the biggest statement to overcome my own attitude toward my quality of work. Another expert said to relax your shoulders and go slow and let the tiny little blades do the work. After doing a couple of simple fretworks, I moved on to intarsia. That was a whole nother level of frustration. Because I made my own butterfly pattern and it was a bit hard for beginners. The gaps between pieces was my frustration. But I shared it with the village and the said it was good enough. People won't be taking it off the wall to examine the gaps. Then I attempted with bowls. Simple shapes. I got expert advise to start with flat pieces top & bottom. It helped my gap issue. Bowls are another type of project that you can have fun with. It gave me the confidence that I can do ok with scrollsaw. Fretwork letters are really scary to try. And my attempts sucked. But the experts here also mentioned that fonts are many. So my cuts may not be exactly like the letters but it who cares it might become your own font. Yep even letters are just a guide. Part of wood work is surprises of both good and bad. Surprises of the good kind come in cool patterns of grain. Internal wood blemishes show up in bowls which is nice. Bad surprises are a challenge of how to recover from mistakes or broken pieces. In most cases the villagers can help you recover from the bad surprises. Like my high school math teacher said, show your work. We can help better with pictures. If you don't want to share with everyone you can send private message to who ever you want. Then he can share with specific people if needed. One more note: search on this village helps a little bit. But if within 20 mins, you can't find good results just post a new question. Search results can be a frustration issue also. My comments from your work above. These are great. You have explored the people and pets and then created some new animals. Good stuff. I have seen lots of animals in town, at banks tellers, my Dr's office, at 2 different restaurants. These are not mine. I wanted to make something different, so I made some micro drawers and give them to places I visit. See my 2 How to articles. Can my stuff compare to Dave Monk or Frank EV ? Nope. But it is good enough for Me. Me. Mark Eason

My lady had found an Image of an embroidery Blue Dragon a while ago that she really liked and had asked me several times in the past if I could make a cutting from it. The image was not suitable to make a fret type pattern previously, but I felt I was now able to make a segmented pattern that would work. However, the resulting pattern I developed is made up of a LOT of very small pieces that was a PITA to re-assemble. I use a piece of clear knot free ¾” x 10” Premium Pine to cut the pattern from using Pegas #1 MGT R blades. The Piece is approximatele 8" x 10" and again, Intarsia techniques were used to sculpture the work. This project was also an experiment using water-based color dye to color the wood the blue and black needed. Dying the wood is easy but very sloppy and took forever to dry. The White highlights were done with diluted acrylic paint that when applied immediately dissolved the blue turning the White to a light Blue. The water-based dye also raised the grain that was hard to deal with because the pieces were so small. In the photo this looks like dust but it is the light reflecting off the textured surface. The backer is 1/8” thick BB ply with edges painted Black. The assembled piece was protected with multiple coats of Clear Gloss Acrylic Finish spray. My lady is happy (and you know what that means) with it and it will be hung in our home. Comments and critiques always welcome.

Awesome cutting Dick, well done. Marg

Excellent work...wow you are really cutting a lot these days. Good for you. I am currently making a dining room table for my daughter which is taking way too long...I can't wait to be done so I can get back to scrolling!

The shelf was made for a young lady who plays softball and needed a place to hang her ribbons and mini bats. The only scrollwork is the batters on the ends. Both of my boys played high school football and their team name was the eagles. I made helmet ornaments for each player and coach when my younger son was in school.

I cut the "IRON HORSE & THE BABE", using the pattern by Kris, that he so graciously shared with me. I took the liberty to add the famous ediface that surrounded THEIR Yankee Stadium and then framed the piece. It was a gift for our Pastor, who would greet everyone after mass on Sunday and ask me to wait because he wanted to speak with me. He needed to speak with me about his Yankees,when I prsented him with this gift,he couldn't belive it and it stillhangs in his office to this day. Thank you again, Kris, for your generousity. Rick

My daughter owns a martial arts studio so I made this for her

Might not be international, but in my youth this was the whole world. My high school, 14 in my class.

Not much of a sportsball kind of guy, but I do enjoy a couple of active pastimes. Archery is the only one I've done any sort of scrolling for, though.

Couple from me. Not sure they qualify, I am not much of a sports follower.

Hubby is a big Red Wings fan.

I have done a lot of ribbon racks for all sorts of sports. Here are just a few.

I did these bag tags/key rings for my daughter's synchro team a number of years ago. The sport has now changed it's name. It is now called Artistic Swimming.