Leaderboard

"Boba Fett" 44,5cm x 62cm, backer board 8mm, Boba 4mm, 'cheap' DIY store ply, done with a hand held fretsaw with a #3 blade.

A Lambeosauer Puzzle by Judy and Dave Peterson found in their book, Making Wooden Dinosaur Toys and Puzzles. Cut from 3/4" Poplar. Cut on the Pegas Scroll Saw using Pegas #5R MGT blades. After a light sanding, dipped in diluted Shellac, and after dried, another light sanding. Several pieces are really small. Comments welcome.

This a Steve Good design modified to have only 2 people as we are empty nesters. I also enlarged. This was supposed to go the door to our garden. I was going to paint but ended up using some left over cedar fence and deck board. I was testing painting and nothing would pop. The red and white were really dull no matter how many coats. I even tried primer with some success. Going to too much work. BUT - my wife said she really liked it the ways so I just finished with spray on spar varnish.

I've never used gel stain on fretwork, but my gut tells me that it isn't necessarily the best option in your case. If there are a lot of inside cuts, then blotchiness is less of an issue, because theoretically, you don't have large surface areas where the blotchiness would be noticeable. Gel stain is still an oil based product and the reason it blotches less is because the pigment doesn't absorb into the grain as deeply as regular stain. I would think it would have the same tendency to bleed, if not more so. In either case it's best to topcoat with a clear finish. Have you considered trying a dye rather than a stain?

I have heard of using air blowers to push finishes to push finishes into and out of small areas. Sound like it may work for gel stains. I think I would put down lots of newspaper to catch of the blown finish. I normally use an airbrush to apply thinned stain on this type of cut. Tom

Here is a second Steve Shears hummingbird. It has been reduced in size from the original. It is maybe 6" long. Because of that I grouped a couple of the wing bits. Woods used are Quilted Maple, Yellowheart, Canarywood, Eucalyptus, Tigerwood, Lacewood, ebonized Walnut. Finish is a coat of Walrus oil. I am disappointed in the lacewood. I was hoping for more grain showing.

I found another pattern I really liked. I cut it in cherry. I was going to sell it but decided to keep it. The smaller oak cross is the 300th cross I’ve made in my years. I started with a scroll saw in 1992. My dad bought one and got me started on it. Thanks for looking.

I am thinking of staining a few pieces and there are so many small cuts and crevices if I was to use a gel stain how do you deal with getting the gel in and out of all the little openings

I've used oil stain on ornaments I make. I usually put it in a zipper bag, put the part in, and then massage it around everywhere. Parts come out, blot them dry with paper towels and hang to dry the rest of the way. Once dry, wipe them off again with a paper towel and they are good to go. I don't seal ornaments as I feel they don't need to be since they aren't meant to be handled a lot. I imagine them to go from box to christmas tree and back to box; so no need. No one has ever said anything about residue coming off them.

I totally agree what Bill has said.

That is one nice cutting.

I used pipe cleaners to put stain in small places. It's time-consuming, but it works.

awesome job

I would never stain fretwork. If I want it to be a different color, I make it from the appropriate wood.

Gel stain is not supposed to be blotchy on plywood and oil would need to have lacquer over it or the oil bleeds out onto whatever it is touching

May I ask why you want to use a gel stain? To me an oil stain is the way to go and just dip in a container and then pour rest back into the container. My opinion only. I think I used a gel stain once in my life time on some pine furniture I was restoring.

There was something wrong with the plywood I cut a chunk off the other side of the sheet and it is cutting as it should

Excellent work, RJ

Thanks Roberta. Will do

Wonderful Gnomes, but it doesn't look like you!

Another wonderful piece. Which pieces are Lacewood?

Very well done. I like both of them

excellent work

I like the first one a lot.

You have done an excellent job, RJ

My kinda plant! Never needs watering!! Intasria succulent. Poplar, Limba and Cherry. 5"x4.5".

Unfinished Wooden Toy Lorry Truck

Unfinished Toy Tow Truck

Barb, another excellent piece, RJ

My latest pattern and project "Country music", project size is 7,5 x 8,5 inches, 4 layers 1/8 inch This is my second such pattern, the first one (country guitarist) I made about 2 years ago and it became quite popular Which one do you like more? Video of making project COuntry music pattern

Those all look great Alex.

Last year I started to make boxes, I try to to make something unusual or add elements such as hidden opening mechanism. And here is my new box, it is book shaped. I thought if it is a book, so it should be the the most recognizable book, so I chose the Bible. Project size is 4,5 x 6 x 1,8 inches. Pattern includes 2 variants: A) without stoppers: you can pull out the inner part of the box B) with stoppers: the length to which the inner part of the box can be pulled out is limited Step by step video instruction Holy Bible box pattern

My year (2024) has been rather busy. This was the first year I really got involved in vendor shows and attended a little less than a dozen. As most others have experienced, some shows I did well, and others were a flop. But something I enjoy more is getting commissions from customers who come up and seen my work. The black lab (pattern is in Village Library) I created for a lady who had a vendor booth set up across from mine at one of the shows. She had recently lost a black lab and unfortunately didn't have any pictures. I was able to find a picture, create a pattern and make the cut. She was extremely pleased and said the piece did look like her dog. The Silky belonged to a lady that is in a dog training club with my wife. This was a champion dog in both conformation (Best In Show) and obedience training. I made the pattern from a picture she had and if I remember correctly, the pattern has around 650 cuts. It was tricky, but a lot of fun to cut. The heart was added at the request of my wife. Unfortunately, the dog had passed just before I got the commission. The two cowboy pieces are patterns by Jim Blume. I love his patterns and have cut many of them over the past couple years. The most challenging was the six team stagecoach going through water. That piece had a few cuts short of being 1500. These pieces didn't have near that many, but they were challenging because of the delicate places with small bridges. I guess the reason I like Jim's patterns is because they challenge me. The last piece I cut for a local restaurant chain. Obviously, it is a Mexican restaurant, and I cut it at the request of one of the wait staff. When I finished it and brought it to them, the manager seen it and had a fit. (Good fit.) He had to hang it up right away. The young lady that asked me to do the cut was pleased and had intended to hang the piece in the restaurant anyway. I felt kind of bad for her, so I cut one of the 3D bird houses and gave it to her once they had their Christmas tree up. She did hang it on the tree but once they took it down, she kept it and hung it in her car.

Last year I started making boxes. I tried to add something new or unusual. For example, a hidden opening mechanism: to open a Christmas box you need to turn the bells. And for a Halloween box you need to move the "Trick or Treat" sign up. This year I plan to make a few more boxes.

The one project that was special for me is finding I can get two or three images from one pattern, depending on how you cut your pattern. The rabbit was my first experiment and I was really pleased with it. The girl with the watering can and the witch were two others that worked out well. I have this thing about wasting wood and this works well for me.

Last year I started, in earnest, my Intarsia journey. These are a couple that I was particularly proud of. The Pelican was a pattern by JGR and one of the PAM projects. I found out I won that month a few days before Judy passed. The duck was a custom design, by me, for my baby sister's 60th birthday. The bouys and koi just "spoke" to me. The hummingbird was a prize from Steven Shears. He said it was an unpublished pattern and I was the first to cut it.

I have two favorites. One is a Carole Rothman bowl I made. NEVER thought in a million years that I would make one! The other is a Jim Blume pattern that got a blue ribbon at the state fair!

Some of my favorites from last year. John Wick is always a fun pattern to cut. The two lovers is one I'd wanted to do for a long time, and I had been wondering what to do with a small scrap of live-edge. And The Shadow...move over, Batman, the original brooding detective is back! The Shadow knows...

As you may or may not have seen, I posted a photo of a shirt my granddaughter was wearing on Thanksgiving and told her I would attempt to make a pattern from it and then attempt to make her a wooden plague of it, for her. I am posting the picture I took of her shirt and followed by the end results of my effort to make her a plaque. It did not come out exactly as I had in mind but I still felt pretty good about the end results and she said she loved it so it does not get any better than that. Dick heppnerguy

I made the puppy in the basket for my first grandchild, born in August. The two cats were made for 2 of my sisters, both of who are cat lovers

I think one of my favorite pieces was a VALENTINE gift to my wife. Ann Marie "LOVED" it. Rick

I would like to share 3. The 2 easy "little" projects have an effect on people I interact with. 1) Foot Dr. trinkets. Pink feet drawers for all 5 employees. 2) Some friends that love cats. This one had a bigger impact than original plan. The group of girls moved into a rental house from a trailer park. They are associated with trap, neuter, release of feral cats. They were excited to decorate for holloween for the first time. Kali had designed the "lotions and potions" sign then got sick 7 days before halloween. So I got the design and added scrollsawn plastic bottle to enhance the design. Added plastic smoke and names. The board was given back to them 5 days before halloween. I routed the wood for them. The other girls painted the routed background. Teamwork. Kali came back from the hospital for 2 days and she saw the sign. But had to go back to hospital. So she did not enjoy the trick or treat kids. I think the other girls took the name block to her in hospital. So she got to see her name block. They had to pull the ventilator 1 day after Thanksgiving. The cancer destroyed her lungs. 35 yr old. Her twin brother came to her house during funeral and saw the name block and asked if he could have it. The other girls agreed. 3) Hat #4 cowgirl hat. Canarywood. This one had a rough start. Brim wood had glue issues and had cracks. When sanding the sides had a stress fracture. But for shipping everything fell perfect. I went to boot barn to get a hat box. The lady allowed me to check if hat would fit. The hat was like 1/4" to wide. So she said she had a spare Stetson box , it fit !!!. No charge.

It's been a hard year for our family and these two cutting took my mind of things even if it was only for a little while each day. I saw the Viking pattern and immediately wanted to cut it for our grandson but my daughter convinced me to enter it into the Royal Melbourne Show, which I did and miraculously won first prize, still can't get over that. The second one was a Columbo portrait that I did for my daughter for Christmas, she is a hugh fan. Both were a giant surprise and warmly received. Hoping 2025 is a better year. Marg

My favorite from this past year was my daughter's music box that I gave her for graduation. The mechanical musical movement I used came out of an old tin box that she had as a child so I designed a piano jewelry box since she loved playing the piano as a child and now as an adult. 20240605_140234.mp4

Hard to pick just one favourite. The one with the most meaning to me was this cutting I did of Dad and his great grand daughter at his 95th birthday(she was just about five). My sister took the picture and Ridgeback did the pattern for me. Jeff

I had two special projects this year. The first, a fishing rod rack, still not finished, I've been having trouble with the epoxy not setting up. And, I would rather put it away for a bit, other wise I could lose my temper and break something. This project is way beyond anything I've done before. The second is a wedding gift for a young couple that I know. I was experimenting with a new technique, multiple panels cut separately then combined and a full size backer used to tie the panels together.

Just about everything I do is a favorite of mine. I have 5 that have real meaning. Air Force C-124 Cargo aircraft - I was a navigator in this airplane. Before GPS. F-16 Fighter. Given to nephew through marriage. Retired from the Colorado Air National Guard. My signature. Given to my sons. I wished I had signatures of my Mom and Dad. Marine emblem. Given to the parents of my great nephew whose life came to a tragic end while serving. Paratrooper mini clock. Given to a friend who was a paratrooper.

I have two favorites from 2024. First was the Halloween candy box, with the secret way to open it. It was a big hit for old any young alike. Second was the Nativity I did for this year's. Christmas.

I made some layered projects for the first time. This was a significant learning experience as I have never added a backer to my projects. The first ones were from Sheila Landry Designs (sk436-layered-halloween-potion-bottles). I didn't finish them all because I ran out of time. The layers were not all the same size and required a significant amount of sanding to get the edges smooth. At first, I thought I must have messed up the patterns, so I went back and checked them. The ones I received were a different size. Next, I tried a larger pattern, a sea turtle. Because of its size, this one presented me with a gluing issue discussed earlier in the forum.

This jewelry box is a Carole Rothman design from issue #61 (Holiday 2015) of Scrollsaw Woodworking & Crafts. I used Bolivian rosewood and alder. The original design used veneer for the red ribbons but while I tried that, I could not get the veneer to bend around the edge without breaking, so I used actual ribbon instead. Finding the ribbon was tough enough, but finding silk flowers that I could use to cut the stamens was even more challenging! This was a labor of love for my wife for Christmas, and she absolutely loved it.