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Nothing new but I really like how this Ambrosia Maple looks on this bird. These have been a big hit among family and friends. .

Paul, little girls never grow to old for music boxes. My wife collected music boxes for years. I wish I would have learned to use the scroll saw years ago. I would have made her one and I know it would be her most cherished music box. If I were you Paul, I would finish it for that little girl. It would be cherished. Jerry

The state of my crazy…I am like that dog that sees a squirrel! I have a few things that I started and not finished. I am going to try to get these things finished before I begin again. I DO lead a monthly Scroll Saw Club. I already have a challenge peace for the month completed, it’s jewelry. So, let’s see if I can get some of these finished before the next club meeting. I also completed a candle holder for my general woodworking club challenge. OH! There is also that whirligig I started….

I have seen this done on here before so I decided to give it a try. I am celebrating my daughter's birthday tomorrow and I needed a box to put her jewelry in. It really was a fun project to do. It is a Carole Rothman pattern. I used walnut for the box and Holly, Purple heart, Canary wood and Bloodwood for the ribbon.

Pictures of the dragon cup wrap:

I just wanted to share something that has helped me over the years. Being a bottom feeder, this works very well. Several years ago, I somehow acquired a spring-loaded nail set/punch. I have been using it for years to counter dent the holes on the bottom of a piece I am working on, so it is easier to find the hole and feed the blade into it. It actually works so well that often, I do not need to raise the piece high enough to see the hole. I can do it by feel. I have worn the punch out, so today I ordered a couple more. Here is a picture of the nail set and the nice indent it makes when used on a hole.

I couldn’t help myself. I had to try!

Finished this butterfly one

Yes, sir, it's beautiful early spring weather. But as always, we get this nice weather early, things start budding out, and then the freeze comes. Never fails. Anyway, it has really put me in a Spring mood. So I saw this H. Botas pattern. It was so springy that I had to cut it. I'm about 2/3rds done. Maybe can finish cutting it today. I should be outside doing Spring clean up.

Got a few things on the go, Ying Yang box from Sheila Landry and also planing on making the “Dizzy” bowl from Carole Rothman

I got a little taste of spring the other day. It was so nice to be able to open up the garage door and enjoy the weather. It's been so cold lately, it was a welcomed change of pace. So, since things are starting to thaw, and we're looking to get back into our shop, this month's scroll saw challenge is about what is currently on your bench? Share a pic of a project you are working on, or about to start on. Then, throughout the month, post some progress pics. It's really a lot of fun to see a project come together!

Good point. I do not think I have ever used it on that thin of wood. You can adjust the punch. But something to keep in mind. The problem I am having is that the BB I have been able to purchase anymore is so poor that when drilling, I have not been able to get a clean exit hole, even though I use all the techniques I know to prevent it. There is a bad tear out on the bottom side. I have quit buying BB in full sheet (5'x 5' because it is so poor. Purchased from well-known (on here) sellers in smaller pieces, and it is still poor quality. I do not blame them because it is not their fault; they get the best they can. I have been thinking of trying some other than the Russian. Nothing against Russia; remember if is not for them. We may not have won WWII; people seem to forget that. Costs more but may be better. Maybe purchase Marine plywood.

I think it would be a bit difficult for a brand new scroller because the ribbon is a pretty thick cut so you need to be careful not to let your blade and wood drift. It wouldn't hurt to try though... @artisanpirate who is a member on the village shows his Jig which is similar to mine in this video: Hope this helps. mc

My EX had that tension thing on the back. Honestly, I hated that saw. The new Harbor Freight clone doesn’t even release the arm raise easily! went back to a Dewalt. I’m good.

Thanks Marie I believe I have that very book somewhere. Need to find it. Will give these a try. Yours came out perfect. I have done some flocking and it is a good fit for things like this. Thanks for showing.

Thanks. I sand it down to 400 grit and use a mixture of boiled linseed oil, mineral spirits, and poly. It still feels like natural wood which works since they’re made to hold. I think it’s basically homemade Danish oil. I got this maple at Woodcraft and picked a piece with lots of darker areas.

very nice job

Nice Charlie, What kind of finish did you put on it? That really is a pretty Ambrosia Maple. We sell that wood at Woodcraft but it doesn't look quite that dark. Very nice.

Thanks so much Barb, coming from you that is quite the compliment! Thanks again

Mark, thanks so much! It really wasn't very difficult. I made a jig to hold my piece together during the compound cuts. That also helped me to not cut myself. I think the hardest part was cutting the pieces of wood really thin using my band saw before gluing them together. I have a Laguna 18" 5 HP monster bandsaw so resawing those little itty bitty pieces on that seemed a bit scary. I ended up gluing bigger pieces of scrap wood to them to hold them while I cut them into thin strips. Hot glue works great for that as I can heat it up with a heat gun and they come apart easily with out breaking the thin pieces if that makes sense. The blade I used was a #9 I think Pegas Reverse tooth?....I used my Hawk G4 26 which allows me to tighten the blade crazy tight to reduce drift, plus I practiced all my "stop drift" techniques I learned from all of the folks on here . Cutting the ribbon didn't take too long really. I did go through probably 8 blades though because of that darn purple heart. I am not really sure how long the entire ribbon took me though because I had a bunch of interruptions. Thanks again. mc

Thanks Paul, It was good to get back on the scroll saw. I was planning on coming down to your neck of the woods this coming Wednesday and was going to ask if you and Patti would mind if I stopped in....However, It looks like it might be the following week. I will let you know and see if you are going to be around. I did all my scroll work for that box on my Hawk...I really do like it. Thanks again

WOW Marie, you do beautiful work. Jerry

That is beautiful piece, happy birthday to your daughter, RJ

Here is a Cardinal - I know it is a popular Intarsia subject - I made from a 39-piece pattern I adapted from an image of a SG piece. The Cardinal and Flowers is approximately 8 ½” x 8 ½”, surface mounted on a 9 ½” diameter solid wood plaque style backer. Wood used: Aspen, Bloodwood, Poplar, Wenge, Mahogany, Yellowheart, and Sycamore for the plaque backer. The eye is a dot of white paint. The assembly is protected by multiple coats of rattle can spray Clear Gloss Acrylic Finish. The following JFYI. I happen to be fortunate to find a couple of Poplar nom 1"x8"x8' boards at my local Lowes that had a lot of, the hard to find, dark green color heartwood. I purchased them and added them to my wood stock, so I did not need to enhance the leaf color with dye or paint. I attempted to add some sculpturing effect to the flowers and it resulted in some visable color variations after applying the finish that I had not planned on, but my Lady says looks good. She says they look like real Dogwood Flowers. The Bloodwood, like Padauk, makes very fine dust that sticks to and stains other wood, however, it is not quite as deep dark as Padauk and it has slightly more color variations that was needed for this piece. The photo makes the red look darker then is is in real life. Comments and critiques are always welcome. This will be my last new project post for about 8 weeks. Please check out my post in Coffee House. EDIT: Pattern posted in Pattern Exchange

fantastic job, it's beautiful

I also made this box for my wife many years ago and she still cherish it, another great pattern by Carole

Another stunning heirloom piece @MarieC

I love it. These were on my list of things to try this year but health issues have slowed me down. Where did you get the pattern for the ribbons? Do you have a pattern you can share ? Is that real felt or did you do a Flocking? Looks real nice and am sure it will be a hit.

talk about ribbon cutting, that stuff is hard. More details please.... What blade did you use for ribbons? how many hours of cutting just the ribbon? Did you use band saw? Me. Mark Eason

Very beautiful Marie. Glad to see you post a project again. When are you going to come and show me how use this Hawk scroll saw I purchased. Getting a little more comfortable with it. BUT!

Wow! Lovely box!

Very well done I am sure she will love it.

RJ, Here is one I did last year. I still need to work on the contrast between the segments, glued back together with polyurethane glue. I'm thinking of glow in the dark paint for the moon.

Nice legs.

Second project, a smallish plaque with a coyote howling at the moon. Forget to add info on the first project, I switched back to the long stroke on the Hegner, I just couldn't get it to cut the 7/16 plywood on the short stroke. For this project the plaque was 1/8" plywood so I switched back to the short stroke. I used 2/0 FD Polar blades and reduced the speed to 1000, my usual speed is 1400. This one's going on the back burner as well, I need temps in the 60's to be able to stain outside and let most of the solvent evaporate before bringing it back in to allow the stain to cure fully.

Good old Amazon, they seem to have almost everything.

Black walnut bowl. Carol Rothman pattern, same book as ScrollerPete’s project. Bowl pattern is 8”x8”x3/4”. What I like about this, is there is no scrap at all, just the sawdust from the kurf of the blade, which happens to be a Pegas MGT#9. Oh and I suppose the scrap on the perimeter of the bowl. Lots of shaping/forming, (read sanding). A lot of fun to make. I plan on finishing it with shellac using the the French polish method. However, I don’t have the guts to attempt what ScrollerPete is doing. One of these days Pete, one of these days.

Hummingbird Finding Nectar intarsia pattern by Frank. All pieces cut, now ready to start sanding/shaping. Woods used include Yellowheart, Mexican Persimmon, Cherry, Walnut, and mystery wood.

Sunday's progress.

Been some rough days around the household and the office for a while, so I haven't done as much sawdusting as I'd like. Had John 3:16 on the saw for a while now, so this weekend, to get the motivation back (as well as needing some more bookmarks....never can have enough bookmarks!!) I grabbed a couple of quick cuts from the Pattern Library (maybe one or two from Google), resized for the bookmark blanks that I have, and knocked a couple out. Still have several more to cut today, but this is what's in-progress. I've been using one of the blanks with a really intricate wolf head cut in it, and

Just finished preparing the wood for all my Mini birdhouses. Also I just got some special pen blanks that Denny turned me on to for all the little birds. Can't wait to try them out.

Got these done on Thursday. Pattern help from @don in brooklin on and @Fab4. Cut from leftover Cedar rail material. Finish is Walrus Oil.

I've been sworn to secrecy.

Currently on the saw, and almost done, this is a combination of two patterns. The bear and mountains are from a pattern by Robb Barr with scroll saw adaptation by Patty Beach, the paw prints are from a different bear pattern by Patty Beach. 7/16" plywood plaque 9 layers thick. FD Polar #1 blades mostly.

For a Harbor Freight warranty, you can do an in-store replacement. If you break it, they give you a new one.

Lots of construction going on around us these days (yay, progress...?), so its harder to hear the owls and coyotes at night, but we still have plenty of little critters, and the hummingbirds remember where my wife keeps the feeders. Oh, and let us not forget the Texas springtime thunderstorms....