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I have seen several of Steve's patterns uploaded here, whole and in part, in the past. This is just a reminder that he doesn't want the patterns uploaded to other sites. See today's blog post.

Dog Portrait - Abby pattern by Gayle at the Scroll Saw Cafe. I enlarged the pattern to fit the wood. I used 1/4" Baltic Birch plywood 12" square and backed with black mat board. Cut on the Pegas Scroll Saw using Pegas #0 Spiral blades. I kept the large pieces in place for sanding the fuzzies off the back side. After sanding, a light coat of spray Shellac, another light sanding with a Mac Mop, and a final coat of spray Lacquer Clear Gloss. Comments welcome.

Been a woodworker for 50 years but new to scrolling this year. These are my first two Sheila Landry designs I did in 1/2 inch cherry

To see all of the projects, scroll to the end of this post At the end of December, a friend gave me a collection of hardwood cutoffs including maple, mahogany, and poplar boards that varied from 1", 2' and 3" in thickness. I was overwhelmed by all the choices and couldn't decide which project I wanted to do next. I studied the selections in the Scrollsaw Village Pattern Library and found five patterns that would be great for carved fretwork projects. I have always worked on one project at a time and decided to try something new and work on all five projects at once and vary which piece I was working on. Start by adhering the pattern to the wood with 3 M Super 77 adhesive. Drill vertical pilot holes with a drill press. Cut all scroll work with New Spiral 1 and 3 blades by Flying Dutchman. Carve the scrolled fretwork with a Foredom Rotary Carver using various bits and cutters. Add color with artist oil and acrylic paints. Sand and finish with Minwax Wipe on Poly. Backers for pieces 2,4,and 5 were made from 1/4" luan sprayed with satin black paint. This first project, Tiny Kitten, was designed by Steve Curtis and cut on a mahogany board 11" x 11" x 2" thick. The other 4 projects will be posted on the forum each week. Thanks, Dick Mira

I asked chatgpt to give me a list of categories of this village. then I wanted it to add tip and tricks into each section. I had to tell it a few it missed. pasted below.... **Categorized Tips & Advice for Scroll Saw Art Forms** --- ### 1. Intarsia - Use woods with natural contrasting colors (e.g., walnut, maple, cherry). - Shape pieces using a drum sander or Dremel for depth. - Dry-fit often—subtle changes can throw off alignment. - Use reference photos to inform contours and shadows. - Avoid plywood—solid wood gives better shaping results. --- ### 2. Functional Projects - Reinforce weak joints with dowels or glue blocks. - Choose durable woods like oak or maple for longevity. - Use templates for repetitive shapes (e.g., handles, brackets). - Ensure all moving parts (e.g., lids, drawers) are sanded smooth. --- ### 3. Portrait - Start with high-contrast photos and simplify in photo editing software. - Use #2 or #3 blades for fine facial detail. - Use a lightbox or tape over a window to align multi-page patterns. - Back portraits with black felt, matte board, or velvet for depth. --- ### 4. Fretwork - Drill small, precise pilot holes to reduce tear-out. - Use fresh blades and slow speed for intricate cuts. - Tape top and bottom of the stack to reduce splinters. - Clean up fine cuts with needle files or micro-sanding tools. --- ### 5. Trivets - Use hardwood for strength (e.g., maple, beech). - Avoid excessive inside cuts to maintain stability. - Round over edges for a finished look and safer handling. - Apply heat-resistant finishes or leave unfinished for safer use. --- ### 6. Puzzles - Use softer woods like poplar or Baltic birch for smoother cutting. - Number or mark pieces on the back before cutting. - For name puzzles, slightly round edges for easier handling. - Add pegs or knobs for younger children’s puzzles. --- ### 7. Ornaments & Seasonal Decor - Lightweight woods like basswood or thin plywood are ideal. - Include a small hanging hole or loop in the design. - Seal with clear coat to protect delicate areas. - Consider stack cutting for efficiency. --- ### 8. Layered Art / Segmentation - Paint before assembly for cleaner results. - Use a numbering or labeling system to track layers. - Slightly round exposed edges for depth. - Use flat spray adhesive to tack layers without glue seepage. --- ### 9. Inlay & Marquetry Cut both the inlay and background at the same time for tight fits. Use veneers or thin woods for better layering. Apply thin CA glue or wood glue with a toothpick. Clamp flat during drying to avoid warping. Use an angle calculator or bevel gauge to precisely match angled cuts when inserting thicker wood into a base—this ensures flush, clean seams with minimal gaps. --- ### 10. Lettering & Signage Use bold, clean fonts for better readability. Sand and seal inside edges to prevent fraying. Layered backings can improve visibility on light-colored walls. Use double-sided tape or mounting tape for easy hanging. --- ### 11. Finishing (Including Dye) Sand progressively up to 320+ grit before applying finishes. Use wood dyes for vibrant color that maintains grain visibility. Test dyes on scrap wood to preview results. Apply clear coats like shellac or polyurethane to protect and enhance. Use steel wool between coats for silky-smooth finishes. Avoid oil finishes under water-based topcoats—they may not bond well. Use painter’s tape to mask off joints or areas not to be dyed. --- ### 12. Compound Cutting Use stacked patterns—glue side and top views on adjoining faces of a square blank. Drill entry holes before interior hollowing. Use aggressive skip-tooth or reverse blades (#5 or #7) for thick cuts. Cut one side, tape the offcut back in place, rotate, then cut the second side. Wrap the blank in packing tape to reduce friction and heat. Sand inner curves with files or rotary tools. Practice on pine/poplar before moving to hardwoods. Use CA glue and blue tape to temporarily rejoin pieces between cuts.

A Charles Hand design. 1/4" elm, mostly FD Polar #1 blades for the internal cuts ( I should have changed to a #3 for the long sweeping cuts ), #3 Polar for the outside. This one's for my kitchen

Look on Amazon for Crafter's LED lights. All different styles, lengths and colors. Not much to them.

I just did a software update. I had to update the theme too. Let me know if anything is broken.

"Spidey" 46,5cm x 37cm, backer board 8mm, Spidey 4mm thick, 'cheap' DIY store ply, done with a hand held fretsaw with a #3 blade. This was my first complex one. Every single piece is a floater, cut out by hand, sanded, painted and glued in. Took me about three weeks.

WOW that is amazing. Very impressive work. Marg

Working 57 years at one place is special and when that place is a university, it is extra special. So, a friend is finally pulling the plug in about 10 days and I cut him a copy of the school logo in 3/4" cherry. Picked up some fresh #3MGT blades from @Denny Knappen and they ripped right through this project. (My first real cutting since cataract surgery.) The base is weighted by a few ounces of BBs in glue. Below are pics of the campus statue, the derivative logo and my cutting. Felt good to get some sawdust on my fingers!

Terrific work. I am sure he will greatly appreciate it. Marg

Excellent work on both, well done. Marg

Last Christmas I made set of Gnomes, they became popular, so I decided to make a big set of holidays gnomes. Set includes 24 patterns: 3 gnomes for each of 8 holidays: Christmas, Thanksgiving Day, Independence Day, Easter, Halloween, Valentine's Day, St Patrick Day and Labor Day. Size of each gnome is about 6,5 x 4 inches, consists of 4 layers, stand and hanging ring are optional. Video of making one of gnomes Holidays gnomes pattern

I finished cutting this in late February, I believe. Been sitting on my table saw waiting for me to decide what to do with it. Nothing yet. I want to do something with it. It is cut in. 1/2" popular wood, A Finoa Kingdon pattern. I really enjoyed cutting, as I do all of her patterns, I have used.

Awesome. Excellent work Paul. I have that pattern on my to do list, should have started it by now but my grandson convinced me to cut the female viking to go with the male viking I did last year. Marg

This is an @alexfox pattern slightly modified, actually all I did was not add the middle layer. This time instead of leaving the wood untreated I painted it and in my opinion a success. No bleeding of the resin into the wood Anyhow, here it is.

Amazing pieces. The light house is my favorite. Well done. Marg

We are expecting our first Grandbaby the middle of August. We found out a little over a month ago that it will be a boy. I put the last coat of clear on a couple of days ago. The saddle and bridle were made on the scroll saw, pretty much everything else was cut on the bandsaw. With help from my wife we have 2 and 3 coats of paint on the different colors. I bought another branding iron a few months ago for items specifically made for the grandbaby,, I branded a small oval piece of BB ply and attached it the rear of the platform. I know that it will be quite a while before he can enjoy the horse but I plan to give it to them at the baby shower at the end of June. The plans for the horse were purchased from Toymakingplans.com. We have made a few things and have a few more in the works to get completed before the shower as well. The baby shower theme is "Beachy"... yes, I guess baby showers have themes! My wife found an old Little Tykes car that was red and yellow and repainted it to the color scheme of the baby shower and I made a surf board that attaches to the top of it. I modified the surf board rack a little from what the pictures show. I have some small straps coming from Amazon to secure the rack and board the the top of the car. I'm also working on a mobile that mounts above the crib. Hoping to have it completed in the next few days.

After a long, cold winter I'm again able to do some scrolling out in my scroller shed without freezing my .... Here's a Russ Beard design cut into 1/4 inch Baltic birch with Pegas 1 & 3 MGT blades. It was stained white, added a black backer and placed into a frame made from scrap 3/4 inch pine stained gray. Finished size with frame is 10.25 x 13.5 inches. I really like Russ Beard's designs and have already started another. Lots of holes, but easy to cut.

This is also a Steven Good design. Made this for my grandson who loves all things truck. He is thrilled with it

I know I've seen a couple topics covering LED light strips. I've never messed with them at all so any info some might have on them I'm all ears.. Here is the project I'm currently working on.. It's not a great photo so I'll try to explain a little to what I'm trying to build and maybe some will have some suggestions.. Here is a photo of a 1/8" 12 x 12 mirror tile that I laser engraved. I have a frame design that this will fit into with a slot / opening to feed power cord through for the LED lights. I was originally going to just paint it ( maybe still will if the LED light plan doesn't work ) but thought putting lights around the inside of the frame might be a nice touch. BTW this is just a Christmas gift for my sons girlfriend so not something I'm selling. So I guess my question is.. what LED lights to use? I seen these at HF but 25ft is a lot and was hoping for something a little cheaper. I'm guessing I only need 4-5 ft of lights.. was thinking about painting the backer white and running lights around the inner edge of the frame so it's like a light box or box frame with lights, LOL. https://www.harborfreight.com/12-ft-led-tape-light-70030.html These lights would be perfect but 25ft is overkill, however if i could cut them up and make new lights for more of these mirrors it'd be great.. however there is only one remote and plug as far as I can tell. So maybe I need to look elsewhere for a shorter strip of lights or a roll of lights where I can make my own and buy power supply and remote individually. Or can I buy these HF lights and purchase power supplies and remotes separately somewhere? I placed this on my slider window frame to show how the light shines through.. just thought if I could get color changing LED's they could pick green for the grinch and have it light up.. if not then I'll just paint the back green. Sorry Photo isn't the best but it's pretty hard to take a picture of a mirror, LOL

Very nice, and I like that it is completely done by hand. Thank you for sharing.

I got some at Walmart

4 hours into this one sapele for outer layers walnut for tires i I love the way he designed the wheels used scroll to cut them out them on bandsaw tilting the table to 15 degrees to cut treads its the small things all parts came out of cut off bins still need to make steering wheel dashboard and bumpers dowels for axel and smokestacks used rubber bands for pics to hold together to see progress

Welcome to the village, Thanks for caring for the Bees. When I am mowing my yard, I brake for the bees.

Welcome from Ohio! How many square feet of walnut for 16 oz. of honey?

You have some fine carvings there. There all beautiful. I wouldn't know where to start/