Travis
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Everything posted by Travis
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About the size of sawdust.
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I also keep a couple things. Needle files - Good for cleaning up the fuzzies in the fretwork. Pin Vise - Despite the name, this is actually a drill. Its basically like a screwdriver that holds a small drill bit. I use it to poke out small pieces in my cutting. It will also enlarge pilot holes that get "lost" on the underside of the wood. You could also drill small pilot holes if you don't want to trek through the snow to the drill press for one lousy hole you missed (happens to me a lot). Pattern Mounting - Blue painters tape and packing tape along with some spray adhesive.
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I've never tried painting it. I'm guessing paint used for glass would work the best. You could try spraypainting the backside of the plexiglass (probably after its cut) and seeing how that looks. Since spraypaint typically has an even distribution, I bet it would look pretty good, depending on the project.
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This is a tricky one. MDF is best if its painted. Sometimes I'll just add a clear polyurethane to it, but never stain it. I'm guessing stain will get really blochy. But regulary poly looks pretty good (I use that for work surfaces). For painting, I'd use some primer. The edges will need to be primed several times because it does soak up the paint. What I would do is paint edges with primer first with a paint brush. Then sand it down after it dries. Then prime the whole thing again, and lightly sand. Then apply your paint. I've seen some people use a glue sizing. They basically mix white glue with water so its about the consistency of whole milk. Paint the edges and sand it down. Then it should be ready for paint. I doubt this process would work well with stain or poly.
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I saw a thread by Vector about yard sales and got me thinking. Do you buy tools at yard sales or aucitons? If so, what are some of the best deals you found? I found a dovetail jig for $3 and a 1/2 sheet palm sander for $5. I went to a few auctions, but they're full of woodworkers too. The price they paid for used tools you could practically buy new. So Auctions don't work too well for me. H'bout you. What kind of killer deals did you find?
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They basically take the hi-rez photos from the gallery or forum posts and use thier computer to trace the image. For my Mr. Bean, they probably just took the picture, brought it into GIMP. With a few filters, they can extract the pattern from the picture of my finished cutting. So with relative ease, they can steal my pattern without much effort. It may not be as good of quality as the original pattern, but they get pretty close. For something like Clayton's bison intarsia, they'd take the finished picture and trace the image in a program like Inkscape. The problem with something like that is they're not stealing from Clayton. He didn't design the pattern. In fact, they're actually stealing from the person Clayton bought the pattern from.
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Hi Boice. Welcome to the Village. We're glad you found us. There are lots of great people here. If you have a question, just let us know. I look forward to seeing your first project. Welcome aboard. Jump in and have some fun!
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One thing you can do is check the lower left corner of your screen (on Firefox anyway). This will tell you where it's pulling information from. If it hangs on a specific section, let me know. I know the banner server sometimes is quirky. Maybe its getting hung up on that. I also have some stat tracking javascripts on the website. Perhaps the javascript is either slow or giving your browser some grief. One thing more to check is how many people are browsing the forum. You should see that at the bottom of the main forum page. If there's a lot of people, that might slow things down a bit. I think the most we've had were 30 or so. Anyway, if you notice it hanging on a particular thing, let me know and I'll look into it.
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Here's an interesting topic that I'd throw out there. I've seen and heard of some folks lifting patterns from finished projects. It should be noted that pulling patterns from finished projects also violates copyright laws. After all, you're still taking a pattern from the original artist without compensation/recognition. Even if you're doing all the legwork (copying, tracing, etc), its still illegal and disrespectful. I know I find it very irritating when someone pulls a pattern from one of my original finished cuttings. My Mr. Bean portrait, for example, has been lifted a few times and I try to shut down anybody who does so. I give away almost all of my patterns for free. But there are a few I don't for various reasons. This one in particular wasn't distributed because it was based on a movie poster. So please don't lift patterns from finished cuttings. We need to respect our fellow artist's rights, no matter the medium.
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Hmmm...things seem to be going well on my end. Is anybody else having issues with site speed?
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To buy wholesale, you have to have a business license and a wholesale supplier. Usually you'd have to buy a very large quantity too. I've found that finding wholesalers is a tricky thing to do. They don't advertise and many don't even have a website. They get their business from tradeshows and such. You might be able to work out a deal with a local hardware store for a break on the price. Perhaps get a bunch of people together to buy a large quantity and split the costs. That might be an option. Let us know what you figure out.
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LOL...nice. Glad to see you have your priorities right. Good thing you don't have a foot powered scroll saw. I hope you heal up quickly.
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That turned out great! I enjoyed your WIP thread. It was fun watching that come together. I agreee, the cottonwood was a great choice. Nicely done!
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Boy, that turned out nice! I really have to give bowl making a try. Everyone who posts one turns out so cool. You did a great job on it!
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I usually don't wear a dust mask when I scroll (unless it's MDF). I almost always wear one when I sand or create fine dust. I'll actually feel it in my lungs for 1 or 2 days if I do some major sanding without a dust mask. I'll also wear eye protection as well. Mostly because I wear contacts and the dust just loves to stick to them. If you are working with an exotic or spalted wood, I'd definitely wear a dust mask and eye protection until you are familiar with how your body will react to these woods. Some woods can cause a very severe allergic reaction. If you want a Wood Toxicity Chart for your workshop, you can download it from our Downloads section.
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Is it all sites, or just this site?
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You can buy dyes that will stain the wood any crazy color you want. I know woodcraft sells a kit that I'd love to have. I'd really like to do some segmentation and dye the pieces the colors I need (vibrant colors). You can also use leather dye. I'm also wondering if RIT dye would work well (fabric/craft store). It might rub off, though. Hrmmmm.....
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I would love to see it come together. Other woodworks forum would be a perfect place for that. I really enjoy seeing any kind of woodworking WIP. They're a lot of fun.
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I really like the tinted stain option. I know you don't like painting, but the tinted stain still gives it color but still lets the grain show through. Plus it makes it look very John Deere-ish, which is always a good seller. Nicely done!
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I don't see why it wouldn't work. A lot of times, a scroll saw blade will rock forward a tiny bit while sawing, so going backwards might be a bit slower. But if you take your time, I think it would work just fine. I'd suggest a spiral blade personally. Some people love them, others don't. I like spiral blades for portrait style cuttings with a lot of organic/wavy lines. If it's tight symmetry or with a lot of straight lines and corners, spiral might not work as well.
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Great reminder. Those garages during the summer can get unbearable. Get some air movement with fans, drink lots of water, and pay attention to what you're body is telling you. Thanks for the reminder, greasemonkeyredneck. I'm glad you're OK.
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Too funny! I need one for ours too. That would make a great seller. Nicely done!
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Check to see if you can find a local woodworker. Post on the LumberJocks forum and ask for cutoffs. Someone local might hook you up (they're usually pretty generous). Or at the very least give you a great deal. You can also check www.wooddealsonline.com. Its all mail-order and usually have smaller pieces at pretty good prices. You can often buy scrap grab-bags for pretty reasonable too.
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Very clever! I'll have to file that one away. Thanks for sharing.
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Try using some WD40 (or similar oil) on the bed and scrubbing it with the scouring pad. This will remove rust, black residue, oil, glue residue, etc. Great way to clean the bed. The top it with furniture wax and buff it out. Good as new. I do this at least once a year if not 2 or 3 times.
