Travis

Here's a couple pages I found pretty good regarding coloring and finishing toys: Painting Wooden Toys Make Baby Stuff Toy Making Plans

Finishes are tightly regulated in America (and most anywhere else I'd imagine except for a few problem countries). Once FULLY cured, all finishes should be safe. However, I do like looking for an acrylic spray that specifically says Acrylic. I think Krylon makes one that I've used in the past. You can also use craft paint as suggested above and use an airbrush to paint the toys. They also make thin airbrush paints (again, stick with acrylic) that work well. You might want to consider coloring wood with a food coloring (or even Kool Aid), then finishing with beeswax/mineral oil finish if you're concerned about kids chewing on them.

Congrats! That's awesome. You can make some teether toys. Make them out of a hard wood like maple and finish them with a bees wax finish or leave plain. They're very popular on Etsy. You can find a bunch at Little Sapling Toys to give you some ideas.

Great idea!

Those turned out great. I really like the pumpkins. I don't think I'd add anything. I like them the way they are.

I think there's two types of felt you can get at the craft store. One is fairly stiff and dense, whereas the other one is loose and floppy.

You guys know how to make a guy blush.

You can import it into GIMP and increase the contrast. That will make the lines easier to see. It won't smooth out the line widths though. For something like that, you'll have to redraw it in something like Inkscape. That's a fairly advanced technique which I sometimes struggle with, but it certainly is possible.

I don't right now. I can put that on my "To Do" list, but it might be awhile before I get to it. This is our busy time of year at work. If someone wants to write a step by step using my video as a guide, I won't complain.

This is directed to more folks who are pushing a product or service. The scour the forums in an effort to find posts where they can link to their wares. This is in order to build backlinks to raise their Google rankings. It contributes nothing to the discussions and is pretty annoying. It's nothing more than spam. With that said, if you have a scroll saw related product, or a product our community can benefit from, you can post an "Advertisement" in the Hot Deals & Announcements forum. Be sure to read the forum rules there before doing so. You can also add a simple link to your website or product in your signature which shows up on all your posts. General discussion about a product or service is allowed if not encouraged. As long as it fits in the context of the discussion. It really comes down to this. We all know what spam looks like, and we don't want it here. I'm also pretty good at spotting the "sneaky" ways of spamming a website too. If anybody wants to advertise on SSV, contact me. We have banners at the top of the site to advertise scroll saw related websites. These banners help support SSV so we can keep the lights on. Don't be afraid to post, though. Yes we have rules, but they're pretty common sense rules. We're all pretty laid back here. We just like to have fun and talk shop.

On the upper right corner of the screen, you'll see your name. Click it and it will open a menu. Click My Profile. Then hover over your Avatar and it will pop up a "Change" button. In the lower right corner of your post, you'll see an Edit link in grey. that will let you edit your post. You can't delete your post, though. In the lower right corner of the forum, you'll see a link to the User Guidelines. Hope this helps!

I usually wait until it starts smoking.

GIMP and Inkscape are very different programs with different functions. I generally use GIMP for portrait style patterns. I use Inkscape for everything else.

Howdy all. I changed around the navigation tabs at the top of the screen. I moved over the Chat tab to the left as some members had it hidden under the “More” tab. I also realized that some are getting 2 “more” tabs, so I changed that too. Depending on your screen resolution, the More tab now holds any extra tabs that won’t fit on your screen. Anyway, let me know if things aren't working the way they’re supposed to.

I moved the Chat tab a little further to the left. I didn't realize it was getting hidden under the "More" tab (it does it automatically, based on your screen resolution). It should be easier to see, now. Chat schedule is posted on the right sidebar under "Calender". I think it puts a notice 2-3 days before the actual date. Someone usually posts in the Shout Box that it is open too.

I really enjoy Geocaching. I don't do it very often, but it sure is fun when I get a chance. Might have to break out the ol' GPS and see what I come up with. Especially since I'm living in a new state.

Much too soon. I'm really sorry to hear that. My thoughts and prayers go out to his friends and family. :(

Howdy all. In an effort to keep things tidy and easy to find, I decided to move all the "Morning Coffee" conversations over to the Coffee House forum. That way scroll tips, advice, help, etc are easier to find in the General Scroll Saw forum. Besides, what better place to find morning coffee than the Coffee House?

That turned out amazing! I love the pictures, too. It's fun to see how these projects come together.

There isn't a good way to contact him directly. His email is at scrollsawart.com, which is an inactive domain. Your best bet would to be to contact the administrative contact (use the WhoIs service) and inquire there, or wait until it expires in May 2016.

Made it safe...still around. Buried in boxes that need unpacking. So....much....stuff...

There's a lot of new folks here, so I'll give you a quick rundown. My company branch in Billings, MT decided to close their doors and move their operation to Portland, OR. They offered to transfer me and my family, and I took them up on the offer. This all started back in early March, I believe. At any rate, it has been one crazy ride. I had to sell my house, my wife and son stayed behind while I settled into the new job (we've been apart for close to 2 months, which is really hard for a family-man such as myself), we found a house, and and made an offer. That is the main reason why I haven't been around SSV as much, other than doing behind-the-scenes stuff. So now that we're up to date, we're finally closing on the house. My wife and I found a nice home in Vancouver, WA, which is just across the river from my office in OR. I signed my life away yesterday and now the bank owns me once again. The moving truck loaded all our junk last Wed and in the process of driving to WA. I get the keys to the house this evening. So I'll be setting up temporary living space in the new house until our stuff arrives (Air Beds, etc). I'm flying back to MT Saturday morning. I get off the plane and into the car and start driving my wife, son, and pets to WA. I'm hoping to make it in one go, arriving to the new house at 2-3am on Sunday morning. The moving truck arrives Monday morning and will start unloading. We left a lot of stuff behind, so now we gotta buy some furniture, restock the pantry, and other odds and ends. I still have a long way to go in order to get my life back to normal. But I'm getting soooooo close I can taste it! I'm looking forward to getting my shop put together so I can make some designer firewood.

I haven't had it done, so I couldn't say. But I'd agree with tvman44, I'm not sure I'd have both done at the same time. If it incapacitates you for a long time, having no use of your hands will make life difficult. Good luck with the surgery. You'll be in our thoughts and prayers. Hopefully it'll fix what you need fixed and you can scroll without pain.