Travis

Those turned out great. I tried the welcome sign a couple years ago...never did finish it. Nicely done!

That turned out really pretty. It would look awesome as a lamp too. Nicely done!

That turned out awesome. Your photography is top notch too. Nicely done!

Typically, home centers don't carry Baltic Birch plywood. They carry just regular Birch Plywood. Baltic Birch is usually a higher grade plywood without any voids in the center. They are usually 5' square instead of your typical 4x8'. Anyway, find a wood supplier for cabinet makers (use WoodFinder to find a local dealer). If they carry exotic woods, chances are they carry cabinet grade plywood as well. With construction grade plywood, they use an ABC grading system. "A" meaning its free of knots or other blemishes. B will have football shaped plugs, but has a good surface (suitable for painting?). C is rough and has knots/voids. I'm not sure if the grading applies to cabinet grade plywood too or not. I'm guessing it does. So a BBB would have football shaped plugs on both sides, and may have limited voids inside. The place I get my plywood, BBB is the best I can get for 1/8" ply. Usually I can cut around the plugs or flip the board over to keep the plug in the back. 1/4" is almost always perfect (AAA?). I also buy a lot of lumber online. Sloans Woodshop is a great place to find blanks perfect for scrolling. You can also try Wood Deals Online. You can find a lot of good deals there.

I wrote an article for the Sept 2009 Village Square that might help. Its a tricky deal, for sure. Best advice is not to sell yourself short...especially on Etsy. Sometimes people are leary of cheap prices, thinking its sub-standard work. You'd be surprised how often a higher priced item sells better than a cheap priced item. The trick is knowing your audience and a lot of experimenting.

That turned out great! Beautiful work. Just a reminder that since this is an English site, we require all content to be in English. Feel free to use Google Translator when posting. Its not perfect, but we usually able to understand what is being said.

Hi Kevin. Welcome to the Village. We're glad you found us. You upgraded to a really great saw. I'd like to upgrade to the DeWalt someday, but I gotta save my pennies. Sounds like you're having a great time with the new saw. I'm sure you already know about the Pattern Making classes in the Village University. If not, you should check them out. If you're looking for a specific type of pattern, you can also request a pattern in the Pattern Requests forum. We have a lot of talented pattern designers there willing to help out. Anyway, welcome aboard. Jump in and have some fun!

Hi Tony. Welcome to the Village. We're glad to have you with us. It's amazing what this simple tool will do, ain't it? I'm constantly amazed what folks come up with on a regular basis. I'm glad you found your new passion. Plus you're making a little extra money on the side. Who can complain about that. Anyway, welcome aboard. Feel free to set up a User Gallery (you can find a [tut]tutorial here[/tut]) and show off a little. Its fun to see what others are working on. Jump in and have some fun!

Hi Rob. Welcome to the Village. We're glad you found us. Lots of great stuff to look at here. So many talented and friendly folks really made this place an amazing place to hang out. We'd love to see some of your work. You can set up a User Gallery (you can find a [tut]tutorial here[/tut]) and show off a little. Its fun to see what others are working on. Anyway, welcome aboard. Jump in and have some fun!

Hi Steve. Welcome to the Village. I'm glad to see you know a few folks already! We all have a great time here. I think you will too. You should set up a User Gallery (you can find a [tut]tutorial here[/tut]) and show off a little. We love seeing what others are working on. Welcome aboard. Jump in and have some fun!

Hi Mick. Welcome to the Village. 2 Micks from Yorkshire. What are the odds? Well, I'm glad you found us. We all have a great time here and there's a pretty good population of folks from the UK. I think you'll have a lot of fun. Like Grampa said, there's a regular UK chat every Thursday at 2100 GMT. You should pop in and say hi if you get a chance. Anyway, welcome aboard. Jump in and have some fun!

Hi Mick. Welcome to the Village. We're glad you found us. We all have a really great time here. So many friendly and talented folks to talk shop with. We have quite a few folks from the UK, too. Like Grampa said, be sure to check out the chat room every Thurs at 2100 GMT. I think you'll have a lot of fun there too. Be sure to set up a User Gallery (you can find a [tut]tutorial here[/tut]) and share some of your work. Its always fun to see what others are working on. Anyway, welcome aboard. Jump in and have some fun!

Hi kendall. Welcome to the Village. We're glad you found us. I agree. There are so many wonderful and talented folks here. I think you'll have a great time. I do most of my sawing indoors too. Being in MT, I feel your pain...LOL. We've been buried with a lot of snow lately too. But it doesn't mean we have to stop making sawdust. Anyway, welcome aboard. Jump on in and have some fun!

Hi Richard. Welcome to the Village. We're glad you found us. Sounds like you're making the most of your retirement. When you get a chance, you should set up a User Gallery and show off a little. You can find a [tut]tutorial here[/tut] on how to set one up. Its a lot of fun seeing what others are working on. I'm glad you liked the Inkscape class. I think you'll get a huge kick out of the GIMP class too. Anyway, jump in and have some fun!

Just a reminder that the current puzzle contest is closing tomorrow at 7pm MST. Then we'll draw the winners!

Here's a really cool heart-shaped box from Sheila Landry Designs. Its in the free patterns section on her website (she swaps them out on occasion). I'd grab it while you can. It would make a great gift for that special someone. Be sure to check out some of her other designs, too. I especially like her tea light patterns.

You'll have to mailorder your blades. The blades they sell at hardware stores are really meant for construction type of work, and isn't very good for hobby scrolling. There are three major brands that is a good choice; Flying Dutchman, Olson, and Pegas. But, it really depends on what you're cutting. Small blades tend to wander a bit, while larger blades do arches and straight lines better. Small blades turn tight corners much better. The thicker the wood, you'll want a larger blade. Here are my go-to blades: #3 for most cutting up to 3/4" that require sharp corners. #5 for 3/4" wood or when long straight lines or gentle curves are needed. #9 for hard and thick woods. #1 or #3 spiral blades only for portrait style cuttings that have a lot of organic lines (curvy). I use Flying Dutchman from Mike's Workshop. So if I was to buy 12 dozen blades, here's my shopping list: [*:1aia71f0]#3 Scroll Reverse (FD-SR No. 3) - 6dz [*:1aia71f0]#5 Scroll Reverse (FD-SR No. 5) - 2dz [*:1aia71f0]#9 Scroll Reverse (FD-SR No. 9) - 1dz [*:1aia71f0]#3 Spiral Flat/End Scrollsaw Blades (FD-SP-FE No. 3)- 3dz

Most of the time, the stands that the manufacturer offers are designed in such a way to minimize vibration. If you can afford it, I would go that route. If you buy from Grizzly, it comes with a stand and light. Heck of a good deal, IMO. The difference in price between the saw with no stand/light and the saw with the light & stand is only $30.

I think John does a lot of work with Scroll Saw Woodworking & Crafts. You could check any issue and he has an article. Usually at the end of the article, you'll find an email address or some other form of contact info. You can give that a try and ask him where you could get a copy of the pattern. Bob at scrollsawer.com would have his email address too.

Working with certain hardwoods, especially tropical hardwoods, can cause allergic reactions in some individuals. I spent the better part of yesterday putting together a Wood Toxicity Chart for the wiki. Hopefully it will be of some use to y'all. You can find the list here.

If you get a moment, go through the pattern library and link to a few patterns here that you think would work well for a new scroller. I think this thread would be a great resource for newbies.

The puzzle contest closes this Thursday at 7pm MST. Get your entries in now for a chance to win 1 of 3 cool prizes provided by Dale's Puzzles.

Here's a few patterns to get you started.

February is the month of love, thanks to St. Valentine. Your significant other puts up with your tools obsession, wood hording, pattern collecting, and sawdust on the furniture. It's time to let them know how much you really appreciate their patience. Here's the challenge. Design and/or cut a gift for your better half to show them how much you really care. Post your Pattern to the Pattern Library or pictures of your finished project in your User Gallery. Be sure to post links to your pictures in this thread so we can see the romantic in you. Hopefully, we can get some good Valentine's Day patterns and some really good ideas to impress our loved ones. What can you win? Well, nothing from SSV. But your significant other will show you their appreciation int heir own way. Isn't that better than any prize SSV can offer? This is just for fun, so get to your saw and get working!

I use Flikr to find some images. Just check the license terms on the pictures you're using. It'll usually tell you if you can use it or not.