Travis

I use black felt for my backing. When I frame it, I just add the felt loose. That way, I can replace the felt easily (it will fade over time). The backer board from the frame hods it in place pretty well. If I have to attach it, I'll use hot glue. This is nice because its easy to remove if I ever decide to remove it in the future.

Hi Richard. Welcome to the Village. We're glad you found us. I think you'll have a pretty good time here. Everybody is very friendly and helpful with plenty of talent. 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 a lot of fun to see what others are working on. Anyway, welcome aboard. Jump in and have some fun!

Legally, you cannot photocopy the pattern and instructions to share with someone else. You're only allowed to photocopy the plans for your own personal use, since you're the owner (purchaser) of the magazine. If you sold the entire magazine to kevalb, I think you'd be OK since you're transferring ownership of the magazine. (This is kind of a gray area, but I think most would agree that this is legitimate.) Who is the author/designer of the pattern? You might be able to track down the designer and ask for a copy. I think you'll find that scroller's are pretty generous about sharing their patterns. Here's a long shot, but might be worth taking a look at. Places like Windfield Collection, Scroller LTD, Wooden Teddy Bear and other pattern clearinghouses often have some of these patterns displayed in the magazines.

If the back is exposed with felt, perhaps you can glue your "quilt" with Aleen's Tacky Glue (found at any craft store) to a black felt backer. That way you still have a nice looking back, but the color still shows through the front.

Hi GrannyJo. Welcome to the Village. We're glad you found us. There are lots of friendly and talented folks here. I think you'll fit right in. I'm glad you enjoyed the Inkscape tutorials. It seems like pattern-designing has been a closely guarded secret for some time. It's nice to have instructions on how it applies directly to your hobby. And once you get the feel for it, it all becomes pretty easy. Anyway, welcome aboard. Jump in and have some fun!

I suppose it depends on what you plan on using the images for. If you're just making them for yourself (not selling the puzzles or giving them away), you can pretty much use any image. Search Google Images for large pics and print. However, if you're planning on selling the puzzles (or giving them away), you'll have to check the license. Here's a list of sites that have free pix (again, verify the terms of use). I enjoy Wikimedia Commons and Flickr.

Hi Rick. Welcome to the Village. We're glad you found us. There's a lot of great folks here. Its fun to sit back, talk shop, trade stories (and patterns), and enjoy the company of others who share the same passion. I think you'll have a great time here. 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 Emmett. We're glad you found us. I remember you from the MSN days, if I remember right. Welcome to the Village. We all have a pretty good time here. Lots of folks to talk shop with and trade ideas & patterns. I think you'll fit right in. Anyway, I hope you enjoy your stay. I look forward to seeing you on the forums. Jump in and have some fun!

I really like that. You did a beautiful job on it. Nicely done!

Hi Ellajay. Welcome to the Village. We're glad you found us. There's lots of friendly and talented folks here. I think you'll have a great time. We'd love to see some of your work You can create 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!

Grampa just posted a really neat pattern intended for new scrollers. I thought it would be cool to start a thread of some easy patterns for folks new to the hobby. If you get a moment, go through the Pattern Library and link to a few patterns here that you think would work well for new scrollers. Here's a few that I can think of right off the bat:

I wrote an article on pricing your work in the Sept 2009 Village Square Newsletter that might help.

Here's one from Christina that was based on an old print. Looks like Grampa just uploaded a Geisha today as well: Here's one from Hallway. Not necessarily based on a painting, but might fit the bill: We have a number of Japanese style patterns in the Cultural section of the Pattern Library too.

That's a cool idea. I'm wondering if 1/2" will be thick enough, though. Especially when you mount the hardware. I'm wondering if it might work better if you do the cutting in 1/4", with a 1/2" backer. Then frame everything out with 3/4" stock (to cover up the plywood edges). then round-over the edge with a router. The self-leveling epoxy sounds like a great way to seal your design. I'm not sure where you'd find the hardware for the TV trays though. Perhaps salvage the hardware from another TV Tray? If you do this, I would LOVE (hint hint) to see a WIP thread on your process. Sounds like a really cool project.

Hi Tom. Welcome to the Village. We're glad you found us and came back to scrolling. I think I agree with Grampa. I'd chuck your old blades and start new. They're pretty cheap nowdays. I don't know where you normally get your blades, but I'd make sure you have some quality blades. The stuff you find at the hardware store aren't very good. The big 3 brands are Flying Dutchman (many of us buy from mikesworkshop.com), Olson, and Pegas. As far as your table surface, buy some WD-40, a Scotch scrubber pad (you can find this at the grocery store. It has a scouring pad on one side and a sponge on the other. Use the scouring pad side), some cotton rags (tshirts work well) and some non-silicone furniture paste wax. Spray down your bed with WD-40 and scrub with the scouring pad. This will really clean the bed of your scroll saw. Once you're satisfied, put a little paste wax on a cotton rag and rub in the wax. Wait a couple minutes, then wipe the wax off. I'd do this a couple times. The last time, really buff the surface with a cotton rag. You'll have a surface as slick as butter. BTW, this technique works on all tools that have a cast-iron surface. I hope this helps. Can't wait 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 and welcome back to the hobby!

Hi Harvey, Welcome to the Village. I think you'll have a great time here. Lots of friendly folks to talk shop with. I'm glad you're enjoying your new-found hobby. It becomes rather addictive. There are so many cool thinks you can do with such a simple tool, it really is amazing. Anyway, welcome aboard. Jump in and have some fun. If you run into any problems, let us know. We're always happy to help a fellow scroller.

Kinda. Pledge is in a spray can, which probably won't work so well. You can find Lemon Oil in the same area as Pledge. Its in a bottle and usually used with a rag to dust/oil furniture. I often find it near Old English furniture polish. Hardware stores often carry it as well. Its almost always found with the dusting section of the cleaning supplies aisle.

I've seen a lot of puzzles submitted to the User Gallery over the last couple weeks. I've seen some from bonacker, amazingkevin, & Dan . Be sure to post a link in the Puzzle Contest thread as well to be eligible to win some really cool premium patterns. Speaking of which, how's everybody's puzzle projects coming along? Even if you already entered, I'd love to see some more pix or patterns.

I agree. It sounds overpriced for what it is. Hawk is a very nice/high end machine. But if it truely is only single speed and requires tools to change the blade, I'd pass. I think having variable speed could be the most important part of the scroll saw (other than having he blade move up and down ). Plus having to use tools to change blades is a pain. I'm sure the pattern collection sounds appealing, but we have almost 850 free patterns here you can download for free. Plus there's a lot of other websites that have free patterns too. Like JT said, you can buy a DeWalt for $450. Everybody who owns one is thrilled with it. You can check eBay to see what Hawk have been selling for in the past to gague the market value. But when I checked, it looks like they were selling mostly newer VS models.

Hi Randy. Welcome to the Village. We're glad you found us and this fantastic hobby. It's amazing what a simple tool can do. The rabbit hole certainly goes deep. If you have any questions or run into any problems, let us know. There's lots of experienced scrollers here willing to help out. When you get your first projects done, we'd love to see them. You can set up a User Gallery (you can find a [tut]tutorial here[/tut])and show off a little. Anyway, welcome aboard. Jump in and have some fun!

Hi Dave. Welcome to the Village. We're glad you found us. I think you'll have a good time here. Lots of friendly folks to chat with and pick their brains. As far as chipping, the first thing I'd look at is your blades. Most of the blades you find at a hardware store are not very good. They're intended mostly for construction type work, not for hobbiests. The three big brands are Flying Dutchman (a lot of folks buy from Mike's Workshop), Olson, and Pegas. Quality blades make all the difference in the world. You'll also want finer teeth. The bigger the teeth, the more tear-out you'll get. My favorite blade is the Flying Dutchman Scroll-Reverse #3 for plywood 1/8"-1/4". A #3 or #5 will work nicely on 1/4"-3/4". The next thing to look at is the plywood you're using. Birch plywood, especially from the home improvement stores, aren't very good. The stuff at hobby/craft stores are probably OK, although overpriced. Basically you want cabinet grade baltic (or finnish) birch plywood. These are solid without voids and all-around a good quality plywood. Sloan's is a good place to find plywood for scrollers. Ebay is another great place. You can check out our Wood Finder here on this site that lists plywood available on eBay. I buy mine from a lumber store that specializes in wood for cabinet/furniture makers. A couple of other things that might help. You can use Blue Painter's tape on the bottom of your cutting as well. This will add extra support to the wood fibers and reduce tearout. If you're working on delicate cutting, you may want to get a zero-clearance insert for your saw. This will close up the hole in the saw bed so your work is supported even better. I usually just poke a hole through a business card, thread my blade through it, then tape the card to my saw. You can also drill a hole through some plywood and tape that to your saw bed as well. Anyway, there's a few ideas that might help. Please let us know if you run into problems. It is a very rewarding hobby that will impress your friends. Welcome to the hobby!

Those are cute. You're quite the painter too. Jack of all trades. Nicely done!

That turned out really nice. It'll look even better when it gets painted. Nicely done. I knew what you meant too. Besides, you speak better English than most of us...LOL.

That turned out really nice. I like the shape. Looks like you're well on your way!