wdkits1

Hi Wayne I order most of my hardware( hinges , screws , etc) from http://www.smallboxhardware.com/. Been happy with the selection and service

Hi Mark Very nice scrolling there. I like to use Minwax spray-on Satin Poly to finish my projects. Apply several thin coats spraying from all directions to get in all of the hard to get areas.

Wenge is a fairly difficult wood to work with. It can be splintery so caution should be taken when working with it. I got a fairly small splinter embedded and it got infected within a couple of hours. Don't know if it was just me or not but I now take extra care when working with it.

Hi Bill I have good luck with Olson #5 skip tooth for most of my 3/4" hardwood and softwood cutting.

Hi everyone. Been a while since I last visited the site but I've been busy doing the order for 25 custom knife blocks. Been quite a project but I'm glad to report that they are DONE and GONE-- on the way to California. I spent 3 days scrolling the 350 slots for the knives and another day scrolling the 50 bloodwood accent inlays needed for the blocks .On to the next project.

Thanks everyone for the comments. This should be lots of fun getting into my mass production mode again. To Mike-- I would normally get around $200 for a custom block but because the client ordered so many he is getting them at a substantial discount

Hi everyone As most of you know, last year I decided to try something new and set up a page on CustomMade .com. Although I have gotten a few small commissions from this, I wondered if it was worth the cost to continue. Well it has paid off with my best commission yet, so it looks like I will renew for another year. This is the prototype of a custom knife block that I made for a client that is having me make 40 of these to give to their customers for Christmas. The client sent me the specs of all the knives and an idea for the shape of the prototype and here it is. Made from Walnut, Cherry and Maple. Quite a challenge to get everything to fit perfectly figuring the 18 degree angles involved and producing so many perfect glue lines but I whipped it with the help of different custom jigs which I will use for the mass production work. And where does the scrolling come into play you may ask. Well all of the slots where the knives go are different sizes so each slot was cut into the 3/4" stock using a #5 blade . This should keep me busy for awhile. Let the fun begin!!!

Thanks everyone for the comments I hope to get a couple of commissions from this ,but if not that's ok too--it's still fun. To Mike-- yes , these are all my original designs which I have done over the years.

Nice cutting Chris,fast too

to display some of my intarsia at the local library here in Midlothian Va for the month of March. They have an area for local artists to showcase their work in the main lobby. Quite an honor to be chosen.

From the color and grain I would say African Padauk or an off shade of Bloodwood. If the sawdust is irritating to the sinuses Padauk.

Hi Mike Clayton was right-- what you have there is fishtail oak (leopardwood) Lots of folks get fishtail oak and lacewood confused but there are distinct differences between the woods. Lacewood is much lighter in weight and color and cuts very easy. Here is a table that I made using both of the woods. As you can see the grains are the same(1/4 sawn) but the colors are quite different.

Great job Kevin.Keep up the good work

Hi everyone After much pondering,soul searching and debating I have decided to jump off the deep end to try my hand at selling my wares on Custom Made, a site that after talking to other members there seems to be the place to be if you want to get lots of exposure for your woodworking. With over 100,000 web hits a month and a great staff to help out, I'm feeling pretty good that my investment will pay off. Follow this link to my page and let me know what you think. http://custommade.com/by/mikemathieu

That's a beautiful box Clayton. Your daughter will be very proud of it. Very nice job!!

That came our really nice Clayton. Beautiful workmanship!

I use white glue mixed with fine sawdust for use when filling small cracks if the wood is to be kept natural color. If the wood is to be stained I use the same procedure before staining but then I sand it down after the filler is dry then mix a little stain with wipe on satin poly and using a foam brush dab it on to cover the filled area. Once the poly is dry it can be sanded and re-applied if necessary. I do this when repairing furniture where I'm trying to match the original color. Works great.

Hi everyone Because of time restraints I didn't get to do the WIP of the Bear Box Intarsia like I had planned but here are the pics of the finished box. I started with the subject photo Then I drew the pattern to fit the lid of the box. And after slaving at the scroll saw here is the finished box.The box is made from Fishtail oak with a Wenge accent strip. and measures 7†x 9†x 3.5 †There are a total of 70 pieces from 10 different woods used for the intarsia. . I haven't done any Intarsia for a while so it was really fun to get back to scrolling.

When I lived in Maine a buddy of mine (master tinkerer) heated his shop (1500 sf) using a salvaged electric water heater,hooked to an old car radiator, a furnace blower on a rheostat, a little ductwork and a small circulating pump. I remember that he used a closed loop antifreeze/water mix and set the temperature of the water heater to 170 degrees which even in the dead of winter kept his shop at a balmy 70 degrees. I will be building one of these heaters for my shop this year but I have to build the addition on the back of my shop to house the heating system and my dust collector first. I went through this winter using small electric heaters and have decided that if I am to continue the ww full time I got to have some real heat in there before next winter.

Hi everyone Last night we held our monthly meeting of the River City Scrollers at our local Woodcraft store. Because our membership has increased in the last few months, Dewalt has generously donated a new 788 to our club. As president of the River City Scrollers I would like to extend our thanks to Woodcraft and to Dewalt for making this possible. We have a great group and everyone enjoys the time that we spend learning ,sharing ideas and scrolling. Each month we pick a new project to learn about and this meeting was floored by Tom Lasser who is an expert in 3-D scrolling. He and his wife sell many of their pieces at the different craft shows in the Richmond,Va area and Tom is also a member of the Woodcraft staff which means that he has been a great help in organizing our group. We are continuing to work on our group sign and last night we reached a milestone with the cutting of the sky section of the sign with the help of Dan, who brought in his 30" excaliber saw which made it much easier to cut out the lettering because of the length of the piece of Tulipwood that was used. Thanks Dan. So here are a few pics of our meeting. .

Hi Emmitt Glad to see that you found this site. Hope to see you at the River City Scrollers meeting soon too.

Very nicely done Clayton.

Thanks all for the comments. The main reason for joining this site is to get more exposure for my finished pieces of intarsia and I think that this is the place to do that. It will be interesting to see if my investment pays off. Time will tell. In the meantime I'll keep plugging away at the intarsia kits, furniture repair and other things to pay the bills.Y'all have a happy New Year!!!

Hi everyone Happy new year I decided to try something new this year.There's a new online gallery called Fine Wood Artists that showcases woodworkers and their wares. After looking at all of the beautiful furniture, turnings and art that is on display I figured that my Intarsia might fit in, so I applied and got accepted.The owner of the site has put together some of the best wood artists in the country and am honored to be a part of it. Check it out. http://finewoodartists.com/gallery/math ... athieu.htm

Just got my copy of the NC Woodworkers calender with my intarsia rendition of Monticello. Already thinking of an encore for next year.