MrsN

Hi! I was a wood shop teacher for 15 years and would love to chat and answer any questions you might have! What type of projects are your kids making? Middle or high school kids?

I have been in a bit if a creative funk lately, I want to try and break it but can't settle on what to make. A friend gave me a sheet of 1/2" mdf (not my favorite but the right price and it is good for somethings) I got several dozen of my favorite blades for Christmas. I've got a free weekend. There is a comfy stool at the saw and a great playlist waiting to jam out. All I need is the idea. So what would you make? Help me break the strollers block.

Hello! I used to be very active around here but things happened and i dropped off. I do stop by now and then to see what's going on, and I had a notification that Barb mentioned me in a comment wondering how I was so I thought I would check in. 2 years ago I quit being a high school wood shop teacher. The politics of teaching and worse student behaviors completely took the joy out of it for me and lead to so much stress in my life that I couldn't do any of the fun things (like scrolling). I got a new job as a training technician at a manufacturing plant that has been amazing for me, so much less stress and anxiety. However, shortly after my husband went into kidney failure. He spent almost 2 weeks in the hospital with various surgeries and procedures to get him back to "healthy" and prepare him for a life on dialysis. We've had some setbacks now and then but are settling in to a new routine with Dialysis every night. He is on the transplant list, unfortunately none of our family were qualifying matches (too many over-weight Midwesterners, but I'm working on loosing weight in hopes that I will) My scroll saw shop is still in my basement, unfortunately collecting more regular dust than sawdust these days. I sort of have a creative block trying to decide what to create. That's where all of you are so helpful, I love seeing all of your creations it helps to get the spark back. Katie

Thanks for the birthday wishes!

I use rustoleum clear gloss on most everything. It comes in gloss, semi gloss and satin. I like that it isn't yellowish, so works on painted stuff. Plus I can get it at several places locally.

What a nice piece! Great job.

I used tie dye to color wood with really good results. I was looking for ways to get color with out too much waste (in stain or money). I got a rainbow of colors for less than $20 ans had a whole bunch of people do the activity. I'll put a couple of pictures of our results.

I have the dewalt version, I got it a few years ago when there wasn't a menards clone of it. I will say that it is a really comfy chair, I can easily sit for hours and scroll.

I really like the contrast of the wood on the black tablecloth. Your booth looks great!

It depends on what you are sitting on. Also remember that you probably want to pay attention to the table height which is a few inches higher than the bottom of the saw. If you are sitting on an office chair, aim for desk height. A stool should be be a bit higher.

for doing that number I would invest in a spray gun. however I am no help at all in which one to get or how to do it since I don't have one yet.

I like to start with simple silhouettes sometimes turning them in to simple puzzles. Another thing that often goes over well is letters or simple wordart. When working with my students I find that sparking a desire to make a project can be far more helpful than tons of random practice.

I switched to using craft glue sticks (think elementary school) for gluing my patterns because I don't like the cold and dealing with a sticky piece of cardboard.

Wonderful!!! I am a woodworking teacher, so have my own stories/memories of these times, but they are so great! I hope you enjoy the time you spend with them!

This happened to me during my most recent move on my excalibur.

I typically make frames using 4 pieces that are mitered and have a rabbet cut, but sometimes use the router to cut the rabbet after the frame is glued together. I either round the panel that is going in or use chisels to make the corner square. since it is on the back, perfection isn't necessarily my goal.

I really like the meisel hardware designs. They have some really cute ones.

I cut some of everything. positive, negative and mixed. It sort of depends on what the project is, what materials I have on hand and how I want to finish it. If it is a project I am going to paint, it is typically cut positive. Also, most ornaments that I cut are positive because I think the show better on a tree.

My saw is in the spare bedroom, so heated and air conditioned! Makes for lovely sawing all year long.

I would have thought that after using the blade in the normal position it would become slightly weaker in that section and more prone to breaking if used in an elevated position.

I am an odd one. I use painters tape on the wood, then a glue stick (think kids crafts) to glue the pattern to the tape. I don't like having to go outside to spray glue because of the fumes.

I use Open Office - Draw to print most of my images. It is a free program similar to microsoft publisher, it lets you place and move text boxes, images, shapes and other stuff; the type of program you might use to make a flyer or brochure. I can add my image file and size it to what ever I need. It is a bit cumbersome to do something larger than a page, but I have it worked out so it doesn't take me long when I need to do it. I like this method because I often want to make a pattern fit a certain piece of wood and the PDF versions don't make that as easy.

I think it is a wood defect known as shake "a separation of the wood along a growth ring". Something caused the tree to grow funny for a year leaving a discoloration and week spot. Can you call it character a keep it?

For most things I use a 1/16" drill bit. It is big enough for easy blade entry and small enough for most of the projects that I do. I buy cheap ones from harbor freight. I tend to loose or snap them before I really dull them.

This post made me go look when I became a member, March 2009. Yikes, I have been around a while. I don't always post but I do stop by nearly every day to check in.