britetomro

Thanks again for all of the comments

Thanks again for all the great comments

Good question Scrappile, Each layer was cut with the grain running in the same direction. The change in color from the opposite corners if the effect of the light reflecting off the grain. If you were to turn the piece 1/4 turn the color would change to the opposite corners due to the change in light and its reflection off the grain. Great effect of light in contrast with the wood grain. No doubt pleased with the results. Thanks for the comments from everyone.

Alex, Was somewhat confused. I have purchased almost a dozen of your patterns and this one is what led me to you and I have cut most of them. I believe this one came out of Scroll Saw Woodworking and Crafts Magazine. Thanks for the update on the designer of this pattern as well as the comment.

I completed this project a few months back. The original pattern by Alex Fox was approximately 7" square and was designed as a single piece. Wanting more I decided to up the stakes. Wanting something to really show a presence for display I enlarged the pattern so each quarter of the pattern was 11" square. I stack cut each layer by 4 pieces with 1/8" baltic birch ply. Overall there are 8 layers to this project. The next step after gluing the 8 layers together was to sand the edges to create perfect 90 degree corners so no gaps showed where the 4 quarters of the project were glued together. The frame is made of 2" thick popular with walnut applied to the corners for a slight contrast. Overall this project measures over 24" square. Thanks for looking.

These shells are really not as difficult as they would appear. Get Steve Garrison's ebook. Watch the youtube videos and get started. Do your first one with a 2x4. If you make mistakes, so what. If the mistakes are too bad, throw it away and start again. Your first 2x4 shell can come from a simple 14" long piece of wood. My first shell was glued together without any sanding or finishing. I wanted to really understand the gluing process and was concerned with keeping the shell centered from the inside to the outside. I still have that shell and learned a lot from this process. With using a 2x4 the overall costs were almost non-existent in materials and a shell like this can usually be cut in under 2 hours. Give one a try and in the end they are no doubt unique and a centerpiece of attention. Ron

Many thanks for all of the great comments.

Thanks for the comments. The Shells are fun and no doubt require a lot of sanding. One thing about these shells is that it is difficult to find anything else like them. Once you have the right tools in place however the overall process is really not too difficult. For anyone interested in learning more or making these scroll saw shells, I would direct you to look up Steve Garrison, watch the youtube videos and purchase his ebook on this project. My first one was simply done with a 14" long 2X4. I sold one of my 2X4 shells last year for $225 and was very pleased. The purchaser just had to have it. I have one made of layers of black and white corian which measures almost 11" in diameter and that one would take almost a grand to part with due to the almost 60 hours and 103 segments. Someday it and others may leave my hands but till then they are there for my enjoyment along with family and friends.

This is my latest Scroll Saw Shell. The wood used us Sapele and I also used a Hard Maple Veneer as an accent strip between each segment. There are 44 segments total in this shell. The overall measurement are 8" wide by 8" high. The stand was also made from Sapele which were the left over pieces from the blanks used to create the segments. Each segment blank measured approximately 9" wide by 7" deep and 1 3/4" thick. The finish is a spray poly which presently has 8 coats. The photos also show all 44 segments displayed before the gluing process as well as a few of the stages of the glue up. There are many hours of sanding involved with this project and the finish is applied as the shell is being assembled. This piece of art will also be entered into our local fair this July. Thanks for looking.

Again, many thanks for all of the great comments. Amazing how you can transform an item designed as a trivet into a piece of art by simply by its presentation, by being mounted and framed. Thanks again, Ron

Hi Barb, The spiral blades were used in all of the small circles. Even though the holes were drilled, a spiral was used to clean up the edges and correct the hole size.

Charles, thanks again for a great pattern. It was fun to cut and no doubt a challenge.

Foxfold, Got me on the Phantasmagorical, however I do appreciate the word and the meaning. Thanks for the comment. Rockytime, Corian is only available to licensed fabricators and installers of the product. I live in Orange County, CA and have visited a few of these companies. Sometimes they have cutoffs or scrap pieces which are destined for the waste bin and they are willing to let it go for free. A couple of members of our Scroll Saw Association will also go to selected locations and pick up their waste by the truckload and our members will have access to what they want. The top of the corian will usually have some kind of pattern for display in the countertop. Many times I will cut the pattern from the bottom of the corian because the material is more consistent in its color without the changes in color with the pattern. Corian is a fun material to work with and many times easier to cut than wood since there is no grain lines like in wood.

Charles, Thanks for the comment. Great pattern. A true challenge to cut but well worth it in the end.

This is my second pattern by Charles Hand. The Dragonfly measures approximately 9" in diameter. I used Corian due to the possibility of using it as a trivet. After completing I knew with how fragile this piece was, the only place for it would to be mounted for display. Corian is an easy material to work with but you have to run at a slower speed in order to create less friction which can melt the cut material together and create problems. I used a #5 Polar blade and used a total of 11 blades for this project. Cutting time on this piece was 14 hours. In the end, presentation is in the display. I used maple for the frame and black felt on the back mounting bo ard. Will be doing some additional work on the frame next week along with the finish on the frame.