JTTHECLOCKMAN

Very nice work. yes stone of that nature is alot softer and easier to turn and cut. It sure does make some nice turnings. Well done.

Not going to do it. Unless you find a way to use a diamond blade there is not a metal blade or wood blade to hold up to a stone. This comes up in the turning world and even carbide tools will not do it. Find another medium to play with is my suggestion. Cut copper, brass, aluminum. they would be challenging. Coins are cut when thinned. The metals in coins are junk metals. I cut a coin in half and used Jewlers blades on my Dewalt788 years ago as a competition to another turner who bet I could not do it. It took a few blades to do it. Could not cut it with any other blade including what everyone touts as metal cutting blades. If you do try it make sure you document every move or we will not believe you. good luck.

I agree with what all have said here and yes we are the worst critics of our own works. You will get better with each project you do. Using a good saw is also key. That is why the professional saws cost so much. I have been cutting for over 50 years and started on a 2 speed Dremel 16" saw I believe it was with pin end blades. That made many of my projects on the less intricate side because of the starter holes needed to thread that clunker through. I have come a long way and have to say have become very good at it. You learn little tricks as you go. The biggest key a beginner needs to learn is use the right blade and let the saw do the cutting. Do not force the work or else the blade will slant on you and start burning your wood. I only cut hardwoods. On occassion I will cut some BB but hate it. Dulls blades to fast. I used that stuff for my money puzzles I shown in another thread and went through about 5 blades per dollar bill. Here is a project I designed myself and being I was in the electrical union I was able to sell a few of these. You asked to see work up close. I think you can zoom in my cuts. Perfect, not by any means but not bad either. As someone said that is what makes it hand made and not laser cut.

I love it. Nice work. They are a good stocking stuffer for Christmas and a nice talking piece. Thanks for showing.

See my post above where I explain my system.

Love the work. If you will allow me I would like to also add a plaque I made back then to commemorate that event. The tragic loss of life continues on even today as we look back to that horrific day. We Must Never Forget !

https://www.stevedgood.com/catalog/index.php You can look under the category games and puzzles. He shows the dollar puzzle. I used that puzzle pattern and just bought movie prop money and sized my pattern to that. I use 1/4" BB plywood to make these. I found that is a good size to keep the puzzles from being to floppy and they stay together better. I lightly sand the wood to make sure it is smooth. I then seal it with a dewaxed shellac (Bullseye) . I then spray the back of the money with 3M 77 adhesive. carefully line the money up on the blank and use a roller to flatten down. I do not worry about any glue squeeze out. After I have both sides done I I take it to my disc sander and just lightly run the edges through to get rid of any glue and any paper hangover which really there never is if sized right. After I let them set and dry overnight and then spray with a satin gloss lacquer. making sure I get the edges too. I do both sides and of course one at a time. This seals the paper. I like Deft or Watco lacquer. After all said and done and now it is up to you to apply pattern as you normally would with any project using whatever method works for you. I will say I like to coat the pattern with some clear tape to help lubricate the blades because those puzzle blades which you need to use are very breakable and you go through a few per puzzle because all the tight turning. After awhile you do get a rhythm though and they are addictive. Good luck if you try them. oops I see a couple other questions from Charlie that I will answer here as well being I basically laid out my process of making them. I get my Puzzle Blades as they are called from Mike's Workshop and are FD blades. I only ever used FD blades. The prop money I will have to look up link. but it is movie prop money. There are many sites including Ebay, Amazon, Etsy and many more. Here is mine. You can get in all denominations as well as used or brand new. Now I remember why I never did $2 bills is because they did not have any. It has been some time since I did these. You could always use real money if you like. https://propmoviemoney.com/collections/full-print-prop-money Might as well lay out the rest of it. I cut these in rows as I found that to be easiest and also helps when I have to reassemble. I bought small thin boxes to use so I can sell completed. I use a carboard layer under the puzzle that customer could choose to use or not when storing puzzle. I place puzzle in a reuseable small bag all assembled and slide it in box. After that it is up to customer as to what and how to use them. Now I do warn people the pieces are small so not a childs toy. One other thing I should mention because someone mentioned mixing denominations to fool people. That is all well and good but remember the same pattern is used for all so they actually will go together but look weird.

Not sure but if you wanted to make these you maybe able to find other currency. I happen to live in the USA.

Steve Goods patterns.

When I sold mine last year I still had the Jim Dandy in the bag it came in and I explained to the new owner what it was and instructions were there to install. Whenever I used that saw which was not much I just used a block of wood. Worked well.

Yea for some reason many choose the $100 bills both old and new.

Have seen this type thing done with a hand fret saw. I use to go to alot of woodworking shows in my area and many have moved on but there was a scrolling club that had a booth and there was a person doing this with a hand saw. What got my attention was how quick he was with making a cut and moving the blade to next hole. Darn impressive. I looked at the pattern he was cutting and I noticed there was very little inside cuts. Alot could get cut with one blade change. If I remember correctly he too was using spiral blades.

Wow. To scroll 8 foot boards is a challenge and you have to use spirial blades for sure. Yes make a table to support thos boards is what you need to do. Good luck. Ever think of using a jigsaw? Not knowing how intricate the designs are. I looked at the photo in the first post and thought that is what you wanted to do because I have never seen anyone ever use a counterbalnce on a project before.

Having not been here for awhile, and after taking a look around the site to see what everyone is doing, I see that puzzles of all kinds are still popular. I did some of the money puzzles by Steve Good and they were a big hit when I was still doing shows before the pandemic. So my question is has anyone else tried these puzzles?? They are kind of fun to make. I make all denominations and the puzzle is actually 2 puzzles in one because I do the reverse side also on the same puzzle. So to mess with builder you can turn the pieces front and back. Take them a little longer to make. The movie prop money is so real looking too. In fact before one show there was an article in the papers that someone used this money in some sort of scam. Here is my version.

To combat that problem real easily is to make a subtop. Use a piece of 1/4" baltic birch plywood and make it any size you want. Drill a hole for your blade and then use doublesided tape to hold the top in place. You could put a finish on it if you want more free spinning. but I found BB is smooth enough to give you that just righ amount of resistance when spinning. Works well. I had to do that with my Hegner right away because as Kevin said that table top is just not large enough. I aslo do it when using the RBI's and I am making the large mirrors. Because spinning that much 3/4" oak is not easy to control. One less thing to concentrate on if the top is flat and wide.

yes a lathe can be just as relaxing and enjoyable. Today with the VS models out there it is easy to change speeds when you need to. And that only really needs to happen if you are sanding, finishing, or drilling on the lathe. Any other turning is usually done at high speeds so no need to switch belts. Yes they can throw lots of chips and a dust collector is something that is handy. Being I turn alot of acrylic pen blanks I have to be careful about clogging the duct because the stringy material does stick to the sides. But I have done some birdhouse ornaments as well as tops and small items. Never did get the desire of getting into bowl turning but if a ever do it would be segmented bowls. Those are really cool. I know this is not a turning forum but here are some examples of what I turn along with some recent pens. If there is objections to this then Travis can just delete them. The spinning top is an example where I combine scrolling and turning. I make many different styles of this type of tops. Kids love them.

It is the same in my area. Scrolling was alot more popular years ago but the lathe work has taken over by far. People doing bowls and segmented work as well as pen turning. I found we went through phases with my scrolling. When I first started I have mentioned here many times I was a huge fan of the Berry Basket and Rick and Karen's designs. They had a lot of projects that were geared to home decor and that is what I did mostly. The shelves, mirrors, tissue boxes, planters, table lamps and what they became famous for the collapsible basket/trivets. and so on. Then I added magazine racks and plenty of wall hanging items. They did sell and then they started to peter out and that is when I got huge into clock making because we all need clocks and the Victorian style of wood items faded. Unfortunately the I phone camera thing was not around back then so whatever photos I took were film style. I tried a few times to transfer some to digital and get them on my computer but not really good at that. I did put up a few photos of past work I did. here not sure how well they show up. As you can see, who uses magazine racks any more? Who collects spoons any more? I use to make those shelves 2 and 3 times as long depending on an order. And I made many other varieties of these items. This is just an example. Man back in the day I went thru alot of oak. I use to do many of these same items with a darker stain on them These are all natural finish. All finish with Watco Danish oil. Man went thru alot of gallons of that stuff too. Trip down memory lane. The wheel barrel and the tricycle are made from Mahagony and I just sold those last year thru FB. I had 5 of each left and just wanted to get them out of the basement so sold cheap and was surprised they went as quick as they did. Sold a couple of those shelves too. I have a few more large items such as wishing wells that I need to sell and get them out of the basement. I need to complete them first. Have all the pieces cut but need to assemble. they have to be at least 20 years old.

Yes Kevin , the 2 wood ones shown there are made from rosewood and yellowheart strip for accents. It also has a blue acrylic mirror for accent behind pens. I will include a photo here. As you can see there is a back rest that the pens lean against and a small corresponding hole for the nib to rest in so it does not slide off. the round one is also a spinner in that I placed a lazy susan rack under it so all pens can be viewed. Just last week I decided to buy some display boxes to make it easier for me to display and carry my pens. I have over 200 pens. These boxes have a couple shelves that are easily taken out and people can pick from them. When I find a few shows I want to do it will be just pen sales so will be able to display using the boxes as well. I started a display cabinet for my home for those real special pens that I probably do not want to sell but never finished it. Over the years I have made some interesting single pen display boxes that I have yet to make the pens to compliment the boxes but which I will get to soon. Those will forever be one of a kind and rather valuable. Now that I got my house just about 75% done I am getting closer to finishing that cabinet. Will hang in my Den. Believe me carrying 200 pens is a whole lot easier than carting my scrollsawn stuff as you can see from the photos of the display I shown here. I do not know why sometimes double photos show up. I tried this twice and same thing happened. Oh well.

Yea that is alot of stuff and still not all. I use to make over 900 different items. I tried to have something for everyone and it usually was a good plan. I did well over the years and glad I followed my heart with scrollsawing. It was a rewarding and fun hobby in many ways. I have a creative mind and sometimes it gets out of control and I want to do too much. My pen turning adventures has taken me in another direction and it too is rewarding and fun. I like making one of a kind pens and again try to touch various fields and interests. But one difference is I can make a $500 pen and sell it faster than I can make $500 worth of scrollsawn stuff. I need to take a look around the site some being I have not been here for awhile and see what others are into these days.

I guess I lost my admission key. The door is locked. That is OK.

It's so great to hear from you J.T. even on this sad note. Please consider rejoining us here on SSV. We need your sage advice more now than ever. Lots of new scrollers. ComeONBACK! I did not want to comment in the thread about Rick Hutcheson because that is not about me. So just a quick note to say HI to the villagers who remember me and to answer Ray's post. Just an update as to my doings. Since the great shut down of the pandemic, the shows I was attending never made a comeback so my scrolling days came to an end. I sold off my Dewalt788 and Hegner18" saws for a fairly cheap price and it sounded like the new owners were enthused to have them. I did keep my 2 RBI's 220 and 226. But they have been idle and I have shifted my focus to turning and mostly the making of pens. I found these are far easier to sell and to also give away. I have included a couple photos of my last show I did and my set up. I really do have alot of stuff to get rid of. as I have gotten older the desire to do shows like that is not there any more. Last year I did sell some things through FB market place and may at some time do a yard sale thing and sell things from the garage to lighten the load for my family when I pass. The eyes and hands are definitely not the same. It is good that there are new members joining the site and choosing scrolling as their hobby of choice. It still has its merits but not what it once was. I basically can not add any new sage advice that has not been given by the senior members here, I am sure. But did want to say a BIG HELLO to all and maybe I will poke my head in from time to time again. Hope all are doing well.

I am not sure how many remember me but I have not been here for some time. I just stopped in to post this announcement and see it has already been posted which is good. As soon as I saw this on FB I thought of this site because of the old time scrollers that visit here. Rick was one of the old time scrollers that many people learned from and followed as he made his name in the scrolling world. I am sure there are many stories that can be told and alot of accolades passed on in his name. I have talked with him many times over the years and especially when scrollsawing was starting to really take hold of the hobby world. His site became a reference point for many reasons as he dedicated himself to helping others and sharing his knowledge. He expanded his hobby field recently with the use of a laser to make many interesting projects. He will truely be missed. One of the good guys for sure. RIP Rick and my condolences to his family. John T. (JTTHECLOCKMAN)

Now I know I have not been here for some time and heard this news through another scroller. I knew he was a regular contributor here and I have known Les for a long time through other sites. I was so sorry to hear that he passed. I knew he was battling the dreaded covid and it took him away from us all. I am sure many of us know of cases that affected loved ones and close friends. I lost a sister this past Dec to covid and it is not something that chooses an age group or any other specifics. We lost a friend and all around great person. Without getting into politics or any beliefs I just would like to say please consider the Vaccine not only for yourself but for those around you and for those you may even touch just by a simple press of a key on a keyboard. With a heavy heart, Rest In Peace . My condolences go out to the family.

I get a kick out of folks saying they are just hobby scrollers then they get mad when someone tries to bargain with them at a craft show or they can't get squat or their items... wasn't the purpose of the hobby and hobby selling to get rid of the things you make.. and to mingle with the other sellers and customers.. I will say this Kevin you really know how to push my buttons and it is the same ones over and over and over again. WE GET IT YOU SELL ON LINE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am done here. I can not read this stuff any more here from someone who has no idea what he is talking about. I deleted the rest of my post. I can not take any more.

Good to hear and it is a good saw. Hope you get many years of pleasure from it. Happy Scrolling.