JTTHECLOCKMAN

I too started taking photos of everything I made but they were film photos back then. No computer and digital prints. I started making a photo album and would bring to shows so people could see other items I made and they could order them if they wanted to. That lasted a couple years and then became a pain. So much easier to take photos today and poste in forums and things. But the many many projects I made back then I have no digital photos. I made over 500 different items for sure. As others I too have made things for family and friends that were never sold. Some I have pictures and some I do not. But have the memories.

Kevin, I do remember it and it use to sit on a stand. I also remember the MSN groups. Back then you could form a group about anything. Something like FaceBook today. I use to belong to a few of them. Back in those days there were alot of big name pattern designers. Not so much any more. Many have passed away. Scrolling is just not what it once was. Here some reading material. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MSN_Groups#Closure

No I probably should have put something for size reference in photo. The watch dial is a 2-3/4" insert. Overall length of watch is about 15" I also made a joke to kids that came up to look at them and asked them if they would wear it? I tell people it is basically a desk item but you could also hang it on the wall. I in fact made a couple over the years that were about 3 times the size and they were wall hangers. Had a customer ask for that. Around the same time I was making these I did a flexible band watch. As I said I did work for Steebar and John Nelson came up with a pattern for that type watch and I made the prototype for him and it became a big hit for Steebar. Then the owner asked me to make a stand for it and I did the pattern and construction on that. After that I took it another step further and made a gift box for the watch also. I am sure these are still available at Steebar which is under new ownership and maybe even someone else. I have no dealings with them any more. I will include a photo of that watch here too. Now these did not sell as well because they were twice the price. Lots of time goes into making these. And that is the reason. But did sell a few over the years. Had one lady buy one at a show and she was so mesmerized by it and got it for her husband. Next year I saw her and she raved how much he liked it. He was a big watch collector. Always makes you feel good when you get good reviews. I looked for a picture of the box but I do not have that on this computer.

Kevin I do remember Sylvia but remember her as JR. Ranger or something like that if we are talking about the same person. She made me some patterns over the years. I asked her to make some patterns for spinning tops that I was making and they became big over the years when I first started turning on a lathe some time ago now. I wanted to combine my scrolling and my turning hobbies and this is what I came up with. There was and I believe there still is a huge spinning top following and I know I use to see turning clubs at woodworking shows always making tops for the kids as they watch them turn on the lathe. I believe there is a charity thing with tops for kids thing too. It is funny because I stopped making them some time ago now but just a couple days ago I had pulled an old project I started about 10 years ago which was a cabinet to display my special pens. I wanted to complete the project now that I got my den finished and want to hang it in there. Long and behold when I pulled it out from under a ton of other projects I started years ago, within it were a bunch of spinning top bases that I had cut out and spun down and just needed the stems and bottom spinning tips made That brought back memories. Here is an example of what I am talking about. The top has 3 layers and the top layer is the scrolled pattern she made for me. She made me about 20 other patterns too. It is funny because she mentioned to me also not to give or sell the patterns to anyone. She made them for me. She use to be on other scrolling forums and was very nice person.

I believe this can be put under the Bragging Rights forum very easily. Many beautiful pieces have passed through this site over the years and many of you either sell your items or give them away to family and friends and charities. So the question is what over the years has been your best seller or piece that gets asked for or you just decide to make and hand out. ?? Or both? What seller and what hand out? I will start and must preface this by saying I have been selling and making things for friends and family for over 40 years now and have made over 500 different items. Would have to pull out the records to know exact numbers and even that would not tell the whole story because I use to make things for Steebar many moons ago when the original owner was still alive and they were a good company to deal with. He would put them in his catalog. Many times John Nelson made the patterns that I would do prototype of and work out tweaks. But these watches have to be #1 for sales. and the heart has also a lot of sales but is also one that I gave out very often because it fits homes well. So lets see yours too.

Excellent work. Sharp crisp exact cutting. letter cutting is just not easy no matter what font you use. Nice job with that. Thanks for showing.

I just came back to this thread because I remembered I posted in here and see many have added their thoughts and Jim lets say this first, there are very good scrollers here that are basically telling you all the same thing. Time is irrelevant. This is a hobby and even if you turn into a somewhat so called business you have to be able to enjoy what you are doing or else it is not going to be fun to sit at a scrollsaw for any amount of time no matter how fast you become. As I said from your photo we can see your work is great for being fairly new to this. You will get faster believe me all those people here that say they are slow, maybe so but I will bet a month's worth of lunches that they were alot slower when first started. A good saw will help in the speed and accuracy ends of scrolling. You are not constantly fighting a drifting blade and other problems you can encounter with lesser saws. I have been sawing for over 40 years and I have had that question asked to me many times as to how long does it take and to this very day I never told anyone an hour time because I do not know and never want to know. This thing about doing for a business and having formulas that require hour rates is something I never adhered to and to this day still do not even in my new hobby of pen turning. Never have I sat down and done a piece from start to finish so hours is not known. The older we get and I am speaking for myself, more breaks are needed. I will always tell people an answer of like many hours was put into that. I gave up the idea of fighting what people think is laser cut over hand cut long ago. Today especially you see more laser cut work than ever before and will continue to grow. I know what a piece will sell for from years of experience. Running into that one person that has deep pockets is rare so just be honest and stay the course if you go into this as a money maker. I know I went off the rails abit but the bottom line is do not worry about time and just do the very best you can. The rest will take of itself. be proud of the work you are putting in front of people's eyes and you will do well. Good luck.

First nice job on the cutting and you being only six weeks into the hobby you are doing very well. You are going about it correctly by starting with projects that are not to complicated and have nice flowing lines. This helps you understand how the saw you are using cuts and reacts to your movements. The more you saw the faster you will get believe me. It becomes muscle memory and your hands just do it. You start anticipating when turns are coming way before you get there. You become more relaxed and hey work faster and truer. Everyone goes through this as beginners. Right now i bet you are tensed as you cut and not wanting to mess up. This will all go away in time. Keep doing more projects like this you are well on your way. I bet if you did that same project again it would be less time for sure. Yes many of us could scroll that in an hour and a half probably but that is no way to gauge your progress. Faster speeds will come with time for sure. Good luck and have fun. Do not worry about the clock. That is what makes this hobby fun just relax and enjoy the ride.

No I am talking about plastic models like when we did as kids but I was a big kid.

The problem is they are film photos. Back then I did not have a digital camera. So much of my early work was film. Many of my first scrollsaw projects were all film. We have come a long way since then.

Brings back some memories. Before I got into scrollsawing as my main hobby some 45 years ago I use to build the plastic Ertel and Revell model trucks of all kinds. I use to make them as realistic as possible. Paint schemes to ones that were on the road as well as opening the doors and hoods to reveal the interiors where I would use fiber optic cables to make the lights on the dash work as well as headlights and tail lights and marker lights and so on. I would put leather on the seats and and make the sleeper car decked out. Those were fun times because that time trucking was big because of the CB phase. When I got out of that phase and into scrollsawing I sold all my models for cheap. I look at the prices now and cringe. Good times. Your work looks great and I am sure they will be well received.

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.