JTTHECLOCKMAN

Dave I had to take another look at this piece and have to say this is extrordinary not only finish results but the method used. I like the others need abit more explanation as to the method. Now I have done a few projects over the years where I tried cutting pieces out and laying them within the base piece but no matter how hard I tried there is always gaps. yes very tiny but my OCD gets the best of me. The reason for the gaps is the kerf of the blade. I tried to cut on one side of the line for the base and then cut on other side of the infill piece if that makes sense. I figure this should make up for the kerf of the blade. No matter what size blade you use there is a kerf. I can cut 2 circle pieces seperately an lay them on top of one another and no way are they going to be exact cuts and mirror each other. Now this method you can say plays a roll in Intarsia by the way you lay pieces next to each other. But there you can cheat by sanding to make a better fit. Now I consider myself a fairly good scroller with a steady hand and keen eye. I use a good saw and good blades but have to say if you can do what I think you are doing you are a far superior scroller than I ever can be. Is there a video or other photos of your process that you can share? If not can you make one. Or maybe with more detail explain this method so we all can enjoy the fruits of your labor. This technique is quite rare especially when talking detail work such as you shown. Your double bevel inlay work is out of this world on its own but man this is topping that. Thanks. Dave I have looked through your album that you post on FB many many times because right after you show another piece of art it just draws me to it. I have to say there are many talented scrollers here but you have to be the best of the best. Your Intarsia work is out of this world for many reasons. The ideas and projects are well thought out and the woods chosen go all so well. The cutting is first rate. Those of us who use the scrollsaw know the time and difficulty that is involved in pieces you make. No machines to sit back and watch them cut by themselves and no outside help from aliens. Then you take scrolling and woodworking in general to new levels by making other projects such as boxes and planters and so on. This is not a remark made to embarass you but is a remark to praise you and to applaud you for the work you do and give you the accolades you deserve. I hope others can check your work out and follow you and you continue to give us the pleasure of enjoying your talents. Now I have to say there are a few projects that at some time in my remaining years to be able to simulate and add my own touch to your ideas if you do not mind. But when doing them I will be continuing asking myself what would Dave do in this situation. Thanks again for sharing.

As I mentioned if the BB comes out of China the grade is usually bad. Knowing where it comes from sometimes is difficult. They do not put their little stickers on each sheet. Another plywood that gets confused with BB is VietNam plywood. Looks like BB but has thinner top layers and more voids. Find a reputable company and stay with them. I have no idea about this other wood you guys talk about used for lasers. price will tell you if good quality. Again I use Oochoo woods.

If you look at most marquetry clubs they tend to use Dewalt 788 saws. A couple reasons. The ability to tilt the saw toward them. When doing that type of scrolling you usually are doing very fine and small pieces so constantly changing pieces of veneers. The ability to tilt the table is easy. The ability to insert blades which are very fine. I suggest look up Utube videos.there are many. To me though the Dewalt is the saw for that kind of scrolling over RBI or Hegners I know nothing about excalibers but maybe on the same platform. Just an opinion.

I am in the same boat. I have so many patterns from so many sources. I have just a large plastic file cabinet with 6 drawers. This past winter I had to replace the divider panels between drawers with Plywood because they kept caving in from the weight and would not open. That helped alot. But I also have a ton of patterns in boxes that are some of my larger patterns. No ryme or reason. If I need a pattern I would have to hand sort. Good luck with the file system. Being I do not scroll any more I am not worried about those things. I have other organizing problems with all my pen making equipments and supplies.

Moisture can do it. Again you do not say what type plywood. But moisture and temp changes cam delaminate plywood. As well as grade of BB plywood. There has always been talk in the woodworking community that BB coming out of China is a poor grade. Storing properly will help but nothing is full proof.

I think the first thing you need to answer is what type plywood.? Plywood comes in many types. For scrolling many people like to use Baltic Birch or Finish Birch plywood. next tell us where and how it is lifting? I suggest a light sanding before doing any project is always a good idea. I do not recommend sealing the plywood. No need to. This will interfeer when you want to finish it or if you are making a projects that requires gluing. If you are painting and really want to seal it then clear dewaxed shellac would be my choice. Again tell us how and when it is lifting. If because you attached a pattern then you need to change method. Low tack painters tape under the pattern will help or repositonable spray adhesive will help. There are other methods too.

Why are you sanding the blade? That will always dull a blade. If you are sanding the backside corner edges to make them smoother for turning purposes then use a sanding board. Some people use a fingernail file sander or these. They come in all type styles but it is a stick with sandpaper on it. https://www.ptreeusa.com/abrasive_detail_sanding.html If you touch the teeth in any way with sandpaper you dull the blade.

Because you are use to it. I will say you did not center the blade in the clamp when you installed it. It maybe fine but bet you are maxed out how far straight up and down the blade is. When that happens you now have added more back to front motion instead of straight up and down motion. This can cause overcut when cutting pieces out especially small delicate pieces. If your top holder is locked down this increases even more. If the top holder is allowed to pivot as much as the bottom you will be OK. I still suggest shoot for straight blade insertion in clamps at all times. Again I did not like those clamps much on that saw. yes it is a great saw but now they have options to change those clamps an I would have.

I use FD Supior puzzle blades and love them. They are a milled blade and not a stamped blade. This means they should cut the same both directions because the teeth are not all pointing in one direction. On stamped blades it is indeed possible to make tighter turns in the direction the teeth face because they are cutting faster. Many people get around this by sanding the edges off the back of the blade to help making turns smoother. This gets toiugh to do with thin blades such as puzzle blades which really do not need it but you could try to see if it helps you. Puzzle blades are thin and require a lighter touch when using because they break easily. Using a speed that is as fast as you can handle because of vibration or control helps. You have to let the blade do the cutting and not force the wood. This is fact with all woods and all projects. Yes bass wood is easier to cut with. BB plywood has many layers and has glue so this wears blades faster but is a more stable wood. 1/4" is harder than 1/8" wood in any species. That is just fact because you are cutting more material. If you are having better control and luck cutting one way than stick with that. No need to keep switching directions. As far as Hegner. i had one and had no problems. Need to make sure your clamp is not cracked. They had problems with those clamps. Because you tighten down on such a small piece of metal it can stress the metal of the clamp which acts like a clamp. Thus the different size clamps. One size does not fit all blades properly. That is important. Setting the blade in straight and to the back of the clamp is important but straightness is not critical but shoot for it. Those clamps are made to pivot in the holders because of the triangle end shape. They rock back and forth at times when cutting to help keep the blade from breaking. They seek their own straightness when tensioned properly. I will have to say and this is just my opinion, they are not the best clamp if you do alot of fret work because of the way they work. I did not like them. Scrolling is all about touch. It takes much more practice to learn to scroll in both directions than it does to learn one. I say this because your dominate eye moves. You may not think it but it does. This means your hands follow and the pressure you apply has to match. You usually break more blades in one direction than other because of this. Again just my opinion. Some people master it easily and the larger the blade the easier it is. Here are some examples of my use of the FD puzzle blades. I will say it took me a few tries to get the feel of the cuts but after that it goes smooth. I use an RBI 20" saw. here is Steve Goods version of explanation of blades. https://www.stevedgood.com/scrollsawblades.pdf

I guess answer below is what you are after. I still do not get it because waterbase is not thick. Artist paints are thick but meant to be so. Any top coat finish use a wipe on and that is as thin as you get. You do not say what paint of finish you are using. If using acrylic paints then thin as you see needed. No rules just taste of what you like. Thin with whatever is the carrier of the product. oil or water.

Why would you want to dilute a finish?

Way before Fed X came around and opened stores where you can copy things of any size with great accuracy, I use to do that with many of my projects. Especially the mirrors I use to make. I made a couple different sizes of the same style and needed to increase the plans. But I would do them in quarters and then tape all lines together in proper order. It worked well. yes alot of extra work but worth it.

https://www.scrollsawvillage.com/articles/beginner/5-reasons-scroll-saw-blades-break-and-how-to-prevent-it-r134/ https://scrollsawnewb.com/10-reasons-why-scroll-saw-blades-break/

Thanks. Just something else that floats through my brain. One and done. Eventually I will make a music themed pen to go with it. That is on my to do list.

How elaborate do you want to get. Rick and Karen had this book out. https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/custom-wooden-music-boxes-for-the-scroll-saw-the-berry-basket-collection-revised-edition_karen-longabaugh/1846937/item/42128919/?mkwid=|dc&pcrid=77584467524595&pkw=&pmt=be&slid=&product=42128919&plc=&pgrid=1241348924126639&ptaid=pla-4581183930092993&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Shopping+-+Low+Vol+Midlist+-+%2410+-+%2450&utm_term=&utm_content=|dc|pcrid|77584467524595|pkw||pmt|be|product|42128919|slid||pgrid|1241348924126639|ptaid|pla-4581183930092993|&msclkid=ea5126d184841d8056384e3838affa9b#idiq=42128919&edition=6527162 Speilman had a book too. Here https://www.rockler.com/music-box-plan?country=US&promo=shopping&sid=V91211&msclkid=e70cf3149519122e7a169bfd293204c3&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=OG_BNG_PDSRCH_SHOPPING_NA_ROAS_PMAX_USA_NA_UNDER&utm_term=2333094955059436&utm_content=UnderSpend Again you can get into real large music boxes and they play expensive components. There are large scrollsawn clocks that were designed to play music. They have turntable boxes that have dancing figures on them and play music. Man there are tons of patterns out there. The Berry Basket with Rick and Karen had other books like their Victorian music box collection. They also had a Holiday Scrollsaw music box book. Look for them. They have some extraordinary style patterns. Google is your friend. As I said you can spend as little as $10 for a simple one or $400 for a good quality one with 72 notes or better. All depends what you are looking for.

You can get music inserts from many different sources. Amazon is a big one. Woodcraft, Hobby Lobby, walmart, ebay is big too. The more notes the more expensive. https://themusicboxcompany.com/purchase-musical-mechanisms/. I made a few over the years but the last one I made was this one which I made into a pen box. I entered this in a pen turning contest and won this category. I got this melody from an old Elvis statue I picked up at a yard sale many years ago. Took the works out and used it. A far as patterns, the mind is your pattern maker. I am sure there are patterns out there. Check Steve Good or just do a google search.

I made a couple pens using guitar pics years ago. The acrylic ones have great color.

Absolutely pen making is addictive as well. You can do simple pen making or can step it up and make kitless pens or all kinds of custom pens. Some pen hardware can cost $100 and that is just the components. Now do a fancy blank and that pen can sell for over $1000. It can be lucrative as well. Just like scrollsawing alot depends on how far you want to dive into things and also how far you want to take it. Buying quality equipment plays a roll too just like scrollsawing. Kevin here has taken the leap to get into lasers and follow that path. Same thoughts apply to that hobby. Plenty of hobbys out there to feed the artistic minds.

Thank you. I took my scrolling and other woodworking skills and jumped into pen making. Joined a forum like this and learned different skills such as segmenting and casting. Found out there is so much you can do with a small canvas like a pen . But I do try to combine the artforms at times too and that is where making boxes and pen stands come in. Using a lathe combined with other woodworking tools keeps me in the game. I have so many ideas in both areas that at times my mind gets crazy. I love thinking outside the box and being creative. You understand what I am saying because I see the same in you. Example that round box. You took a project you saw and put your touch on it and basically made a whole different project but still has some features of the original. Sharing ideas and methods is what keeps the arts alive. When I pass on just maybe someone will remember one of my projects and try to duplicate it also. I always find that to be the highest form of compliment. Thanks again and hope you did well at your show.

Yes. II will be making a couple different themed round boxes like yours. One will be the poker theme with card symbols and another will be a billiards theme with a rack of billiardballs (Rack and balls.) If you could do both patterns that would be great. I make pens and the most sought after themes for me is billiards and poker. Many guys buy the pens so I was looking for other items I could make. Seeing your round box design just flooded my brain with different ideas in these 2 themes. I always look for inspiration. Having been out of my shop for 2 years+ I need to hopefully get back this winter. Need to build some inventory. With those patterns I can enlarge or shrink as much as needed. I wish I had the ability to do patterns. Thank you. Here is one billiard themed pen I made. And a poker pen I made.

Thank you. I will do a search. I just noticed it was here under How To tutorials you can find Dave's video too. That was the one I remember.

Dave that is actually a nice size. hard to tell from photo. I believe somewhere at some time you did a video of your technique of inlaying. You may have done a couple and maybe a tutorial also. I thought I had them achieved somewhere but can not find them and being I had to get new computer 3 years ago many things got lost. I was wondering if you would share these links again or point me in the right direction. Thank you. I want to do a box like this with poker theme. Have the 4 suits of cards in the ends. If you could do a pattern for that I would appreciate that. That should be a fairly easy beginners inlay project for me. Every time I see one of your boxes I get this urge to learn the technique. Nice combo of woods too by the way.

Dave your work is always so great to look at and once again another beauty. I also love your inlay work. Could you post a few more photos of the side and the back to get a better look of how the pin hinge looks closed. This design opens a whole bunch of ideas. I may have to give a try at some time. Been away from the scrollsaw for quite awhile now. This gives me inspiration. Thanks for showing. One other question. After looking at the precision, did you build the blank with stacked layers and then use a forstner bit to drill down the center and then cut in half.? What are the dimensions of the box? That is impressive. A+++ Do you have a link to Steve Goods page where he shows his?

I think the you did a good job with the pattern. Not a fan of the pumpkin face in the hat though. It distracts from the Gnome theme. I may have to play with that program some. Have some ideas. I am guessing it takes some key words to get a good pattern and if you change those key words but still mean same subject matter it would change pattern.

You are correct with teeth. I forgot what they were. Have them somewhere in the drawer. Just do not use them. As far as difficult that can be corrected by using a magnifier and also I think there is a notch on top.