Bill WIlson

Sweet! A good chair is vital to the enjoyment of this hobby, IMHO.

I kept the hold down on my first saw, for some time. I was just learning how to scroll (trial & error) and I had a tendency to do things that caused the blade to grab and lift the wood. The hold down was actually somewhat useful for this. After I got a little better at controlling the cut, selecting blades, etc, I found the hold down was far more of a nuisance than a help, so off it came. I'm on my third saw now and I've never used a hold down since.

I can't say how many blades broke prematurely or repeatedly popped out of the clamps when I didn't straighten the ends. It almost turned me on spiral blades, forever.

FD makes flat end spirals. They aren't necessarily flat in the same plane, but are easier to install than ones that are twisted all the way to the end. For those, I do like others, use 2 pair of pliers and untwist the ends until they are flat and approximately in the same vertical plane.

Once again, very nicely done Dave! You are truly the master of the inlaid box.

I started making ornaments and giving them away to family and friends 30 years ago. Probably total a couple thousand of them, at least. My oldest daughter has a 2nd tree with just my ornaments on it. I also made a lighted tree topper and a wooden train for it. Several friends to whom I've given many ornaments over the years, have also told me they also have a special tree filled with my ornaments. I am humbled and honored to have become part of the Christmas traditions of so many people.

Yes. With shellac, it's better to make all the coats light.

Welcome to the hobby and to the forum. The stand looks clever and very well built. I would only make one comment. Vibration happens with every saw. Typically it's most easily dampened when the saw is attached to a stand in such a way that they become one monolithic structure I wonder, if by hinging the top, you might experience more vibration than if the top was permanently fixed to the frame. A lot of folks even end up adding weight to the bottom of the stand to further dampen vibration.

In all seriousness, it's only to the degree that it affects the cut, that it matters. We push our blades past their optimum limits, because we want to make sure we get our money's worth out of them. Once the quality of the cut or the time taken to make the cut impacts us to a level where it bothers us, then it's time to change. That point is a moving target and may well be different for everyone.

For me, the signal that I need to change blades is when I see smoke.

That is the definition of "awesome"!

I have a mini HVLP spray gun that I got from Grizzly a number of years ago. It works really well for spraying smaller projects. it's similar to the one in this link; https://www.grizzly.com/products/grizzly-deluxe-mini-hvlp-spray-gun/h7673

Pretty cool! Nice job on the restoration.

Nope. Longleaf Southern Yellow Pine, a "softwood" has a Janka hardness rating of 870, which is higher than African Mahogany, Silver Maple, Sassafras, Alder and Poplar. All hardwoods.

Kevin, what is between the surface layers on those project panels? How thick is the veneer?

Don't know what the prices are for 1/8" BB ply around here....because there isn't any around here.

I've always believed that intarsia is much like carving, in that to be done well, one must be able to "see" the image in 3D, when looking at a flat piece of wood. It's a skill that not everyone has. I know I don't.

I've used ordinary RIT fabric dyes to add subtle color to BB ply ornaments. Just like stain the BB ply may absorb the dye a little unevenly, but letting the piece soak a little tends to even it out. Probably will see some variance from one piece to another, but can get the color pretty even on an individual piece. I've never tried it on anything very large though. It might be worth a try for your ornaments. From what I've read, dyes made for wood might be a better option and provide deeper, more vivid color, but the RIT dyes are cheap and readily available, so getting a couple colors to do some testing is pretty easy and convenient.

Very unique and creative look to that project. I really like the star inlay in the lid. Nice job! I made a couple of those boxes this Summer (from solid wood). I see you modified the lid to make it overlap the sides. I did something similar with mine. I didn't care for the lid design in the original pattern.

Visited Arlington a few years ago and made it a point to observe a changing of the guard. I must say that has to be one of the most powerful traditions/ceremonies there is. Those soldiers who take on that duty are truly a cut above.

Blade selection usually ends up as a matter of personal preference. If I have ever used the blade that the pattern maker recommends, it was totally by coincidence. Not that I don't think they make a good recommendation, just that any recommendation is really just a suggestion. Proper blade selection is a factor of wood thickness, hardness, pattern detail and even the saw itself. You need to find the right combination of blade size and material to cut the desired pattern. This will vary from one user to another and from one type of saw to another. Me personally, I cut most fretwork with either a #1 or #3 FDUR. When cutting ornaments, I typically try to use stock that is thinner than 1/4" (either 1/8" BB ply or hardwood planed down to 3/16" or so). I usually use the #1 and keep my overall stack thickness at around 1/2" max, give or take. I use a #1 because most of the ornament patterns I cut have a good bit of fine detail in them and the #1 gives me the best results. I could try to stack cut more, but then the #1 wears out faster and cutting slows. I could move up to a #3 to speed things up, but then I lose some of the control and ability to cut fine detail that I get with the #1. It becomes a compromise. Your mileage may vary, which is why all blade recommendations are just suggestions.

I don't have a lot of pictures of stuff I've made. I managed to find these of a couple things I made several years ago. Not a lot of scrolling in this piece, just the ornamental symbols on the front and the lid. This is a faith chest. I make these for our church to present to the family when a baby is baptized.

That's the same thing I told the wife about The Outlaw Josey Wales.

Very nicely done. Pedro has some great fretwork patterns. If I recall correctly, a while back someone posted a question about Pedro, as they had tried to contact him and had gotten no reply. Glad to see he's still in business.

I found this image. Didn't find the original web page though.