Bill WIlson

I like ash as well. Cuts and finishes well. Unfortunately, here in PA, the Emerald Ash Borer has devastated the state's ash tree population. PA used to be one of the major suppliers of ash lumber, but it will be harder & harder to find and more expensive, as time goes on. Sawyers are working to salvage lumber from dead or at risk stands of ash trees. The insect does not damage the wood itself. The larvae simply burrows beneath the bark, in the cambium layer, effectively girdling the tree and killing it slowly over a period of time. As long as the tree remains standing, the lumber may still be useable, however, transportation of the lumber, into other areas that are not yet infested, is restricted. It's a big problem and it may mean that ash trees will go the same route as the American chestnut tree did a century ago. It's sad.

As noted, there is nothing necessarily wrong with pine. Personally, I would probably prefer a tight grained, medium hard wood, something like poplar or soft maple. Both take paint well, are hard enough to hold up well to normal use & abuse, without being too heavy or so hard & dense that they are difficult to work with. Open grained hard woods like red oak are somewhat more prone to splintering, especially on sharp corners, so they may not be the best choice.

Only advice I have is to repeat an old saying; "How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time." Good luck. Be sure to post pics when they're done.....in 10 years or so. (JK)

As you may have already discovered, the simple answer is "It Depends". I'll give you an example from my own experience. I started scrolling about 20 some years ago. I had no mentor, no outside resources to help me learn, just 15-20 years of experience making sawdust as a carpenter and hack woodworker, that taught me a lot about tools and wood. My first projects were pretty decent, nothing I would be ashamed to give as a gift or hang on my own wall. At that point my expectations were relatively high, because I already had some experience working with wood and knew what I should be able to do. However, after a number of years of scrolling on my own, I found and joined a local scroll saw club. I'll tell you, the talent and skill those guys had (have) was amazing and I was thoroughly intimidated to bring any of my stuff for show & tell at the meetings. I've outgrown that and after all this time, feel that my best stuff would stand up next to most anything those guys did. That's not bragging (at least it isn't intended as such). It's just that it took a long time for me to reach that point and be comfortable putting my work next to theirs. The point is, becoming proficient is a relative thing. It's relative to what it is being compared to. If you stick with it and keep practicing, you will find that your skills should progress pretty rapidly, to a point. How far you go beyond that point and how long it takes, will depend on how committed you are and what you are striving to achieve.

Not Kevin, but will add my $.02. Depends on what you are wiping it down for. If it's just to remove sanding dust, I would suggest vacuuming it first. This removes most of the dust. Taking it outside and blowing it off with compressed air works as well, but you want to avoid doing it in the shop, because you are just introducing a lot of fine dust into the air that you could do without. Wiping it off with alcohol or mineral spirits (MS) works to remove the last remnants of dust and gives you a brief glimpse at what the wood may look like with a clear finish applied. This is good to make sure you've removed all surface defects/scratches and any glue squeeze out. Alcohol will flash off quicker than the MS and doesn't smell as much. Wear gloves though, because all of these solvents contain nasty stuff you don't want to absorb into your system, through your skin. I would recommend against using water, because it may raise the grain of the freshly sanded wood, causing it to need more sanding.

Dremel makes a miniature version of that, which works well for removing fuzzies from the back of very fine and delicately detailed fretwork. They don't last very long, so if you can remove the worst of them with sandpaper or even a propane torch (insert obligatory safety Public Service Announcement here), they work great for a final clean up.

Oil based polyurethane does not have very good adhesion, even to itself. That is why the manufacturer recommends that you scuff sand the surface before applying additional coats, if the previous coat has been allowed to dry over a certain amount of time. Scuff sanding provides tooth for the next coat to grab on to. Shellac has been called the universal sealer/barrier coat, because it sticks to just about anything and just about anything sticks to it. The one exception to this statement is waxed shellac and oil based polyurethane. With shellac, the conventional wisdom is to use de-waxed shellac, as John mentioned. Zinnser sells a couple different products in their line of pre-mixed shellac. In its natural state, shellac contains wax. The one you want for use under oil based polyurethane is Seal Coat. It is de-waxed and provides an excellent base for just about any top coat.

I've used a number of different materials for backers; artist mat board, colored poster board, stained/painted BB ply. I used felt once, but didn't care for it. I thought it showed the dust too much. I've not used any kind of glass or acrylic over top of portraits. I think glass can add a very formal look. If that is what you are going for, then by all means give it a try. I would suggest using non-glare glass. I like to frame pieces, especially if it's something like a portrait that I've cut from BB ply. I just think a frame really sets the piece off and provides a more finished look. Sometimes I'll use mat board on the front to add a little more depth.

While resawing and planing your own lumber is the most efficient way to make wide panels, I understand that the cost to acquire the equipment can be prohibitive. Another suggestion; Buy narrower boards of the desired thickness and edge glue them together. If you are careful to align the edges and select boards with similar grain patterns, with a little sanding, you can do a passable job of making your wide panels. I encourage you to give it a try. Like others, I prefer the look of solid hardwood for projects such as yours (nice job, by the way). If you don't have a local hard wood supplier, then there are also on-line suppliers of hardwood that may offer you more options. I don't know how they may compare with Lowes & HD in price, but may be worth a look.

I know nothing about the Wen, so in fairness I can't criticize the choice. However, I would say that my experience with sub-$100 scroll saws is that they are more likely to discourage someone from continuing in the hobby than encourage them. So a general word of advice is to be patient with it. It may be a fine saw for you, but realize that it's limitations will become evident very quickly, especially as you improve your skills and attempt more challenging work. Good luck and have fun making sawdust!

That's unfortunate. However, around here folks love answering questions, so have no fear.

That's always been my understanding as well. fret2 /frɛt/ noun 1. a repetitive geometrical figure, esp one used as an ornamental border 2. such a pattern made in relief and with numerous small openings; fretwork 3. (heraldry) a charge on a shield consisting of a mascle crossed by a saltire verb frets, fretting, fretted 4. (transitive) to ornament with fret or fretwork Derived Forms fretless, adjective Word Origin C14: from Old French frete interlaced design used on a shield, probably of Germanic origin

Echoing what other have said, it takes practice to learn to follow the line. For some, this comes more quickly than others, but we've all struggled with it. If you wander away from the line, try not to make sudden corrections. Those turn out to be the most noticeable of the little bumps on the edges. Some scroll saw blades follow the line better than others. Check your blade for drift by trying to follow a straight line, on a test piece. Sit directly in front of the saw and push the wood straight into the blade. If you find that the blade has a tendency to pull to one side, such that you need to compensate by pushing the piece across the table at a slight angle to get it to follow the line, that's normal for some blades. It is a symptom of the way they are manufactured. The simplest remedy for this is to move your chair (or stand) slightly off to the side, so that you are not feeding the wood directly into the front of the blade (remember that angle your test piece was at to get the blade to follow the line?). This technique will trick your eye into thinking you are pushing straight, but you will have the piece canted slightly and the blade will tend to follow the line better. My experience has been that trying to sand the edges of these cuts smooth is a losing proposition. It's tedious, time consuming and not very effective. The time is better spent in practice, which will help you follow the line better. That said, even veteran scrollers will wander off the line. Just remember, that often, once you remove the pattern, these deviations may not be all that noticeable. You will be your own worst critic, but don't look for perfection. Find a balance that allows you to enjoy the hobby. That's what you are doing it for in the first place anyway, right? Good luck and have fun making sawdust!

Well, I've never tried to cut any of it with my scroll saw, but I do know that it is very hard on carbide tooth, circular saw blades. I've installed enough laminate flooring to dull several blades on my compound miter saw. I'm certain you could cut this material reasonably well, but would expect that blade life would be pretty short on the scroll saw.

When I log in, I go right to the "Unread Content" button. I scan the list to see what thread titles catch my eye and go from there. I rarely pay much attention to what section they are from.

You do bring up a good point. The suggested size of #7 or #9 implies that the piece was cut with those blades. If the level of detail precludes using those larger blades for the entire pattern, it would have been nice if it was noted as such. For something like that I might use a #7 for some areas, then switch to a smaller blade to do the fine detail. But then again, I've been scrolling for many years and don't depend on the recommendations by the pattern maker. Beginners need that sort of input.

I used small amounts of craft moss I had left over from another project. Adds a nice touch. I just spread a little Allene's Tacky glue in the hole, pulled off a small wad of the craft moss and stuffed it into the hole, leaving some spilling outside of the house. People loved the authentic look.

Nicely done Frank. I searched Steve's site and couldn't locate that particular design. I saw a couple other ones, but not the personalized/dated ones like yours. Can you point me in the right direction? I looked under the ornament category and the holiday category, without luck. Thanks!

The simplest explanation is that skip tooth blades clear the kerf of sawdust better than reverse tooth blades. There are deeper gullets between the teeth and generally fewer teeth per inch, so the teeth are spaced further apart. This helps carry the saw dust away, preventing heat build up and allowing the blade to cut more aggressively. Also, without reverse teeth on the bottom, the sawdust is more easily evacuated, instead of being trapped within the piece.

Changed Contact Info to Bill Wilson [email protected] Changed Club Information to Meetings are generally held on the first Saturday of each month at 9:00 AM. The website is a little out of date. We no longer meet at the Zion United Methodist Church in Sarver. We now meet at the Smokin' Toad's BBQ on South pike Road in Sarver.

Well done Melanie! Glad you got the chance to try them. They're fun to cut aren't they? The cool thing is that most people will look at those in amazement, with no idea how you did it. I tell them it isn't has complicated as it looks.

Congrats on the move and the prospects of more shop space. That's going to be awesome! I'd probably want to remove/reconfigure some of the partitions to make the space more efficient but having wall space is priceless. Do you have walk in/out access to the basement?

Just finished cutting 109 compound cut birdhouse ornaments out of cedar and African mahogany. Sorry, no pics. Not my first compound cut rodeo, but the most I've done at one time. I don't sell either, just give 'em away. I suspect they are going to go over big this year.

I just got done cutting 110 compound birdhouse ornaments. I bought some FD Polar #5's specifically for this, having never used them before. While they cut marginally better than the Olson #5 Skip tooth I had, they were still lacking in durability and speed of cut. Perhaps I should have stepped up to the next larger size. However, I had some Olson MS #7's lying around and even though they are a reverse tooth blade, I found that they cut soooo much better and lasted much longer than either of the #5 skip tooth blades I tried. I was using them to cut African Mahogany. I was able to cut out between 7 & 10 birdhouses with one MS #7 blade, where I was barely able to cut 3 with either of the #5 skip tooth blades. Not sure I would necessarily recommend a reverse tooth blade over a comparable skip tooth, but in my particular case those Olson MS #7's cut very well.

Can't go wrong with Nelson's book. It's mostly a teaching resource, with the instructions, practice pages and tips that are invaluable to a beginner, but there are also some nice patterns as well. I wish I had known about this book when I was starting out. Also, if someone is just looking for some basic pattern books, suitable for beginners and some intermediate level scrollers, Patrick Spielman has a number of books that are very good resources. Most are more devoted to patterns, but also contain some instruction/tips.