Bill WIlson

Zimmerstutzen brings up a good point about checking & cracking on cross-cut slabs like this. As the wood dries, it will shrink much more across the grain than it does with the grain. On and end cut, you have grain running 360 degrees and as it dries, it's shrinking in all directions, putting tremendous strain on the piece. It is very difficult to prevent cracking as the wood dries. Also cross cut slabs are much less stable and prone to warping as they dry, for much the same reasons as it cracks. You need to rough cut the wood as thick as possible, because you will likely need to do some serious flattening once it's dry. Pieces like this can end up looking like a (broken) potato chip if they aren't dried very carefully. The key is to slow the drying process down dramatically. There are chemical stabilizers, such as Pentacryl, designed to aid in this process. Zimmerstutzen's method of drying the slabs in a bucket of sawdust is very interesting. I have no practical experience with trying to make slabs like this for woodworking purposes, but I've cut enough firewood over they years to see what happens to end grain as it dries. Good luck.

The problem I've found with most "stainable" fillers is that they can leave a tell tale halo around the patched area, especially in open grained woods like red oak. The filler gets deep in the pores of the wood and is very difficult to sand out completely. Filler almost always absorbs stain differently than the surface grain of the surrounding wood, so the patch becomes as obvious or more so than the unfilled hole would have been. This is less of an issue on closed grain woods, like maple. My advice is if you are using any filler, prior to applying a finish, be careful not to get it spread too far beyond the patch area and then sand thoroughly.

I've read good things about Timbermate Water-Based Wood Filler. I like to use the wax "crayons" from Minwax. They apply easily and holes can be filled after finishing. What I like even better is my 23 gauge pin nailer that leaves a hole so small that most of the time it doesn't even need filled. Bottom line is that regardless of what you use, nothing I've found really blends perfectly and makes the hole "invisible". All fillers are a compromise, to a certain degree. Use the one that is the easiest and cheapest, which is why I like the Minwax crayons.

Kevin, I use scrap pieces of plywood as a sacrificial backer on my drill press. My son-in-law went dumpster diving a few years ago and came home with tons of scrap plywood from a couple local cabinet shops. I ended up with most of it. It was mostly 1/2" thick stock, with one surface pre-finished. I use the larger pieces for all sorts of things like jigs & such and invariably I end up with enough small pieces that I have plenty for use on the drill press. Since I use my drill press for everything, I move the backer around for each hole. The scrap piece still lasts pretty long. I do the same thing with my Dremel drill press station that's used primarily for small entry holed for scrolling. Find yourself some scrap that you don't get emotionally attached to and you won't worry about throwing it away.

On a whim, I tried RIT fabric dye on ornaments last year. I got the pre-mix stuff and used it straight out of the bottle. Little messy, but I was pleasantly surprised with the results. The ornaments were made out of 1/8" BB ply and I got the color I was looking for, by just dipping them and letting them soak for a minute or two. I experienced no raising of the grain, which sort of surprised me.

Spirals can be pretty temperamental when it comes to keeping them in the clamps. I'll second Ranger Jay's recommendations. Flat end spirals are much easier to work with, in that respect. Only problem is, they don't come in the smallest sizes. I had to get some FD #2/0 and #3/0 spirals for a particularly challenging (for me, anyway) portrait project earlier this year. I was able to successfully untwist and flatten the ends. I had some Olson spirals a few years ago that I couldn't untwist/flatten to save my life. Don't know if they were just made from harder, more brittle material or what, but I broke more than I used.

I'm fortunate to live in Western PA where domestic hardwoods are plentiful. I can get anything from exotics to veneered plywood to Baltic birch to all of the domestic species of lumber I want within about a 40 minute drive from home. I also have a stash of roughsawn lumber, mostly cherry & maple, cut from trees on my father-in-laws farm. It's been air drying in the barn for about 10 years now. I'll probably never use it all. Having a bandsaw and planer really provides for maximum flexibility. I can use just about anything I come across and that includes scavenged lumber that someone else was going to burn.

A member of our scroll saw club does primarily portraits and he's very good at them. He learned how to scroll using spiral blades and says he just can't get the hang of straight blades. That's pretty much the opposite of how most folks are, but it's testimony to how ingrained our habits and preferences can become if we let them. My suggestion would be to use a straight blade to learn. As others have said, you will have more control and I think the technique is more natural and intuitive. After you feel comfortable with the straight blades, then mix in some projects using spirals. Some patterns just lend themselves better to one or the other. For spirals, look for patterns with few straight lines or sharp, inside corners. Rule of thumb; If wandering off a line or rounding out an inside corner is detrimental to the appearance, then use straight blades.

The thing with compressors is that once you have one, you tend to find all sorts of other uses for it. I too just wanted something to use to blow dust off of stuff and maybe air up a tire or two. I ended up with a portable one that is between 20 & 25 gallon capacity. I can't recall the brand at the moment. I think it may be Campbell Hausfield, but it could be a Craftsman. I'm not necessarily recommending it. My recommendation is to get the biggest one that fits your budget and the available space. Mine isn't big, by any stretch, but it has enough capacity for me to run air nailers, spray guns and some other air powered tools. While I wouldn't mind a bigger one, I like the portability, but I also have a pancake compressor that I'll take with me when working on the kid's houses, that's primarily used for the nail guns. I wouldn't want to use it for my general shop tasks, even just blowing dust around. It is even noisier than my larger compressor and runs a lot more often, under those conditions.

I've used several different types over the years. Loctite General Performance spray worked really well for me and was much cheaper than other brands. Unfortunately my local Lowes stopped carrying it a year or 2 ago. I never worry about how hard the pattern is to remove. I want it to stick like crazy, because if a detailed fretwork pattern starts to lift during cutting, that is a major pain. I spritz on a little mineral spirits and let it set for a minute and it comes right off. I know lots of folks don't like messing with the MS, but I'd be lost without it.

What is the center of your plywood made of? Can't tell from the pictures. Is it multilayered plys or some sort of solid/foam core with veneer top layers? Reason I ask is that sometimes the solid/foam core types are more prone to breakage than true multi-layered plywood. Baltic birch ply is your best bet. You didn't say what size blades you were using. If you were using Crown Tooth, then theoretically they couldn't be installed upside down, because the teeth cut both ways, but if they were too large, then that would definitely contribute to your problem. For a single layer cutting like that, I wouldn't hesitate to use a #2/0 blade.

It may depend on the table. On my Dewalt, I would notice, over time, a distinct tendency for the wood to drag as I was moving it across the table. A little steel wool and an application of paste wax made a huge difference. I don't use my scrollsaw every day, so I only had to do this a few times a year. I've been using the same can of Johnson's Paste for as long as I can remember and it will last many more years to come. The Dewalt table was a casting, with a machined surface. My EX has what appears to be a solid aluminum table. There aren't any visible mill marks in the surface. I'll be interested to see if & how often I need to apply paste wax to it.

Never seen or heard of it being tried before, but I would be concerned about compatibility problems mixing the BLO and the lacquer. Be interested to hear how/if it works for you. I suggest you test it on some scrap first before committing to a project.

+1 on the Dust Deputy. I bought one a few years ago and wish I had done it sooner. Worth every penny, IMHO. That thing is a game changer in my shop.

I doubt 2 1/4" layers would fit in a standard frame. Might try 1/8" or you could use mat board.

Danish oil/Antique oil/Tung oil finish, depending on the brand, is either a blend of approximately equal proportions of varnish (or polyurethane, which is technically a varnish), oil (generally boiled linseed oil) and thinner (Mineral Spirits) or just varnish and thinner. There really isn't anything mystical about it and you can make your own by using the desired ingredients you may already have on the shelf. By adjusting the proportions to suit your purpose, you can make your own "special blend". The more oil you use, the less sheen and the more hand rubbed look you will achieve. The more thinner you use, the faster the oil is absorbed into the wood and the quicker each application dries, because you are essentially adding less finish to the wood. The more varnish/poly you use, the more protective the resulting film will be and the greater potential to achieve a glossier look.

You will be fine using any good quality wood glue. If you really want a means of mechanically fastening components of something like a fretwork clock, you might consider a pin nailer. This is a pneumatic tool that drives very small, headless nails. Frankly, I don't think it's necessary. I have a pin nailer, but have never considered using it for that particular application. Just wanted to toss that suggestion out there.

I don't think there is any objective way to answer your question. I think one learns best when they are open to as many learning avenues as possible. That is what makes forums like this so great. You get advice and opinions from a wide variety of perspectives. When you couple that with resources like YouTube, you can learn in a few hours on the internet, what it took me months/years to learn on my own. Keep an open mind and don't limit yourself. There is much to be learned out there and it's to your benefit to take advantage of as much variety as you can.

I have a couple small peanut butter jars full of DNA that had been used to clean shellac out of my spray guns, brushes, etc. Rather than throw it away, I keep re-using it, at least for initial cleanings. It's probably got enough shellac in it now that I could spray it. I actually use diluted household ammonia now to clean up my spray equipment and brushes. It works as well as the DNA and is much cheaper.

Cherry is especially prone to burning. What kind of #5 blade? For compound cuts, a skip tooth blade or something similar with larger gullets (no reverse teeth) is usually recommended. They clear the sawdust out of the kerf better, thus reducing heat build up. If you don't have any of those available, use the biggest blade the pattern will accommodate.

Nicely done! I really like this pattern. Something about it just draws me in, every time I see it. It's kinda like a scrollsawn version of a Thomas Kinkade painting.

From the picture in the link Dan provided, it kinda looks like the panels are recessed into the frame a little bit, hence the bevel cut. Does the backer span the entire length of the saw or does each individual panel have it's own backer?

The Scrollsaw Association of the World (SAW) just recently started publishing a quarterly magazine/newsletter called "SawDust". However, it's only available to members of SAW. I'm not a member, but I know a few and have seen the magazine. It looks to be pretty well done with lots of interesting content and some nice, free patterns.

You may well find a source to special order boards in that width, but be prepared to pay a premium for them. As for plywood, one concern I would have would be the exposed edges. The faces of the cherry will darken over time, but the edges of inner plys will look different. You may be able to cover the outside edges with some sort of trim, but the exposed edges of the scrollwork will always be visible. Perhaps the finish would help offset the contrast and it may not be all that noticeable, but it's something to consider. I wouldn't worry about the durability and longevity of the plywood. Afterall, they make high end kitchen cabinets and furniture out of the stuff, so it should hold up OK. Frankly, if I were you, I would invest in a few more clamps and work on making your own glued up panels. It isn't all that hard. Use cauls to help keep the joined edges aligned, then a scraper or some judicious sanding will even everything out. Take care to try and match up the grain pattern and coloration of the boards as best you can, so that the joints are as invisible as possible. Heck, if you did buy plywood, you may end up with sheets where the veneer is applied in narrow strips that look like several boards were glued up to make the panel anyway. Good luck, sounds like a nice project!

I've often thought that there has to be a better way, as I'm frantically trying to dab glue on the backs of portraits, within the open time and without getting too much on. I've pondered the idea of using some sort of roller, but never tried it. I like what I'm reading here that other folks have successfully done that. I'll have to give it a try. I wonder if a veneer roller would work well? It's made of hard rubber, so glue won't soak in and should peel right off if it dries, but I don't know how well it would spread the glue. Thanks for the tips!