Bill WIlson

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!

Do you have other woodwork in your bathroom, such as trim, cabinetry, etc? How have they held up? My belief is that if you have excessive humidity and moisture problems in the bathroom, then those need addressed. If there is enough moisture to damage a finished piece of wood, then there is enough to generate mold. Something to think about.

It's a nice gesture for you to offer to take it, but I would be very wary. Home made table saws could be an accident waiting to happen. Does it have a splitter and a blade guard? Does it have a fence and if so, does it lock down solid and line up parallel to the blade? If the answer to these questions is no, then it sounds to me like you may be inviting trouble. I have no idea what your experience level is with table saws, but I advise you to be extremely careful. Accidents can happen to the most experienced users, operating good quality saws, with all the safety features in place.

Give it a light coat of shellac, once the BLO is fully cured. That should seal in the odor.

Congratulations Gonzo. I also upgraded from a Dewalt to an EX-21 recently. I'm still on the fence with the dust collection. It seems to work OK hooked up to my shop vac, but I don't care for all the noise when scrolling, so I haven't used it much. The little bits getting caught in the holes is a nuisance. I'm still debating what to do about it. Otherwise I'm really liking the EX so far. The top arm lifts much higher than my Dewalt did, so it gives a lot of extra clearance. Tensioning is simple and effective. The saw runs smooth and quiet. I never had any real complaints with my Dewalt. I used it for 10 years and it served me well. But I can see right away that the EX is a big step up and I'm looking forward to scrolling on it for many years.

I recently bought an EX-21. It replaces a Dewalt 788 that I had for over 10 years. I've become quite accustomed to having the 21" capacity and would be loathe to give it up, even though I don't need it all the time. Personally, I would opt for the 21, but it does depend on the type of projects you do. Consider that your interests may change over time and that you may well wish you had the larger capacity. How big is your current saw? If it's smaller, do you think that perhaps you may have been subconsciously limiting the size of your projects, due to the capacity of the saw? You mentioned that you don't need the stand or footswitch. Is this because you already have these things? If so, I can see the logic. If not, I urge you to reconsider. The EX stand is very sturdy and well designed. I already like it better than the Dewalt stand and I never had any real complaints with the Dewalt stand. If you aren't currently using a footswitch, you are missing out. They are a game changer, IMHO. In the end, the decision is totally yours. However, if funds aren't a constraint, I think you will be very happy with the EX-21.

I used to wrap stacks in tape, but these days I mostly use hot glue on the edges. One tip I read some time ago suggested one could drill holes and drive round toothpicks into waste areas, like a brad. Advantage being that the toothpick won't scratch your table. Simply cut off the excess and sand flush. I've never tried it, but seems like a neat idea.

Like most others replying in this thread, I prefer to use frames for portraits. I think they look more finished that way. I make my own, so they are custom cut to fit whatever size I make the portrait. I don't think I would use felt as a backer, myself. I would be afraid of it being more of a dust magnet, over time. I use mat board or colored ply. I don't paint or stain the ply anymore, because I've had it cause some issues with glue adhesion. I've recently been experimenting with fabric dye and so far, I like it a lot. Quick and easy to apply, gives a nice rich color and doesn't seem to interfere with the glue.

Chances are what you used was actually a blend of oil, varnish (or polyurethane) and thinner. The oil used in these blends is likely linseed oil and not tung oil, but the differences are somewhat subtle. Finish manufacturers use descriptions like "Tung Oil Finish" mostly as a marketing tool. They may be the oil/varnish/thinner blend or they may be simply a thinned wiping varnish. These products are intended to give the wood a hand rubbed look and feel. They aren't necessarily intended to achieve a high gloss build, like a straight polyurethane varnish. If you want a higher build, glossy finish, you can overcoat the "tung oil" finish you used, but let it cure for several days. The can should have guidelines for how long it needs to cure before applying any topcoat. If not, a general rule of thumb is to let it dry until it no longer off-gasses any odor. There are differences between oil/varnish/thinner blends and wiping varnish. The manufacturers confuse the issue by using similar sounding names and descriptions, but the key distinction should be found in the application instructions on the can. Oil/varnish blends are usually applied, allowed to set for several minutes to soak in, then the excess is wiped off. Typically no more than a couple coats are recommended because the oil content will keep the finish soft and any build up on the surface, from too many coats will tend to stay gummy. A wiping varnish (or poly) is applied in thin coats that are left to dry, without wiping off the excess. You can apply as many coats as you want to get a high build finish. If a hand rubbed, satin look is desired, then one would usually stop at 2 or 3 coats. To get a more protective, full build finish, up to 6-8 coats may be required. If, by chance, the oil you applied was actual un-thinned, raw tung oil, the drying time may be significantly longer. The product should say Pure or 100% Tung Oil, if that is what it is. If it says "Tung Oil Finish" or something like that, it is likely not tung oil. Hope this helps.

Nice cutting. I tend to leave portraits natural, especially if I'm framing them. I like to use a darker wood for the frame and something dark for the backer to provide contrast. It helps highlight the detail in the cutting. I'm experimenting with fabric dye for backers now. I can get a good dark tone, that leaves a little of the grain showing and doesn't seem to interfere with glue. This particular portrait would look great with a frame made of old, weathered barn wood.

I routinely bang the drum for shellac when it comes to discussions on finishing scrollwork. I've heard of folks using it for dipping, but I've never tried that. I spray it, either out of a can or with a spray gun & compressor. It's my go to finish for scrollwork. Dries very fast, easy to spray, easy to clean up, no lingering odor, nice classic look.

Baltic birch plywood is very popular with scrollers. Around here a 5'x5' sheet runs about $20-$25 depending on thickness. Nice thing about it is that even the thin material is very strong. It's commonly available in thicknesses from 1/8" to 1". Even thinner and thicker sizes can be had at some specialty dealers or on-line.

Wipe-on Poly is essentially just regular poly thinned by about 50%. No different than if you took regular strength poly and mixed it with mineral spirits. By doing your own, you can control the ratio and perhaps end up with better results and less cost. My go to finish is shellac. I spray it on. I'll use the rattle can variety if I'm only doing a small piece. If I'm spraying more or larger items, I'll mix some up and use my spray gun and compressor. I like spraying it, because it dries so fast that I can apply multiple coats, hitting the piece from several angles to get in all the frets. Clean up is very simple as well. No lingering odors to annoy the wife (basement shop) and a nice traditional look.

Orangeman, If you want to route an edge profile on an oval, I strongly recommend getting bits with bearing guides on them, whether you route on a table or otherwise. A starter pin is a fixed pivot point that mounts in your router table top. By placing the wood against it and easing it into the bit, it minimizes the risk of kickback. Not all router tables are configured to accept a starter pin, but if yours isn't, you may be able to drill/tap a hole to accept one. Do a little internet search to familiarize yourself with the concept.

Orangeman, Roundover bits should have guide bearings on them. The guide bearings limit how far in from the edge of the board the bit can cut. It serves a similar purpose as a fence would. There are several sizes available, depending on how much of the edge you want to round over. For a piece that size, I would prefer using the table, but as someone already mentioned, it helps a lot if your table has a starting pin. You're going to be feeding the wood into the bit against it's rotation. If you aren't careful, it can catch and kick back at you. Typically this isn't as likely with something that has a nice gentle radius like your oval, especially if you are taking light cuts. Free handing (without a fence) a profile on pieces with sharper curves and points can be problematic, especially without a starter pin. Sometimes a climb cut can be used, but it's not something I would recommend to a beginner.

I have a router table (2 actually) 2 other full size, hand held routers and a small trim router. I love the trim router for easing edges. I often use it with a 1/8" roundover bit to just break the sharp corners on larger items like furniture and chests. I bought it just for that purpose. I also user my router table. It really depends on the size of the piece. Larger pieces, I round over the edges on the bench, with the trim router. Smaller pieces I may use the table. However, the trim router is small enough to be easily controlled with one hand, leaving the other hand free, to hold the piece. If I didn't have the trim router and were doing it with a full size router, I would probably do more on the table.

Some patterns just lend themselves better than others to using spiral blades. They are also an acquired taste, with a bit of a learning curve. I learned scrolling with flat blades and it was several years before I had my first need to use spirals. I don't use them often but my first experience almost did me in. After a little practice, I was able to control the cut with them just fine, but I had an awful time getting them to stay in the blade clamps of my Dewalt. I tried every trick I knew, roughing the blade clamps and the blade ends with sandpaper, several methods of untwisting and/or flattening the ends. I broke so many blades, some just by tensioning them, even some just by trying to flatten the ends, that I almost gave up on the project. I gritted it out and finished the cutting and was determined to find a better way. I went to flat end spirals the next time and things went much better. My latest experience called for a smaller blade, as the pattern had some pretty fine detail in it that the flat end blades I had were just too big for. I got some FD #3/0 and #2/0 spirals and worried that I would have the same problems I had in my first go round. I'm happy to say that I only had relatively few problems getting them to stay in the clamps. Untwisting the ends was much easier than before. The #3/0's were pretty delicate and I did break several of them, but only after cutting with them for awhile. I'm still more accustomed to flat blades and will continue to use them for most of the time, but if a pattern appeals to me, I won't hesitate to use spirals.

Don, I'm looking forward to hearing about how this works out for you. I've tried a few times over the past several years to get a scrolling class together, but just couldn't seem to generate enough interest. Good luck!

If you are referring to a electric hand planer, I suspect that you might be disappointed in the results. Those are designed more for jointing than finish planing and dimensioning lumber, but you may be able to use it to rough it down, then finish it by hand with a scraper or a smoothing plane. You could do the whole job with bench planes. Typically one would use a jack plane to get the thickness down close to desired dimension, then finish off with a smoothing plane. The planes need to be very sharp and tuned well to achieve best results and it takes some practice to develop the technique. My suggestion, if you don't have a friend or neighbor who has a planer you could borrow, is to look for a lightly used bench top power planer. I imagine you could find a decent one for not much more $$ than a really good electric hand planer. You might be surprised at how much you use it, once you have one.

Jamminjack, Yes, I live very near to Butler. If you get here early enough in August, try to take in the Butler Farm Show.

Looking at the pics in your OP, it appears as though those are pin end blades? Is this correct? If so, I would guess that the blades that came with the saw are of poor quality and very brittle. Pin end blades are usually much more robust than the smaller, plain end blades. It's generally much less likely for them to break. As has been suggested, buying good quality blades such as Flying Dutchman or Olson will make a world of difference. As to blade size, relevant to material being cut, the rule of thumb is the thicker/harder the material, the bigger the blade. You want to use the blade that gives you the best combination of control, cutting speed and finish. Using a large, aggressive blade on thin material will cut very fast (relatively speaking) but may make it harder for you to control the cut and stay on the line. You will also notice that the cut quality will suffer, with a rougher edge and more tearout. This may or may not be an issue. It will take some trial & error with a few different types of blades to find the sweet spot for what you want to do. Blades are relatively cheap, generally running $2-$3 per dozen. Mike Moorlach used to offer a sample pack of different sizes and types of FD blades. I'm not sure if the Wooden Teddy Bear has the same offer available or not. That was a great way of getting a variety without buying a ton of blades you might not use. Good luck and have fun making sawdust!

Hi Dan, I think you may have been the one who told me about this place back when I first joined. How's things out in Sunny CA?