Jim Finn

Been there done that....<grin>

Just this week I went to my local wood supplier and never got out of the truck. Just told them what I wanted and they loaded it . Life is good.

Actually the saw work in inlay is not at all hard and much faster that fretwork is. Typically I spend about six minutes at the saw doing one. There is more to it than the saw cutting, including sanding flat but not hard or tricky at all. Getting set up before the saw cut is important so I have one scroll saw set up for it an use it only for inlay.

Actually, Inlay is quite simple to do but unforgiving. No going back to correct a cut once you start. It is a one way cut all the way around the pattern. I am no artist so I get almost all of my patterns from the internet or from scroll saw books. I alter them a bit to suit me though. The last one here is an inlay not a 3d cut.

Animals, as toys, are what I make. Fancifull ones like dragons and more realistic ones. I am planning on making a kinda' realistic elephant after I finish the batch of toys I am working on today. I do inlay and mass produce toys mostly. Depends on where your interest lies.

Wonderful work! WOW! Hard to think of more challenging projects. A different direction though may interest you. There are many other areas to use a scroll saw. 3d cuttings (compound cutting), sign making, toy making, intarsia and inlay are all different ways to use your scroll saw.

Less than fifty have died in the US from this virus and half of them were in one nursing home in Seattle. Lots of hype! Our events here in West Texas are still on schedule.

No: Facebook is not the place for political comments. I know! I was just kicked off of there for not agreeing with them.

Welcome, from a fellow toy maker inTexas!

This is what I like about doing inlay and intarsia. (I have not tried doing fretwork) Much larger pieces and once one gets away from fretwork there are many other ways to use your scroll saw and your scroll saw skills. Completing an inlay is MUCH quicker than doing fretwork. I do it on box lids. It is much easier to sell, also. (I use inlay to embellish small boxes) Intarsia is harder to sell though. I have given up on wall hung items except for a few crosses.

Well I kinda' cheated on this one (or just woke up). The balls are just drilled holes filled with plugs made with a plug cutter in my drill press. They are inlayed but not like the rest of the image. Thank you everyone for the kind comments.

This is going to be the door prize at a local Universities children's Christmas event this December. The theme of this event ,this year, is "Charlie Browns' Christmas" Our club supplies this door prize and about 400 toys that we give to the children attending. (Toy cars and reindeer this year). Box measures 11"x 8" x3"deep. Woods used are Cedar, Bois d arc, Padauk, Walnut, Purple heart, Oak , Poplar, and Maple. No stains or paint. All natural wood colors.

I especially like the rabbit one!

I have had a difference experience. I have found that Olsen PG #7 or #5 blades outlast Flying Dutchman blades. I am cutting 3/4" pine, mostly making 3d figures. Pegas blades seem to last longer than Flying Dutchman blades also.

I have flocked a few of the boxes I make. I use a very thick coat of oil based paint I get at my local paint store. Leave a smooth puddle on the bottom of the box and then apply a LOT of flocking of the same color. Oil base paint (not the glue suggested) dries slowly. (A good thing) Let it sit a few days, before removing excess rayon flocking material, and allow to air out the odor a few more.

I do not have the box to get photos of it open, but here are some made just like it.

Yes scrolling is fun! These five are part of twenty-two I am working on. Should be finishing them all in about two more days.

Thank you all for the kind comments; This was a pretty simple inlay. I just did five of these (without the name), a bit more complex. I use cedar a lot. It is easy to work, very popular and is cheap.

Badgerboy; I have also used blue sidewalk chalk by sanding it to dust and adding to epoxy to fill in voids in cedar to make it look like turquoise inlay. No photo of that.

I made this cedar box with a Dalmatian inlayed into the hinged lid. Box measures 8"x6"x2". Maple inlaid into cedar with black, chalk line chalk, mixed in white glue for the spots. This is a special order for a relative.

Nice cutting! What size are these?

Severely limited is true! I have solved this issue (for me) by resorting to using a band saw to make the long cuts. This opens up the whole concept to larger figures. I cut the long cut, using a 9" band saw and the short cut (3/4") with my scroll saw. Very little sanding is required on the band saw cuts. (Less than one minute) Pattern: Horses nose to tail = 2 1/2" I have made hundreds of these that our club gives to local children's hospitals, and The Salvation Army.

I have done this same pattern, more than once, but I did it as a inlay. Very nice job!

This is how I make my boxes after doing the inlay in the 3/8" top: I use 3/8" thick wood throughout. I re-saw the wood (I use eastern red cedar) to 3/8" and make the bottoms to size. My boxes are 6"x8" mostly. To make the sides, I rip the 3/8" cedar to 1 3/4" strips and then cut to length at a 45 degree bevel, on each end, to form the four sides. Then I glue these four pieces together at the corners as they stand on edge on my bench. I then put two rubber bands around this assembly to hold it in place until the glue sets. ( I also use a small frame to hold the sides in place as I install the rubber bands. All you need is a board with two short strips attached at ninety degrees). I use Elmer's white glue. It dries quickly, dries clear, and is cheap. $14 a gallon. (I go through two gallons a year) If the frame that is thus made is not perfectly square, not to worry. It does not matter because the top and bottoms are a little larger than this side assembly. After the glue sets I sand the top and bottom edges, of this assembly, flat in my stationary belt sander. I then put very little glue on the bottom edge and place it on the bottom and repeat this for the top. I apply eight 3" spring clamps until the glue dries. (glue dries well enough to handle in an hour) The top and bottom are a bit larger than the side assembly is, so I cut off the excess in my band saw and then sand flat in the stationary belt sander. This is where you may see some minor gaps in the joints so, I fill those in with a mixture of white glue and dust from my orbital sander to use as filler. Sand flat and sand the whole box with 100 grit sandpaper using a random orbital sander including rounding off the edges a little. I then sand to 180 grit and apply clear lacquer from a rattle can. After the finish is dry I take the box back to the band saw and cut off the lid using a tall re-saw fence,. I make the lid 3/4" deep. (This 3/4"includes the 3/8" thick top.) I then sand the sawmarks out of the cut edge and install the hinges. I use a spacer on the hinges side of this box to keep the hinge side from pinching before the front side touches when closed. I use the thickness of two business cards for this. I do not finish the inside of the cedar box but I often apply one more coat of spray lacquer on this box after the hinges are installed. Hope this helps. If you have any questions you are welcome to email me . I will be glad to help. Jim

Thanks for the kind words. Making the box is pretty simple if you have a table saw, miter saw, sander, and band saw to re-saw the wood to 3/8" I find the box to be simple to make but takes more time than the time at the scroll saw doing the inlay.